Wolves fan column: April feels a long way back - but Rob Edwards can make his impact felt

Sooner rather than later we will discover whether the arrival of Rob Edwards offers a realistic hope of resuscitating an appalling season or if as seems more likely, he is facing a futile lost cause before he even starts.

Eight points adrift from safety and no league win since last April when Molineux happily gloated over the demise of a hapless Leicester spiralling towards relegation. We had won at Old Trafford the week before and proceeded to dismantle The Foxes as easy as wink.

The delight and schadenfreude deliciously intensified as Jose Sa comfortably saved a penalty from the much-derided Jamie Vardy. A blissful conclusion to our sixth win on the trot; how quickly events have turned.

Six wins? Seems now like a psychotic mirage; painfully more realistic is a closer empathy as to how the Leicester fans were suffering their humiliation.

All of us on the sidelines can only worry and wish Edwards well; it would be both unwise and unfair to expect him to immediately transform a palpably failing squad with confidence at such a low ebb into a thriving and revitalised outfit brimming with resolution and intent.

But for starters, let’s settle for a restoration of a smidgen of pride.

His options are strategically limited; the owner’s policy of self-sufficiency and voluntarily choosing to remain static being wholly at odds with flourishing in the Premier League.

Edwards can do nothing about this misguided stance, the effect has been progressively ruinous, but he can decide on and stick to a sustainable system and pattern of play.

He can identify his best starting eleven and instil some semblance of defensive organisation to alleviate much of the chaos that has prevailed all season.

He can try to identify players who will take a lead and accept responsibility; he doesn’t have the luxury of a Mike Bailey or a Conor Coady, but having had enough captains this campaign to fill a basketball court shows the measure of our dysfunctionality.

Forge some sort of identity; Wolves will lose a whole lot more games this season but at least make the opposition work for the privilege.

Rivals are laughing at us in the same way that we sneered at Leicester last April; it’s beyond embarrassing.

It’s difficult to be positive but Edwards simply has to be.