By Gabriel Mills
After seven months in charge of Wolves, Rob Edwards has been dismissed, with Portuguese boss Cesar Peixoto agreeing a deal to join the recently-relegated side.
Edwards, who took over in November as Wolves sat bottom of the Premier League, was expected to take charge for the coming Championship season.
His sudden sacking came as a surprise to all after what was a fantastic two-week period for Wolves – Keiran Trippier and Raul Jimenez joined the club on free transfers.
Sky Sports reported that Edwards and his staff were “shocked to hear the news late on Wednesday night and are angry with the way it was conveyed to them”.
This came as a response to the news being broken to the 43-year-old English manager through social media rumours seen by his family.
Bizarre timing
If you’d have told Wolves fans at the back end of last season that Edwards would not be in charge for the following season, it may not have come as such a massive surprise.
However, a hugely positive window for Wolves has seen a contract extension for Andre, the signing of Trippier and the re-signing of club hero Jimenez boost the mood.
The latter’s announcement video, released on Tuesday night, featured Edwards – all three players above cited the Englishman as a reason for their decision to be at Wolves.
Fans were ready to get behind Edwards and the team in a promotion challenge which makes the timing of the decision very questionable.
It is an unprofessional look for the club and a decision that has seen an explosion of anger and bewilderment from all those of a Wolves persuasion.
Wolves executive chairman, Nathan Shi, released a statement addressing the decision which read: “While there were positive signs and areas of progress, we ultimately concluded that a different football direction would better align with the style, identity and level of competitiveness we want to establish.”
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Portuguese replacement
The new manager is a client of Jorge Mendes – a Portuguese ‘super-agent’ who has been influential in bringing stars to Molineux like Ruben Neves, Rui Patricio, Diogo Jota and Joao Moutinho.
Mendes’ strong relationship with Wolves owners Fosun has been a driving force in the deal to bring Peixoto to England.
The former Gil Vicente boss guided the Portuguese side to a sixth-placed finish on 50 points last season – their third highest top flight total in three decades.
Known for playing forward-thinking attacking football, Wolves fans will hope he can emulate the achievement of Nuno Espirito Santo’s title winning campaign in 2017/18.
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