Wolves boss Vitor Pereira savaged Mario Lemina after the former club captain told him he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to face Newcastle.
Struggling Wolves fell to a 3-0 defeat in the North East, with Alexander Isak scoring twice and teeing up Anthony Gordon as the Toon continued their outstanding recent form.
Lemina, last season’s player of the year, was noticeable by his absence. The former Fulham, Southampton and Juventus midfielder started the season as Wolves captain, but was stripped of the armband by former boss Gary O’Neil after his post-match meltdown at West Ham last month.
The midfielder has since been linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia and is keen to leave Molineux for a switch to the Middle East. Wolves are understood to want £6million to part with the 31-year-old who told club officials of his desire to move before the January transfer window opened.
Pereira has preferred Brazilian pair Joao Gomes and Andre as his midfield duo since taking charge in December, but Lemina had remained in his plans – until Wednesday. And speaking at St James’ Park, the Portuguese manager made his feelings very clear.
“I cannot bring a player who tells me he is not in the mental condition to help the team,” said Pereira. “With this commitment, I cannot bring him.
“If a player comes to me and says ‘I’m not in conditions mentally to help the team’ this is something that the club must solve. He wants to leave.
“I don’t know what happened before me, but with this energy and this mentality, I don’t need him. I prefer to play with another player.”
Despite his side’s defeat. Pereira was pleased with what he had seen from his side.
“Proud of my players, we tried to get the result,” he added. “The difference between one team and the other team, when we had the chance to score we missed and they scored. Against this kind of team one mistake is one goal.
“When they made mistakes and we had the chance to score we didn’t. We try every time to learn with the situations and not allow the counter attacks with this kind of team. We created six clear chances to score, maybe. We will recover, prepare the next game with the same spirit but increasing the level. The team tried to be compact, it tried to pressure them in the right moments.
“I am proud of the players, we will recover and think about the next game.”
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