Liam Keen and Nathan Judah on Hwang Hee-chan racism incident, Danie Podence sending off and Como win
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Judah. I'm here with Wolves Reporter. It's Mr. Liam Keane. Liam, we've
00:12seen our first preseason game of 2024-2025 at the Marbella Football Centre. It finished.
00:19Wolves won, Como nil. So that's the good news. But the bad news is we're going to be talking
00:24about an incident in the second half that's kind of marred what has been an excellent
00:28last six or seven days at Wolves training camp. I'll allow you to explain. Yes, obviously
00:34this video will have come out after this news has been announced and I would encourage everyone
00:39to read the story that is currently on our website because it does include quotes from
00:42Gary O'Neill and fully explaining the situation in written form. But sadly, in 2024, we're
00:48still talking about racism and a really sad incident where Hwang Hee Chan has accused
00:54a Como player of racist remark. Wolves of course are backing up Hwang Hee Chan and believe
01:00it to be absolutely the truth. We have to say alleged at this stage because we're obviously
01:05unaware of the Como player's attitude towards it and of course we didn't hear it ourselves.
01:10But that is the allegation. It's desperately sad, as I say, in the 21st century, 2024,
01:16to be still talking about situations where footballers are being racially abused for
01:21simply playing football. It's a training game in the Marbella Football Centre here
01:25in Spain. There is absolutely no need for something like that and, yeah, terribly disappointing.
01:32And then off the back of that happening, the players are furious. Tom King and Daniel Padence
01:41are furious as well as other players on the team. Very vocal at the time. Daniel Padence
01:49then strikes out, lashes out at the defender, throws a punch at the defender, gets a straight
01:57red card for doing that, for essentially sticking up for Hwang Hee Chan, albeit Gary O'Neill
02:02did admit, I think, in the right way that there is a line and Padence did cross that
02:07as well. And it was all a bit of a mess really. The game could have been abandoned. It was
02:12close to being abandoned.
02:13They gave Hwang the choice, didn't they?
02:14Gary O'Neill went and spoke to Hwang. There were coaches and players on the pitch and
02:18all having a conversation. Gary spoke to Hwang separately, said, do you want the game
02:22to be abandoned? He said no. He said, do you want to come off? He said no. He played the
02:27rest of the game. We'll play with 10 men and win 1-0.
02:30Look, this isn't the first time Daniel Padence has been sent off. It's not the first time
02:36in a pre-season friendly that Daniel Padence has been sent off. And I think a lot of people,
02:40including Gary O'Neill, have been very impressed, us as well, about the work that he put on
02:44this week and maybe a surprise that he's here at this training camp.
02:48To get sent off, that will be the narrative as well as, of course, the situation surrounding
02:53Hwang. But look, he's protecting, he's sticking up for his team-mate. And there's a lot of
02:58people who are very frustrated at that happening. And I think a lot of the times, Daniel Padence
03:05is maybe a bit of a hothead. And look, it showed there. And he's obviously crossed the
03:10line, he's apologised. But I'm not going to dig him too much for today because if you're
03:15going to... I can't say what I would do if I stick up for my team-mate and he's been
03:19allegedly racially abused. This is a very tight-knit pack, whether you've got people
03:23who've been here three, four, five, six seasons or newbies. This is a together group. And
03:29that showed today. And unfortunately, Daniel Padence is the one who's had to walk off the
03:32pitch. And Wolves have, in fact, been punished because they're the ones down to 10 men for
03:36the game. The alleged person who delivered the racist assault or attack stayed on the
03:44pitch and it was 11 versus 10. And actually, Wolves played remarkably well to see that
03:49game out and win 1-0.
03:50Yeah, they did.
03:51It's just a shame that Wolves were the ones on the end.
03:53Right, exactly. And Tommy Doyle was making that point on the pitch. We could hear him
03:56very clearly from the stands where we sat. He was speaking to Gary, speaking to the staff,
04:00speaking to the officials to say, we've had a player of ours racially abused and we're
04:08the ones that are being punished for having a player sent off. I can't condone what Daniel
04:12Padence did. At the same time, I'm not going to stand here and condemn what Daniel Padence
04:16did. I think we'd all react probably in a similar way for good or for bad. And I understand
04:24why he did it. The biggest issue and the thing that we should all be concerned about, and
04:27we both absolutely are and so are Wolves, is Hwang Hee-chan, who by the way has had
04:32this several times now, not only in a Wolves show but in his career, being racially abused.
04:36It's outrageous, ridiculous.
04:37Yeah, and look, we'll see, I'm sure there'll be more developments to come in the forthcoming
04:41few days and the statement's out. And I thought Gary O'Neill spoke very well about the incident.
