Journalist Dean Jones claims that Bruno Lage’s comments on Ki-Jana Hoever have not gone down well with the players in the Wolves camp.
Hoever was signed from Liverpool for £13.5m and has made just eight Premier League appearances this term, with four of those being starts, according to Transfermarkt.
The former Reds defender was brought into the side last week due to Nelson Semedo’s injury, but his game this weekend against Crystal Palace was cut short after being forced off due to injury in the 25th minute.
Lage had this to say after the game in an interview whilst talking about Hoever: “Injuries can happen, but this one happened because he’s not prepared. I don’t waste time with guys who don’t work hard.”
Jones reacted to the comments from the Wolves boss, telling GiveMeSport: “I think he’s looked for an outlet to take out of his anger on, and he’s found his target. I don’t think it’s been very well received from around the squad, from what I’m hearing.”
TIF Thoughts on the comments from Dean Jones…
Hoever has seen his game time limited this campaign, but when he has been called upon, pundits have criticised him for not doing enough to cement a place in the starting XI.
With the impressive form of Nelson Semedo, who has been occupying the right wing-back role, it has been hard for Hoever to get any regular first-team minutes, but the comments from Lage towards the 20-year-old could be deemed as harsh.
Although Hoever has been poor in the minimal games he has featured in this season, having received a match rating on SofaScore of just 6.3 in each of his last two games, he is a 20-year-old who has only started nine Premier League games across 18 months, so these comments could be damaging for his confidence.
The lack of game time for the youngster could have made it hard to gain any momentum and produce any consistency in his displays, so Lage’s comments could be very much seen as reactionary, and the harsh words towards Hoever could be seen as him being used as a scapegoat.