Wolves news: Opinion – Mike Taylor on Vitor Pereira’s squad

“It’s your round, Vitor,” Wolves fans have taken to singing over the past few weeks, as their head coach continues his single-handed effort to refloat the Black Country brewing industry.

It is unlikely he has been short of people offering to buy his beer. But this run of wins is now about much more than points and pints. It presents an opportunity.

This is not the first time in the past few, often queasy, seasons for Wolves when the club – taking players, staff and fans together – have experienced a surge in confidence out of adversity.

Two years ago, fearing relegation, they replaced Bruno Lage with Julen Lopetegui, replenished the squad and were safe with weeks to spare. Last season, after the hurried appointment of Gary O’Neil, by mid-March they were eighth in the Premier League and in the last eight of the FA Cup.

The euphoria now seems to be of a different order to those two previous situations, but they are nevertheless instructive.

Both could have been platforms to move forwards, but the moments quickly passed. Lopetegui and the club were soon at odds with each other over future plans. A lack of resources broke the spell under O’Neil, who proved unable to restore it.

Are Wolves better placed now to ride this next wave? It seems so.

Pereira is rightly receiving much of the credit for the revival, but after a period in which the club’s hierarchy has been sharply criticised, we should note that others have helped to create the conditions for him.

Wolves found him in the first place – he was not necessarily an obvious choice – and the mid-season signings of Emmanuel Agbadou and Marshall Munetsi have made a positive difference on a reasonable budget.

Pereira, who signed a contract only for 18 months on arrival, should be in a strong position to make his case to the club about how to prepare for next season. It is always easy to spend other people’s money, of course, but the squad does not seem in need of quite the same level investment that Lopetegui evidently wanted.

Whether Matheus Cunha stays or goes, there is a viable route to preparing well for next season.

Goodwill in football is hard-won and easily wasted. The widely reported story this week concerning Wolves’ women’s team illustrates just how.

The results achieved under Pereira over the past few weeks offer the club a great opportunity, but it will need careful handling over the coming weeks to capitalise, and make the moment last.

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