1 day ago
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Being bottom at Christmas need not mean the drop. Three years ago, Wolves were in such a position, the difference being they kicked off on Boxing Day with 10 points rather than two. The current plight of Wolves is one of historic incompetence, the worst losing run in club history. Keane Lewis-Potter’s second-half double, Caoimhín Kelleher’s save of Jørgen Strand Larsen’s penalty adding insult to injury, left them 14 points adrift of safety. Only three teams have previously lost 10 Premier League matches in succession. Each of them finished rock-bottom come May.
It had been a week of change and tragedy at Molineux. Jeff Shi, an unpopular club chair who recently described relegation as a “technicality”, departed on Friday, replaced by Nathan Shi, the interim appointment a namesake but no relation. Ahead of the game, Ethan McLeod, the Wolves trainee and Macclesfield forward who died in a car accident, received a minute’s silence. His brother, Conor, a current under-21 squad member, was among extended family on the sidelines.
If their opponents’ position is near-terminal, Brentford’s run of form has given rise to relegation concerns. Winning at Wolves was imperative. Keith Andrews had dropped last week’s goalscorer against Leeds, Jordan Henderson, for the younger legs of Yehor Yarmolyuk in seeking a first win in six. His team began in the usual fashion, with a Michael Kayode long throw.
Andrews’ team were having, though not necessarily enjoying, a share of possession. Where 44% is their average it ticked towards 70%. It does not come naturally.
To achieve mission impossible, initial objective the 11 points Derby went down with in 2008, Rob Edwards is digging in, tactics less three at the back than five. Often seven. Entertainment in short supply, the paying public directed attention to the boardroom, with chants of “Fosun out” and banners declaring “our club” brandished.
Despite Brentford’s command of possession, Kelleher made the first save, when David Møller Wolfe’s cross almost deflected past him, only briefly lifting apathy in the Molineux stands. A first shot on goal did not arrive until the 31st minute, Wolves’s André driving a free-kick into the wall. That represented the longest wait for a first shot in the Premier League for six years. Kayode’s arms remained Brentford’s chief creator until, at last, Lewis-Potter jinked into the box to force a save from José Sá.
Could the second half improve on such low-level ambition and application? Ki-Jana Hoover’s aimless clatter of the ball into the Jack Hayward Stand suggested not, though almost immediately Sá made a fine reflex save from Kevin Schade’s header, followed by a less convincing fumble of a shot from the same Brentford forward.
Spirits and volume rose during a period of Wolves pressure that was energetic though bereft of quality. Full rancour came once Lewis-Potter scored his first, after Vitaly Janelt’s chip and a communication breakdown between Ladislav Krejci and Santiago Bueno presented an early Christmas gift.
Before that, Wolves fans, long resigned to their fate, looked to the past for comfort, as they had been singing of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Rúben Neves, heroes from happier, less hopeless times.
Brentford have an unhappy habit of conceding points from winning positions, and hopes were momentarily raised when Møller Wolfe’s header refused to dip low enough. Mikkel Damsgaard, on as a substitute as Andrews sought control of midfield, might have sealed it from Lewis-Potter’s diagonal. Instead, Damsgaard, from the left, supplied Lewis-Potter’s volleyed second.
After Kelleher saved Strand Larsen’s late spot-kick after a softish award for the Irishman’s challenge on Matt Doherty, chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” grew louder. Stripped of assets, plunging to historic lows, there will be no great escapes here.
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