For the final time at Molineux this season, the Matchday Live team was in position at the weekend to reflect on the 2022/23 campaign.
Mikey Burrows was joined by former full-backs Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor for the 1-1 draw with Everton, which saw the Toffees cancel out Hee Chan Hwang’s strike in stoppage time.
Despite the late disappointment, Molineux was a positive place after Wolves secured their Premier League safety in recent weeks and the club’s End of Season Awards followed on the pitch post-match.
Thompson and Naylor saw Ruben Neves named the Men’s Player of the Season and the skipper was one of a number of conversation topics discussed by the panel on the penultimate Matchday Live episode.
On the job of keeping Wolves up
Thompson said: “I think it’s a great achievement, being bottom of the league going into the World Cup break and getting ourselves back into it. It’s unbelievable the way they’ve got themselves out of it. Everybody thought that was it, Wolves were relegated, and there aren’t many teams which have done it, getting off the bottom from Christmas. It’s shows you the kind of effort this has been.
“Lopetegui came in, it needed a change because we were going to go down with the way that things were going. They needed something and he’s come into the club, and he’s sorted it all out. It’s still not what we want to see and I’m sure it’s still not what the club want, but at least you can see they’ve got some fight, they’ve got some ability. A good pre-season and this team can push on next year.”
Naylor said: “For me, we got out of jail. The new manager was key to that. Key timing and he’s done a magnificent job to get us out. It’s the Chelsea game for me, that was the point where I think we stayed up. That game was key, the change of formation, it was brilliant. To switch it, to find that worked, we had success off the back of that. We went on an unbeaten run at home.”
On the Molineux form proving crucial
Thompson said: “It shows the home form is so important. With all the fans here, it does help, it makes a difference. I know it wasn’t a great game [against Everton], but you could hear the fans, they were trying to get behind, they tried to get the team to win the game. Unfortunately we couldn’t, but they’ve done it all season here. They’ve got behind the team, and at away games, but more so here because we’ve got the majority of the fans.”
On Neves being named Player of the Season
Thompson said: “I think the last two or three years he’s been outstanding for us, with the way that he’s played, they way he’s conducted himself around the pitch and the club as well. It just shows you the quality. He’s led by example with the way he plays and his attitude on and off the pitch.
“You can see he’s 100 per cent every game, with the way that he works tirelessly for his team, and with the amount of ability he has as well. A wide range of passing, he works up and down, box to box, and I think that’s one of the things he has added to his game the last two years ago, that he can get more mobile across the pitch, and he’s done that because he’s needed to.”
Naylor said: “To keep that mentality through the seasons, when you’ve been linked with every big gun in the world, Barcelonas, Man Uniteds, Liverpools, to keep your head and keep those performances, playing for your team, is credit to him. You don’t normally find that until late 20s, 28, 29 that have that mentality in the dressing room, and he had that from a young age.”
On Dawson’s impact at the club
Thompson said: “I think he’s been outstanding since he’s come in. It’s good for the young lads at the club having an experienced player, no messing around, and it helps. If he’s a defender, midfielder or forward, I think his approach and it’s the way he’s gone about it. We went for him and brought him to the club. He’s done really well.”
On improving from this position
Naylor said: “They didn’t know we were going to be close to the bottom of the league and struggling to the point where we were and I don’t think they’ll want to be in that position again. This pre-season of recruitment is going to be huge for us, absolutely massive. The FFP regulations coming into play and the money we have to find, it’s going to be hard. I’m sure they’ll put the graft in to find those players which are a fit for the manager.
“There comes a sell by date, I’m afraid, to players and it’s come that time for a few here. Some might want to move on. You don’t know what’s going on in the dressing room, in players’ mentalities and lives. Some might want to move on, some might want to stay. Then it’s filling those voids with good players, young, hungry, good players that are ready for the Premier League, that we can add value to, and that’s why I think the recruitment is one of the most important for Wolves.”
