Matt Maher: Vitor Pereira has restored belief at Wolves - this time ownership must capitalise

A draw for Wolves at Ipswich would be sufficient to erase whatever lingering fear of relegation might remain over Molineux. Victory would make the sense of relief even more emphatic. 

Defeat would be cause for a few palpitations but even then, Vitor Pereira’s team would still be six points clear, with a vastly superior goal difference and only seven matches left to play.

Survival would still be close, or at the very least far closer than you ever dreamed it would be come the first week in April. For much of the season, this was a relegation battle you feared was going right to the wire.

When Wolves went to Bournemouth on February 22, their advantage over Ipswich was just two points. Since then they’ve taken 10 points from the next five matches, by some distance their best run of the campaign, to ease away from danger.

From Pereira and his staff, it’s been a seriously impressive job, one which perhaps outside the Midlands won’t get the credit it deserves due to the miserable records of the bottom three teams.

Yet round this way we know better. For nearly half the season, Wolves were just as wretched as Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton. When Pereira walked through the door in mid-December, they had claimed just nine points from the first 16 matches and were five points adrift of Leicester and the safety line. Perhaps most concerningly, they’d conceded an eye-watering 40 goals.

In the 14 Premier League matches Pereira has taken charge, Wolves have claimed 20 points. Their advantage over the Foxes now stands at 12 points. Only 18 goals have been conceded. 

Whichever way you square it, that is some turnaround. From being one of the worst teams in the division, Wolves’ form under their Portuguese boss has been solidly mid-table. Most impressive of all is the fact their recent surge away from the drop zone has been achieved without the services of suspended talisman Matheus Cunha.

It has required some canny coaching and savvy man-management. The situations surrounding the likes of Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina, which created no shortage of headlines, are the type which could have been explosive is mishandled. 

Pereira has also dealt rather deftly with the ongoing noise surrounding Cunha, while his down-to-earth demeanour and penchant for a cold pint have helped build a rapport with supporters. Not bad at all, for a boss who was not the club’s first-choice to replace Gary O’Neil and whose appointment, at the time, hardly set pulses racing among the fanbase. 

Nobody is about to start going overboard. One look at the table is enough to remind you the season, on the whole, has not gone the way it was intended.

For the first time in a long time, however, there is renewed optimism. Having had so little to cheer over the first half of the campaign, Wolves supporters are entitled to make the most of what should be a largely stress-free run-in.

Yet while Pereira has re-energised the team, the bigger question will soon be whether those working above him can restore a little faith in ownership and the club’s long-term direction under Fosun.

It’s impossible to escape the feeling we have been here before. Twice in recent memory, first under Julen Lopetegui and then under Gary O’Neil, Wolves appeared to be on the right track only for the things to quickly go off the rails. Though the departures of Pereira’s most immediate predecessors were very different in circumstance, both left feeling they had been sold short by those at the top. Wolves cannot allow another summer to become dominated by disharmony between the boardroom and the dugout.

Pereira’s own future will be top of the agenda. The 56-year-old only signed an 18-month deal when he replaced O’Neil and it would surely require something disastrous between now and the end of the season for Wolves to not want to extend it.

Then, of course, it is all about recruitment. The fact every recent window has felt a big one for Wolves indicates just how inconsistent their business over recent years has been but there have been enough hits to lay the foundations for a decent team. Andre and Emmanuel Agbadou are the two obvious standouts from the past 12 months, while the new contract signed this week by Joao Gomes marks a promising start to the next cycle.

Cunha, it seems clearer than ever, will depart yet while the Brazilian has undoubtedly played a major role in Wolves maintaining their Premier League status, the seven points claimed from the three matches he has been suspended provide the best reminder it is never just about one man.

On top of all the details, the calls Wolves must get right, sits the subject of tone.

Much has been spoken about the static commercial performance revealed in the most recent club accounts but it cannot help when the chairman is downplaying expectations in the manner Jeff Shi did last year.

“If you only pursue trophies or consistent European football, this club might not be an ideal choice.” That is no way to build a brand or convince anyone, from supporters to star players, Molineux is the place to be.

Pereira’s primary task of keeping Wolves in the Premier League is not quite complete but his charismatic personality and coaching skill offers the club and its ownership another chance to reset and refresh. This time they really must take it.