It’s now five Premier League wins from six in 2022 for Wolves.
After their excellent triumphs at Manchester United and Tottenham, their latest effort required silk and steel as the combination of eye-catching goals from Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence, plus solid defending and a couple of decent saves from goalkeeper Jose Sa helped them past Leicester.
The 2-1 win at Molineux keeps Wolves seventh, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, with two games in hand, and two behind Arsenal, who they visit on Thursday.
But there was no Nuno-style fist-punching celebrations with the fans on the South Bank at the final whistle. That is most definitely not Bruno Lage’s way.
If Wolves are to emulate their achievement of three seasons ago and secure a return to European football, or go higher and finish in the top five – something they have not done since the 1970s – they will do it quietly.
Proving the doubters wrong
Watching Lage take his seat for the start of the game, hood up to protect him from the awful weather swirling around the Black Country, it was like the 45-year-old was trying to make himself invisible.
But while he lacks the physical presence of his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo – and the famous beard – Lage has already proved himself to be a worthy successor to the man who brought Wolves back to the Premier League and re-established them as an effective force in the English game.
Lage came to Wolves with a mission to make them more exciting, more expansive, more on the front foot. Defenders were told to play higher up the pitch. For a unit not blessed with lightning speed, this was a worry. Pre-season teething problems accentuated the concerns.
However, while the opening month of the season only brought a trio of single-goal defeats by Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester United, the style of play was a revelation, arguably better than Wolves have produced since.
Fans and players knew something positive was possible.
Winning the rematch against the Foxes maybe didn’t prove those early thoughts were correct – 35% possession, fewer shots, shots on target and corners than their opponents was more reminiscent of Nuno’s counter-attacking preference – but the results are the evidence.
“There are no secrets in football,” Lage said. “It is all about hard work and teamwork.
“I think we can do something special but we have to continue to work.”
Lage might be unobtrusive and his CV may pale compared with some of his Premier League rivals, including a limited playing career, plus spells as a coaching assistant to Carlos Carvalhal at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea, and a couple of years at Benfica, but he has a fierce determination to succeed in England.
He was spoken of as a potential Aston Villa manager in the period when it was thought Dean Smith might lose his job during the club’s first season back in the Premier League.
Smith kept his job but Lage was soon on Wolves’ radar.
The absence of a notable football background means his family remain in Portugal where his wife Maria has her own successful career, and he has filled his time concentrating on his job.
He has made small but significant changes. One was having an auditorium built at Wolves’ Compton training ground for his preferred twice-daily meetings – one before, one after the day’s session. Nuno, it is recalled, tended to have one meeting a week in total, so he had no need for such a room.
As time has gone by, more of his light-hearted side has been on show. He has also been brave enough to make a couple of public complaints about the absence of new signings.
It is not a sign of friction, just outlining a position, making his employers understand what is needed.
However the current campaign works out, the summer is viewed as a likely time of change for Wolves.
Adama Traore has left, Joao Moutinho and Roman Saiss – all central figures in Nuno’s team – are out of contract.
Wolves’ Chinese owners have adapted their model to buy younger players with resale value. Through defender Max Kilman, who has taken himself to the brink of an England call after establishing himself in the first team this season, 20-year-old wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and 19-year-old Luke Cundle, who played in the recent victories against Southampton and Tottenham, Lage has proved willing to trust youth.
But he also knows experience will be required if Wolves are to keep moving forward.
And he certainly has no intention of going in any other direction.
“We have done something special in December, January and February,” he said. “The carrot I want for my team now is to step forward to be the big team we want to be.
“We can’t relax. We have 40 points but we want to bring success to this club.”
