Time to start planning

BBC News

16-04-2025

Are we still in the same season as the trudge up to Christmas?Sunday at Molineux was good old-fashioned family fun. Wolves led all the way. The South Bank worked through its favourite tunes. Jorgen Strand Larsen scored another goal, then stood aside for Matheus Cunha to make his comeback, directing the crowd to applaud Cunha as he entered the field like Jimmy Tarbuck introducing Bruce Forsyth at the Royal Variety Performance. Cunha's goal cued in the show's closing big number, the South Bank's new smash-hit "First the points, then the pints", with Vitor Pereira himself leading the rhythmic clapping. Now that's entertainment. If only the season could go on a bit longer, eh?Last weekend's results set up the amusing prospect of Wolves overtaking both Tottenham – who generously played their fall-guy parts with some slapstick defending – and Manchester United, where Pereira's travelling show pitches up this Sunday. That would be a concrete achievement from where he took them over in December, and a better look than merely celebrating survival.It would also be a realistic goal to help maintain their momentum in the closing weeks of the season, and Pereira will want his team to have a hare to chase. In a sense, next season should start now: with survival all but mathematically assured, there is no reason for Wolves to delay their planning towards the squad they would like to have in place next August.George Lakin made a good observation on this page this week, comparing Pereira to Claudio Ranieri. Emulating his achievements at Leicester might be a stretch, but after the travails of this season, Wolves are better equipped now to move forward than they were just over a year ago – only one year! – after Gary O'Neil had led them unexpectedly into the top half of the table.After the FA Cup quarter-final – when injuries had exposed the lack of depth in his squad – the energy quickly drained from O'Neil's team and, so it seemed, the manager himself. Yes, the fixtures at the start of this season made things a lot harder, but once the momentum was lost, the situation quickly ran out of control.Wolves made some decisions under pressure in midwinter that worked out well. That pressure is off now, but the experience of last spring should impress upon the club the need to make positive moves this summer, to ensure the energy Pereira's team have generated is not wasted. Football does not stand still to admire progress. Clubs that stop moving forwards quickly slide.Listen to full commentary of XX v XX at [time] on [day] on BBC Radio WM [frequency/ies]Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights