The life of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ U23 manager James Collins is an ever-changing one.
At the moment, Wolves pride themselves on bringing players through with a heavy dose of their recruitment focused on landing the stars of tomorrow.
Only this summer we saw the Old Gold head into the market and sign Louie Moulden, Bendeguz Bolla, Joe Hodge and Harvey Griffiths for the academy team.
That being said, it has been tricky in the early stages of the season for Collins who saw a meaty part of his squad gutted and shipped out on loan.
Dazzling winger Theo Corbeanu headed for a temporary spell in the EFL while he was joined by the likes of Ryan Giles, Taylor Perry and Luke Matheson to name a few.
In total, 12 members of the U23 squad were given chances to earn first-team football elsewhere.
That includes one of their gems; Christian Marques. The Portuguese is rated highly at Molineux and has starred for Collins in the ‘Conor Coady role’.
However, new to that position after Marques headed to Belenenses in Portugal on loan, is Kam Kandola.
With the aforementioned defender and Nigel Lonwijk not in the U23s this season, it has given the 17-year-old a chance to step up.
He has duly done that for Wolves and has performed exceptionally well since being handed his chance by Collins. In fact, the boss sounds rather surprised with his rapid progression in the early weeks of the campaign.
Speaking to the official Wolves website, he noted: “The good thing about players going out is a young player gets an opportunity to show us what he can do. Kam [Kandola] is a super kid, but last week, was I sure he was going to do as well as he has done, probably not?
“He’s done excellent, he’s kept two clean sheets, he’s been good on the ball, he’s been relaxed, he’s not made many mistakes – the boys surprise you.”
With Collins mentioning Kandola’s ability in possession, it immediately makes you think of the club’s captain, Coady.
He is a ball-playing centre-back and completed 88% of his passes in the Premier League last term.
Our only glimpse of Kandola against senior opposition dictates he could be a similar player in the future. During a penalty shoot-out win over Wigan in the EFL Trophy, the teenager scored a vital spot-kick after the game had finished level.
The centre-back’s confidence is clearly immense and that was replicated in his performance during the 90 minutes. He completed 86% of his passes, which included four long balls that were spread forward.
Furthermore, he made six clearances and was dribbled past just once while playing in the middle of a back three.
Of course, there is a long way to go before Bruno Lage considers him in the first-team but if he continues like this, a call-up could be on the cards before the season is done and dusted.