Wolverhampton Wanderers had a productive January transfer window, strengthening key areas of their squad. With a focus on quality signings, the club bolstered their midfield and defence, adding depth and competition in crucial positions.
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00:00You probably can look at the sort of stage that we're at with him being the new manager
00:06and maybe sort of look to judge him a little bit and the way he's gone about things at
00:10Wolves.
00:11I mean, you know, we mentioned before the Mateus Cunha situation where it sort of took
00:15a massive turn and there was attitude problems and then suddenly he puts a couple of fantastic
00:20performances in and he signs a new deal, albeit with that release clause.
00:24But it seems like he's really sort of, you know, grabbed the bull by the horns in terms
00:28of this job at Molyneux.
00:30It's one of them where Jeff Sheehan has looked to a saviour manager again, like they did
00:35with Julian Opetegui just a season or so ago.
00:40What have you sort of taken from Vitor Pereira's time so far and from what you've seen?
00:44I mean, you've not been covering Wolves too long, but you've seen an array of managers
00:48in the dugout.
00:49I certainly have seen an array of managers and there's been such a contrast between them
00:54all really in the mood, in the stadium.
00:56I think with Pereira, even though the results haven't quite been there since the very start,
01:01the performances have.
01:03Maybe the Newcastle defeat 3-0, the Forest one as well 3-0, actually kind of played alright
01:08in that Forest game in fairness, so the performance was still there.
01:10But so many of the other defeats have been narrowly by one goal against Liverpool at
01:15Anfield.
01:16First half, not good at all, so many mistakes, but that second half, Wolves were the first
01:20team to stop Liverpool from having a shot in the second half of the game at Anfield
01:23since 2003.
01:25Just put that into context, when Wolves have been one of the worst teams defensively in
01:29the Premier League this season, to go to Anfield and do that, especially after all the mistakes
01:33in that first half from the defenders, Toti Gomez and Emmanuel Agbadoo, coming out in
01:38that second half, such a great response, I think was really spirited and they can take
01:42confidence from that.
01:43No points at all from Anfield, but they could have very much got one on that day and probably
01:48deserved to, in fairness.
01:50Yeah, and obviously Wolves have drawn Bournemouth away in the FA Cup now.
01:54Obviously, Bournemouth is an incredibly tough place to go to and Wolves have a love affair
01:59with the FA Cup over the last couple of seasons.
02:01Obviously, last season, it sort of started Gary O'Neill's downfall, maybe, you know,
02:06missing out very, very late on against Coventry with that trip to Wembley.
02:10What do you sort of take from the draw and how Wolves fans will be feeling going down
02:14to an incredibly tough place to go to this season?
02:17I think, yeah, if you look at it on previous years, you think Bournemouth away, we'll
02:25take that.
02:26You know, it's a winnable game, either way, 50-50, it's definitely not 50-50 this year.
02:31The way Ariola has got Bournemouth playing is incredible, fighting for Champions League,
02:36Europa League or Europa Conference League football as well.
02:38Wolves will have to be at their very best to go and get a result.
02:42But we have seen Bournemouth falter at times this season, not been at their best, sometimes
02:46not quite clinical enough, sometimes on the transition phase, they can be a little bit
02:50open as well.
02:52So Wolves, if they can be on their best and with Matthias Kuhnje firing on the counter-attack,
02:56who knows what can happen and then potentially another quarterfinal on the cards.