Wolves Fans' Verdict v Newcastle: A fair point as Wolves make more progress

The new-look Wolves are a lot easier on the eye these days. We still need more pace, we still need more quality, but we're not likely to spend £40m-£60m on a dozen players, so we have what we have. Given that, the improvement, since our opening dozen games, is significant, and pleasing.

Despite having less possession we were competitive and offered as much of a goal threat as Newcastle. The opposition's high defensive line, even in open play, dictated our pattern of play to an extent. 

Striking the balance between risk and reward is a challenge. Highlighted no more than Mosquera who, despite looking calmer these days, offered more than ever going forward and supporting attacks, but his passing was wasteful at telling moments.

With Barnes and Gordon wide it was important that Tchatchoua and H.Bueno had a good game, and they did.

The Trippier v Mane encounter I'd hoped to see favour us never really materialised.

With Gomes and the excellent Andre mixing it successfully with their big boys in midfield there was a lot of stalemate going on.

With about 20 minutes to go substitutions started to change the game. The Arias/Gomes swap in particular made us look weaker, just when Newcastle seemed to be stepping up a gear. 

Having said that I'd have thought swapping Tchatchoua/Rodrigo Gomes might have been a positive option. However Tchatchoua won two good defensive headers and a tackle that Rodrigo might not have done, so Rob Edwards obviously made the right call. 

In the end, nice to have not lost and it was a positive team performance overall.

John Lalley

A result that simply would not have transpired a few months ago. 

Wolves are better organised, more disciplined and demonstrably more committed these days. Newcastle although depleted, presented a formidable starting XI and Wolves responded by defending with immense resolution which deservedly won some reward. 

Newcastle dominated possession and inevitably their distribution was superior to that of Wolves, but any incursions into the danger zones were met with a defiant resistance which ultimately frustrated all of their efforts. 

True enough, Nick Pope barely had to trouble himself in the Magpies’ goal but Jose Sa was minimally inconvenienced himself, such was the barrier in front of him. 

In the second-half both Krejci and Tchatchoua made brilliant penalty-box interventions to foil clear Newcastle opportunities. Krejci was calm and assured throughout whilst Tchatchoua answered a few of his critics with probably his best performance in a Wolves’ shirt. With Hugo Bueno energetically excelling once more and Yerson Mosquera not only defending stoutly but threatening in a number of advanced positions, it was a rare day without blemish for the Wolves defenders. 

Santi Bueno too kept his side of the bargain ably supporting his four defensive colleagues. 

Andre anchored midfield, was always an outlet and ensured that Newcastle had to remain aware of any threat on the break. Wolves are belatedly looking like a team again which simply adds to the feeling of frustration. Clearly this group is in key with Rob Edwards; but how many of them will be working with him for much longer?

Adam Virgo

A decent point and still unbeaten in 2026 which is a positive to take but with the position we are in we do need wins if we are to even get close to trying to stay up. Saying that, the players have a lot more belief and are showing fight which is all we can really ask for as the bare minimum.

Two consecutive clean sheets in the league at home is massive as well considering we didn’t keep one in our first 18 games and the fact we limited Newcastle to very little speaks volumes about where we are now compared to the first 15 or so games.

A point was definitely fair and I don’t think either team really did enough to win the game. I was a bit surprised we took Joao Gomes off as he was playing very well and we seemed to lose a bit of control. Then again, we need to win games and it was an attacking sub but I’d have rather Arias come on for Hwang at that point.

It’s good to see Rodrigo Gomes back again, he offers a lot with his electric pace. Mane was quiet compared to recent weeks but it is tough against a very physical Newcastle side.

There were a few occasions when we hit balls up to Tolu and the likes of Hwang and Mane just weren’t close enough to him so when he won the header we had no one in and around him for the second ball. Our best chance probably through Hugo Bueno at the end of the first half was largely down to Tolu’s hold up play and we know we can create chances from that.

Overall it’s a good point but with the teams just above us all picking up points over the weekend it feels like we haven’t gained anything really and with Man City away next week, the gap could get even bigger. We know the position we’re in and we have to just keep fighting until the end but at least we’re still in the FA Cup as well so a nice run in that wouldn’t be too bad.

Harry Lee

Not a classic, but progress - definite signs of progress under Rob Edwards, with a stark contrast between the first seven games and then the last four games in the league, with all statistics pointing towards Wolves having more shots, more expected goals, and less expected goals against us.  

Wolves look more solid at the back, whilst offering more threat up top with a system that is getting more out of Tolu, Hwang and the exciting Mane.

Newcastle's form has been shaky away from home but there is no doubt their squad possesses a level of player that we no longer have. The line-up with Andre and Gomes starting together along with Mane was the right selection, countering the powerful and athletic midfield three of Bruno, Joelinton and Tonali, whilst Jackson Tchatchoua having one of his best games in a Wolves shirt dealt with Gordon's pace with ease, his recovery speed helped the defence on a number of occasions.  

Their marquee signing Woltemade hardly had a kick thanks to the aggressive back three.

We still need to offer more going forwards, but you could argue we are doing as much as we can with what we have, this is a key area that needs strengthening, looking back at the games we've drawn recently you could easily make a case for turning those into wins had we had that threat on the break with the pace we once had with a Neto, Adama, Jota, or Costa.  

Edwards is just getting it right at the moment, and it no longer feels a chore to watch the game. The emergence of Mane in this time has given the Wolves fans something to be excited about, and despite there needing to be quite the squad reshape in the remaining window and in the summer, there is now hope. All importantly, Derby's record points is now in sight!