Journalist Dean Jones believes Wolves allowing Conor Coady to leave on loan was always a “strange” decision.
This summer, the Wolves captain joined Everton on a season-long loan and has had a much better start to the season than his parent club.
The 29-year-old has formed the best defence in the Premier League alongside James Tarkowski.
Coady has started each of the last seven league games and hasn’t lost since his debut appearance against Aston Villa, while Wolves are mired in the bottom three with just one win to their name.
Following the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United, the Old Gold decided to part ways with head coach Bruno Lage, and Jones believes the club will now be kicking themselves for letting Coady go.
He told GiveMeSport: “It was one of those situations you always looked at and thought they would regret that. It was a strange situation from the start.”
TIF Thoughts on Coady and Wolves…
Should Wolves regret letting Coady leave?
No, the problem is in attack!
Yes, what were they thinking!
Given Wolves’ switch to a back four this season, it’s easy to see Lage agreeing to Coady’s departure.
When Nuno Espirito Santo experimented with different formations from his preferred wing-back style during the 2020/21 season, it backfired as in a 4-3-3 system, the club picked up just one point from four league matches, shipping 10 goals – including three in a 3-2 defeat to local rivals West Brom, where Coady came in for particular criticism from Molineux News, as he looked “very suspect in a back four”, with his performance dubbed as “alarming”.
However, the £16.2m-rated defender has demonstrated his ability to play in a back four in a similar formation on Merseyside.
But given that Wolves have conceded just nine goals from their first eight league games, their main problems are perhaps not in defence either, with their tally of three goals scored – the worst in the division – in need of more immediate attention.