Wolves

[chrismpw]

Hey, Wolves fan here. I've occasionally been reading your forum from time to time since Nuno was linked with moving to you earlier this season and have seen some posts regarding us in the Summer 2018 Transfer Window thread. I've not made this post to be a nuisance like that one Wolves fan who kept on commenting on the thread about Nuno saying he was too good for you and whatnot, but more to give you an insight about us and Fosun etc.

If you want to read then you can but by all means, you don't have to hahah.

So, as you likely already know we're owned by Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate. Nuno has come in this year and revolutionised the way we play and has brought some great players with him, and to be honest with you at times I still have to pinch myself to make sure that what is happening is all real. Next year the Premier League is going to be a challenge. We are going to need to strengthen and personally, I believe we will finish roughly around 12th.

Mendes
Onto the controversial topic of Mendes. Many championship clubs have been quite bitter about how we've managed to get players like Neves and Jota, with the Leeds Chairman actually tweeting after we beat them 3-0 away from home this season that what we are doing is unfair and is illegal. Also, both Leeds and Aston Villa have complained to the EFL about our relations with Mendes. This was looked into and investigated by the EFL a few weeks ago and we're clean.

While it is the case that Jota and Neves have come to Wolves because of Mendes, it's not because Mendes has just forced them to move or told them to pack their bags because they're leaving Portugal for sunny Wolverhampton. The case is that because he knows our owners and the ambitious project that they have, he has advised players like Neves, Jota, Costa, Cavaleiro etc, that moving to Wolves would be a good career move. Many questioned whether it was the right decision for Neves to come to Wolves, but as this season has panned out it's become clear that it's worked out for him, with the large interest he has gained from some of the big clubs.

This interest can be shown through the recent rumours of Neves moving to Liverpool. I must say they've gotten quite obsessed over him ahaha, I've even seen a picture of Neves edited into the new Liverpool kit lol. Personally, while I believe Neves will leave Wolves by the end of next season (he really is too good for us), I don't believe that he will be sold this summer, for any price. The ambition that our owners have means that players like Neves and Jota will likely be used to show potential new signings that coming to Wolves would be a good career move, Mendes was even seen at Molineux recording the pre match buildup and then also the players lifting the trophy on his phone for the game against Sheffield Wednesday.

Regarding the signings we could be making this summer, it's anyone's guess really. The fact that we've gone from signing an unfit Grant Holt on loan two seasons ago to getting Jota puts me in dreamland as it is. Since January we've been linked to André Silva from AC Milan quite frequently and yesterday Di Marzio posted an article saying we could be in for Rui Patricio as well as Silva this summer, which would be insane considering last season we had Andy Lonergan in goal for part of the season. All these players would cost a fair chunk of money, which may be seen as a lot for a newly promoted team, which brings up the question of FFP.

FFP - (this is from a post on the MolineuxMix forum)
"Wolves and Fosun have pushed the limits of The Championship FFP regulations, with latest accounts revealing that we have spent as much as we can without breaching the £39m rolling 3 season losses.

1st Assumption!! That we do exactly the same next year and push the limits in The Premier League to spend as much as possible.
FFP Background
FFP was introduced by UEFA 7 years ago to stop clubs involved in European competitions from spending more than they earn (in short, to stop up and coming European teams from competing with their established names that generate them more revenue).
So as we are not in The Champion's League or The Europa League next season, we can ignore UEFA's FFP regulations.
The only FFP regulations we need to pay any attention to next season are The Premier League's rules, which are far less stringent than UEFA's.

The Premier League FFP rules can be broken down as follows: Profit & Sustainability Rules Short Term Cost Control (STCC) Regulations Profit & Sustainability Rules
Simply put, these rules stop clubs operating well beyond their means by recording persistent losses (see Leeds and Portsmouth).
By 1st March every year, clubs need to submit projected accounts for the current season demonstrating that their rolling losses over 3 seasons is no more than £105m (providing the owners inject equity, which Fosun will). So that's 16/17, 17/18 and 18/19 seasons next year.
For Wolves, that rolling losses figure reduces to £61m as the previous 2 seasons prior to next season were spent in The Championship.

2nd Assumption. Assuming our losses for the last 3 seasons are around the £39m mark (but still inside the limit), that means our projected loss for this season is around the £21.6m mark. Together with 2016/17 loss of £23.2m, that means we would be able to lose £16.2m next season and still remain within the permitted limit of £61m.
Breaking these limits is not the end of the world, as you only have to demonstrate that you are able to reduce your losses. It's not then clear what happens if you then fail to decrease your losses.

Short Term Cost Control Regulations

STCC measures were designed to stop a club from massively increasing their wage bill over the course of one single transfer window using solely the Premier League revenue.
But, unless a club's wage bill is already £81m (£74m for this current season), these regulations do not apply. A massive advantage for newly promoted clubs as anyone already at or above the £81m level can only add £7m per season to their wage bill.
Wolves could, therefore, take their wage bill up to £81m over one transfer window without penalty.

3rd Assumption. Wolves' wage bill in 16/17 was £28.2m (highest was Villa with £61.5m). With the new signings and loan signings, this will probably have increased to somewhere around £40m for 2017/18.

