Coady oversight was Bruno’s large mistake
BRUNO LAGE deserved the sack at Wolves.
Managers are paid to make and take decisions – and one of his stank out Molineux.
As far as the Black Country club is concerned, Lage’s ill-informed choice might well turn out to be catastrophic – costing them £100million and a spot in the Premier League next season.
His fatal error? How Everton managed to snare Conor Coady. First, on loan. And then for agreeing on a £4.5million fee.
Damns
It both beggars belief – and absolutely damns Lage (above).
Anyone who has watched Wolves during the past five seasons understands what Coady brought to the table.
It was best seen during lockdown. A West Midlands derby at Villa Park set against the backdrop of near-silence.
Except for out on the pitch – where one voice boomed around the deserted stadium.
Coady understood the system put in place by Nuno Espirito Santo and was crucial to its success.
The result was promotion from the Championship, seventh-placed finish in the Premier League – a run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
All with Coady at its heart He was in everyone’s ear – even the media’s – that day at Villa Park. Honestly, after an hour I was thinking to myself, “Give it a rest, Conor”.
But he wouldn’t.
Standing between two centrehalves, he was in his element.
A former midfielder, he sprayed passes to left and right wing-backs to set his team in motion.
Then cajoling, encouraging, prompting.
And, yes, he wasn’t the greatest defender – and it was probably on that basis he was judged by Lage.
What a mistake.
Had Lage understood that Coady was the glue that bound everything and everyone together – that this fella was the essence of the club, surely he wouldn’t have come to the conclusion he did.
He was the captain – deemed so valuable as to have been tied down to a five-year deal little more than 12 months ago.
It was Conor who assimilated the heavy Portuguese contingent. It was Conor who set the standards. It was Conor who came and spoke to the press as half his side struggled with English. Conor this,
Conor that, Conor the other.
Despite working with him for 12 months, Lage somehow missed all this.
To be honest, it damns Molineux’s decision-makers too.
Someone should have pulled the man to one side and said, “Look, just take your medicine for a couple of months, Lage will be gone by October”.
Speak to modern coaches and they will lament the loss of genuine leaders. Coady is exactly that.
Scrap
It took Toffees boss Frank Lampard precisely five minutes to recognise what he had.
And, what a surprise, a team that looked destined for a relegation scrap has pulled itself clear of early-season trouble. Coady will go to the World Cup. He was called England’s player of the tournament by assistant Three Lions coach Steve Holland at the last Euros.
Lage will be scraping around for another job. He’d better hope that no one brings up Coady during the interview.
Because he really is going to find it hard to explain away that one.