Fan Talk with Lynsey Hooper: Lopetegui exit a huge blow for Wolves

Sky Sports broadcaster and host of the Offside Rule World Cup Daily podcast Lynsey Hooper discusses her life-long Wolves addiction and the club's chances this season.

Addicted for life

It's hard to say how I became a Wolves fan because I inherited it from birth.

Grandad was a scout for the club. He was friends with Graham Hughes, who has a stand named after him at Molineux, and he took me on tours of the ground and the club museum.

When I wanted to get into sports journalism, one of the first things I did was volunteer at Radio Wolves, which came out of the stadium.

Between that and going on my friend's season ticket, it was a great way for me to watch every home game for years. 

I have so many great memories of watching Steve Bull, John de Wolf, Don Goodman and, Robbie Keane. It was ingrained in me.

Poker face

When I worked for Premier League Productions, covering Wolves games was fine as I only needed to do post-match questions. 

I could watch it in the freedom of knowing I didn't need to do live reports and I balanced it off in my head before I approached the interviews.

But when I covered Wolves games for Final Score, particularly in the Premier League when they come to you a lot, I found it difficult because I watched the matches in a different way.

I always say to fellow Wolves fan Jacqui Oatley that I don't know how she does commentary because I'm always watching other areas of the pitch. 

I want to know what the left-back is doing out of possession and who is not pulling their weight.

As a fan, that's what you do.

Remarkable Ruben

Portugal are now my second team, which probably tells you a lot about how Wolves have evolved over the last few years.

I was a huge fan of Nuno Espirito Santo. Even when he was coming under more scrutiny towards the end I was very vocal about the job he'd done and how he'd helped us live the dream.

I've seen a calibre of players at Molineux I never thought would be possible. Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez, even Adama Traore.

Neves was the youngest player ever to captain a Champions League team when he signed for us and it was incredible to watch the way he took to life here. He really embraced the club and the community.

The quality of his touch, his ability to pick out a pass, the leadership — and of course, everyone will talk about that goal against Derby.

Lopetegui despair

Last season was not a comfortable watch and I do think it might be similar again.

We were saved by the fact Julen Lopetegui had enough time to turn it around and that there were three worse teams. Unfortunately, we've now lost him. 

The one thing I was clinging onto is that we had Lopetegui. I was going to bed every night hoping I wouldn't wake up to an announcement that he'd gone. 

Things are going to be a lot more difficult without him but we still have some talented players. And new boss Gary O’Neil managed to save Bournemouth last season, so we have to get behind him. 

Lynsey Hooper was talking to Adam Drury