Survey shows fans are losing faith in Wolves recruitment

Returning for the first time since 2019 due to Covid-19, the Express & Star fans’ survey was taken by 3,900 people and gave supporters the chance to assess the 2021/22 season and look forward to the next campaign.

Bruno Lage enjoyed a largely successful first year in charge but witnessed a late collapse as Wolves finished 10th and threw away the chance to return to Europe.

The club’s biggest transfer incomings saw Jose Sa, Hwang Hee-chan and Francisco Trincao all arrive and enjoy varying levels of success – while squad depth was an issue that concerned supporters.

Of those that took the survey, an overwhelming majority of 97 per cent said they were unhappy with the summer transfer window, while 98 per cent were not impressed with the business in January.

Moving that forward to this summer and it continues to make for grim reading, as 84 per cent insisted they have no faith in the recruitment plan for this summer, while 64 per cent said they did not have faith in the Wolves board.

Despite that, Sa had an incredibly impressive first season at Molineux – resulting in 94 per cent of those surveyed voting him as their signing of the season, while 61 per cent named him their player of the season. In the other options, Ruben Neves got 22 per cent of the vote, Max Kilman got 13 per cent, Daniel Podence got one per cent and ‘other’ got three per cent. Neves’ future is still a huge talking point this summer and will heavily impact the recruitment until the end of August. After a superb season it is no surprise that 75 per cent of supporters voted for him as the one player they would most like to keep this summer.

If the midfielder was to depart, however, 54 per cent of fans said it would take a minimum bid of £70million if they were to let him leave the club. Only 10 per cent of fans said it would take at least £100million, while 35 per cent wanted a minimum of £50m and one per cent wanted £30m.

Neves also won the vote for goal of the season, with his wonderful chip against Watford winning 61 per cent of the vote.

Despite Wolves’ late collapse, 70 per cent of fans still believe it was the right decision to appoint Lage, while 72 per cent were unhappy finishing in 10th.

Looking ahead to the new season, plenty of supporters are expecting a better return.

When asked what the minimum expectation is for next season, 40 per cent said mid-table, while finishing in the top seven earned 39 per cent of the vote.

A total of 21 per cent felt avoiding relegation was enough, while no fans voted for a top four finish.