Molineux will spend tomorrow fixated on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ immediate problems.
The need for a clean sheet, the desperation for a victory and possibly the requirement for a new head coach will dominate the agenda as Wolves host Southampton in a fixture that could define their season.
Some even smaller side issues will be up for discussion, too.
Are Wolves best-served by the increased solidity that comes with five at the back or the added attacking potency that a back-four provides? How can they stop conceding soft chances from set pieces? Who is the best goalkeeper to play in the fight against relegation? And is current fans’ favourite Tommy Doyle still a better bet than reigning player of the season Mario Lemina?
Yet it is difficult to properly debate any of the myriad issues on the field without discussing the wider situation that has left supporters with a growing sense of anger, worry and resentment.
Wolves feels like a club lacking in direction and yet simultaneously heading only one way.
After experiencing rare highs in the early years of Fosun’s ownership, there is a strong sense that Wolves have entered the phase of a Premier League cycle that eventually afflicts so many clubs from outside the top flight’s established upper echelon — the one where they are left circling the drain.
As it stands, it feels inevitable Wolves are heading back to the Championship.
It might not happen this season — there is still enough time and plenty of winnable fixtures for Wolves to recover from a shocking start.
But their trajectory is clearly downwards. Supporters cannot see a clear plan to halt it.
This all contrasts markedly with phase one of the Fosun era when the owners’ strategy was well defined, even if it was controversial in the eyes of rivals. Back then they were determined to disrupt the status quo at the top of the Premier League table, aided by a partnership with a super-agent who could deliver a calibre of player fans had not seen in Wolves colours for generations.
Success followed success with promotion from the Championship leading to successive seventh-place finishes in the Premier League, an appearance in a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and a memorable charge to the last eight of the Europa League that will live long in the memory, despite the Covid-19 pandemic keeping fans away from its latter stages.
A host of new Molineux legends emerged from that period. From Conor Coady to Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho to Raul Jimenez, Wolves fans identified with a group of players who embraced the city and, despite some such as Diogo Jota using the opportunity as a springboard to bigger things, seemed to understand the responsibility of playing for such a great, historic club.
Yet those days are increasingly becoming specks in the rearview mirror.
Heroes remain within the squad — Craig Dawson, Lemina, Joao Gomes — and some recent signings, including Jorgen Strand Larsen and Andre, have the potential to become favourites, too.
But challenging for Europe seems as far away now as it did when Nuno Espirito Santo first led Wolves back to the top division. More significantly, supporters no longer have a clear picture of exactly what Fosun are trying to achieve.
The bullish talk of disrupting the established order that accompanied their 2016 takeover has given way to a more realistic acknowledgement that it would take funds beyond those Fosun are willing to commit, or what profit and sustainability rules would allow, to push the league’s elite.
Instead, Wolves have become a club whose footballing aims are limited to buying rising stars and selling them at a profit while maintaining a competitive squad. The second part of the equation is looking harder with each transfer window.
In the last three windows, managers Julen Lopetegui and Gary O’Neil have painted a picture of shifting goalposts and a lack of clarity on what was possible.
And off the field, stadium improvements that were discussed openly at the start of the Fosun era now appear to be off the agenda.
The realigning of ambitions combined with China’s change of approach to Western sporting investments all point to owners keen to move on. The Athletic has been told by sources with knowledge of the situation about approaches made by third parties claiming to represent Fosun to potential new owners.
But Wolves sources, speaking anonymously to protect their positions, continue to deny suggestions the club is for sale while confirming an interest in attracting minority investors to the table.
The Athletic has asked for the chance to speak to executive chairman Jeff Shi and remains hopeful that he will provide clarity on Fosun’s plan for the next stage of Wolves’ future.
He has spoken repeatedly about looking to boost the club’s brand overseas, but it is less clear how this will benefit the core product — the Premier League XI — in the short-term or how the plans to grow overseas, and therefore Fosun’s overall strategy, would be affected by relegation.
Certainly the supporters who were priced out by the summer’s significant rise in season-ticket prices would need to be attracted back should Wolves find themselves in the Championship.
But these are major questions in need of answers. In the short-term, the macro issues will take a back seat to the micro because any success and change of mood is contingent on picking up some victories on the field.
And should Wolves fail to beat Southampton to secure their first win of the season, O’Neil’s position would appear increasingly precarious.
The head coach’s superb success last season in picking up the pieces from Lopetegui’s eve-of-the-season walkout, creating an exciting team that regularly bloodied the noses of bigger clubs, has been forgotten too quickly by some supporters.
O’Neil has not gone from those memorable triumphs to being a coaching dunce, and last season’s injuries coupled with this season’s opening set of fixtures have compounded his difficulties.
But even with that and other mitigating factors, one victory in 20 league games dating back to March would be a record to see most managers sacked.
When clubs are striving to stop the rot, a change in manager is invariably their go-to solution, and that will be no different at Wolves.
But whatever the next few days and weeks bring, there are wider concerns that cannot be ignored.
(Top photo: Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)
