If there is one drawback from being so successful on the field of play, then it’s that the fans’ parliament is a damn sight quieter than it used to be!

Having said that, I found this latest get-together (having missed the last two) to be as informative as it was uplifting, as Jeff Shi, Laurie Dalrymple and Kevin Thelwell fielded questions amongst others on the top table.

I’ll try to cut through the vast swathes of notes with a condensed summary of the meeting to begin with, from my own subjective standpoint (notes taken in shorthand, which reflect fairly what was said):

Summary

The club is fiercely ambitious and the future so bright, with FOSUN thinking big, but being humble (this was a word used on at least one occasion) enough to know that there is a huge effort needed to get over the line in the short term. As Laurie Dalrymple concluded quite poignantly:

“We see the remaining period of time as the most defining as to where we want to go as a club. Keep the faith, drive the team forward and really, really get behind the team. We have five more home games and they will ultimately define us. We want to thank the fans for helping us to get to the position we are in. They will play a massive, massive role in these last five home games.”

In the long term, a stadium redevelopment would begin in May 2019, with the South Bank actually more likely to be demolished first, as this would have less of an impact on attendances inside the ground while work is taking place. Clearly this means there would be no move from Molineux either, as it remains a ‘hugely intrinsic part of the fabric and tapestry of the club.’

In the short term, the temporary Graham Hughes stand would be reopened for next season in all likelihood, with Laurie adding: ‘If we continue as we are then yes, we are actively looking at reopening this.’

In terms of players, Kevin Thelwell confirmed that we have an exclusive option to buy all loan players, but we need to get to the Premier League first. Jeff Shi was very quiet but it was noticeable when he did speak – namely when Kevin Thelwell was answering questions about British players and a supporter referencing the standard in the England squad. Basically, Jeff didn’t give a toss about the national squad, stating: ‘As a club we try to compete in the league. If we have English players then it is a plus, but the price, value and quality of player is most important. If you look around the world there will be more choice and better players so you have to look around the world to find better players.’ Have that!

We basically have nothing to worry about from a financial fair play perspective and Laurie did allude to us getting promoted this year or next, suggesting that we will be ahead of track were we to do it this season. Early birds will be announced when the club knows what league it will be in.

In short, it really will be lift-off for the club if we do make the Promised Land, but with Thelwell quoting Fulham as looking ‘unbeatable’ right now, all eyes can only be on these remaining nine games in the short term. The final furlong is in sight and all we can think about is this task in hand.

I’ll go with the footballing matters first, followed by the non-footballing matters.

Footballing matters

Willy Boly and Jota and other permanent signings

Kevin Thelwell said: ‘We are not focusing on this at the moment. We have nine games left this season. We worked very hard to secure loan players only if we had an option to buy them. Where we are now is focusing all of our efforts around the nine games. Let’s get promoted (touchwood) and then make some informed decisions. We have the exclusive right to buy Willy Boly in the summer as we have with all loan players we currently have.

What if it all goes wrong and we don’t get promoted?

Kevin: ‘We need to be really careful and cautious about what happens in these next nine games. We understand the situation. There is a lot of pressure from Cardiff, Aston Villa and Fulham, who look unbeatable at the moment. Having said that, if we continue on the form that we have been on all season, then we get around 98 or 99 points. (Reassuringly, KT began reciting points scenarios as he digressed, and who couldn’t catch us if we amassed various totals, before making light of it all by saying he hasn’t really looked at it very much!) ‘We understand that we still have a lot of work to do.’

Parallel planning

Kevin: ‘We are always working on a parallel plan. We are in a really good position to identify players to take to the Premier League with us. I think that we are in a really good position in terms of planning better (in terms of new players arriving) but the precursor is getting the players to want to come.

The ‘golden egg’ is getting as many in for pre-season as possible.’

Jota injury

Kevin said: ‘It is not ligament damage. Having said that, it is not easy for him to come back quickly. We’re looking at 4-6 weeks for him to come back. He is young and the medical team is as good as any I have ever worked with. Lets say 4-6 weeks but fingers crossed it is a bit sooner because he is a young guy.’

Why didn’t we strengthen more in January?

Kevin: ‘Going back to the summer transfer window, we evaluated the squad and we had three really good goalkeepers; six central defenders; two left backs; Matt Doherty and Ryan Bennett to cover right wing back; four central midfielders including MGW and some outstanding attacking talent. There was only one position (to address). We have Leo who has done a fantastic job having played so many matches. And that’s why we went for Rafa and Benik. We were very fortunate we did a lot of good business in the summer. We tried to look at least two players for every position.’

