Wolves’ loss to Sunderland can only be seen as a disaster in their hunt to survive relegation, and Vitor Pereira’s post-match comments do no good in lifting the mood.
It was a must-win game for the Old Gold, who now sit 12 points behind Sunderland, and all signs point towards at least one of the newly promoted sides staying up.
The Wanderers are at rock bottom in the Premier League, and still without a win.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 15 |  LeedsLeeds | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 8 |
| 16 |  BrentfordBrentford | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 |  BurnleyBurnley | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 7 |
| 18 |  Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 5 |
| 19 |  West HamWest Ham | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 4 |
| 20 |  WolvesWolves | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -11 | 2 |
Pressure is mounting on Pereira, who says he will leave if he feels he has lost the players, but the head coach’s comments after the match could end up coming back to haunt him.
Vitor Pereira placing blame on Wolves’ players is naive
Speaking after Wolves’ 2-0 loss to Sunderland, Vitor Pereira placed blame on his players for the defeat.
In short, he suggested his players did not follow his game plan and resorted to long-ball tactics in the final moments, saying via BBC Sport, “In the last 15 minutes with two strikers we stopped playing; we started playing the long ball, and this is not our game.”
Of course, the Wolves’ players do have to take some blame, but the issue of them not following instructions has been a recurring theme for much of this season.
If it happens once, that is the players’ fault; when it consistently happens, that is on the management.
After losing to Bournemouth, Matt Doherty said they ignored instructions to avoid the centre of the pitch, and then just a week later, Vitor Pereira stated his players ignored the same instruction.
There have been numerous occasions when the players did not follow the plan, and that is an issue caused by the coaching staff, and not the players.
Pointing the finger at your players is naive when the issue appears to be your ability to get your message across.
Pereira insists he will stay as long as the club wants him and as long as he feels the players believe in him, but turning the blame onto your players for a fifteen-minute period, when a whole lot more of the game was poor, is setting himself up for failure.
Vitor Pereira is playing a dangerous game at Wolves
Playing the blame game is a dangerous precedent, and it is the same one that got his predecessor sacked last season.
Shortly after a loss to Ipswich, Gary O’Neil said, “People can point the finger at me, but some of the responsibilities have to land on the players in those moments.”
That would ultimately be O’Neil’s final match in charge, and while his dismissal was down to results, the public blame did not help in keeping the dressing room behind him.
There will be many fans hoping for Pereira to exit sooner rather than later, and they’ll believe another manager could get more out of the current squad.
With more comments like those after Sunderland, the likelihood of that happening increases. Pereira is slowly running out of favour, although he still does have some, if not very little, credit in the bank.
Publicly blaming the players, even if true, is not the way to go.