Should Wolves 'accept their fate and limit the financial hole'?

Moral victories never paid anyone's bills. Still, after Wolves put in their best performance of the season at Villa Park, you could discern something changing – not exactly optimism, but at least a lightening of the gloom.

Avoiding relegation still feels a near-impossibility, partly because nobody has managed it from such a miserable start in the Premier League era.

Even so, Wolves have three home games before Christmas, and in normal circumstances we would say they are against demanding but not exactly fearsome opponents.

If Sunday's performance can be repeated, it's not out of the question that Wolves could win a couple of those games and at least keep the rest of the field on the horizon.

Rob Edwards explained at his press conference on Tuesday that he was about to go into his first recruitment meeting, four weeks out from the transfer window.

"It will be a little bit on where we're at and whether we can be seen as being in touch or not," he said, while noting January can be a "challenging" time to do business even when things are going well.

On a special BBC Radio WM programme last month examining the causes and potential cures of Wolves' predicament, the Express & Star's writer Liam Keen reported that Guo Guangchang, chairman of the owners Fosun, "does still have a fascination with Wolves" despite fears from many fans that Fosun have lost interest.

He must have: the chairman came to the last home game. That's a long way to travel to inspect a club that, for all the worldwide attention of the Premier League, represents only a tiny fraction of the value of Fosun's overall business.

In recent seasons, when Wolves' top-flight status has been imperilled, the Executive Chairman Jeff Shi – presumably with the agreement of the parent company – has permitted mid-season spending to repair the damage.

The Fosun boss might have left mulling over an even bigger decision, which few clubs ever have the misery of being so far behind to contemplate.

If Wolves are still miles adrift on New Year's Eve, would it be more sensible – if humiliating – to refuse to throw good money after bad in a futile attempt to catch up, accept their fate and limit the financial hole that will have to be made good when the Premier League money stops?

On the other hand, pragmatic or not, what message would that send their already exasperated fans who have already paid to watch the rest of the season?

Listen to full commentary of Wolves v Nottingham Forest at 19:30GMT on Wednesday on BBC Radio WM [DAB and Freeview 714]

And tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

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