04:46He did. He did. He spoke to Wolves TV. He then spoke to me privately on the record about
04:53it. As I say, there are quotes on the website now. There will be more to come as well, speaking
04:57from Gary. Obviously quite late here and it's quite dramatic and we weren't expecting
05:02something like this to happen. So there will be a bit more reflection on this in the next
05:05day or so. But yeah, he spoke remarkably well because it's very easy for them to try and
05:13shut us out because they don't want people to know about it. And that's not necessarily
05:16a Wolves point of view, but more a KOMO point of view. But Wolves were very good on this
05:20issue. Hwang Hee-chan wanted it out there. He wanted people to know. We haven't obviously
05:26reported it at full time because we were in discussions about when to put it out with
05:31us being the only journalist here, which I think is the responsible way to do it. Because
05:35we wanted to speak to Hwang first through the club to say, how should we do this? What's
05:40the best way of doing this? We followed Hwang's wishes and credit to Gary O'Neill for coming
05:45out and speaking, I think very calmly and very fairly and balanced on the situation
05:51to say, obviously it's ridiculous. We have to stay alleged for the time being because
05:54we are. And the player has, I'm sure, got an excuse or reason for it, whatever that
06:04might be. But yeah, disappointing to... I'm getting wet.
06:07You're getting a little bit wet.
06:08No, it's great timing.
06:09It's OK.
06:10Just a little bit. But Wolves dealt with it really well. Credit to them and credit to
06:15Gary O'Neill. Came out and spoke really well and also didn't condone what the Dents did.
06:20It's a shame as well because Hwang Lee-Chan, obviously he's been... There's a lot of news
06:24behind him this week. He's a £21 million bid coming from Marseille. He's a brilliant
06:27player off the pitch. He's a better person... Sorry, he's a brilliant player on the pitch.
06:31He's a better person off it. Magnificent. Such a lovely individual. It's such a shame
06:34that this keeps on happening. It's a disgrace, especially in this modern day environment,
06:38as you said Liam. And also, Wolves could have gone off the pitch. They spoke to Hwang. Hwang
06:43wanted to continue the game, not just for himself, but also for the rest of the team
06:46as well, who had worked so hard getting towards this one game, this final game before they
06:49head back to England, which is an important test. Yeah, absolutely. And then Gary said
06:53that there's also... You've got to try and speak to Hwang and make sure he doesn't do
06:57anything silly. He could go out there and throw an elbow in this defender's face, something
07:00like that. And I'm so impressed with the composure that Hwang Lee-Chan showed. He did not let
07:05it faze him whatsoever. Inside, I'm sure it definitely did. It's obviously bothered him
07:12and it should do because it's ridiculous. But he went out there and didn't show that
07:15at all, carried on playing his game. And as you said a second ago, Wolves put on a
07:19really good performance actually overall, but particularly with 10 men. Tom King made
07:23a couple of good saves, but overall seeing the game out for what really was a secondary
07:28importance at that point. Let's go into the game now. We had to obviously discuss the
07:32situation first, but let's go back to the game. Two 45-minute halves in essence. What
07:38do you think the first half was? Nil-nil at the end of them, but we saw three of the new
07:41signings play. Jorgen Larsson, we saw Pedro Lima, we saw Rodrigo Gomez. I thought all
07:46three of them had real good moments on the pitch. Yeah. I'd like to pick out Pedro Lima
07:50first of all, because we've sort of, I in particular, slowly changed my sort of thought
07:56process with him. I've started off by saying, look, he's only just turned 18. He's going
08:00to need a little bit of time maybe to bulk up a little bit. Then we saw a couple of training
08:03sessions and we both thought, oh, I don't know. I think the sun was up a little bit
08:08There's a player here. I've watched him there now. It's a training game. It's not the Premier
08:12League and it is against a side that has just been promoted from the Italian second division.
08:16However, he was very good, very effective going forward. And I'll tell you what, strong
08:21in the tackle. He didn't get bullied by players that are far older and far more experienced
08:25than him. So an exciting one. Really, really exciting. Rodrigo Gomez out on the left flank.
08:30Quick, direct, tricky, lovely deliveries of one absolutely magnificent set piece delivery
08:36that was right on top of the goalkeeper that he did. He did quite well to deal with. Larsen
08:41scored but had it ruled offside. Yeah, you know, really, really good showing.
