Matt Doherty sums up the concerning situation Wolves are currently in with his ‘behind the scenes’ comment this weekend.
He admits things aren’t looking so good regarding the state of affairs at the club at Wolves after he returned to the club this summer.
The Irish international departed Atletico Madrid to return back to his former club.
He played in Wolves’ 1-1 draw against Celtic on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium, before speaking to media about the state of affairs at the club.
He told ViaPlay: “I don’t think things are perfect behind the scenes at all. As players there’s literally nothing we can do about it except go out on the pitch and carry out whatever the manager wants us to do.
“The season is not far away and we can knuckle down get training and work hard and we’ll see what happens in the transfer window but for sure we need some bodies.”
He added: “Not an easy decision purely because I’ve been here before and you’re always weary about going back to somewhere that you’ve been. You don’t want to ruin what you might have done before. I spoke to the manager and he really wanted me to come.
“You want a manager who believes in you and wants you to play for them. It looks like an easy decision from the outside but there was some thinking I had to do.”
“I don’t think things are perfect behind the scenes at all.” 🗣️
Doherty pretty scathing here #wwfc
pic.twitter.com/KwhyUXSecf— BEN MORTIMER (@mortimer_ben) July 30, 2023
Wolves and Celtic had to settle for a draw in an entertaining pre-season battle out in Dublin as Julen Lopetegui’s players continued their preparations for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Celtic went ahead early on thanks to Kyogo Furuhashi during a first-half where they struck the woodwork twice, with Wolves struggling to find the net despite several chances of their own.
However they were a different team in the second half, and in the final five minutes, Matheus Cunha netted a penalty after substitute Matt Doherty was upended in the penalty area by Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Celtic | Hart, Iwata, Welsh (McPherson 67), Scales, Taylor, McGregor, O’Riley (Kwon 61), Hatate (Haksabanovic 71), Abada (Holm 71), Maeda (Oh 71), Kyogo (Yang 61).
Unused subs | Bain, Siegrist, Turnbull, Bernabei, Lawal, Forrest.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo (Doherty 79), Dawson, Kilman, Bueno (Ait-Nouri 46), Lemina (Silva 79), Hodge, Nunes, Sarabia (Toti 71), Neto (Hwang 71), Cunha.
Unused subs | Bentley, King, Pond, Jonny, J. Gomes, Traore, Esen, Farmer, Fraser, Kalajdzic.
Joe Hodge meanwhile said post-match he is determined to play as many minutes as possible for Wolves this season after featuring from the start in both of his side’s pre-season friendlies against FC Porto and Celtic.
On importance of Celtic match
“It’s dead important for us because we’re only two weeks away from the season starting for us, so any minutes against a good team is going to help us start off well, hopefully.
“I think we can improve and we all know that we can still improve as a team, but for me, I’m grateful to be getting some minutes because I want to be playing and to get two 90 minutes so far has been great for me.”
On the Wolves support in Dublin
“It was class. It makes a difference after playing the last few friendlies in front of not many people and you know our fans are always superb wherever they go.
“So, thank you to everyone who came down today and they helped to create a good atmosphere.”
On aims for the season
“I want to play every week, that’s what I want to do. I know it’s not realistic and I’m not going to, but it’s my aim, and I’m just going to work as hard as I can, train well every day and when I get the chance just try and do my best.
“Hopefully I’ll get lots of minutes, but that’s the challenge and with the quality in the squad that’s not an easy thing to do, but I’m just trying to do my best and learn from the rest of the players, learn from the gaffer, and see where that takes me.”
Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui says fans must know the limitations of their transfer budget.
Lopetegui said the financial goal posts have moved since he took the job last season.
He told the Guillem Balague podcast: “When I signed for Wolves in November 2022, with the team in decline, I took on the challenge and the risk because the idea was always to reinforce the team if we managed to save them.
“We did it with several days to go. In May I insisted to the club’s owners on the need for new signings to be able to compete this season. The bad news is that the club does not seem to be in a position to invest in improving the squad.
“Not only have we not reinforced, but the club has sold several important players, which puts us in a weak situation compared to the rest of the Premier teams. We need to sign to be competitive.
“We also have to be honest with the fans. They deserve to know the situation of the team, because we are going to need them more than ever. My job as a coach is to be responsible and communicate what I feel is best for this team.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to develop our Plan A and I feel like we haven’t been able to develop a Plan B either. Our goal now is to adapt to this situation, give our best and get the best out of this squad.”
Here’s what fans said as Matt Doherty sums up a concerning situation Wolves are in with his ‘behind the scenes’ comment…
@TrickyBunny: Absolutely fair comments
@_KKWWFC: I’ll give him his due though, at least he’s honest enough about the shitstorm behind the curtain
@Darren22_WWFC: It’s not looking good brev, @Fosun_Intl if you could kindly vacate our football club please
@WolvesBlogger1: Why is he saying this and where’s our media man making a mockery of Wolves and making us like we are a small club embarrassing #wwfc
@LukeMH92: Even the players know it piss poor behind the scenes 😆🤦🏻
@mrgarystringer: ‘’’….. for sure we do need some bodies….’’
@AckAckGunz: wonder if he mentioned this during his contract negotiations
@Richard_Frog: At last an honest post match interview
@DuckinsDavid: Since Nuno left the managers have moaned about the lack of squad size, we need to change our whole model and do it the Brighton way, bargains on average wages, not pay big fees n wages on average players Guedes n Nunes who by the way really worries me
@PitbullWolf: Good to see a player saying it how it is, rather than sitting on the fence or denying.
@WolvesBlogger1: Pretty damning that
SEE MORE: FourFourTwo predicts the 2023/24 Premier League table
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