🚨 WOLVES DOUBLE AWARD NOMINATION AFTER STUNNING AUGUST — CESAR PEIXOTO AND FER LOPEZ RECOGNISED! 🐺🔥
There was a feeling around Wolverhampton Wanderers at the beginning of August that something needed to change.
After relegation from the Premier League, Wolves entered a completely different world.
The pressure was enormous.
The expectations were enormous.
And with a new manager in César Peixoto, there were plenty of questions about whether the Portuguese coach could quickly adapt to English football and, more importantly, whether he could get Wolves moving in the right direction.
One month later, the picture is beginning to look very different.
Wolves have not only made an unbeaten start to their Championship campaign during August, but two of the most important figures in their early-season revival have now been recognised with nominations for the Championship’s monthly awards.
César Peixoto has been shortlisted for the Championship Manager of the Month award.
And Fer López has been nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award.
For Wolves supporters, it is another indication that the club’s new era may already be taking shape.
And perhaps the most interesting part?
This could only be the beginning.
🐺 A NEW ERA AT MOLINEUX
When Peixoto arrived at Wolves during the summer, he knew the task ahead would not be straightforward.
The club had just dropped into the Championship after years of Premier League football, while expectations surrounding the team remained extremely high.
There was also the challenge of building a new identity.
Peixoto repeatedly stressed during pre-season that Wolves needed to become a team rather than simply relying on individual quality.
That message has already started to become visible.
The August results showed a side capable of winning in different ways, competing physically, controlling possession and, perhaps most importantly, responding when matches became difficult.
Wolves began the month with a convincing Carabao Cup victory over Port Vale before opening their Championship campaign against Blackburn Rovers.
That league opener ended in a draw, but Wolves showed enough attacking quality to suggest that the team would not be intimidated by life in the second tier.
Marshall Munetsi and Raul Jimenez were on the scoresheet as Wolves fought back after falling behind.
It was not the perfect result for Peixoto, but the reaction demonstrated something important.
The team refused to give up.
Then came the wins.
🔥 FROM ONE POINT TO SEVEN
Wolves’ first Championship victory under Peixoto came at Preston North End.
And it was not a narrow victory.
It was a statement.
The Old Gold produced one of their most impressive performances of the early campaign to win 3-1 at Deepdale.
Fer López was at the centre of everything.
The Spanish attacking midfielder scored twice, including an early strike that immediately put Wolves on the front foot.
Adam Armstrong also found the net as Wolves controlled large portions of the contest.
Even more encouraging for Peixoto was the way his team maintained its identity.
The manager had demanded that his players remain organised and continue playing their football regardless of the circumstances.
Against Preston, they did exactly that.
Wolves then continued their momentum with another victory, this time in the Carabao Cup against Sheffield Wednesday.
Despite making significant changes to the starting XI, Peixoto’s team remained organised, kept a clean sheet and progressed into the next round.
That was another important sign.
This wasn’t simply a team dependent on eleven players.
The squad was beginning to develop depth.
And then came Stoke City.
At Molineux.
The final league fixture of August produced another emphatic result.
Wolves defeated Stoke 4-1 after responding brilliantly to falling behind.
Rodrigo Gomes scored twice, Raul Jimenez converted from the penalty spot and Jordan James added his first Wolves goal.
It meant Wolves finished August with four victories and one draw across all competitions.
In the Championship specifically, the record was two wins, one draw and zero defeats.
Seven points from a possible nine.
Fourteen goals scored across the opening five matches.
And suddenly, the mood around Molineux was changing.
⭐ FER LOPEZ: THE BREAKOUT STAR?
If there is one player who has caught the imagination of Wolves supporters during this early period, it is Fer López.
The 22-year-old has quickly become one of the most exciting attacking players in Peixoto’s system.
His nomination for the Championship Player of the Month award therefore comes as little surprise.
But what makes López’s start particularly interesting is that he appears to be becoming more direct.
Earlier in his Wolves career, there were moments when the Spaniard appeared more interested in creating opportunities for teammates than taking responsibility himself.
That has started to change.
Peixoto wants him to shoot more.
López appears to be listening.
His performance at Preston was the clearest evidence.
Two goals.
Constant movement.
Confidence.
And a willingness to attack defenders.
His first goal demonstrated his technical quality, while his second showed the kind of positioning and decisiveness that can make an attacking midfielder extremely dangerous at Championship level.
After the match, López admitted that he was enjoying his football again.
And that could be significant for Wolves.
Because when a player is enjoying his football, confidence tends to follow.
And when confidence follows, performances can become even more dangerous.
🗣️ “WE WANT TO WIN THE LEAGUE”
Perhaps the most revealing moment came after the Preston victory.
López spoke openly about the atmosphere around the team and the confidence building inside the squad.
He also made it clear that Wolves’ ambitions were not simply about surviving their first Championship season.
They want to compete.
They want to win.
And ultimately, they want to return to the Premier League.
That ambition is exactly what Wolves supporters want to hear.
But there is still a long road ahead.
The Championship is unforgiving.
One good month does not guarantee promotion.
One excellent player does not guarantee success.
And one promising manager does not automatically transform a relegated Premier League team into a promotion contender.
