Fan column: Hard-working Wolves still lacking in game-changing quality

And woe betide any Wolves’ player who shirked that message. 

Generations later, the current squad apply themselves to this maxim just as diligently as their illustrious predecessors. Simply cannot fault them; but the difference is that coupled with their unstinting work ethic, the best Cullis teams were sprinkled with some of the very finest players of that period. 

Outstanding footballers of the highest quality each of them completely aware and fully aligned with their roles and responsibilities. In short, they were a magnificent team, brimming with confidence and frightened of nobody. 

In contrast, Vitor Pereira is presiding over a disjointed squad, a team of moving parts, uncertain of its identity with an awful lot to work out. The strongest starting XI, the most effective formation and how to inject a genuine cutting edge into a misfiring offensive unit are all ongoing dilemmas for the head coach. 

So too, defensive anxiety leading to costly individual errors that a coach simply cannot legislate for. 

Pereira has undoubtedly been dealt a difficult hand; the absence through injury of Strand Larsen leaves a gaping chasm up front but chances have to be created to be converted. One massive drawback is the fact that Cunha, Ait-Nouri and Semedo were three outstanding ball carriers all capable of making decisive interventions into opposition territory to create opportunities. 

The three of them offered much more besides; all departed in a heartbeat with nobody to match their respective contributions and that palpably is not the fault of Vitor Pereira. 

When Wolves concede the first goal in matches, as they invariably do, to say that we face an uphill task to gain parity is an understatement. With Cunha, we had a game-changer every defence was wary of. 

Without his ingenuity and his alertness and imagination to see and exploit openings, the pitch is claustrophobic; as a result, we are so much easier to defend against right now. 

Our players will keep trying no doubts on that score, but that embarrassing nought in the points column has to start shifting pretty damn soon. 

A duff outcome against Leeds on Saturday would be hard to stomach. Patience does eventually run out; it did even for a giant of the game like Stan Cullis.