I quoted Kevin Thelwell from last season, where he said that the secret to the success of a Championship side was having around a 70/30 split between UK and foreign players (with the bias on UK players). I asked if he has now changed this viewpoint in light of this season:

Kevin replied: ‘We have got the balance right this season. There is a nice blend of youth and experience, British and foreign players and we have also had a group of players who have been here for a year, such as Romain Saiss and Ivan Cavaleiro. Where we are going does bring its own set of problems, but we will still be looking at homegrown players. Our main focus is how can we improve the quality at the right price. That won’t be easy when Alfie Mawson was signed by Swansea for £2.5m and now commands between £30 and £40m (according to West Ham bid).

My view of how we have done better is that the players are much clearer about the strengths and weaknesses of the league. We are much clearer about how we fit the whole thing together and we have been able to work closely as a group. We think the process (of player recruitment) has been better than before.’

I then asked KT which players would not be a Molineux now, were he not in his position. And, in light of the likes of Ryan Bennett, John Ruddy and Barry Douglas doing so well, is he in a stronger position than he was when Nuno first arrived?

Kevin Thelwell was very self-effacing here and didn’t want to take credit for any specific players at the club and wouldn’t name any. He reiterated the point that Nuno, him, Laurie and Jeff Shi work as a team and that the relationship is very harmonious.

He did quote a German footballing saying when looking for players in future, stating it was his responsibility to find players who will go on to become stars. He said: ‘In Germany they say they create millionaires – clubs in England buy them.’

James Maddison quote alert

‘From our perspective, can we find the next James Maddison or the next Morgan Gibbs White?’

On the theme of MGW…

Thelwell said that while Ruben Neves rightly gets so many plaudits for being such a wonderful player, he genuinely believes that MGW can be as good as him. The club has huge hopes for MGW. ‘Morgan Gibbs White has the potential to be the next big player.’

Non-footballing matters

Financial Fair Play

Laurie: ‘We have maintained from very early on that we were going to have to make an investment to improve the side and the depth of the squad – and that wasn’t going to be cheap. We have managed that strategically. Are we in danger? The short answer is no. We are entirely comfortable with the rules that are in place.’

Early birds and when the announcement will be made

Laurie said: ‘Soon! There are a lot of things in play and when we launch the strategy for next year, we will do so knowing what’s ahead of us. I urge you all to trust us on this and trust me. In the last week we published our figures and everybody is familiar with how much we invested into the side. I don’t think that anybody can say, hand on heart, that from a ticketing perspective it has not been money well spent. We have mapped out what we think is appropriate. We have mapped out what Premier League sides, Championship sides and Midlands-based sides charge. The next factor is where we will be as a club. We have still got enough time to facilitate the early bird process.’

Temporary stand

Laurie: ‘‘If we continue as we are then yes, we are actively looking at reopening this for next season.’ He added that it is not fit for purpose currently, but it should not be a big issue to remedy this.

Stadium redevelopment

Laurie: ‘I don’t know where the rumours came from about Goodyears or moving to another site – certainly not from inside the club. Molineux has been our home for 140-odd years now. As far as we’re concerned, Molineux is a hugely intrinsic part of our fabric and tapestry of the club and I can’t see that changing at all.

In some ways the site is restrictive. We have got the university, main routes and supermarket. In terms of redevelopment we see ourselves as firmly staying here. We have the short term goal of playing continuously in the Premier League. The team has to come first and so far, we are comfortable with where that is.

If we get promoted this season or next then we are on target. Being in the Premier League has to come first. When we are there then absolutely. We are having discussions about what we can physically do with the site. If promotion was to happen soon, then these discussions would significantly progress.

We would be looking to formally start work in May 2019.

Order of redevelopment

Laurie: ‘The key thing is to limit the reduction of supporters being able to come in. I want to see us supported as best as we can while work is taking place. We want the impact to be as limited as we can. I’m absolutely clear that there are some areas of the ground that need to be improved but we could find that the south end of the ground is developed first. There are a couple of pockets of land that are not ours which we are actively working on.

Improving existing stands

Laurie basically said that there was no point doing this significantly, when these very stands might be knocked down in the future. He said they looked at reconfiguring the Steve Bull Stand to have a dedicated area for away fans (in the upper tier I recall him saying?) but it was extremely cost prohibitive to do this.