4th Assumption. Wages will increase with promotion clauses, so this £40m figure will probably become £50m overnight without signing any more players.

So that leaves £31m that we can add to our wage bill this summer or £596,153 per week. After increased coaches and other staff, that's 5 £100,000 per week players!

5th Assumption. We will increase our wage bill as much as we can to £81m this summer!

Wolves
So we can lose £16.2m next season and increase our wage bill by around £31m.
But, that's on the back of massively increased revenues too.
Our revenues for the last few years have been fairly steady between £20-25m, player sales aside.
As an example, Bournemouth's revenues for this season are projected to be £160m!
So add on another around £140m to our revenue for next season.
Allowed losses - additional wage costs + increased revenues = very roughly around £125m to spend on players.
Add the magic of potential Jorge Mendes' loans and player amortisation into the mix and this could become a frightening figure."

Now, by copying and pasting this post I am by no means stating that we are going to go into the summer window and spend £100m, it is just that, we could do so and not be in breach of FFP.

Summary
With our new owners, there is the potential to spend big and with Nuno at the club, there is the potential to do well as he is a top, top coach. As I say, I believe we'll finish around 12th next season but as a fan, seeing Wolves getting shaped the way it is, compared what's gone on in the past, I am dreaming big in the long term. It may just be a pipe dream but that's what footballs all about, isn't it? Just to finish my post, I wish you good luck for next season, Everton are a club which I have a bit of a soft spot for and to be frank, I hate all the big six so it would be nice to see some other clubs make an appearance in there for a change.

If you have any questions then I'll try my best to answer them

Thanks for the insight. Always had a soft spot for wolves, since a kid (John Richards, Kenny Hibbit etc) and I've always followed their results.

Ffp is clearly set up to stop competition from the neuveau riche clubs and protect the sky 6 who benefitted from similar cash injections. It's clearly part of global branding for the European Runners Up League. I for one would like to see an end to it, and the stupid European leagues, and a return to two leg knock out competition.

What you say about the Liverpool fans (rs) and their photoshopped pics of Neves in a Liverpool kit just illustrates the dreamland they live in . In the pic, was shanks looking down at him from a cloud? Don't sell to those whoppers.

Your Chinese consortium seem to have their heads screwed on right. Let's see how your season goes. Good luck, apart from when you play us.

 

[Nymzee]

As much as i dont mind Everton, and i do like to be a nuisance, I think a lot of the premier league is going to be in for a shock from us. We have a clear plan, a team that knows how it wants to play and the financial backing to make a good impact and a very, very good manager. As much as i dream about challenging for the top 6, it wont happen yet. Saying that, i havent seen a great deal from any team from Arsenal down that would overly worry me. With the right additions we will make top 10.

I know you guys wont have seen much of him, but Neves is so good its ridiculous. Apart from Citeh, there really wouldn't be a premier league side that he wouldn't get in. You can just tell with some players how good they are, and he is just far, far too good. I think every Wolves fan is resigned to him only being here for next season if we are lucky, we just wont be able to hold him.

I also saw a comment saying we only have a little more money than Leicester, Totally wrong. I think people are getting confused between the wealth of Guo Guangchang who is the chairman of Fosun, and Fosun themselves. They have huge amounts of money, a couple of years ago they were raking in something like £25 million a day, and they have the contacts to help spend the wealth wisely.

Hopefully you guys can get yourselves a manager you are happy with. Blokes like Allardyce arent bad managers, but they are pragmatic but he has been generally dull in his play for a while. He does the job he needs to do but he wont kick you on like you all expect to at Everton. Dont know where you turn if you dispose of him, but i think you could have a rebuild on your hands.

I find it hard to truly judge your star players till I’ve seen them up against the better teams. I know they’ve played for Porto/Atletico etc. but they’re not there anymore and one cup tie vs City isn’t much data to go on.

I’ll wait and see how ridiculously good Neves & Jota are when they’re playing against the Top 6.

 

[KaiserEFC]

Literally no one cares about Wolves. You’ll find out that your owners just want you in the premiership to milk that cash cow like the rest of us did. Stop thinking you’re special.

 

[Mugwump]

I find it hard to truly judge your star players till I’ve seen them up against the better teams. I know they’ve played for Porto/Atletico etc. but they’re not there anymore and one cup tie vs City isn’t much data to go on.

I’ll wait and see how ridiculously good Neves & Jota are when they’re playing against the Top 6.

Its a fair point, but if you had watched Neves for a full season you wouldnt have any doubts. My worry is if he goes to the world cup and does well he wont be with us next season. Jota isnt at Neves level, but i dont think he will have any issues in the step up. They bloke who most people are overlooking is Willy Boly. Being able to directly to compare him to a bloke we sold to you and who did very well for you, Joleon Lescott, i'd say he is a better player than Lescott. Defends as well as him, but he can actually play football from the back. He can pass and has an excellent football brain. The other player who will surprise, and this will probably annoy you Blues, is Connor Coady. In the role he plays for us ( sweeper ) he has excelled. He looks a real top class player now after look bang average for years. Tbf, we have a lot of players who will comfortably make the step up, not necessarily real top class players but ones who will more than hold their own. For us its going to be about getting a stronger squad, and bringing in a striker more than anything. We are pretty short up front in terms of real quality.

