Many Wolves fans can hardly believe what has happened this season after such a chaotic summer – and a former Molineux player believes one thing at the club is ‘the best since Nuno’.
Wolves are sitting ninth in the Premier League table at the moment, having already equalled their points tally from the whole of last season.
The team have also scored 42 goals, after only scoring 31 in the whole of the last Premier League campaign.
Gary O’Neil has done a sterling job.
Expectations were on the floor when he replaced Julen Lopetegui and so many big-name players had left in order to help alleviate financial pressure.
But he’s done amazingly well – and former Old Gold player Neil Emblen believes one thing is helping the club to soar…
Former Molineux midfielder Neil Emblem says the chemistry at Wolves is ‘the best since Nuno’
Wolves sat down with Neil Emblen this week for a chat on Wolves Weekly.
The former midfielder, who played for Wolves from 1994 until 1997, and then again from 1998 to 2001, spoke to Mikey Burrows about his time out in the US as an assistant coach at Colorado Rapids at the moment.
He also talked about Wolves’ recent 3-2 defeat to Coventry City in the FA Cup, and the process of losing a game a team is expected to win.
He, like so many Wolves fans, has been so impressed with the job O’Neil has done, and believes the club is in a really good place. For him, the chemistry is the best it’s been since the days of Nuno Espirito Santo.
He said: “I believe there will be disappointment (losing to Coventry). Because that trip to Wembley would have been something massive. It’s absolutely massive, still an iconic day out.
“But I think the backup of it is, they’re having such a great season in the Premier League and have probably exceeded everyone’s expectations. I’m hoping it won’t affect the team on the pitch, and they can just finish the season doing what they’ve been doing and the crowd just forgets about it, in a way.
“It’s about backing the people that have brought that success.
“I do feel at the moment the chemistry is really good, I think it’s the best since Nuno. Between the fans believing in the team and what the team are giving and how they’re exceeding expectations. I had that feeling when Nuno was in charge, when they were getting promotion to the Premier League and in those first couple of years. I feel that’s back.”
Wolves in the healthiest place they’ve been in for some time
It’s hard to argue with the suggestion from Emblen that the chemistry at Wolves is the best it’s been since the Nuno days.
O’Neil has done an extremely underrated job in terms of actually restoring a real togetherness at the club.
Previously, it was fractured. The Bruno Lage era did not end well, and there was then a rather chaotic search for a new manager, which eventually led to the appointment of Lopetegui.
After some initial highs, the Spaniard’s reign also ended a little sourly, with the club under big financial pressure at the time of his exit. Lots of players were sold, and supporters were genuinely fearing the worst for this season.
But O’Neil came in and believed in the players. In turn, the fans have believed in those players and O’Neil, and the club is now in its’ healthiest position for quite some time.