Work to improve kiosking will take place, possibly more specific beer and food kiosks to reduce queuing.

Safe standing

Laurie: ‘It could be that the stadium redevelopment will fall quite nicely with potential Government changes on this issue. We would be more than happy to put our hands up because the majority of fans are keen to experience it.’

Booking fees

Laurie: I appreciate that this is a bone of contention. There are some costs incurred in terms of fulfilment of the tickets and some legislation that we are complying with. But the wider question is what should we do to make it fit for purpose? We will be reviewing this and will continue to review this as we go on. It is a bit of a legacy from the past, but we are looking to evolve, change and review.

Contactless payments

Laurie said: ‘We are definitely in the process of developing that. We are in a tender process because we want to bring the club to a modern standard where you don’t have to bring cash to the ground. It would be really good to have this in place for the start of next season. We are currently working towards that.

Season ticket sales

Laurie: There is not much scope for more…maybe one-and-a-half thousand. There is a cap and we are looking at ways in which we can maximise the number of seats we can offer inside the stadium.

Laurie said: ‘This is probably something that we look at with the stadium redevelopment. It would come at a significant cost. As and when it comes would be when we redevelop the site.’

The kit

Laurie: ‘The only thing we can say (on the main sponsor) is that they signed a three year deal (with Money Shop) so I can’t say any more than that at the moment.

In terms of kit supplier, everybody knows that we are at the end of our fifth year with Puma. We are conducting a review on that. What I would say is that the Puma kit this year has been the fastest selling and most productive kit we have had, with between 25 and 26,000 sales. I would urge people to have faith in whatever decision we take regarding the kit, because it will be the right one.’

Safeguarding in light of recent child abuse cases

Paul Richards, supporter liaison officer, said: ‘Our policies are multi-dimensional and reviewed by local authority designated officers, child services. We are really comfortable with how we look after any youngsters across the club. If anyone does have any questions though, then please ring me.’

Away season tickets

Please see official club minutes for this as I didn’t get the detail and what was agreed, sorry!

Future of Fans’ Parliament

People also talked of a raising of the profile of the FP, a possible name-change and sub-groups to give it more teeth. Again, I switched off here sorry. All I would say on this is that the FP is definitely a worthwhile entity and one I appreciate being able to go along to. It gives us an insight into the club’s thinking on certain matters and is unique amongst professional football clubs, so I am told.

Two points I’d make, and the first one is on me

I need to communicate when the meetings are with you all and encourage you to submit questions through the blog which I haven’t done for some time. I will do this. Sorry!

My only gripe in the past has been the inability to report on some issues, as some have been ‘off the record’ which prohibits clarity and transparency. However, this used to be a trend set by Jez Moxey on certain matters, so I trust this won’t be an issue going forward.

In conclusion

A new look team on the top table looked focused, determined and completely in tune with what challenges lie ahead. Let’s be honest, I worry – and some others too – that we could ‘choke’ this season, with minds being cast back to 2002 and beyond. If this were to happen – and we clearly don’t want to dwell on the prospect – then it won’t be for any degree of complacency on the club’s part.

First and foremost, we need to get promoted. From there, anything is possible – literally. It is for this reason that I worry even more, as you can almost reach out and touch that pendulum which is slowly swinging our way!

Every mention of the Premier League was caveated with the need to get there first. The word ‘humble’ was used on more than one occasion.

And when Jeff Shi did speak, he did so twice:

Once to debunk any notion that we should care about British based players over the number one objective of making the side as good as it can possibly be.

To very unassumingly and quietly remind the room of the brilliance of Nuno, when interrupting an answer to a fan who bemoaned Danny Batth playing ahead of Ryan Bennett at Aston Villa. Back in your box!

As for Laurie Dalrymple, if there was a similarity to Jez Moxey, then it was the occasional answer which didn’t necessarily say a lot, but enough to command attention and effectively buy time. Where he and Jez differ is that the answers Laurie gave – at all times – were utterly plausible and resistant to any future regurgitation to contradict. In other words, a way safer pair of hands from a PR perspective. It was a very solid, assured performance with substance taking precedence over soundbites, the latter being used prolifically under Jez, where he could occasionally dazzle.

Clearly the goalposts have moved since the last regime was here, making evenings like this way less confrontational or eagerly anticipated.

But nonetheless, it was a very worthwhile evening and an insight into what we all hope will be a golden future.