Fan column: Wolves facing major dilemma in difficult relegation fight

 Should Wolves come unstuck against Burnley, our Executive chairman will be facing the same ludicrous dilemma he created for himself with Gary O’Neil. He coveted O’Neil and now Periera with long contract extensions which in O’Neil’s case proved to be wholly misguided. 

The same depressing scenario becomes increasingly evident with each frustrating game. Regardless of what happens, the unpalatably stark equation is that Wolves have 30 matches remaining and they probably have to win at least 10 of them. 

Taking the end of last season into account, our current record reads a frightening three points accrued from the last 36 on offer. Conjuring up 10 or more wins in what remains of this season is stretching feasibility to its limits; Wolves aren’t sleepwalking towards relegation they have made the journey with their eyes wide open. 

How they extricate themselves from this outrageous mess is anyone’s guess. 

Logic suggests that they don’t have a clue themselves. Watching Periera interviewed post-match, the man seemed at the end of his tether; his jaunty optimism in stating that for 30second half minutes, Wolves played with ‘high quality’ simply a defence mechanism rather than any credible statement of fact. 

He achieved much last season in pushing back a tide of mediocrity at Molineux; replicating this is looking to be increasingly beyond his capabilities. Extenuating circumstances are plentiful; he lost the spine of last year’s team and he has been restricted by the plainness of those newly recruited. 

A handicap any manager would find challenging but with discontent festering and an increasing exasperation regarding the inevitable outcome of this malaise, his influence is rapidly diminishing. 

But it’s a relatively straightforward process to dispense with a manager; Watford have transformed it into an art-form and Postecoglou was in and out at Forest before the ink was dry on his contract. 

But replacing one is a whole lot more difficult; Wolves should they decide to change course won’t be lacking interested parties, but the calibre of the potential candidates will surely be the problem. 

The club persisted with O’Neil for far too long last season when his position was untenable but they got away with it. But the squad left behind by O’Neil was wholly better than this current one; and that’s our biggest obstacle.