The only sound worse than a mutinous atmosphere is silence.
Molineux has been a toxic place for a long time now as protests against the ownership ramp up against the backdrop of historically bad results, but the players would probably prefer the jeers and the fury during Wolves’ 2-0 defeat to Brentford to have continued for longer.
The thudding quiet of an empty stadium at full-time is much more painful.
Most of the fans had left long before the final whistle of a new nadir for Wolves and for Rob Edwards, who must secretly be wondering what on earth possessed him to abandon table-topping Middlesbrough for an impossible job in the midlands.
Edwards is on six defeats from six. Performances had (just about) improved under the new manager but all the goodwill earned in battling one-goal defeats to Aston Villa and Arsenal was thrown away on Saturday. It was a display that suggested the Wolves players are considering downing tools.
None of this is Edwards’ fault, of course. Every Wolves fan knows where the blame lies.
The last three years have been a case study in how to slowly dismantle a functional Premier League side. The sales of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri in the summer followed a pattern.
It was Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Max Kilman the season before, and the year before that Matheus Nunes, Ruben Neves, and Conor Coady.
Wolves have tried to replace them – remarkably, they’ve only broken even on transfers in each of the last two seasons – but the last two summer windows in particular have been disastrous.
The only real success has been Jorgen Strand Larsen but his form has fallen off a cliff since he was denied a move to Newcastle in August.
Everybody saw a relegation battle coming, the inevitable result of years of failure in the transfer market. But nobody thought it would be epochal.
Two points from 17 games is the joint-fewest ever in league history. The others were Newport County in the fourth tier in 1970/71 and Sheffield United in the Premier League in 2020/21.
That last one offers some comfort to Wolves fans, not of survival (that ship has long sailed) but of avoiding the ignominy of beating Derby County’s record-low haul of 11 points in 2007/08.
Sheffield United recovered to finish on 23 points, but here’s the problem: they won three of their next five league games following matchweek 17. Wolves go to Anfield and Old Trafford next.
For the record, Derby had six points at this stage. Wolves need 10 more points to avoid making history, but the long-held assumption they would eventually hit that target is beginning to slip away, not least because Edwards’ failure will have taken a huge emotional toll on the club.
To bring in a fan favourite and promising young coach and watch all the colour drain away in a few short weeks is soul-destroying, for supporters and for players. Edwards, who has overseen just two goals in six matches, already sounds like a manager flailing.
“You can't give up,” he said. “I said [after the game] ‘I'm standing in front of you now, I'm going to fight and I know all the staff are with me and are going to fight and I need all of the lads to come together and help each other and fight as well.’”
Those are the desperate pleas of a man already on the edge, a man aware there are no levers left to pull, with little chance of any transfer activity in January that looks beyond preparation for life in the Championship.
Derby were never that hopeless, Sheffield United were not crushed by years of gradual decline.
The record looks increasingly likely to fall. If it does, so too will Edwards.
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