Rewind to the summer, and there were some Wolves fans speculating about the future of Conor Coady.
He may be the club captain, but he had not enjoyed a particularly great 2020/21 (barring Pedro Neto, which Wolves player did?) and some wondered how the arrival of Bruno Lage would impact him.
Lage had a lot of success playing a 4-4-2 system at Benfica.
Some felt he would introduce that system at Molineux.
But the 45-year-old has decided to stick with the formation the players had grown accustomed to under Nuno Espirito Santo.
It became clear early on that Coady was going to be an important player for Lage. Fears about his status as a nailed-on starter quickly went away.
And so far, Coady has been in fantastic form.
Wolves have only conceded 14 goals this term – only the top three sides have conceded fewer.
It’s been a really good showing so far from Max Kilman, Romain Saiss and Coady. Lage deserves huge credit for getting the trio to such a level.
In the last two games in particular, Coady has been absolutely outstanding.
Liverpool and Manchester City are the two most fearsome teams in the country, and two of the best teams in the world.
They have insane attacking options and although Wolves lost both games, Coady looked fantastic, making goal line clearances in both matches.
Conor Coady might be playing his best football under Bruno Lage
It is difficult to recall a time where Coady has played this well.
The 28-year-old is looking super assured right now. And few probably would have expected this kind of level from the captain. Especially after last season.
It is borderline bizarre how Lage has tightened things up like this. He arrived at the club with a reputation as being an attacking coach.
But it’s great to see Coady putting in consistently fantastic performances against high-level opposition.
Wolves have a big problem in the final third at the moment, but at least the defence is looking largely solid.