Max Kilman has hailed Bruno Lage, after the defender scooped the Wolves’ Fans Footballer of the Year award.
The centre-back has been the talk of the town at Molineux over the past few months.
After struggling to nail down a regular starting place under Nuno Espirito Santo, Kilman is now a staple of one of the Premier League’s meanest defences.
On Sunday, the 24-year-old lined up for his 20th appearance of the season.
He has played 90 minutes in every single game across every competition so far.
Few would really have expected that, but he’s been outstanding since the very beginning.
Lage came into the club and most people expected Wolves to become better offensively.
That is still a work in progress. But Lage’s impact on the defence has been wonderful, with Kilman particularly impacted by the new manager’s arrival.
He won the Birmingham Mail’s vote for Fans’ Footballer of the Year with 40%, beating Jose Sa, Adama Traore and Pedro Neto.
Speaking about his win, Kilman couldn’t help but praise his manager.
He said: “I’m really enjoying working under him. I think it shows with everyone else in the team. Everyone has been enjoying the influence the coaching staff have and you can see this season, we’ve been playing well and dominating possession in certain games and defending really well.
“We are using the centre-backs more to carry out the ball and break lines. We’re being a bit more aggressive defensively, for example playing a higher line.”
Max Kilman emergence one of Bruno Lage’s best achievements
This emergence from Kilman is truly fantastic to see.
Many Wolves fans were urging Nuno to play him more last season, as they felt there was a top player there.
He couldn’t quite get the full trust of Lage’s predecessor though, but he is massively in favour now.
Lage has done some really good things since coming to the club. But the improvements he has prompted in Kilman may well be some of his finest work.