Wolves' plight now 'agony' to Dean Saunders
Dean Saunders today admitted he is feeling the heat of Wolves' deepening crisis after confessing: "I'm in agony".
The Wolves boss goes into tomorrow's visit of Championship leaders Cardiff with the team in the bottom three and two points from safety with 13 games left before today's fixtures.
Saunders is still searching for his first win after seven games in charge while the team have gone 11 matches without a victory.
"I'm enjoying the job but I'm in agony at the moment at what's going on," said Saunders.
"I wake up in the morning and it's the first thing that comes into my head – 'how didn't we beat Barnsley? Because we played well'.
"Sometimes I'd rather we played shockingly poor and won 1-0.
"It's my pride and I'm trying to put two and a half years' worth of problems right in six weeks."
Saunders now admits the challenge is different to what he thought when he was appointed, when he boldly declared he could get the team into the play-offs.
"It's a big club with big expectations with players who have been playing at a higher level on Premier League contracts and a group of players from three different managers and some who haven't played in this league before, and I'm trying to get the whole thing right in six weeks," he said.
"At the time, I was just thinking 'we just need to get winning' but it's not going to get me on the floor."
Fans are now beginning to question Saunders after just four points from 21, after some furiously berated the players as they came off following Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Barnsley.
But Saunders insists he can cope with the growing pressure. "It's part of the job – if you want to be a football manager, you're going to get criticised," he said.
"I take some of it on board but the rest of it just bounces off me because I know if we win two games, everything I do is right."
Saunders insists he would much prefer the fans to voice their concerns rather than sit in silence.
"The fans here are so passionate; I'd rather have that than fans who just sit there like it's a library," he said. "When we're ahead, the way they get behind the team is second to none."
