Wolverhampton Wanderers have become the punchline. Anyone can beat anyone this Premier League season… Oh, except for Wolves.
You could throw a blanket over the majority of clubs it is that close in the table, though Wolves are not peeking out from underneath but instead nowhere near this metaphorical cover.
The club are doomed. Their fans know this, and it would help the club no end if their owners accept their fate as well.
If that sounds pessimistic it merely matches the mood inside Molineux, where they host Manchester United on Monday in pursuit of their first league win of the season.
Two points from 14 is the joint-worst start alongside Sheffield United in 2020-21, but 14 games is hardly a “start” and places Wolves firmly in the middle of a season destined to end in relegation.
And the mastermind they needed? Well, he took charge of Nottingham Forest instead – at a time when Wolves should have taken action first – with Sean Dyche also the latest manager to inflict defeat on this hapless side in midweek.
It took Sheffield United until their 18th match, on 12 January 2021, to win a league match that season. They won six more to finish on 23 points, but still they came bottom.
Wolves meanwhile are staring at Premier League infamy. Last season Southampton only narrowly avoided matching Derby County’s unwanted record low of 11 points, but now there is a new contender for that thorned crown.
Maths tells us Wolves are on course for just five points at their current rate, or 5.43 points to be exact, and while that is a mere win away they know they must grind out more victories to avoid the ignominy of becoming the worst side of the Premier League era.
And while a look at the six worst performing teams in Premier League history offers Wolves two beacons of hope, there is a harsh reality as a major caveat which owners Fosun may be unwilling to abide with.
What happened next?
Derby County 2007-08: 11 points – Yet to return to the Premier League, losing two play-off finals in 2014 and 2019 – as well as exiting in the semi-finals in 2016 and 2018 – before going down to League One in 2022. Now back in the Championship.
Southampton 2024-25: 12 points – Narrowly avoided the worst-ever Premier League season last term and were off to a shocking start in the Championship before a four-game winning run recently took them back up to mid-table.
Sunderland 2005-06: 15 points – The Black Cats bounced back immediately, winning the Championship title before enjoying 10 straight seasons back in the Premier League, with 10th in 2010-11 their best finish during that time. Now after another rollercoaster – that involved League One and the absorbing fly-on-the-wall Sunderland ‘Til I Die series – they are back upsetting the big boys once again.
Sheffield United 2023-24: 16 points – A painful play-off final defeat after Sunderland scored an injury-time winner prevented the Blades from making an immediate return. Paying the price now, although a recent uptick in form has taken them out of the Championship relegation zone.
Huddersfield Town 2018-19: 16 points – Flirted more with relegation than promotion after dropping back down to the Championship, and following a play-off final defeat to Nottingham Forest in 2022, they went down to League One last year and only finished 10th in 2024-25.
Aston Villa 2015-16: 17 points – Villa’s ever-present Premier League status ended in dismal fashion but proved to be the reset the club needed. After losing the play-off final in 2018 they won at Wembley the following year and are now in Europe. What Wolves fans would give for a similar recovery.
The lesson for Wolves?
Change your owners. Villa and Sunderland are comfortably the feel-good stories from the above six, and both are currently achieving dizzying results after changing owners during life in the lower leagues.
Villa almost entered administration in 2018 under former owner Dr Tony Xia, but along came new owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens to save the club.
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Sunderland meanwhile changed hands in 2021 when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus became the majority shareholder. On his watch they have gone from League One to the Premier League.
It leaves Wolves in a perilous situation unless Fosun start showing either that they still care or are willing to put the club up for sale.
Fans have told The i Paper already they fear extinction under their current owners, and the only way to get the club out of their malaise appears to be a change in ownership.
Fosun though have not yet shown a willingness to sell, meaning when, and that is when, they become a Championship club for the first time since 2017-18 next season, we may truly learn just how prepared they are to save Wolves.
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