What do Wolves fans have to believe in?

But from a crumbling stadium, to a squad not fit for purpose and a manager avoiding the wrath of those on the terraces at full-time, what is there for the supporters to believe in?

In eight consecutive seasons of Premier League football, this is Wolves’ rock bottom and it has been the result of continued mismanagement from the very top by owners Fosun.

During the game, a section of the South Bank were moved from their seats and relocated after a piece of metal fell from a PA system mounted on the stand’s roof and hit a supporter.

That individual was fortunately not seriously injured, but the incident stands as a physical representation of the club’s downfall in recent years.

Molineux needs a facelift and this historic club deserves better, but the real issue is the product on the pitch and the decisions taken to get to this moment.

Wolves were particularly poor in the first half against Sunderland and they gave away a poor goal, before Dan Ballard’s red card opened the door for a comeback, as Santi Bueno equalised early in the second half.

Rob Edwards’ side had more of the ball in the remaining action - as would be expected when playing against 10 men - but did little with it.

Adam Armstrong’s header was well saved, while Tolu Arokodare missed a huge chance, but Wolves were otherwise uninspiring.

Wolves will be desperate for the season to end now, but they have three more games to endure with a squad that is simply not anywhere near good enough.

The reason for the squad’s poor health is down to dreadful recruitment decisions from former club chairman Jeff Shi and there has to be some understanding that Edwards has inherited a group of players that the best managers in the world would struggle to work with.

If you sell your best players and fail to replace them - or fail to replace them adequately over a sustained period of time - then the squad will suffer and relegation is inevitable.

However, that does not mean Edwards is free of criticism.

Supporters inside Molineux were understandably frustrated with the style of play, the lack of creativity and cutting edge and some of the substitution decisions.

Hugo Bueno coming off was, according to Edwards, due to an injury issue. That explains why you would substitute him, but it does not explain why unimpressive Angel Gomes replaced him.

The midfielder is unlikely to be a Wolves player next season and has done little in a Wolves shirt - so it was an easy critique for fans to throw at Edwards when it could have been avoided.

In addition, Edwards let himself down with his behaviour at full-time.

The head coach has always made a point about clapping all the fans at the end of the game and despite how difficult it is to take that criticism on the chin, he has created an avoidable narrative by going straight down the tunnel.

His reasoning for going down the tunnel was to avoid ‘inciting’ more anger from the fans, which is a logical explanation, but when fans spend hard-earned money to watch a truly dreadful team, the least a head coach can do is show some appreciation for that, regardless of the response.

Edwards is genuinely well-liked at Wolves and there is hope he can be the man to change the club’s long-term fortunes, but he is undoubtedly under pressure.

No manager can receive the reception he got at Molineux and expect to not be under scrutiny and now he has an almighty task to turn it around.

It is clear he has made mistakes but it is even clearer that Wolves’ mess is not wholly his fault and Edwards now has to give fans a reason to believe.