Wolves’ summer window has been criticised for multiple reasons, with the main one being they did not sign enough quality, but now Alan Pardew believes there was another issue.
A poor transfer window has left the Old Gold sitting at the bottom of the Premier League, and truthfully, things are starting to look bleak.
New signings David Moller Wolfe and Tolu Arokodare sparked some optimism with impressive performances against Chelsea, and now the pair must start against Fulham.
However, we are entering November, and overall, all but Ladislav Krejci have yet to make a major impact.
Alan Pardew has a theory as to why that is the case.
Alan Pardew thinks Wolves’ tactic of only signing foreign players is backfiring
Alan Pardew had a managerial career that spanned 25 years, so the Englishman certainly has a lot of experience in that realm.
Throughout his time, he would also have been involved in multiple transfer dealings, as well as squad building for an upcoming season.
With that experience in mind, Pardew offered an explanation as to why he believes things have not gone well for Wolves and their new signings so far
Speaking on TalkSPORT, he believes it is due to focusing too much on the foreign market.
Pardew said, “I go back to one of my rows with Arsene Wenger; I had two or three rows with him. One was about when he fielded a team with no English players, and I highlighted it.
“But the issue I had is I want England to be strong, and Wolves carry, I think, the least amount of Englishmen or British players in their squad in the whole country or the Premier League.
“I had it at Newcastle a couple of times, that when you are in that market of buying players, they are looking for a move to a bigger club, and they are using your club.
“So you get individuals, and people who have their own agenda, people passing through. When you are winning, all is ok, but when you are losing, it manifests and becomes more of an issue.
“We’ve got no voice in the dressing room, no leadership; everyone is here for themselves, not the right attitude. Agents saying my player is fine but the rest are no good, all that going up to the owner, the owner coming down on the manager – it starts getting problematic.”
Pardew has sympathised with Vitor Pereira, and staunchly believes that the Portuguese head coach has been left out to dry by the Wolves ownership.
However, Vitor Pereira’s own personal opinion for the transfer window has also led to the Old Gold struggling, meaning the head coach is not entirely blameless.
Wolves have a lack of English players
There are very few English players in the Wolves squad, and only Sam Johnstone has featured for the Old Gold out of those players.
Johnstone has played five times in the Premier League this season and has left the Wanderers with the fewest number of English player appearances.
The only other English player in the squad is backup goalkeeper Dan Bentley.
The new signings have all come from foreign leagues, and while that strategy has worked out in the past, this season they needed players who understood the intensity of English football.
If any business is conducted in January, and they desperately need to sign players, the potential new arrivals should join, having already experienced English football.
Wolves’ hand may be forced, as homegrown rules will dictate who they can and cannot sign.