 

[Mugwump]

Literally no one cares about Wolves. You’ll find out that your owners just want you in the premiership to milk that cash cow like the rest of us did. Stop thinking you’re special.

I care about Wolves, so thats you wrong then

Keep thinking that about Fosun. Yep they are here to make money, but they also realise they can only do it if they are successful here. You dont make as much money as they do by making bad choices.

 

[Nymzee]

Its a fair point, but if you had watched Neves for a full season you wouldnt have any doubts. My worry is if he goes to the world cup and does well he wont be with us next season. Jota isnt at Neves level, but i dont think he will have any issues in the step up. They bloke who most people are overlooking is Willy Boly. Being able to directly to compare him to a bloke we sold to you and who did very well for you, Joleon Lescott, i'd say he is a better player than Lescott. Defends as well as him, but he can actually play football from the back. He can pass and has an excellent football brain. The other player who will surprise, and this will probably annoy you Blues, is Connor Coady. In the role he plays for us ( sweeper ) he has excelled. He looks a real top class player now after look bang average for years. Tbf, we have a lot of players who will comfortably make the step up, not necessarily real top class players but ones who will more than hold their own. For us its going to be about getting a stronger squad, and bringing in a striker more than anything. We are pretty short up front in terms of real quality.

Is Boly being signed permanently? I quite like the full-backs when I’ve seen Wolves. Just don’t appear to have too much depth anywhere on the pitch. Ruddy in net and Ryan Bennett in defence? Might take a pounding.

 

[KaiserEFC]

I care about Wolves, so thats you wrong then

Keep thinking that about Fosun. Yep they are here to make money, but they also realise they can only do it if they are successful here. You dont make as much money as they do by making bad choices.

They can do it if they keep you in the premiership with as little outlay as possible. You won’t be challenging for anything.

 

[Yank]

I started reading posts in this thread and then I thought, why would I give this egomaniac the time of day?

Why does this thread exist on this board? Even this sub forum. If it was world football maybe I'd understand but I'd still think it was odd. I don't go on to others clubs boards and start threads and give them an update on the happening of the Blues.

It's weird. Don't do it.

 

[nsno-chris]

 

[DanB90]

Damo????!!

 

[NCLBlue]

Went to the Sunderland vs Wolves game last week and ‘on the beach’ or not, Wolves were absolutely crap and not one player stood out against the bottom club who played their academy kids including two/three debutants.

Play like that and you’ll be in trouble in the PL.

 

[Seathestars]

Didn’t read all that but welcome to you

 

[Jonte]

I started reading posts in this thread and then I thought, why would I give this egomaniac the time of day?

Why does this thread exist on this board? Even this sub forum. If it was world football maybe I'd understand but I'd still think it was odd. I don't go on to others clubs boards and start threads and give them an update on the happening of the Blues.

It's weird. Don't do it.

Got out of bed the wrong side, yank?

 

[thevorpalblade]

I, too, have a soft spot for Wolves.
My first Everton game was circa '71 at Molineux. I believe Joe Royle netted.

Good luck to them. Hopefully they'll finish below us.

 

[Toffee in Jandals]

As much as i dont mind Everton, and i do like to be a nuisance, I think a lot of the premier league is going to be in for a shock from us. We have a clear plan, a team that knows how it wants to play and the financial backing to make a good impact and a very, very good manager. As much as i dream about challenging for the top 6, it wont happen yet. Saying that, i havent seen a great deal from any team from Arsenal down that would overly worry me. With the right additions we will make top 10.

I know you guys wont have seen much of him, but Neves is so good its ridiculous. Apart from Citeh, there really wouldn't be a premier league side that he wouldn't get in. You can just tell with some players how good they are, and he is just far, far too good. I think every Wolves fan is resigned to him only being here for next season if we are lucky, we just wont be able to hold him.

I also saw a comment saying we only have a little more money than Leicester, Totally wrong. I think people are getting confused between the wealth of Guo Guangchang who is the chairman of Fosun, and Fosun themselves. They have huge amounts of money, a couple of years ago they were raking in something like £25 million a day, and they have the contacts to help spend the wealth wisely.

Hopefully you guys can get yourselves a manager you are happy with. Blokes like Allardyce arent bad managers, but they are pragmatic but he has been generally dull in his play for a while. He does the job he needs to do but he wont kick you on like you all expect to at Everton. Dont know where you turn if you dispose of him, but i think you could have a rebuild on your hands.

You sound just a little cocky pal, I can understand where it comes from after walking through the Championship, but comments like "with the right additions we will make top 10" is more than a little presumptuous.

Plenty of teams in the past few years have come up to the PL with sugar daddy owners, and then seen it all end in tears. I remember QPR splashing the cash not so long ago on expensive stars, and that didn't end well for them. Money in the past couple of years ain't done us much good, either.