When Wolves started the Premier League season with five losses on the bounce, some were quick to voice doubts about the transfer business done over the summer.
Vitor Pereira had to watch his Wolves squad decimated by departures after a successful first season in charge.
The new faces brought in didn’t exactly hit the ground running, and it suggested the recruitment might not have been up to par.
But much of the replacement work was done late in the window, and Pereira said for weeks that it wouldn’t be an overnight fix.
Vitor Pereira uses an analogy for Wolves that seems to be proving itself correct
Talking to Sky Sports about the slow start Wolves have had, Pereira reiterates his stance on his new signings with an apt analogy.
He remarks: “Without time, it is like buying a lottery ticket. You don’t know what will happen.”
This is a good way of looking at, and judging new signings. There’s always an adjustment period, especially when you consider that none of the arrivals had played in England before.
Jhon Arias is getting there after a quiet few weeks, Ladislav Krejci has been phenomenal from the start, and we’re yet to see the best of Tolu Arokodare and Fer Lopez.
But as time passes, we get closer to that settled squad, and the results certainly suggest an upward trend.
New territory for Vitor Pereira this season
While integrating new signings is something Pereira will have plenty of experience with, he’s a rookie in managing at this end of the league.
His storied career boasts league titles in China, Greece and Portugal, and he isn’t used to scrapping at the bottom.
But that doesn’t bother the Wolves boss, as he explains: “I am not used to being in this position. It is the first time in my career that I am in this position, but I am very resilient.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself, in my staff, in our work. And I have a lot of confidence in the players, in the club and in the supporters.”
Pereira has endeared himself to the Wolves fans again and again, and he has earned trust to see out this difficult period. We have already seen the kind of side he can assemble when given the time.