NEIL MOXLEY

Lopetegui has proved he was worth wait... in gold as Wolves cash in! Verdict from Molineux

JULEN LOPETEGUI took his time accepting the emergency call from Molineux seven months ago.

Personal issues back in Spain were his primary focus – not sifting through the wreckage of a season in the Black Country that was circling the plughole.

An illness to his father prevented the former Real Madrid chief taking on what looked a tricky assignment, when approached in October.

It would be another four weeks before he felt comfortable enough to accept – and in that time, a difficult situation had worsened.

And then some.

It was six games before he took the reins for good. Wolves won just once and, amid a string of problems with their frontline, needed financial and practical help to right the Old Gold ship.

Too right they did – they were bottom at Christmas. But as Lopetegui took in the acclaim from a packed South Bank following a derby victory over despised rivals Aston Villa, all that seemed a lifetime ago.

It will now take a freak set of results to deprive Wolves of another campaign in the top flight – and the whole stadium knew it.

From the sight of skipper Ruben Neves crumpling in a heap at the final blast of referee Stuart Attwell’s whistle, to the manager walking the length of the South Bank to salute his support, it was a job well done.

Wolves’ decision-makers deserve a pat on the back, too. It would have been easy to panic and look elsewhere.

They stood firm while their man did what he had to. Caretaker Steve Davis held the fort in Lopetegui’s absence. It needed a big personality with a plan. Off the pitch, Lopetegui fitted the bill. On it, so did Diego Costa.

The ex-Atletico Madrid and Chelsea striker looked more like a tribute act when he waddled back into the big-time. Eighteen months without frontline football had taken a toll.

When the 34-year-old began what surely will be the last chapter of his career in England by starting his first game back at Stamford Bridge, it was more like a personal exhibition.

Substituted after less than an hour, he walked around the pitch, milking the applause and general ovation, waving at the Matthew Harding Stand. It wasn’t a good look.

But fast forward to the celebratory scenes in all four stands of this famous theatre yesterday and there wasn’t one supporter who would say that Costa’s arrival – and Lopetegui’s handling of him – hadn’t been crucial to the survival outcome.

And yes, he might have netted just once but the ex-Spain international has provided Wolves with a focal point they were sadly lacking.

Gradually, the forward’s fitness returned. Costa used every ounce of his experience to annoy, cajole, wind-up... and grab his side the vital victories to push them clear of danger.

Lopetegui stuck by him, even when it looked like he needed to oil his ageing joints.

There are seven wonders in the world. The eighth, surely, is how a player of Neves’ quality has stayed for so long.

He has Porto, his former club, in his heart. It was his home and he swapped it for this city, north of Birmingham.

But he ‘gets’ Wolves, the area, the fans. Time and again, he ran forward from midfield, pressing and harrying Villa’s defenders into mistakes – and his work with the ball is exceptional.

Wolves have another game at Molineux. It won’t matter much. But, this one did.

It needed a big personality with a plan. Lopetegui fitted the bill.

RECOVERY ROOM has Julen Lopetegui to taken Wolves safety – and Costa his (below) has been talisman