Rob Edwards and Gary O’Neil on Wolves shortlist to replace Vitor Pereira

Wolves have placed Rob Edwards and former manager Gary O’Neil on their shortlist after the sacking of Vitor Pereira.

Pereira is the fourth Premier League manager casualty of the campaign after Wolves took drastic action with the club bottom of the table following the club’s nightmare start to the season.

Wolves’ defeat at Fulham was their eighth from ten league games and the club has become the first in Premier League history to have successive seasons without a win at this stage.

Middlesbrough’s head coach Edwards has a long association with Wolves as a former player and head of the club’s academy.

O’Neil was sacked by Wolves in December despite an impressive first season in charge and is under consideration for a surprise return.

Wolves are still drawing up their shortlist of other potential candidates with the process to be led by executive chairman Jeff Shi, sporting director Domenico Teti and Matt Jackson, the club’s head of professional development.

Pereira leaves after less than 12 months in charge with Shi informing him of the decision on Sunday morning.

The catastrophic 3-0 defeat at Fulham, which leaves Wolves rock bottom of the table, eight points adrift of Burnley in 17th place, convinced senior officials that the players were no longer playing for Pereira

The Portuguese was nominated for manager of the year last season after a stunning rescue job to save the club from relegation.

Yet results at the end of the campaign hinted at problems ahead and this season has been a disaster, with Pereira admitting the performance at Fulham was the worst of his tenure.

Pereira’s exit will not spare Fosun, the club’s Chinese owners, from further criticism, and the sense among many fans is that Shi is the main problem.

Fans have consistently chanted against Shi and Fosun this season and have demanded that they sell up.

Fosun acquired Wolves nine years ago and intend to make the club self-sustainable, but a number of star players have been sold over the last three years to leave the squad short on quality and experience.

The Portuguese coach was nominated for the manager of the year award last season after saving the club from relegation.

Yet results at the end of the campaign hinted at problems ahead and this season has been a disaster, with Pereira admitting the performance at Fulham was the worst of his tenure.

“Today I felt my team physically were not in condition, not at the level to face Fulham,” said Pereira. “Tactically with some mistakes, technically we were not there at the best level, we lost a lot of passes. We conceded the first goal but after the red card it was very difficult. We need to have a conversation to understand what happened today.

“I cannot come here to have answers for everyone. I must talk to my players to understand what the problem was today. I can say to you I am doing my best and working hard. I cannot control time or the confidence the club has. But me and my staff are trying everything to help the team to perform and get results.”

Last weekend, after the painful home defeat by Burnley, he confronted angry fans in the South Bank.

Towards the end of last season, Vitor Pereira was regularly seen in pubs socialising with Wolves fans, as his team coasted towards Premier League survival.

He is now the latest managerial departure at Molineux, and while he will be remembered for “first the points and then the pints”, it is the landlords who are the real problem.

Fosun are the sole remaining Chinese-owned club in England’s top division and their decision to first reward Pereira with a new contract and then sack him 45 days later is further evidence of their muddled strategy.

Many Wolves fans will insist that the fish rots from the head, and it appears that nothing will really change at the club until Fosun departs.

You can remove the manager, but the same issues remain. Jeff Shi, the executive chairman, will always be regarded by those fans as the villain of this slow, painful decline.

Shi is the ultimate decision-maker at Molineux, making the call to dismiss Pereira on Sunday morning.

Last week Shi was adamant that Pereira would be given time to turn the situation around. He was allegedly tired of the constant cycle of managers. It only required 95 grim minutes at Craven Cottage for that plan to be ripped apart.

It has to be remembered that the first half of Fosun’s nine-year tenure was incredibly memorable.

Nuno Espírito Santo led them to promotion from the Championship, an FA Cup semi-final and Europa League quarter-final. Fosun can also reasonably argue that they have spent millions to try and help the club progress.

Yet the past few years have been excruciating, with over £330m worth of stars sold, poor recruitment, a crumbling stadium and now five managers departing since May 2021.

The sales of so many good players was always a risky strategy. Recruitment has been largely underwhelming, and the absence of English football experience in the dressing room is glaring.

There is no question that Pereira had to go. He was arguably fortunate to avoid being given his last orders earlier in the season. Eight defeats from 10 Premier League games is bad enough, but there were many other alarming signs. Team selection, tactics and recently describing Wolves as “a small club” are just a few inclusions on the charge sheet.

He was given more staff over the summer but not even that huge backroom team could sort out a defence which has conceded a league-high 22 goals. A whopping eight coaches have followed him out the exit door.

Wolves face Chelsea next weekend and will hope to have a new head coach in place long before then.

Fosun will be hoping once again that an inspired appointment can lead the club to safety. Fans must fear they are trapped in a never-ending pattern of “rinse and repeat”.

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