{"id":812420,"date":"2026-08-13T16:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812420\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:08:14","slug":"kieran-trippier-the-championship-is-relentless-its-totally-different-to-the-premier-league-wolverhampton-wanderers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812420\/","title":{"rendered":"Kieran Trippier: \u2018The Championship is relentless \u2026 it\u2019s totally different to the Premier League\u2019 | Wolverhampton Wanderers"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the question inevitably comes, Kieran Trippier is happy to set the record straight. Fresh from training, head to toe in Wolves kit \u2013 vest, shorts and club-branded sliders \u2013 he walks into a suite at their Compton Park base, conversation soon shifting to an episode that rocked supporters and stopped outsiders in their tracks: three days after signing, the manager Trippier cited as a significant driver behind his decision to drop into the second tier, Rob Edwards, was sacked<\/a>. All the while, a deal for his replacement, C\u00e9sar Peixoto, was being accelerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to sit here and lie, I wasn\u2019t expecting it,\u201d Trippier says. \u201cBut it\u2019s the club\u2019s decision. I had good chats with Rob, of course, but I\u2019m here to play for Wolves. There are many surprises in football and that certainly was a surprise, I\u2019m not going to deny that. But I just cracked on, I was with my kids on holiday, training in Mallorca and just looking forward to day one in pre-season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other reports followed the bombshell news. \u201cI\u2019ve read it all: that I was looking to rip my contract up, and all this nonsense. I was just looking forward to reporting back to Wolves. I don\u2019t know where it even came from to be honest, that I was looking to rip my contract up \u2013 it certainly didn\u2019t come from me, otherwise you would have heard it from me, that\u2019s just the player that I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a line in keeping with Trippier\u2019s endearing straight-talking character that has made him a big hit everywhere he has been. He left Newcastle at the end of last season after playing an instrumental part in their rise under Eddie Howe, the crowning glory the Carabao Cup win last year. He spent three seasons at Atl\u00e9tico Madrid under Diego Simeone, where he won La Liga, after four at Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino, culminating in a Champions League final appearance. He represented England at four major tournaments, playing every game en route to the Euro 2024 final.<\/p>\n

Now he is back in the second tier for the first time since promotion with Burnley 12 years ago, poised to start Wolves\u2019 Championship<\/a> opener against Blackburn on Friday. He accepts it is not a natural segue. Instead of entertaining Barcelona at St James\u2019 Park last September, here comes Bolton at Molineux in October.<\/p>\n

Kieran Trippier in a huddle with his new teammates during Wolves\u2019 3-0 friendly win against Racing Santander. Photograph: WWFC<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not ashamed to go to the Championship because I played in it for many years,\u201d Trippier says, recalling his first taste of the division: defending alongside Darren Moore while a teenager at Barnsley. \u201cI had a good chat with Eddie Howe and Ross Wilson [Newcastle\u2019s sporting director] and made my decision at the end of the season that I wanted to try something new. There were a few [interested] clubs but it was important for me that I was close to my children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trippier, who calls Manchester home, knows what to expect from an unforgiving league. He recalls being part of a Burnley side that triumphed 2-1 at Wolves in the penultimate game of 2012-13, to extinguish lingering fears of relegation and all but condemn Wolves to League One. \u201cI\u2019ve been speaking to my teammates because the majority of them have never played in the Championship, so it\u2019s important for myself and the lads who have to help them and try and make them understand that it\u2019s going to be difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just said: it\u2019s relentless, because it is \u2026 and it\u2019s totally different to the Premier League. Going to Lincoln away is going to be a difficult game, but they\u2019re good lads who have listened to me, Tommy [Doyle], Adam [Armstrong]. The lads will be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Trippier\u2019s first external interview since joining Wolves on a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months. He canvassed the opinions of Doyle, Conor Coady, John Ruddy and Sam Johnstone, with whom he was on holiday in Turkey before signing, to tap into \u201cthe insides of the club\u201d. Edwards\u2019 sudden departure \u2013 a month after Andr\u00e9 committed his future to the club and 48 hours after Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez returned to enhance the feelgood factor generated by Trippier\u2019s arrival \u2013 warrants discussion, but the full-back is well placed to talk on numerous fronts, including Howe\u2019s exit after four and a half years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe helped the club stay in the Premier League, twice qualified for the Champions League, won a trophy, but the most important thing he did was reconnecting the supporters with the team. I was told before the [Saudi Arabia-led] takeover that it was not a good place to be \u2013 the fans were against the owners, the board etc \u2013 but when the new owners came in, and the manager, he [Howe] connected everyone, just like Gareth Southgate did with England.