When the question inevitably comes, Kieran Trippier is happy to set the record straight. Fresh from training, head to toe in Wolves kit – vest, shorts and club-branded sliders – 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. All the while, a deal for his replacement, César Peixoto, was being accelerated.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie, I wasn’t expecting it,” Trippier says. “But it’s the club’s decision. I had good chats with Rob, of course, but I’m here to play for Wolves. There are many surprises in football and that certainly was a surprise, I’m 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.”