Tim Spiers comment: Why the Wolves situation is untenable

A season that promised so much was rendered all-but over before Valentine's Day.

And there was certainly no love for Kenny Jackett, Steve Morgan or Jez Moxey, with the trio feeling the heat from the stands on a bitterly cold Molineux afternoon, write Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.

Wolves are 11 points off the top six. And 14 off the relegation zone.

They're in limbo, on and off the field, although watching them at the moment feels more like purgatory. And it's the supporters who are paying for the sins of those that run Wolverhampton Wanderers.

There was so much to be dissatisfied about here.

The limp, reactive performance. The lack of a coherent gameplan. The dull football that saw just two shots aimed at Anders Lindegaard's goal. The baffingly high number of players who performed nowhere near what they are capable of.

And the absence of a new £3m striker in the starting XI.

At Reading, a more defensive set-up served its purpose. But to leave Mason out again made little sense.

Jackett seems almost to be making a point to those above him that he wanted Mason to be the first of two strikers to join last month.

On January 27, speaking about Mason before the deal was confirmed, Jackett said: "Getting the right partnership in that area is a key one for us. I think he would be one part of that.

"In an ideal world we'd bring in two striking options now. He would be one."

Well that second striker wasn't forthcoming. And Jackett, as a result, looks tactically lost, particularly at home and particularly when it comes to working Mason into his side.

Shorn of Jordan Graham, Michal Zyro and David Edwards, and with James Henry off injured, Rajiv van La Parra back to his anonymous worst and Kevin McDonald surprisingly benched, there was next to no creativity in this team.

You have to ask, who, in their performances, is demanding a place in this side? Who is saying, this is my shirt and no one is getting it off me? Who is undroppable?

On Saturday it was painful to watch at times. Preston, in an inventive 3-5-1-1 formation that befuddled the home side no end, were very deserving winners.

The home fans voiced their frustration, levelling it chiefly at Moxey. The embattled chief executive suits the pantomime villain role for many, but although he is partly culpable, that ire is misdirected.

Everything that happens at this football club comes from directives set by Steve Morgan. Kevin Thelwell identifies which players should be bought, and Kenny Jackett coaches and picks the team. Moxey is the money man and as far as ingoing and outgoing transfer fees in recent years, plus reducing the current wage bill, he has done good work.

They're all to blame, and for the time being they're all going nowhere.

For the team, there seems hope only in those who weren't playing on Saturday.

Jed Wallace must surely be recalled from his productive Millwall loan, while Zyro and Mike Williamson, plus a starting Mason, would be an improvement.

But this cannot go on. Three more months of this will destroy all of the good work that's gone to reconnect the club with its long-suffering fans in the past two years, if it isn't too late already.

Three more months of going nowhere in the table, of insipid performances that give fans barely anything to cheer, of no positive signs looking to next season, and it will be too much to take for many.

Early bird sales will reflect in numbers just how apathetic this loyal supporter base is.

Much more of this and the fans will demand change, be it the chief executive, the head coach or the head of recruitment, for, while Morgan finalises his escape route, they are the three in the firing line.

And in that situation Wolves will have to act. Because the status quo is untenable.