If a single image was needed to sum up the current state of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jose Sa was on hand to provide it.
The sight of the Wolves goalkeeper wading into the South Bank to remonstrate with angry supporters was a reminder, if it was required, that despite a more positive few weeks of results since late October, relations between those in the stands and those on the pitch and in the dugout remain incredibly fraught.
They were not helped by a heavy, at times shambolic defeat to boss Gary O’Neil’s former club Bournemouth in which Sa found himself as the unwanted centre of attention.
When a couple of fans let rip at the Portugal international as he went to retrieve his water bottle from behind his goal at the half-time whistle, Sa could not contain his frustration and had to be restrained by stewards as he pointed angrily back.
As other supporters rowed in behind the goalkeeper, the resulting melee resulted in one fan being ejected from the stadium. It was an ugly moment in the midst of a very ugly afternoon for Wolves and O’Neil.
“I don’t know anything about it so I can’t comment at this moment, but I’m sure it will be looked into by our guys,” said O’Neil. “Situations like this heighten emotion and responses but Jose Sa has my full support and whatever he needs, he will get.
“The passes he received today he shouldn’t have received. The first one, he can clear much quicker, of course, but none of the players have anything but my full support.
“We tackle this difficult situation together. There’s enough for us to discuss about the game, rather than Jose and whatever happened at half-time,”
O’Neil was not wrong. There was much to discuss from a grim afternoon and almost none of those conversations ended well for Wolves or their head coach.
Because while some crazy mistakes in a crazy opening spell did much to undermine their chances of winning for a third time in success, this game more than any other in his reign felt like one for which the boss was largely responsible.
There was barely a moment throughout the game when Wolves’ line-up and setup did not feel a little bit weird and overthought.
Wolves conceded three penalties in their defeat to Bournemouth (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
At the outset, Wolves had a midfielder in Mario Lemina operating as a makeshift centre-back despite the return to the squad of Craig Dawson for a game in which O’Neil had highlighted the direct, physical threat of their opponents.
Lemina had filled in manfully in the 4-1 win at Fulham but he has not become a better centre-back than Dawson or the fit-again Santiago Bueno, although O’Neil later pointed out that the Uruguay international had not trained enough after injury to be relied upon for 90 minutes.
While it will never be known for sure whether Dawson would have fared better, it is fair to say that Lemina found it tough against the relentless threat of Evanilson, who became the first player in Premier League history to win three converted penalties in one game, while Justin Kluivert became the first man since 1957 to score three spot kicks in the same top-flight fixture.
Then at the start of the second half, with his side already 3-1 behind thanks largely to self-inflicted first-half wounds, a double-substitution and tactical readjustment meant they kicked off with a centre-back (Toti) at left back, Lemina still out of position at centre-back, and their starting left-back (Rayan Ait-Nouri), who had enjoyed some success marauding on his preferred flank before the interval, operating in a strange inside-right role in the forward line.
The changes were clearly thought through. O’Neil pulled off enough successes in his impressive first season in charge to prove he is no tactical mug, but this plan felt massively overthought and never looked like working.
Having ended the first half on top despite the two-goal deficit, Wolves lost all momentum after the break and Jorgen Strand Larsen’s second goal of the game from an excellent Goncalo Guedes pass was the only time they seriously threatened the Bournemouth goal.
After two steps forward in recent weeks, this was a huge step back.
“We have just gone four unbeaten in the Premier League against some tough opposition,” said O’Neil. “So we’ve had a bad day but it’s important not to overreact to a game that got away from us very, very early.”
O’Neil is right that, in a game where emotions can often fluctuate from delight to despair in the blink of an eye, Wolves and their supporters must strive for emotional equilibrium.
And while it might have felt like it, Saturday did not undo the good work done in victories over Southampton and Fulham. But it did wash away most of the goodwill that those wins generated.
Wolves and their boss had a very bad day which shone a light on the simmering tensions that remain. And if they needed an image to show the world as much, Jose Sa was on hand to oblige.
(Top photo: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
