Wolves Comment: Not in the Van La Plan

Many players over the years have been booed , castigated and written off, only to be welcomed back into the fold, writes Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.

Any suggestion of anything less than 100 per cent effort and commitment being given, as a host of players have discovered, will earn their wrath in an often vitriolic fashion.

But given time, and effort, those wounds will heal.

In recent years examples that spring to mind are Andy Keogh, Karl Henry and even Roger Johnson (Johnson was booed when merely warming up as a substitute at Wigan away in 2012, only for his name to be sung in the following Championship season, before it all went sour again).

Even Steve Bull was booed by his own once, during an FA Cup tie against Bolton at Molineux.

Booing your own players is a far more common notion overseas (even Gareth Bale was booed by Real Madrid fans a few months ago) and although it's a rarity on these shores, it has and does happen, certainly at Molineux.

Many think it a deplorable, sacrilegious act.

But in the heat of the moment, some supporters just can't help themselves, and this is exactly what happened at Griffin Park last Tuesday.

Rajiv van La Parra had been ignored during the first half. But as soon as Brentford's goal went in, a switch was flicked in a furious away end, and every Van La Parra touch was booed thereafter until he was jeered off the field when being given the hook by Kenny Jackett just a few minutes later.

Twenty-four hours earlier Van La Parra caused fury with his social media comment: "One week they love you. Next week they hate you. Both weeks I got paid."

An apology on the Tuesday afternoon before the match appeased few.

And it was no surprise to see the Dutchman dropped from the squad completely for Saturday's victory over Derby, with Kenny Jackett no doubt fearing that if the crowd turned on Wolves for the fourth successive match in a row, Van La Parra would have felt the brunt of their anger.

The Wolves boss said: "I didn't feel it was the right thing to use him on Saturday. We'll just have to assess it now as the time goes on.

"He's with us and training, he trained well on Monday. If I feel it's right to use Rajiv van La Parra, I will."

It was a sage move to spare Van La Parra and take him out of the firing line.

Jackett's team needed – and received – a positive Molineux atmosphere and any boos aimed at the Dutchman would have negated that.

The question now is, can, or indeed will, the winger be "reintegrated", Kevin Pietersen-style, into the Wolves fold again?

Jackett has already allowed Van La Parra to leave the club permanently this season, when granting him permission to speak to Leeds at the end of the summer transfer window, so it's not as if he needs many excuses to get rid.

He gave the green light for loan moves to Bolton and Brighton, with the former breaking down when the Trotters' financial problems came to light.

While at Brighton he made some unnecessarily disparaging comments, claiming Wolves hadn't contacted him while he was on loan.

Jackett retorted that he had watched every single Brighton game that Van La Parra had played.

But the Dutchman was still confused, bizarrely, about why he was out of favour at Molineux, failing to grasp that James Henry's form had kept him out of the team.

"It's unreal," he said. "I played last season and I then went onto the bench not playing as many games.

"It's a mystery. I didn't understand what happened but sometimes these things happen in football."

Post-Brighton, Huddersfield were interested in him in January, but with Van La Parra producing three consecutive performances of a very high standard, Wolves elected against letting him go.

And that, more than any immature Instragram comment, is what has befuddled and displeased Wolves supporters more than anything else – his inconsistent performances.

He failed to take his chance earlier in the season, with anonymous displays against Preston away and Middlesbrough at home springing to mind, then starred for then-league leaders Brighton on loan, scoring as many goals (two) for the Seagulls in six appearances than in 57 for Wolves.

He continued that form for Jackett's team with man of the match performances against Fulham, Cardiff and QPR.

Since then...nadda, nothing, zilch, for five games in a row.

In person Van La Parra is a likeable guy, he clearly loves his football and just wants to play, like any footballer.

He has the ability too, and he's proved he has the work ethic (his harassing of the Fulham defenders in that 3-2 win in January was inspiring).

But he doesn't have the consistency. And at aged 24, he can't be considered a developing youngster anymore.

With Henry possibly returning to the squad for Friday's trip to Middlesbrough, and Jackett speaking highly of young winger Connor Hunte's improvement in recent months, Van La Parra looks to have a job to even win a place on the bench.

But if and when he gets his chance again, he will be judged on his attitude more than anything else.

Prove his commitment to the cause and the Wolves fans will sing his name - and he can have a long and successful future with the club.

It may be a cliché but in this case it resonates – Van La Parra needs to do his talking on the pitch.

If not, Wolves will move on without him. And he'll only have himself to blame.