WOLVES’ BRUNO LAGE HAS QUIETLY DONE WELL

EVERY season, there is that one team in the English Premier League whose relative success flies under the radar. This season that team is Wolves.

The Molineux club had a frustrating season by their standards last term, as they ended 13th in the league. They also ended up losing former manager Nuno Espirito Santo and key goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

After a few impressive seasons in the EPL, many thought that Wolves had peaked and would only be headed downhill, as happens to many non-traditional top six teams.

Nuno was subsequently replaced by fellow Portuguese football manager Bruno Lage, and Patricio with Jose Sa. Lage joined as a relative unknown, with his only previous notable managerial spell being a season-long stint with Benfica.

He has earned a well-deserved manager of the month nomination for January, after leading Wolves to three successive wins. The big-guns, yes even Manchester City, were not at their clinical best in January, and Lage deserved the award. The only other manager who should be a contender in all fairness is Norwich

City’s Dean Smith.

The Canaries have been mocked as being “Championship specialists” for very valid reasons. They are the ultimate EPL “yo-yo club” as they regularly interchange between the first and second-tier of English football. Their two wins in January took them out of the dreaded drop zone.

Sa, 29, also joined as an unknown. After being unable to establish himself in the Porto team, his most significant first-team experience came in Greece with Olympiacos before joining Wolves.

Sa has since been a standout performer for Wolves in goal this season and Lage has exceeded expectations. Wolves are currently eighth in the Premier League, but they are in with a possible chance of potentially breaking into the top four as there are only four points separating them from fourth place Manchester United.

Another successful signing by Lage so far this season has been South Korean international Hwang Hee-Chan. One of the club's problems over recent years has been an inability to provide support to striker Raul Jimenez. Diogo Jota leaving the club to join Liverpool at the start of last season only made things worse.

The problem looks to be easing with the addition of the 26-year-old Hwang Hee-Chan. The South Korean is capable of scoring with his left and right foot, not to mention his impressive defensive work-rate.

Are Wolves going to realistically challenge strongly for a top four this season? Probably not. Goals have been few and far between this season, especially when considering that six out of their 19 league goals have come in their past two games, which equates to more than 25% of their overall goals.

Only Norwich and Burnley have scored less than them so far. If they can maintain their current levels of form, especially in defence, a top six finish is very realistic.

The fact that Manchester United, Tottenham and Leicester have all been stuttering this season has benefited Wolves. However, despite their lower-than-normal spending and managerial transition, they have certainly done well and can be proud of what Lage has achieved.