Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Some New Nuno thinking is reaping rewards for Wolves

A success-starved public was always ready to latch on to a good thing, but the new team has received a huge stamp of approval from the stands.

All that talk about the machinations of the club’s owners is no longer on the tip of tongues. Instead, a vibrant team on the pitch is writing its own headlines.

This is by no means the best start to a Championship season in recent memory. At the same point in the 2008/09 campaign Wolves had 25 points from their opening 11 games – two more than the current team have managed. Mick McCarthy’s side went top of the table in early October. Autumn turned to winter and then to spring and they never once relinquished number one spot. It was some achievement.

Nuno’s Wolves don’t have the same invincibility about them but they have created more of a buzz, a stir of anticipation. They are becoming a habit – a good one. When’s the next fix of Wolves coming? How have they hooked so many of their supporters in such a way? Well, if Wolves fans are daring to dream, the team are daring to be different. They are unique among the 24 in the division.

McCarthy’s promotion winners were a great team at this level, but they weren’t different to any other in the division at the time. They were simply better. The 5-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in late August was their magnus opus that season – a devastating dismantling of Forest with the scoring wrapped up after barely an hour. Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis were the best wingers in the division. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Chris Iwelumo the best strike force and, further back, Wayne Hennessey the best keeper in front of a well-organised defence and central midfield. But there was nothing unique about the players or their style of football as a team; they were just better versions of other players and other teams in the division. Nuno’s Wolves aren’t like that. They may not even last the distance and they may not match the 90 points of McCarthy’s side but they are offering something no other team in the division has got.

Just when one player goes quiet another steps up. Individual talent is harnessed in a team who can at times struggle, but are usually in control, can pull victories out of nothing and on several occasions already have produced devastating spells the opposition cannot cope with.

Diogo Jota, Ivan Cavaleiro, Ruben Neves and the returning Helder Costa aren’t replicated anywhere else. There is a newness to them. Jota is the early frontrunner for the plaudits so far but a hitherto quiet and occasionally peripheral Cavaleiro threw his skills into the pot at Burton as a timely reminder that there is plenty of creativity within the ranks now.

And far from being intimidated by their talents, other members of the team are stepping up. It is something to be part of. Nuno is a forensic and studious planner but there is an off-the-cuff spirit about some of this team’s football.

It is a handy knack to have. Take Leicester’s once-in-a-lifetime Premier League title win two seasons’ ago. Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City and co were all doing something similar on the pitch. Their football was very good but it had become formulaic. Leicester came right out of leftfield. There was no other version of Riyad Mahrez or N’Golo Kante and the same could be said of Jamie Vardy, who offered something unique as a forward in the Premier League. Their soak-it-up-and-counter blitz was unstoppable that season. Nobody else was doing it or had the tools to cope with it.

That is not a perfect analogy and there were other factors at play too. But it does illustrate the benefits of unpredictability in a team. It has been 20 years since Wolves supporters last witnessed something as fresh on the eye in old gold. When Robbie Keane announced himself with two goals on his debut at Norwich on the opening day of the 1997/98 season, plucked from the youth team as a 17-year-old, it captured the imagination in much the same way as Jota and co are doing now. His second goal that day at Carrow Road had the mark of instinctive creation.

Keane’s rise was more celebrated given the precocious talent he displayed in a man’s world. Fans flocked to watch this untamed kid with a mischievous smile on his face who would dribble and trick his way past seasoned opponents. Half the time, Keane wouldn’t know what he was doing himself. It all came to a disappointing conclusion when Coventry City’s financial muscle and ambition proved too much for Wolves. There’s a scenario that won’t be repeated any time soon.

Now is no time for predictions, just two months into the season, but it will be fun finding out where this will all end up. That in itself is a refreshing change. There are very few teams that can offer supporters something novel every time they set foot in the stadium. That is why, as the nights close in, the thick coats replace the shirt sleeves and winter looms, there is a spring in the step of the Molineux regulars. The Championship is the most competitive division for a reason; so many of the teams are built the same way. That is not a criticism, after all, conformity is a central tenet of society but sometimes it’s good to be different.