The dozens of poncho-clad Wolves supporters that stuck around until the final whistle in the sodden Graham Hughes stand, a corner of this stadium exposed to the elements, was an image indicative of the wider mood at Molineux on a grim afternoon. For Vítor Pereira’s side, a fifth straight league defeat, this one against Leeds, for whom Noah Okafor, Anton Stach and Dominic Calvert-Lewin registered their first goals, the latter scoring for the only second time in 12 months.
Wolves, jeered off at half-time and full time, remain pointless and prop up the table after an inauspicious start. Of the five other teams to lose their opening five Premier League matches, three finished bottom, the anomaly in that pack the Crystal Palace side Roy Hodgson rescued in 2017-18 after a disastrous start under Frank de Boer, who was sacked just 77 days into the job.
There was little to cheer from a Wolves perspective after Ladislav Krejci’s eighth-minute opener and a din of discontent rained down from the stands, with supporters chanting against owner, Fosun Group, and the chair, Jeff Shi. “You sold the team, now sell the club,” bellowed the South Bank, alluding to another summer of high-profile departures, this time Matheus Cunha and Rayan Aït-Nouri.
