Bruno Lage has promised to give Ki-Jana Hoever another chance at Wolverhampton Wanderers after giving the defender a public dressing down last weekend. Wolves head coach Lage singled Hoever out for criticism following the 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Molineux on Saturday.
Bruno Lage said: “It was a good talk and I will be the first guy here to work with him. I will give him another chance. There’s not too many managers that would give him a big chance after what he did against Liverpool but he started against Chelsea. It was a good talk, face to face and after with the team, and Ki knows that he will have another chance with me. We move on.”
Hoever is one of nine players under the age of 23 in Wolves’ first team squad – and he wasn’t the only starlet Lage alluded to in his scathing post-Palace blast. But the 20-year-old is the only player Lage called out publicly for “not preparing the way they should prepare.” Lage’s words split supporters at the time, although it must be said that the vast majority backed the head coach’s decision to air the dressing room’s dirty laundry. Asked whether he regrets it, Lage replied: “I’m not the first manager to do that and I don’t think I’ll be the last.
Bruno Lage said: “It was a good talk and it’s clear now. They are working hard but I want them on the limit every day. The worst thing is that Ki now doesn’t have a chance to play these games. For sure, he is working hard and next time he will be on the limit. Sometimes we need to take some risks and it’s very easy to work with me. I am here every day on the limit and that’s the only thing I want for my players. They need to do what I ask and if they do that, I don’t have any problems with anyone. If they don’t, I will bring guys in to talk to me in the office. After the game it was a good moment for everyone to have a wake-up call because I don’t relax on 40 points. I want everyone fit and ready to play. I don’t change a word of what I said. I don’t regret what I said.”
Hoever will have to wait for his chance though, with Lage revealing the defender will join Semedo on the treatment table in the immediate future.
Bruno Lage said: “Like Semedo, he needs a couple more days to see how long. Semedo looked very bad in the beginning and now it’s just bad. We need to understand how Ki goes. The good news is he feels it a little bit but not much, so let’s see in the next days what we can say about him.”
