Pints, points and the signing Wolves would rather you didn’t know about

There is a symmetry to Wolverhampton Wanderers’s season going into Sunday’s match at Manchester United. They have played 16 Premier League games under Gary O’Neil, and a further 16 under Vitor Pereira.And that’s where the symmetry ends.

Wolves are on a roll with Pereira at the wheel, winning four consecutive top-flight games for the first time since 1972 and subsequently leaving the relegation battle in the dust.if(window.adverts) { window.



adverts.addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }Wolverhampton Wanderers fans display a banner of Pereira (Photo: Getty)That Wolves had the quality to do so was never in doubt, but one point after eight games had put the fates of West Ham ‘02-03 and Leeds United ’03-04 in mind.A 2-1 loss at home to Ipswich Town was O’Neil’s final act, and the simplest indicator of Pereira’s ability to reverse Wolves’ fortunes was their 2-1 win at Portman Road last month that dealt the final blow to Ipswich’s survival prospects.

It gave Wolves daylight from the bottom three, and has made the outlook much brighter. Optimism reverberates around Molineux and the many pubs of Wolverhampton, where the city’s Wetherspoon-loving head coach is delighting supporters and living up to a mantra that has already been immortalised with a black-and-gold banner, reading “First the points, then the pints”.if(window.

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adverts) { window.adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }First, the points.

..Wolves could move level on points with Manchester United if they win at Old Trafford tomorrow, and while that is no longer a barometer of success, it highlights the transformation of a side stuck on nine points after 16 games.

That was the point O’Neil was dismissed, and after answering the SOS call it must be noted the subsequent appointment of Pereira – the Porto, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce manager – was met with scepticism.He quickly silenced any doubters with two wins, finding a formula that works for the players at his disposal. He views each new club as a fresh canvas, a new painting that requires a different style, he told Sky Sports in January, and at Wolves a strict back three has proved the foundation.

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height=d}}}))}();He has stuck with 3-4-2-1 in all 16 league games so far, O’Neil previously flirting with five different formations, and the comparisons now read as if they are two completely different clubs.Wolves conceded 40 goals in their opening 16 league games and 21 in the 16 since, while under Pereira they are facing fewer shots and have markedly improved their record at defensive set-pieces.They are making fewer tackles in the attacking third and more in the middle third, proof of Pereira’s favoured “mid-block” approach, while on the ball they are passing more and passing shorter, narrowly enjoying more possession and showing a greater patience going forward as well.

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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }Then the pintsA recent study showed Wolves are second in the Premier League for pubs within a one-mile radius of their stadium, with 50 establishments quite some distance behind Newcastle’s staggering 174 but comfortably above a host of other clubs.It offers the Wolves faithful plenty of options, likewise Pereira, who delighted supporters when entering The Moon Under Water on Lichfield Street after the 4-2 win over Spurs last weekend.Pereira orchestrated chants and happily posed for selfies, displaying a level of accessibility seldom seen in the Premier League.

I can’t get enough of this. Vitor Pereira out celebrating with Wolves fans at Wetherspoons #WWFC #EPL pic.twitter.

com/nCWWRAf2er— Dan Salisbury-Jones (@dsj_itv) April 13, 2025 “Since the first game, we have this chemistry,” Pereira said in March. “I think I am one of them. I am the guy to finish the game and go to the pub to drink two or three pints with them.

“To stay home alone, I don’t like. What is the problem? Nothing. For me it is very normal.

”He may well tire of the experience, but the man loves a pint, and if he fancies a quiet one he is not short of options – or drinking buddies.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l3"}); }New Cunha, bye Cunha?Matheus Cunha is expected to leave Wolves at the end of the season (Photo: Getty)A deeper role for Matheus Cunha is indicative of his defensive work but has not had a detriment on his output.He is fourth in the league among forwards for interceptions (16) and 11th for tackles (33), while no player in the league is outperforming their expected goals better than the Brazilian – 14 goals to 7.

3 xG.A moment of madness against Bournemouth saw him suspended for four games recently, and in his absence Wolves learned a valuable lesson about how to play without him, as their run shows.This will be needed.

Cunha is widely expected to leave in the summer and is said to have a £62m release clause with Arsenal and Manchester United among those interested.That fee is perhaps less than supporters would like, but it could be a parting gift on top of survival – which he has played a crucial role in – with those funds going towards a summer rebuild at the ongoing conveyor belt that is Wolves’ current ethos.#color-context-related-article-3639698 {--inews-color-primary: #8BC419;--inews-color-secondary: #F6FBED;--inews-color-tertiary: #8BC419;} Read Next square FOOTBALL .

inews__post__label__the-score{background-color: #8cc518;color: #ffffff;}The ScoreWe're all guilty of ignoring the job Vitor Pereira has done at WolvesRead MoreThe key January signingThe tour de force at the heart of Wolves’ defence arrived without much fanfare in early January, Emmanuel Agbadou signing for £16.6m from Ligue 1 side Reims.The centre-back was thrown in the starting XI straight away and immediately impressed, picking up Wolves’ player of the month award for January and named man of the match in their opening February game against Aston Villa.

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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l4"}); }Agbadou shows an unwavering calmness on the ball, is a confident passer, and has brought the best out of Toti and Matt Doherty beside him as a result (Doherty in particular may not have seen this coming, with the Irishman largely overlooked by O’Neil but starting every league game under Pereira since).In truth, 27-year-old Agbadou is the signing their fans would rather the clubs above them had no idea about, but he is gaining admirers by the week, which is no surprise to Marshall Munetsi, his teammate at Reims who joined him at Wolves later in the transfer window.“Everybody in France, they were always afraid of him.

I remember one game when we played against PSG and he put [Kylian] Mbappe in his pocket,” Munetsi told Express & Star.“It’s something that you don’t really see all the time but for us, Emmanuel is truly an exceptional player.”.