How Bruno Lage has quietly put Wolves on brink of 'something special'

It's now five Premier League wins from six in 2022 for Wolves.

After their excellent triumphs at Manchester United and Tottenham, their latest effort required silk and steel as the combination of eye-catching goals from Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence, plus solid defending and a couple of decent saves from goalkeeper Jose Sa helped them past Leicester.

The 2-1 win at Molineux keeps Wolves seventh, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, with two games in hand, and two behind Arsenal, who they visit on Thursday.

But there was no Nuno-style fist-punching celebrations with the fans on the South Bank at the final whistle. That is most definitely not Bruno Lage's way.

If Wolves are to emulate their achievement of three seasons ago and secure a return to European football, or go higher and finish in the top five — something they have not done since the 1970s — they will do it quietly.

Watching Lage take his seat for the start of the game, hood up to protect him from the awful weather swirling around the Black Country, it was like the 45-year-old was trying to make himself invisible.

But while he lacks the physical presence of his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo — and the famous beard — Lage has already proved himself to be a worthy successor to the man who brought Wolves back to the Premier League and re-established them as an effective force in the English game.

Lage came to Wolves with a mission to make them more exciting, more expansive, more on the front foot. Defenders were told to play higher up the pitch. For a unit not blessed with lightning speed, this was a worry. Pre-season teething problems accentuated the concerns.

However, while the opening month of the season only brought a trio of single-goal defeats by