Fletcher Holman says it was a ‘no brainer’ signing for Wolves, despite there being plenty of interest for his signature in the January window.
The striker arrived from non-league outfit Eastbourne Borough after impressing in their first-team, and scored on his Wolves under-21s debut in the Premier League 2 victory at Norwich City. Holman, 19, has spoken on his first few weeks at Wolves, the difference coming into a Premier League academy and what supporters can expect when it comes to his style of play.
On settling into Wolves
“It’s definitely different to a first-team environment. Scoring on my debut helped with settling into the group but, realistically, everyone’s got the same goal.
“It can be a bit of a fight but I’m always up for that and I just want to show to the gaffer and 21s gaffer that I’ve got what it takes to be where everyone wants to be and scoring goals.”
On the difference to Eastbourne
“It’s going to be different but the main difference is, in a men’s environment you’re fighting for three points and people aren’t getting as much money if you lose, the gaffer can get sacked if you lose a certain amount of games on the trot – you’ve always got to think about that as an effect of how you’re playing.
“This is all about personal development and everyone’s end goal is to be with the first-team as quick as they can.
“The work ethic is different, but hopefully it will all be good and I can get to where I want to.”
On why he chose Wolves
“At the end of the day, you want to be playing football at the highest level you can. You have to look at what has to go wrong for you to get an opportunity and there’s not many players or forwards that are in front of me.
“Wolves was definitely a good shout, but I had other interest from League Two. Getting to where you want to get to and playing the highest level you can, it was then a no brainer that I was always going to come here.”
Fletcher Holman scores with a fine finish on his debut 👏#PL2 pic.twitter.com/pEzPOniItU
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) January 12, 2024
On his style of play
“I see myself as a natural goal scorer and I’m also quite a natural finisher. Scoring within three minutes of being on the pitch was definitely an insight into what I can bring.
“I’m a threat to defenders and defenders hate it because they don’t like running the other way. As soon as you can get a defender turning, it’s horrible for them.”
On training with the first-team
“You’ve just got to go down there with the mentality of knowing that’s where you want to get to.
“You’ve got to be as professional as you can. If the gaffer asks you to do anything, you do it at the click of a finger.
“You’ve just got to be on it all the time and show the gaffer why you deserve to be down there.”
On putting in the work
“The most important thing is what you do without the help of the coaches, staying out doing as much as you can. It’s the stuff that happens behind closed doors that people really look out for.
“You need to work as hard as you can on the pitch and then do as much as you can off the pitch as well.”
On his aims
“These six months until the end of the season is more about building my physicality up, learning and then see how many goals I can score for the 21s.
“If I can get to pre-season, hopefully with the first-team, I can see what happens there.”