08:46Yeah. And Jürgen Larsen, look, Wolves have got a number nine. They've got a strong number
08:49nine. I thought he showed some really good touches. Look, he's going to take time to
08:53get his sharpness back. There was a moment where maybe you could have taken a shot half
08:57a second quicker. It was blocked and then he had the ball in the back of the net, didn't
09:01he, as well, like you say. So good finish. It was ruled offside. But you could see those
09:05predatory instincts are there and someone who could be the integral part to this first
09:09team going forward. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You look at the way Wolves played with him
09:14in the team and it gives you that focal point. It really does. Wolves are trying to play
09:18out from the back. They are doing it in training. They're doing it again here, as well. And
09:22then when they've got the opportunity or maybe sometimes the necessity to lump it forward,
09:27they've got the chance for Jürgen Strand-Larsen. I might be hit by water again here. I think
09:32I'm OK this time. For Jürgen Strand-Larsen to hold the ball up. I mean, he's a big lad,
09:37strong. Wolves didn't have someone like that and I don't know that I could do that last
09:40season and they were struggling. They've now got the options. Yeah, they did. And I want
09:44to say a word for one man who was started centre back and again, attracted a lot of
09:50interest from people. And that's Jose Mascara. We believe, like you say, that he is going
09:54to be firmly part of Gary Neal's setup. He wants him here. He wants him at Wolverhampton
09:57Wanderers. And I tell you what, like you say, it's early days. But at the same time, you
10:01saw the pace, you saw the quality of Jose Mascara with the ball in possession. And
10:06goodness me, Wolves have got a player here and I fully expect him, maybe not to be in
10:11the side straight away, but if not, very, very close. He's going to be pushing a lot
10:14of players, I think, this season. And what he has that isn't necessarily different from
10:21all of Wolves' centre-halves. I think Totti's similar in some instances. But what he does
10:25have is incredible athleticism. As I say, Totti is similar as well. But on that right-hand
10:31side, he is quick. And you don't always want a defender to be recovering. But often, if
10:36a ball goes in behind, over the top, you're going to have to recover quickly. His recovery
10:40run, his recovery pace is brilliant. It really is. He's strong.
10:45Bringing the ball out as well.
10:46Yeah, he's strong.
10:47I lost my voice a little bit, as you can tell.
10:48Aggressive. Carries the ball really nicely. There's definitely things to tidy up, of course.
10:52Yeah, of course there is.
10:53And he was raw when we saw him last at the Wolves' shirt. But the difference between
10:56him then and now, albeit only briefly in a game here today, they look worlds apart.
11:01So I would like to see him now kick on in America for the rest of the pre-season and
11:06then hopefully have a good start to the campaign.
11:08Yeah. And 45 minutes, a different team comes out and Wolves get the goal. Ryan Aitnouri
11:13set piece. Beautiful delivery.
11:15Set piece straight away.
11:16There you go. Set piece coaches.
11:17And look, Matt Doherty. I spoke to Matt Doherty after the game and he said, absolutely delighted.
11:23I wish I could get balls like that all the time. And it was 1-0 Matt Doherty. I mean,
11:27no one's really surprised, are they? But like you say, and I spoke to him about the set
11:31piece coach, he said that it's a massive pie. It can be the difference between finishing
11:34in the European positions and towards relegation, both attacking and defensively. And that's
11:39very important going forward. That can only help Wolves, having a set piece coach.
11:42I've spoken to Tim Jenkins and to Gary Neal this week and they both said almost the same
11:48sentence. So there's clearly something on their mind to say that if you stand still
11:51in modern football, you get left behind. It's these marginal gains, these small things
11:55that are going to hopefully accumulate.
11:57The extra 1-2%.
11:58Exactly. And with bringing a dedicated set piece coach in, first time Wolves have done
12:05that, just to have someone to solely work on offensively and defensively, a massive
12:09part of the English game, can only be a benefit. It can only be a benefit moving forward. Maybe
12:15it was a coincidence a few days in the first training game that they go and score from
12:18a set piece, but it's one hell of a...
12:20It's a good start for it.
12:21It's a good start for him, absolutely. It's one hell of a cross, as you say, from 8 Norie.
12:24And Doc does brilliantly to score it, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, it's on
12:27a plate for him. As you say though, from his interview, he must be delighted to have those
12:33kind of crosses coming in.
12:34Yes, look, we fly back tomorrow morning, but I think in terms of a six or seven day initial
12:38training camp, this has been highly successful to get this team together. Like you say, it's
12:42a very strong team together now. There's not four or five senior players and a lot of kids.
12:46This was the majority of the squad were here. They worked really hard and I think that you've
12:51got to look at the plus points because unfortunately, this is what's going to be talked about and
12:55that second half incident is going to get marred and spoil the camp slightly. But there's
13:01a lot of good work that's been done. They will go back now before they set off to Miami
13:04next week.
13:05Yes, all the attention should be brought to this incident because it was, as we say, ridiculous
13:09and outrageous and we should be talking about it. At the same time, don't take away from
13:13what has been a really good week for Wolves.
13:16And Gary O'Neill's first pre-season as well.
13:18Exactly. As I say, he'll be learning plenty about himself as well as the players moving
13:21forward. It sets them up perfectly. They go back now, as you say, to the UK for a week
13:26and then off to for 12 days in the US. I'm sure it'll be very busy for them. Appearances
13:32and games and friendlies and all sorts of things. But on the training pitch, Gary and
13:38his team are detailed, they're focused and they've got the players at the moment in a
13:41really good place. If you can carry that through for what will be a tough start to the season
13:45with the fixtures Wolves have got coming up, it should put them in good stead.
13:48And we shall be in Miami following Wolves every step of the way. It's finished at the
13:52Marbella Football Centre. Wolverhampton 1-1, Como 0. For all the post-match reaction, make
13:57sure you log on to ExpressingStar.com.