Well, this is tricky.It is the time of year when club correspondents select a player of the season from the team they watch each week. That is usually a straightforward process but, occasionally, clubs endure nightmare seasons the like of which Wolverhampton Wanderers have just experienced.Choosing a standout star from Molineux in 2025-26 is like trying to select a best actor from the 2019 movie Cats, or an England cricketer of the series from the winter’s Ashes tour. It has been a bin fire of a season; the kind of campaign that ought to be consigned to the vat marked ‘toxic’ and never spoken of again.Handing out accolades from such an omni-shambles of a campaign is, to say the least, awkward. But here we are.There are some sensible candidates for what we might rename the ‘least-bad player of the season’ award.Santiago Bueno has been the most consistent performer in the team since being promoted to the starting XI mid-season when Emmanuel Agbadou left, first for the African Cup of Nations and then to Besiktas in a £15.5million ($20.8m) February transfer. That created a vacancy at the heart of Wolves’ back three which Bueno, the eight-time Uruguay international, has filled with the minimum of fuss and a level of composure and calmness that has taken many by surprise.The shortcomings in athleticism and mobility that undermined the early months of his Wolves career have been less evident since his recall, perhaps in part due to a position where fellow centre-backs either side of him have provided an extra level of protection. Bueno has kept his head down, avoided any embarrassing moments, popped up with a couple of goals and produced a steady run of form.Santiago Bueno stepped into the back line mid-season and has impressed (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)But he has still been part of a defence that has conceded regular goals, especially in the dismal last few weeks, so his candidacy does not come without major flaws. He may have demonstrated more consistency and fewer dramas than any other contender, but the bar has been set depressingly low this term.Joao Gomes remains the most popular figure with fans in a widely castigated squad and, while the Brazilian’s form has featured peaks and troughs in what will almost certainly be his final season in gold and black, his commitment and wholehearted style of play means he has retained his standing in the affections of the fan base.In a public ballot for player of the season, Gomes would undoubtedly have some support.So, too, would Hugo Bueno, if only because the narrative of a player emerging from the Wolves academy and holding down a regular place in a Premier League starting XI is appealing.The Spaniard has been willing and energetic at left wing-back, has held off the challenge for his place from Norway international David Moller Wolfe and has created more chances per 90 minutes (1.42 according to Opta) than any other Wolves player in a side that has struggled so badly for creativity all year.But in a season of almost unmitigated misery, the player-of-the-season award really should go to a figure who has allowed fans to put the doom aside on occasion along the way. Solely on that basis, step forward Mateus Mane.Mateus Mane bursts away from Tottenham’s grounded Rodrigo Bentancur (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Please, stick with us on this.No, the talented teenage did not start a game until December 27. And yes, he has still made fewer than 20 league starts. Oh, and sure, his impact on Wolves’ season was fleeting and ultimately fruitless.But football is about moments, and Mane is the only Wolves player who has made the Wolves fans excited all season.Remember the eye-catching impact he made in a creditable 2-1 defeat at Liverpool over Christmas?Recall the joy in the stands at Molineux when he scored a superb first Premier League goal to help his side to a first victory of the campaign — 3-0 against West Ham — on January 3?Remember the fine finish he produced four days later to earn Wolves a 1-1 draw against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium, or the brilliant goal in the final home game of the season against Fulham?And recall the shoulder-dropping, hip-swivelling, pace-changing, bursting impact Mane made during a purple patch in the first few weeks of 2026 to help provide the only spell of the season that came even close to being enjoyable?For that reason alone, Mane is the only player with a credible claim to being Wolves’ player of the season.Handing out such accolades to a player who has, arguably, had only half a dozen standout games might seem vaguely perverse. But in a season Wolves fans would rather just forget, this is where we are.No Wolves player has done nearly enough to stop fans being angry, frustrated and disillusioned. Mane at least did enough to make them smile for a while.