Hoever played for Netherlands U21s against Gibraltar tonight. The Dutch won 7-0 and Hoever scored one and made two

First it's Henry Soutter of Stoke, now John Swift from Reading. Is this really the way to go if Fosun are serious about progressing in this league? Both players are rated at about 3m. It's one thing scoring against Barnsley or Coventry, it's another trying score in the Premier League. Just ask our multi million pound signings.

comment by wolfieinFL (U16306)
posted 4 hours, 43 minutes ago
First it's Henry Soutter of Stoke, now John Swift from Reading. Is this really the way to go if Fosun are serious about progressing in this league? Both players are rated at about 3m. It's one thing scoring against Barnsley or Coventry, it's another trying score in the Premier League. Just ask our multi million pound signings.
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Who said “Fosun are serious about progressing in this league?”

What’s wrong with standing still? Some posters need to get a reality check about where this great club of ours sits in the grand scheme of things. We’re on a roller coaster ride and I for one am enjoying the ups and downs and the standing stills.

Everton were one of the founder members of the football league and they beat Preston 2-0 away on the 2nd February 1935. The also won the league cup in 1958.

Have one of your

Oh, at the centre of Everton’s crest is Prince Rupert’s Tower.

Oh. An Everton legend, Dixie Dean left a lasting legacy behind. The iconic striker scored a total of 383 goals in 433 appearances.

I personally have no problem looking at the lower leagues, as I have said before.
There are plenty of players in the Prem that have come through the ranks are are now well established . We have Kilman for a start, then there's Vardy and lots of others.
We have paid a fortune for some players which have turned out to be useless or have yet to prove themselves.

West Ham have a fair few players they signed from the Championship. Antonio, Bowen, Benhrama, Cresswell etc.

I think we can all agree (well nearly all) that this is, in fact, the way to go.

When is Mosquera likely to be fit? in time for Boly and Saiss departing?

Mosquera will likely be fit around the time Boly and Saiss return from acon unfortunately. Shame, he did look a very good player early season

I must admit I though Mosquera was going to be out longer than that, seemed to be quite a serious injury, but havent seen any recent updates.

On EFL players making the grade in the PL, I've always thought that there is a mental/attitude part to progressing in the top league and making that transition. Players who look like they're far too good for the Championship dont always and often fail to make the impact in the PL that their Championship form indicates they should make. Goes without saying that they are playing against better players, better coaches that are better organised defensively and clubs that can afford to analyse flaws that they dont even know they have themselves. I think too many players try to do the same things after promotion or transfer to the PL when they need to re-think their game and be much smarter to be successful at the higher level. Keep learning and show ambition, worked for Vardy and Antonnio who I must admit, didnt really rate at Forest. But players like Pukki and Mitrovic seem to stick to what they know and as a result have a fraction of the success in the big league.

SEB and Afobe are probably other closer to home examples.

Did read yesterday that Mosquera is due back in training in Jan. Must admit that is sooner than I thought.

Other players that have made the step up from the championship are Coady, Saiss, Boly, Neves and Jota. And many other players that have been in promotion teams and remained in the top flight at clubs like Leeds, Villa and Brentford.

In the transfer market it’s just about catching the players at the right time. Although one of the most impressive performances by a visiting player to Molineux this season was Ivan Toney who had previously learned his stuff at Northampton, Barnsley, Shrewsbury, Scunthorpe, Wigan, Scunthorpe and Peterborough

No world cup for Boly

I'm not talking about players coming up from the Championship with their clubs. My point is, we should be trying to get better players in and I don't feel that the players mentioned by DJ are any better than what we have.

3m, which is what these two players are valued at, seems futile and I would rather see us bringing on our own youngsters gradually or groom younger players like Air-Nouri and Hoever.

You very rarely see the top clubs picking up players from the Championship. That's a standard I feel we should adopt if we're going to be challenging for a top six spot.

WolfieinaFlap arguing with himself again!

One minute he wants us to “standstill”, next pushing for top six!

