Collins | ‘We don’t want to waste a game’

The under-21 boss – alongside under-18 counterpart Richard Walker – has been put in temporary charge of the senior side while the club finalise the appointment of a new head coach, which has included taking training this week as well as leading the team in their Premier League match on Saturday evening.

And Collins has revealed what discussions have been held with the players and backroom staff this week to try and begin the turnaround of the team’s fortunes, as he aims to put the side in the best possible position for when a new manager comes in, all while having full belief that Wolves can earn a first Premier League win of the season under his watch.

On how he’s preparing for Chelsea

“Like I would prepare for any game I play; watch the opponent, try and find their strengths and weaknesses and how we can counteract that. Mix with that, looking at our group and seeing what our strengths are and how we can cause the opponent problems. Then trying to help them with the lack of confidence that maybe they’ve been suffering, because it’s hard when you’re losing games of football.

“It been no different than any other week, in truth, other than the fact that it’s a level up. I’ve been coaching a long time, for 30 years almost, and I’m used to coaching, I’m used to preparing teams for games, I’m used to trying to find faults in opponents and weaknesses and strengths, and this week has been no different.

“We’ve planned the week – myself and Rich, and Sharpsy [Ian Sharps], my assistant in the 21s – how we would plan if we were taking on Aston Villa with the 21s at the weekend. Obviously, you’re dealing with a higher profile of player, but they’re no different; they want help, they want guidance, they want organisation, and that’s what we hopefully will give them.”

On leading the team out this weekend

“What I’ve been told is I’ll be taking the game this weekend. The likelihood is it will be one week only, but you never know in football. Last time we were told it could be a week, it could be two, and it ended up being about six.

“My focus is on the team and on our week’s work. When you’re playing a team like Chelsea, you can’t be thinking about other things. That’s where my focus has been morning, noon and night this week. The rest of it is for other people to sort.

“At this point, we work for Chelsea, and then after Chelsea, we’ll deal with what’s after that. At that point, I imagine there’ll be a new manager coming in, if not, we’ll work with the players over the international break until we’re told not to.”

On having confidence in the players

“I said to the players on the first day, when you’re in it, you feel like you listen to the outside noise, but there’s 28 games to go, nearly 90 points to play for. If you listen to everybody out there, Wolves are down, but I don’t see it that way if we put some results together, put some performances together.

“You obviously need a bit of luck along the way as well at places like Chelsea, but there’s a lot of time left and a lot of points to play for. That was the message we delivered to the players this week. It starts now – 28 games to go, let’s get some points.”

On speaking to the players about the situation

“We felt it was important to find out what they thought was going wrong and why they felt they weren’t getting enough points, because there’s no doubt we haven’t got as many points as we probably should have, and that can’t be a coincidence.

“We’ve spoken to the players, got around the group, found out what they felt they’d been missing in training and tried to add some of that, and then also talk to them about their mindset going into games; the fundamentals, the basics, you have to rebuild from scratch, work harder than opponent, compete for second balls. So that’s the starting point and then you build from there.

“They’ve all got different opinions, but there’ll be a theme running through of what they feel has been missing. They will say what they think, and then you have to take the bits you think need adding, and we’ll also speak to coaching staff, support staff – they all have an opinion – then you put all that into a melting pot and decide what to do.

“You can’t do everything in a week, but you try and make sure that these three or four main principles are added to their week, whether that’s more organisation to the training, whether that’s more meetings, fewer meetings, whatever that may be, and that’s what we’ve done this week.

“It’s not a week’s holiday and then a new manager comes in. We had to make sure that we prepare properly for the game this weekend. It’s a Premier League game that can be won and that was the message to the players. They’ve responded brilliantly. They’ve been unbelievably receptive to what we’ve done with them, and hopefully you’ll see some of that on Saturday.”

On possible opportunities for the under-21s

“We’ve got a couple of injuries. Doc’s injured and Rodrigo [Gomes] is out this week, and Agba obviously got sent off last week so he’s missing, but the rest are fully available. We might get a couple of the young boys from my group around the squad as well who are capable of being around it, and we’ll make the decision from there.

“It’s difficult as a first-team manager in the Premier League to throw kids in when you’re losing games. It’s a little bit easier for me because I come from there, I know them, I trust them. Tawanda Chirewa, Mateus Mane, Enzo Gonzalez have been with me all this season, and I think are good enough for first-team football, possibly Premier League football.

“You’ll not know until they get an opportunity, and whether tomorrow’s the right opportunity for them, who knows, but they are not far off this group. I’ve watched the first-team group all week and these players are more than capable of competing with them. Whether it’s me or whether it’s the new manager who comes in, they will add real value to the club.”

On the challenge Chelsea pose

“They are a fabulous football team. Watching them all this week in several games, they’re well coached, well organised, with top players – it’s not a bad mix to have, and away from home, and it’s a really tough ask for anybody to go there and win the game, but it happens. Sunderland won there this year and what an opportunity it is to start there and build something.

“People keep saying to me that it’s a free hit, but I’m not sure it is a free hit because we don’t want to waste a game. It might be a point, it might be a winner, but we’ve got to try and get something there, and we’ve got to be brave enough to go there and give it a right go.

“Win or lose the game, we have to start from somewhere, and there’s been a clean slate this week with the manager going and we have to start now.”

On learning from previous first-team managers

“That’s one of the best things about the job. There’s been some top managers while I’ve been here, and they’ve all done things slightly different. You try and be yourself, but you try and take little bits from different people.

“I remember when I came here from Crewe originally, we were a very attacking and in-possession based team, and I watched Nuno [Espirito Santo] for however many months and thought, ‘Wow, this is unbelievable how he gets a team prepared in a block’, so you’re learning all the time, learning different things off all the different managers. Gary [O'Neil] was so detailed in what he did and you pick things up and hopefully you take what you want to take and not what you don’t.

“Vitor [Pereira] and his staff were brilliant with me. They welcomed us to watch training, they welcomed us to be around it, they welcomed us into meetings and they were enthusiastic about the under-21s and trying to get a player through, so I can’t speak highly enough of them.

“They were brilliant people and good coaches. But football is dictated to by results, and in the end, if you keep losing, you lose your job and they understand that. But they did their job really diligently, they were great people, and they treated me with great respect, and I wish them well.”

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