Despite how bleak things look at Wolves right now, Marshall Munetsi is trying to stay positive amid doubts over Vitor Pereira’s future.
Sunday’s loss to Burnley has brought the mood around Wolves down even further, but one of the weekend’s goalscorers, Munetsi, thinks there is still reason to keep the faith.
Before the disappointing loss, Munetsi was defiant about Wolves avoiding relegation. Even after such a hammer-blow, he remains steadfast in his belief that the season is salvageable.
After the game, he had a message for the fans.
Marshall Munetsi urges fans to stay behind Vitor Pereira
Two points from nine games makes it difficult to stay positive about Pereira right about now.
That said, Martin O’Neill urged patience from fans amid calls for sacking, and the Zimbabwe international is echoing the same.
Featuring on the Wolves website, Munetsi acknowledges that his team are in a difficult moment, but that it’s not as hopeless as it looks.
He says: “I understand when fans get frustrated, he (Pereira) understands also.
“It’s just a phase that we cannot explain, but we just have to keep on working together, supporting the manager, supporting the players, and also for the supporters to keep on being behind us, because we still have 29 games to go, so a lot can still happen in 29 games.”
Pereira will recognise his job is under threat, but he isn’t expending energy worrying about that. Rather, he and the players have their minds set only on turning their form around.
Munetsi uses last season’s comeback under Pereira as encouragement
As uniquely awful as this start to the season feels, it’s a similar story to last campaign.
Pereira was able to bring Wolves out of the relegation fight, and Munetsi sees no reason why that can’t happen again.
As he puts it: “He did an amazing job. Last year, when he came things were also quite tough, and he managed to turn things around.”
If the trick is to be repeated, though, Munetsi claims a similar attitude is needed from the fans as well, saying: ““If we are divided, it won’t work for us. Stick together, keep pushing.
“Last year we managed to change things because of them supporting us and winning a lot of games at home. So, it’s key for us to stick together and try to get out of the situation.”
There is truth to what Munetsi is saying here. Negative energy around the club is not going to help the team start winning. The problem is that many fans have already made up their minds about the current Wolves boss.