Rotherham 2-2 Wolves: Walter Zenga hails first taste of English football
Sunday 7 August 2016 12:22, UK
Wolves boss Walter Zenga was left in no doubt just what English football is all about after an "amazing experience" in his first game in charge.
It looked like being a nightmare start for the Italian - a midweek replacement for the sacked Kenny Jackett - when Wolves found themselves 2-0 down to Rotherham after 20 minutes.
But they rallied, despite playing over half an hour with 10 men following Dominic Iorfa's red card, and came back to draw 2-2 at the sun-kissed AESSEAL New York Stadium.
"It's very nice, sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, today I learn!" Zenga said. "The stadium was full, it was a nice game. It's amazing. If we'd have lost it might have been different.
"We were 2-0 down and the players did great things and didn't give up. Even in the second half when we had 10, we refused to lose.
"That is the most important thing. I think we deserved to draw. There were many emotional moments, especially the welcome the fans gave me.
"I said simple things to them, we were too deep, we let them play too easily. I changed the system at 2-0 because I had to so something. But I told them to believe and do it.
"We take a point, it is very important for us, for our experience and our future."
It looked like being a different outcome when the Millers - also playing under a new boss in Alan Stubbs - surged into a two-goal lead through Danny Ward and Will Vaulks.
But George Saville reduced the arrears just before the break and then 12 minutes after Iorfa saw red for a professional foul, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson slammed home from an acute angle. Understandably, Stubbs moaned about dropping two points.
"There were a lot of positives to take, right now it feels like it is two points dropped rather than a point gained," Stubbs said. "The two goals were sloppy and ones we should have prevented.
"I thought we looked a real threat, when we went 2-0 up I thought we sorted to make one or two wrong decisions, which didn't reflect those of the first 25 which got us a lot of joy.
"It was mixed, I was pleased with certain elements and a part of me was frustrated as we didn't get a reward for the position we put ourselves in.
"I am pleased with certain aspects, but I am disappointed because we should have taken three points today."