However, the foundations are beginning to appear.
🧠 PEIXOTO’S BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT MAY NOT BE THE RESULTS
It would be easy to look only at the results.
Two Championship wins.
One draw.
Zero defeats.
Seven points.
But Peixoto’s biggest achievement may be the mentality he has started to build.
The Portuguese coach has repeatedly talked about organisation, identity and playing with the right balance between emotion and intelligence.
After the Blackburn draw, for example, he admitted that Wolves had started playing too much with their hearts after conceding.
That is exactly the kind of detail that shows what Peixoto is trying to build.
He doesn’t simply want Wolves to attack.
He wants them to understand matches.
He wants them to remain composed.
He wants them to know when to accelerate and when to control the game.
Against Preston, Wolves showed significant improvement in that area.
Against Sheffield Wednesday, the heavily rotated side remained disciplined.
Against Stoke, they responded to conceding an early goal by taking control and eventually winning 4-1.
Those performances provide the argument for Peixoto’s nomination.
🏆 WHY PEIXOTO DESERVES THE AWARD
The competition for the Championship Manager of the Month award is strong.
But Peixoto has an obvious case.
He inherited a club dealing with relegation.
He had to introduce his football philosophy quickly.
He had to adapt to the Championship.
And he managed to take seven points from nine league matches during August while also guiding Wolves through two rounds of the Carabao Cup.
The results are one thing.
The manner of those results is another.
Wolves scored freely.
They showed attacking variety.
They demonstrated squad depth.
And they responded positively to setbacks.
Perhaps most importantly, there appears to be a genuine connection developing between the manager, the players and the supporters.
That connection could become incredibly important as the season progresses.
🔥 AND THEN THERE IS FER LOPEZ
For López, the nomination represents another step in what could become a defining season.
He has already shown that he possesses the technical ability to influence games.
Now he appears to be adding something even more important: consistency.
His goals against Preston were not isolated moments.
He has continued to contribute offensively, including another goal against Birmingham at the beginning of September.
That continued influence suggests that Peixoto may have found one of the key pieces of his attacking system.
And if López continues at this level, Wolves could have one of the Championship’s most dangerous attacking players.
The player himself appears convinced that the team can achieve something significant.
And Wolves supporters will certainly hope he is right.
👀 BUT THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET INTERESTING
The nominations arrive at a fascinating moment.
Wolves are still adjusting to life in the Championship.
There are still defensive issues to solve.
There are still difficult away grounds to visit.
There are still teams with enormous promotion ambitions.
And there is still a huge amount of football to be played.
Their September has already shown that the Championship will not simply allow Wolves to dominate.
The draw at Birmingham was a reminder.
Wolves twice took the lead but were ultimately held to a 2-2 draw.
Peixoto was disappointed, particularly with the goals his team conceded, but he also praised the way his players stayed together during a difficult match.
That is another test of the manager’s project.
Can Wolves maintain the positive momentum while fixing the weaknesses?
Can López continue producing when opponents begin paying him greater attention?
Can the team turn promising performances into consistent results?
Those questions will determine whether this exciting start becomes something much bigger.
🐺 THE WOLVES PROJECT IS STARTING TO LOOK REAL
For now, though, Wolves supporters have every reason to be encouraged.
The club went into the Championship with uncertainty surrounding almost everything.
Now there is a clear identity beginning to emerge.
Peixoto has his footballing principles.
López has emerged as one of the team’s attacking leaders.
Raul Jimenez is contributing goals and experience.
New additions are settling into the squad.
Young players are getting opportunities.
And Molineux is beginning to believe again.
The monthly award nominations are therefore about more than individual recognition.
They represent a snapshot of Wolves’ progress.
Peixoto is being recognised for the transformation he has started.
López is being recognised for his performances within that transformation.
And together, they represent two sides of the same story.
The manager building the system.
The player thriving inside it.
🚨 NOW COMES THE BIG TEST
Winning awards would obviously be a huge boost.
But Wolves will not judge this season by individual monthly prizes.
The real objective is much bigger.
Promotion.
A return to the Premier League.
And potentially doing it by building a team that can remain competitive at the highest level.
August provided the first glimpse.
September will provide another test.
Then October.
Then November.
Then the winter period, when Championship campaigns can become extremely demanding.
The early signs, however, are encouraging.
Two Championship wins.
One draw.
Zero defeats during August.
A team scoring goals.
A manager receiving recognition.
And an attacking midfielder beginning to look like one of the division’s most exciting players.
That is quite a turnaround.
And perhaps Wolves supporters should enjoy the nominations for what they represent.
Not the end of the story.
The beginning.
Because if César Peixoto can continue improving Wolves at the same rate, and if Fer López can maintain this level of form, the Old Gold could become a very serious problem for the rest of the Championship.
The season is still young.
The promotion race is nowhere near decided.
But one thing is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore…
Wolves are starting to look like a team with a plan. 🐺🔥
And with Peixoto and López now both nominated for August’s Championship awards, the question for Wolves supporters is simple:
Could these two be the faces of Wolves’ push back to the Premier League? 👀
The journey has only just begun.