Wolves Manager – Paul Lambert
Lambert took over the reins at Wolves in early November, with the club languishing in 19th place. The Ex-Champions League winner has led his side to relative safety, with their fate firmly in their own hands. They sit five points above third from bottom Blackburn with a far superior goal-difference. Yet Lambert is experienced enough to understand the tectonic nature of the relegation battle, and won’t take anything for granted, instructing his team to grind out results if necessary.
Indeed, Lambert has the favourable record of never overseeing a relegation and is versed in the language necessary for survival.
Brought in with the sole intention of securing survival this season, it is likely Lambert will be given a cash-laden coffer to mount an assault on the Premier League next year: Guo Guangchang, chariman of Fosun Group and owner of the club, is reported to be worth a cool £4.1 billion and will be looking for a return on his investment.
Weaknesses
Wolves’ season of contrasts is fully revealed with a cursory look at their home form versus their away form. The Wanderers are the fifth best team in the Championship when on their travels – if they played all their games away from Molineux they would be pushing for promotion. Quite starkly, they have the third worst home form in the league and had they played all their matches at Molineux, they’d be in the bottom three. Lucky for Cardiff, then, who travel to Wolves on Saturday.
Lambert’s men have won just five matches all season on their own turf, suffering from a woeful lack of confidence in-front of their own fans. Warnock will be hoping his team can take advantage of the paralysing pressure of playing at home.
City’s press and energy in midfield has been revolutionised since Warnock’s arrival and it will get another chance to show off against Wolves. With just 71% pass completion, Wolves’ weakness in keeping possession is an area vulnerable to the tenacity of Arron Gunnarsson and Joe Ralls. Warnock’s industrious pair should look to nick the ball in dangerous areas and expose a Wolves’ defence caught on the back-foot.
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