The slow start to this Premier League season didn’t come as a shock to Wolves fans given the performances displayed during pre-season.
Wolves managed no wins in the summer action as they prepared for opening day. The window was busier than usual, with plenty of player movement in and out.
The final days of the window saw Wolves fail with target after target, causing concern around the club once the deadline passed.
Vitor Pereira acknowledges the struggles Wolves have had, and suggests a possible explanation.
Vitor Pereira thinks scattered nature of transfer business prevented cohesion at Wolves
The high-profile exits of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri came early in the window, but Wolves’ replacement efforts lasted all summer long.
Departures and arrivals occurring throughout made it difficult to settle the squad, as Pereira explains to E&S: “For me, the worst thing was that we started work and pre-season with players who knew they would leave the club.
“After one player came, two or three weeks went and another player came, then another month for another player.”
His theory may have some truth to it, as the lack of chemistry within the side has been evident in the opening weeks.
Pereira has been dealt a difficult hand with the amount of change at Wolves ahead of his first full season.
“In the end, pre-season was not the pre-season I had imagined to do.”
A win against Newcastle would be huge for morale at Wolves
To assume the role of optimist for a second and imagine Wolves coming away from St James’ Park with a win, it would completely lift the mood around the club.
Aside from a memorable Carabao Cup comeback, Wolves fans have had little to cheer for this season.
Newcastle are a formidable side on their day, but they haven’t been in flying form to start the season.
Eddie Howe is dealing with a number of absences, and the new signings who are available aren’t guaranteed a good performance.
If their best version isn’t on display this weekend and Wolves can steal three points, all of a sudden, the pre-season problems and depth concerns fade out of view, if only for a while.