Wolves 'problem lad' myth smashed to pieces as manager disagrees with Bruno Lage

Latest Wolves news from BirminghamLive as Stoke City boss Alex Neil talks about Ki-Jana Hoever and Bruno Lage

18:04, 28 Mar 2023

Stoke City boss Alex Neil has dispelled suggestions that Ki-Jana Hoever is a "problem lad".

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Neil revealed that Hoever had been "tagged" with the label after Bruno Lage spoke about the young defender before he joined the Potters on loan last summer.

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But that could not be further from the truth for Neil, who has explained the truth he sees working with Hoever, and suggests why his fine form of late has come to be.

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“People in football have got really short memories," Neil told StokeonTrentLive. I remember when we signed Ki-Jana one of the journalists asked me if he was a problem player because I think Bruno Lage had come out and spoken about him and he’d been tagged as if he was a problem lad.

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“Ki-Jana is one of the most polite, nicest, hardest-working kids that you’ll come across and I’m so delighted for him that he’s doing well and showing everybody what he’s capable of doing.

“I saw his interview the other day when he spoke about someone believing in him and putting trust in him and I think, for him, he feels as if that’s the first time that’s happened.

“But that’s not been based on nothing, he’s gained that trust based on merit. He’s trained extremely hard, he’s performed extremely well in the games and I think he’s got huge scope going forwards.

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“In that regard, he’s been great for us. Technically he’s very good, athletically he’s very good, he wants to learn, he wants to do well and that’s a great platform for every young player.”

Do you think Ki-Jana has a future at Wolves? Let us know in the comments.

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