00:00Now Wolves head into the summer in a far better place than they were a few months ago
00:07and much of that is down to Vitor Pereira.
00:11Since arriving at Mononieu, Pereira has not only stabilised the team
00:14but also reconnected it with the supporters.
00:18The bond between fans and players had weakened over time
00:21but under Pereira, there's a new energy.
00:24His passion on the touchline, his clear playing philosophy
00:27and his focus on togetherness have brought a sense of identity back to Wolves.
00:33It's not just about results, though those have also improved.
00:36It's about belief. Wolves now play with purpose and the fans can feel it.
00:41Mononieu is louder, prouder and more united.
00:44The summer will be key. Pereira wants to strengthen the attack
00:47and build a squad capable of pushing higher up the table,
00:51perhaps even challenging for Europe in the long term.
00:53I spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World who told me there's a growing sense
00:58that Wolves are on the right path again, not just on the pitch, but as a club.
01:05Charlie, let's start by looking at Wolverhampton Wanderers
01:08and just touching on the sort of impact of Vitor Pereira now.
01:12You know, he can't sort of go understated.
01:14He, a lot of the games that when he first came in
01:17and they started to turn things around slowly,
01:18he was giving a lot of credit to the players,
01:21a lot of credit to the belief within the camp.
01:24I mean, he deserves so much credit, really,
01:27in terms of not just on the pitch, but off the pitch as well.
01:30He's sort of reconnected with Wolves supporters.
01:34Just compare it to, you know,
01:36what he came into the situation under Gary O'Neill.
01:38It obviously wasn't ideal.
01:40It wasn't quite a toxic environment.
01:42You know, we've mentioned before the sort of captain curse as well,
01:45with all the captains getting red cards late after games
01:48and loads of scuffles.
01:50And, you know, the attitude was really diabolical.
01:53It was, they were heading one direction at one point.
01:56You know, it's fair to say,
01:58and they have been for the last couple of seasons.
02:00Do you think Wolves have turned a corner now?
02:02Obviously, Vitor comes in.
02:04They can start looking up.
02:05They can start believing that next season could be a turning point
02:08and they can once again start to avoid these relegation scraps.
02:13Yeah, it's been an incredible impact that Vitor Pereira has had.
02:16I think a lot of people expected a rise from Wolves eventually.
02:20The squad, the quality of players,
02:23probably too good to go down in reality.
02:25But the job was still there to be done when he took over.
02:28Wolves were 19th in the Premier League.
02:29They'd just lost to Ipswich Town.
02:31Big relegation contenders as well.
02:33Gary O'Neill, of course,
02:34only winning two of his first 16 games in charge.
02:37Vitor Pereira has just completely exceeded all expectations.
02:41To get four wins in the Premier League in a row for the first time ever
02:45is an incredible achievement.
02:46Being the form team in the entire division,
02:48not just in the bottom half of it,
02:50is amazing in itself as well.
02:52And a lot of that has been without star man Mateus Cunha.
02:55There was a lot of talk of,
02:56can Wolves only do it because Cunha is there
02:59and he's able to get them out of the lurch
03:00with his impressive goals from outside the box.
03:03And Field comes to mind,
03:04even though they didn't win the game there,
03:06he still scored a fantastic goal.
03:07He had those moments in him.
03:08However, when he's been out suspended,
03:11Wolves have still been able to pick up these results.
03:13And I think a lot of the credit for that
03:14has to go down to Vitor Pereira.
03:17He's not had a proper season yet
03:19to really adjust with this squad.
03:21He's only had one transfer window.
03:23Yes, a fair amount of money was spent in that window
03:25on Agpadu, Giga and Munetzi,
03:27but he's still not had a proper mark.
03:29And the fact he's already succeeding so much
03:31is incredibly positive.
03:33You mentioned as well the kind of relationship with the fans.
03:35The fact he's going to the pub and meeting fans
03:38in Wetherspoons in Wolverhampton.
03:40I mean, you can't really say that
03:41about any other managers in the Premier League,
03:43can you, if any at all?
03:45He's just got that,
03:46he's got the understanding of the working class mentality
03:49of the football club
03:49and he understands what it means to them
03:51and the fans, you know,
03:53shelling out their hard-earned money every week
03:55to watch their team.
03:56He understands that, he gets it
03:57and he wants to build that connection,
03:58which is so, so important.
04:00Yeah, what stood out to me
04:02was that first game away at Leicester City,
04:04they obviously came out winners.
04:06In the warm-up,
04:07there was a lot of attention around Wolves,
04:09practising set-piece defending,
04:11they sort of looked more solid.
04:13I mean, he's made a huge difference
04:15because under Gary O'Neill,
04:16there were leaking goals left, right and centre.
04:18Yes, Gary O'Neill wasn't really backed
04:20in the summer window
04:20in terms of centre-back signings,
04:22but what sort of impact has Pereira had
04:25in terms of coming in straight away,
04:27addressing those defensive issues?
04:28Obviously, Agpadu has been
04:30an unbelievable addition to this side.
04:33Yeah, I think Agpadu, as you mentioned,
04:35has been so important,
04:36having that height,
04:37that aerial control in the box
04:39and to have that mentality,
04:40it shows who's boss
04:41and Wolves are reaping the rewards.
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