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Howe\u2019s legacy deserving of a statue? \u201cHe\u2019s won a trophy, hasn\u2019t he?\u201d Trippier says with a smile, \u201cbut that\u2019s not for me to decide \u2026 the parade was incredible, the big banner of the manager showed the love the supporters had for him and still have now. When I first went there, it was a tough place [to play], especially after getting beat by Cambridge<\/a> [in the FA Cup third round], but maybe that was a blessing, really, so we could just focus on [staying in] the Premier League \u2026 he will go down in history there, for sure. I\u2019m gutted to see him go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kieran Trippier holds the Carabao Cup trophy aloft with Alexander Isak on board the open-top bus with their teammates and manager Eddie Howe (front row, left) as they pass St James\u2019 Park. Photograph: Stu Forster\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then there is England\u2019s World Cup semi-final collapse against Argentina<\/a>, when their low block crumbled late on. \u201cI\u2019ve been in that position many, many times with Simeone \u2013 I could name 30 games when he\u2019s done it and we\u2019ve managed to see it out, typical Simeone for you. He\u2019s the master of the dark arts and seeing out games. Thomas Tuchel has been in that position many, many times, won a Champions League trophy with Chelsea, did unbelievably with Bayern Munich \u2026 it just didn\u2019t happen. We were against one of the greatest players ever who can flick a switch,\u201d Trippier says of Lionel Messi, clicking his fingers. \u201cI\u2019ve played against him many times where he just walks for 60 minutes, but then he can score a hat-trick. That\u2019s just the magic of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Peixoto is unknown to most but Trippier says he was aware of the Portuguese\u2019s pedigree before the 46-year-old, who spent last season in charge of Gil Vicente, succeeded Edwards. Peixoto\u2019s command of English has meant Trippier has not needed to dip into his Spanish to converse. \u201cWhen the postman used to come in Madrid, I used to get my son to answer because he was fluent,\u201d Trippier says, smiling.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s Peixoto like? \u201cReally demanding. Honest. On the training field he is 100mph, nuts \u2013 in a good way \u2013 but he\u2019s really, really demanding and I think that\u2019s what we need as players if we want to be successful. He\u2019s very demanding, like Pochettino and Simeone. He has his own rules: don\u2019t break his trust, don\u2019t be late. I wouldn\u2019t like to be on his bad side, let\u2019s put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wolves manager, C\u00e9sar Peixoto (second right), slows down from his 100mph on the training pitch to speak with Kieran Trippier (left), Andre (centre) and Toti Gomes at a pre-season training in Faro, Portugal. Photograph: Brett Patzke\/WWFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trippier turns 36 in September, twice the age of Mateus Man\u00e9, an exciting talent who Trippier witnessed first-hand when marking him with Newcastle last season and one of those Wolves hope will illuminate a positive season. \u201cI feel good, I feel probably in the best shape I\u2019ve been in for many, many years. I\u2019m not as fast as I used to be but I always believe I am clever and fast up here,\u201d Trippier says, tapping his temples. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve still got many years left in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Wolves, his signing was a coup. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to when I went to Newcastle, when I left Atl\u00e9tico Madrid \u2026 There were a lot of eyebrows raised, but throughout my whole career I\u2019ve had no regrets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trippier, who is part of Peixoto\u2019s leadership group, acknowledges he and his teammates will begin the campaign with a target on their backs. \u201cGoing into the Blackburn game, the first game of the Championship season, all eyes will be on us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen teams get relegated from the Premier League, everybody wants to beat them. It was a tough year for Wolves last year, but this season is a new season, like a reset. The reality is now we\u2019re in the Championship, so you have to forget what happened and look forward, be positive. Our goal has to be to go straight back up to the Premier League.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the question inevitably comes, Kieran Trippier is happy to set the record straight. Fresh from training, head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-812420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}