Wolves blog: Captain Coady?
Hands up who would have predicted Conor Coady would be one of the standout performers of the pre-season?
Not many would have predicted it – in fact, some would have grouped Coady along with the players they expected to leave Molineux in order to make way for new signings.
Even less would have envisaged Coady would make the centre back position his own, having been bought in two summers ago as a central midfielder.
Coady has proven his worth to Wolves through Kenny Jackett, Walter Zenga and Paul Lambert – and it is looking like he will do the same again under Nuno Espirito Santo.
He has demonstrated versatility to Wolves, having played in central midfield and right back, where he played last season.
He ended up coming in the top three of Wolves’ fans vote for the player of the season in May.
There is a strong chance he will take his position in defence alongside Willy Boly and Roderick Miranda in the tough opener against Middlesbrough.
There may be the odd mistake from Coady as he adapts to his new position – he misjudged the flight of a long ball up to Jamie Vardy in the win over Leicester last weekend.
However, he showed superb determination and got back onto the goal line to make a superb clearance to deny Vardy’s finish.
He will always give one hundred per cent to the cause and seems to be happy to help in any way and in any position.
If Coady does start against Boro, it is unlikely club captain Danny Batth will also play...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.
Regular stand-in captain Dave Edwards is also fourth or fifth choice in midfield – he is definitely behind Ruben Neves, Romain Saiss and Jack Price and potentially Connor Ronan.
This means Coady has the strongest claim to lead Wolves out in front of a sell-out crowd.
He has proven he is a viable option for the captaincy – for those who couldn’t make it to the Austria pre-season tour, live match streams provided by the club gave us an extra insight into the Wolves team.
You could clearly hear Coady’s Scouse accent constantly giving instructions and praise to the team.
He is a born leader and organiser and playing with the rest of the team in front of him probably enhances these attributes.
Nuno has clearly identified Coady’s abilities throughout pre-season despite the club signing multiple defenders.
If he does lead the club out for their first game under Nuno and the new dawn, Wolves fans can rest assured they have a passionate, enthusiastic and committed leader.
