With the opening game of the season a matter of days away, the hope and expectation has been renewed and at an all time high. Fosun seems to have learnt from last seasons mistakes; they appear to have a plan and structure in order to take the club up the English football ladder. There is however one key factor that can be decisive in the club’s success or failure; the fans.
It is well known that Wolves fans aren’t always the most supportive, particularly in difficult times and quick to criticise the players and staff when results aren’t going our way. It has been documented in a variety of books and articles, such as ‘The Secret Footballer’, that visiting managers use the fans negativity to their advantage, an impetus to ‘score early’, destroying the morale of the players and staff, which often has a lasting effect.
I’m sure people who attend are always in ear shot of ‘the one’ who constantly moans about events on the pitch. Now, I’m not saying that these people’s opinions are wrong, but ask yourself, what is it actually achieving? That negativity from the fans radiates onto the pitch, which can only have a detrimental affect on the players. Players then become tentative, alter their decision making and it can discourage them from takjng, potentially match winning, risk due to the barrage of abuse that they would inevitably suffer.
The English football league begins in earnest this Saturday and for most Wolves fans this has been the most exciting pre-season and transfer window that we’ve experienced. This has been reflected in ticket sales, a sell out for our first came against Middlesborough at Molineux. The air of positivity around the ground is infectious but we all need to ensure that it continues and goes from strength to strength this season. We have the right manager, we have the players but most importantly they need you! Yes we will lose games this season, at times we will under perform against ‘lesser’ teams but that doesn’t mean that we are failing and wont achieve our goals. In the past us, the fans, have been the decisive factor in the dismissal of certain managers, however under Fosun we’ve witnessed how decisive and ‘cutthroat’ the board can be. They have a clear plan and strategy in place, if they feel it isn’t working they will deal with it swiftly, irrelevant of fan opinions. Therefore, lets put the politics aside and concentrate on transmitting positive vibes onto the events on the pitch.
As Theodore Roosevelt once said “believe you can and you’re halfway there”.