Pretty sure a team made up of these players signed from the Championship would give it a good shot though? 😂😂



23, Jeff Hendrick – Derby County to Burnley

22. Demarai Gray – Birmingham to Leicester,

21-20. James Collins and Danny Gabbidon – Cardiff to West Ham,

19. Michail Antonio – Nottingham Forest to West Ham,

18. James Maddison – Norwich to Leicester

17. David Brooks – Sheffield United to Bournemouth,

16. Jay Rodriguez – Burnley to Southampton, 2012

15. Nathaniel Clyne – Crystal Palace to Southampton

14. Aaron Cresswell – Ipswich to West Ham

13. Joe Gomez – Charlton to Liverpool, 2015

12. Leo Ulloa – Brighton to Leicester, 2014

11. Jermaine Jenas – Nottingham Forest to Newcastle, 2002


10. Jack Butland – Birmingham to Stoke, 2013

9. Michael Dawson – Nottingham Forest to Tottenham

8. John Stones – Barnsley to Everton

7. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Southampton to Arsenal, 2011

6. Darren Bent – Ipswich to Charlton

5. Theo Walcott – Southampton to Arsenal,

4. Joleon Lescott – Wolves to Everton

3. Tim Cahill – Millwall to Everton

2. Aaron Ramsey – Cardiff to Arsenal,

1. Gareth Bale – Southampton to Tottenham, 2007

Say's it all TBC.

Don’t know where wolfie gets his player valuations from but neither of the players I mentioned could be signed for anywhere near £3m. With a host of Premier League clubs interested in both players it would likely be double or treble that amount. However I bow to his knowledge that these two players he has never seen are no better than what we have already

I was most shocked at Wolfie promoting grooming young males.

For all the pizz taking I do see where wolfie is coming from and agree to a certain extent.
I think signing a player is as much about 'fit' as it is about ability. There are plenty of players currently on the books of Premier League clubs who get little or no game time as they don't fit into the team for one reason or another. Donny van de Beek is a prime example and I believe the type of player we should be looking at to bring in on loan. Would he fit into our team and system? I don't honestly know, I have hardly ever seen him kick a ball but he has undoubted ability.
Where I disagree with wolfie is in his assessment of Championship players not being as good as we have now. As listed above there have been many players who have come up from the championship who have gone on to be successful in the Prem but, as we have seen first hand with the likes of Afobe, there are also many who fail to make the grade.

While we are all hoping we will one day see Wolves finish in the top 6 there has to be an acceptance that we don’t carry the same size wallet into the transfer market as Chelsea, Liverpool and the Manchester clubs. So we aren’t going to sign players that are already at the top of their profession, we are looking at players that may progress to that level. This is why when we go abroad we tend to shop with Portuguese clubs rather than the top clubs in Spain and Italy.

I’m sure the top young players in the Championship have just as much chance of progressing in the Premier League as players from Braga, Angers etc

Due to an ever decreasing pool of clubs yo-yoing between the PL & Championship in recent years I would concede that the overall strength of the division has declined, but its still among the strongest leagues in Europe and the top 6 in it could probably compete better in most European top leagues than ours. So its no surprise that higher clubs look at Championship clubs best players.

Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash, Che Adams, Jude Bellingham, Eberichi Eze, etc, its definitely worth having a look down there.

I did read an assessment online recently that rated the championship as the 7th strongest league in Europe. So maybe it’s not the Premier League getting weaker, more the Championship getting stronger. That’s probably helped by the sizeable parachute money that relegated teams get paid.
English clubs tend to do well in European competition which suggests we aren’t losing ground compared to other nations.

how do gents?

with any transfer there's a balance of risk and reward... we've seen cheap signing thrive or die but by the very same token we've seen expensive ones do the same.

look at Kightly, 50k? or Jarvo (became our first England international in a generation)

to say none of the championship are good enough is laughable

What an after game thrill in Wolverhampton on Saturday as the Christmas lights will be turned on at 6pm by East 17

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 5 hours, 49 minutes ago
Don’t know where wolfie gets his player valuations from but neither of the players I mentioned could be signed for anywhere near £3m. With a host of Premier League clubs interested in both players it would likely be double or treble that amount. However I bow to his knowledge that these two players he has never seen are no better than what we have already.
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Just for the record, my valuation of both Soutter and Swift (the two players you mentioned) come from Transfrmkt, which has been a reliable source for years.

Soutter went to Stoke from Dundee Utd for 207k in 2016 and since then his transfers have been loans. Current value 3.6m

Swift has also had all loan transfers until his free to Reading, again in 2016.
Current value 3.6m

Again for the record, I never said "I want to be a standing still" club. I said there's nothing wrong with a club like Everton staying in the top flight for over 100 years and only having 4 seasons out of it.

Our resident self confessed WUM can name as many players as he likes who have made it in the Premier League from the Championship, but where is the list of those who haven't.

If we're going to compete with the big boys then we need to spend big and not hope/gamble that players from lower leagues will make the grade. I'm also not saying they're not good enough. But for Wolves, I'm hoping we spend money on players better than what we have. The two mentioned by DJ don't fit that billl imo and that's only an opinion.