Wolves have not been left in a good place for Rob Edwards, and much of that stems from Vitor Pereira this season.
The Old Gold are last in the Premier League as they gear up to take on Aston Villa in a West Midlands derby on Sunday.
In stark contrast, the Villans are in great form, picking up 18 points from a possible 21 over the last few weeks.
Anything can happen in a derby…
Since Wolves and Aston Villa have been back in the Premier League (2019), Wolves have won six of their 12 games against the Villans (50%).
Ahead of the match, Chris Sutton thinks Wolves are missing an invaluable trait for survival, and fixing that will be one of the many issues facing Rob Edwards.
And Sam Johnstone has now revealed there could be more problems than expected as he previews the trip to Villa Park.
Rob Edwards has a lot of issues to solve at Wolves that were ignored
Everyone on the outside knows the job at hand for Rob Edwards at Wolves.
Pulling the Wanderers out of the position they are in will be no easy feat, and if he pulls it off, it would be remarkable.
There were many prominent issues from Vitor Pereira’s last few months, but Sam Johnstone’s latest admission hints that the Portuguese seemingly did not want to address some of them.
And that is certainly making life harder for the new Wolves head coach.
Sam Johnstone says (via Wolves), “He’s obviously doing things that are very different from what we’ve been doing before. He’s having to put a lot of things right that were probably swept under the carpet before.
“It’s going to take time for those things to change, but we all know that we haven’t got a lot of time, so we need to take it on board quickly and try to change it as soon as possible.”
Emiliano Martinez and Sam Johnstone are the only players who have played for both Wolves and Aston Villa and are in contention to play on Sunday. There have been 23 other players to represent both, the most notable being Adama Traore, Robbie Keane, Rob Edwards and Joleon Lescott.
We’re struggling to think of them all…🤔
Johnstone’s comments not only highlight the enormity of the challenge ahead, but they also show that Edwards is dealing with a lot more than just getting results.
The Wanderers head coach is having to juggle creating a long-term platform for the club to succeed under his tenure with getting results in the short term.
Sam Johnstone hits the nail on the head
Johnstone is right; Edwards needs time to address these issues, but Wolves are also in trouble if they do not quickly turn around their form.
They are already nine points off safety, and falling further and further behind will not only make it harder to survive, but it will also dissipate any remaining optimism in the fanbase or among players.
Rob Edwards has said he’ll make changes to win games, but he must find the balance between resting players, giving players a chance, and keeping rhythm and consistency within the squad.
If he does not, he will fall into the same trap Vitor Pereira succumbed to by not knowing his best starting XI.
However, one change has already been suggested for Rob Edwards, with Dave Edwards telling him to start Krejci in midfield vs Aston Villa.
The task is monumental, but Edwards will believe in himself to get the job done, and sometimes that self-belief is a great starting point for something special.
Let’s hope that starts on Sunday, or else survival could become more of a lost cause than it already appears.
Receive a digest of our best Wolverhampton Wanderers content each week direct to your mailbox