Wolverhampton Wanderers have one foot in the Premier League but supporters find themselves defending their impending promotion rather than celebrating it.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have one foot in the Premier League after a 3-0 win away at Leeds United in midweek.
Goals from Romain Saiss, Willy Boly and Benik Afobe gave Nuno Espirito Santo‘s Wolves side a comfortable victory at Elland Road.
And the result put Championship leaders Wolves 10 points clear of the playoff places with 11 games to go.
Victory over Aston Villa on Saturday night would all but seal their return to the big time barring a spectacular collapse.
But rather than enjoy their impending promotion, Wolves fans instead find themselves fighting off claims of unfairness, inequality and effectively cheating since it became clear they were going to hold on to at least one of the two automatic spots.
Fellow Championship clubs are angry about the Molineux clubs’ spending in their efforts to reach the Premier League.
Wolves were accused of having an ownership structure that is ‘not fair and legal’ by Leeds United owner and chairman Andrea Radrizzani, following their 3-0 win over the Whites.
And that prompted the EFL to hold a meeting over the way Wolves are operating and the relationship with super agent Jorge Mendes.
A statement from the EFL said: “It was agreed that the EFL Executive will meet with the management of the club to reiterate the requirements of our regulations and those of the FA and will report back to the board in due course.
“It should be noted that the club was explicitly informed in July 2016 of all the requirements it was expected to meet. The club has confirmed that the undertakings given at the time remain in place and are being complied with.”
While league bosses will ultimately decide if any rules have b
een broken or lines crossed, it begs the question are Wolves the victims of double standards and football snobbery.
In the Premier League there is a direct correlation between how much teams have spent and their final league position.
And in the Championship it is no different. The Premier League is the holy grail and it could be argued Wolves are simply showing more ambition to get there than their rivals.
Indeed they aren’t the first and won’t be the last to spend big in an effort to secure promotion.
And let’s not forget all the good Wolves have done for the Championship and the profile of the league this season.
Bumper crowds, players with Champions League experience plying their trade in the second tier and the team lighting up the division thus attracting bigger audiences to take an interest in the Championship.
It is not the first time Wolves fans will feel somewhat hard done by this season either.
There was bemusement in December as just two Wanderers players made the Championship top 10 selection.
In the Premier League there would not be a blink of an eye at Wolves’ spending or ambitious approach, if anything it would be praised.
Perhaps that is where they belong and ultimately where the club will feel more appreciated in the long term.
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