Matt Maher: The silence is far from golden for Wolves fans

On one side are supporters, united like rarely before in frustration and anger, appealing ever louder for the club to reconsider the decision to ramp up prices to levels some simply cannot afford while posing a moral dilemma even for those who can.

On the other side you have the club, largely silent and seemingly of the belief if they sit tight and stay quiet the trouble will eventually blow over. You will find few observers prepared to bet it will.

Caught in the eye of the storm, meanwhile, is Jeff Shi, the club chairman who, whether he likes it or not, has the role of villain in the piece.

Type Shi’s name into any social media search engine right now and the results are not complementary.

One particular image, which surfaced late last week, featured his face imposed on the body of former Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey. More than once in recent days, it has been claimed the season ticket hike is Shi’s Pie and a Pint moment, referring to the infamous 2007 decision to give the South Bank to visiting Albion supporters for an FA Cup tie, a blunder from which Moxey’s reputation and standing among fans never fully recovered.

Except, this is much worse.

Sure, the Pie and a Pint fiasco was a serious error of judgement and a humiliating experience for Wolves supporters, even more so when the Baggies went and won the tie and they had to endure the sight of their rivals celebrating on ground they deem sacred.

Yet at no point were they being priced out of attending.

At no stage were they forced to consider the question of just how much their love for the club was worth.

Wolves don’t so much risk selling their soul here, as locking it out of Molineux altogether.

Such has been the relative silence from Shi, at least through official lines of communication, you can’t help but wonder if he understands just how strong the strength of feeling is?

The chairman has not, of course, been completely quiet. Or, to be more precise, his email account hasn’t, firing off replies at all times of day in an attempt to placate fans but also justify, once more, the price rise.

In one exchange, Shi made a further defence of the “benchmarking” strategy Wolves claim to have used in setting new prices, referencing the equally high cost of attending matches at Villa Park.

That is a fiendishly tricky argument to make stick, mostly because most supporters care not a jot about what others might be paying elsewhere, yet also because the club used for comparison has just enjoyed two much more successful seasons.

It all adds up to rather ham-fisted communication, which satisfies no-one.

In many ways it is simply a continuation of how this story started, with a column in this newspaper which included the phrase: “If you only pursue trophies or consistent European football, Wolves might not be an ideal choice.”

That line, immediately pounced on by fans and repeated consistently over the past week, has the potential to haunt Shi for a long time.

So too could claims of a “price freeze” or “small increase” a year from now, promises which at this point are impossible for any football club chairman to make, not least one who ultimately takes his instruction from China.

In the short-term the mood will only worsen unless Shi accepts the offer of entering dialogue with supporter groups.

Attempts to open clearer lines of communication, both from his newspaper and internally, have so far proved unsuccessful.

Maybe he will really attempt to brazen it out, to test the resolve of those fans who right now insist they will not renew but who might waver the closer the June 14 deadline approaches.

You could, perhaps, argue the logic to such a strategy. The truth, ultimately, will lie in the numbers. There is also the awkward argument of how much Wolves, or indeed any other Premier League, actually want large-scale season ticket renewals? The ultimate corporate dream would be for 30,000 different people to turn up every week, each buying a shirt and scarf in the club shop.

Yet the risk of standing firm surely exceeds any reward? With each passing day, the relationship between club and supporters becomes that bit more damaged and that bit much tougher to repair.

It will make things a whole lot tougher for everyone, not just Shi but Gary O’Neil, his staff and players, should the new season open with an underlying mood of discontent in the fanbase.

On that note, another key difference between now and 2007 is the timing.

The Pie and a Pint episode occurred mid-season, with Mick McCarthy’s team going on to win seven of their next eight matches.

Shi can count on no such distraction to change the narrative. Wolves don’t play another match until August, while it is largely accepted this is another summer when they won’t be splashing loads of cash in the transfer market unless there is a significant outgoing.

The only announcement expected out of Wolves in the coming days is confirmation of a new sponsorship with another Far East betting firm. It is not the type of development likely to win people round.

Moxey’s Pie and a Pint gaffe left a bad taste but within 18 months had been washed away by promotion and confined to mostly memory.

The consequences of this error, if left unattended, has the potential to be many times more serious.