Mel Eves: Give Wolves boss Bruno Lage the right tools
Former Wolves star Mel Eves has urged the club to give Bruno Lage the ‘right tools’ to make a statement against predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo.
Lage’s squad began pre-season at Compton on Monday, with the Portuguese looking to get his style of play across as soon as possible.
Plenty of eyes are already on his first competitive game at Molineux when he will take on Nuno’s Tottenham on August 22.
And Eves hopes Lage continues to be backed in the transfer market ahead of the clash.
“It’ll be a big welcome for Bruno. We’re all hoping he does well,” said Eves.
“There’s a good few weeks to go before then, and it’ll be interesting to see what the make-up of his squad is by then. That’s the big thing.
“It’s all good Bruno coming in with big ideas, but a manager can only do so much.
“If he wants to paint a masterpiece, he needs the right tools to do it.
“So, he’s got to be given a good squad of players to give himself a chance – and that’s down to the recruitment staff and Fosun.
“You’ve got to have the players because no matter how good a manager you are, you can’t do it for them.
“That’s what everybody will keep an eye on now.
“They’ve got to give him the squad that gives him the chance to get to where they want to be.”
Wolves have already brought in two players this window in Colombian centre-half Yerson Mosquera and Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao, while a permanent deal for Rayan Ait-Nouri is also due to be wrapped up.
Lage joined on a three-year deal last month after the exit of Nuno, who got the Spurs job after an arduous search for Jose Mourinho’s replacement.
Eves expects Nuno to be given a good reception when he returns to Molineux while Lage looks to seal a big victory over his compatriot.
“I think Nuno will get a great ovation from the Wolves fans,” he added.
“He conducted himself impeccably while here, on and off the pitch. Of course, he made the £250,000 donation to the Feed Our Pack initiative which was different class.
“He’s got himself a move to one of the ‘big six’ clubs. Everybody appreciates what he did for Wolves and wishes him all the best – apart from August 22 as far as the result is concerned.”
