SHI HITS THE FAN?
As disappointed or frustrated as they may be, Wolves fans probably shouldn’t be too surprised. For all his qualities as a manager, Julen Lopetegui has form when it comes to leaving high-profile jobs on the eve of big competitions. With his Spanish team already in Russia ready to contest the 2018 World Cup, on the eve of the tournament Lopetegui revealed he would be taking over at Real Madrid as soon as it concluded. It was an announcement that so riled up the Royal Spanish Football Federation that it fired him on the spot and gave his gig to Fernando Hierro instead. A little more than five years later and it seems the 56-year-old has now parlayed his way out of another job. Reports suggest Lopetegui is currently thrashing out an exit deal with the Wolves bean-counters after channelling his inner Scott Parker and repeatedly criticising the lack of summer investment at Molineux.
Readying for the departure of the Spaniard, whose constant moaning they believe will do little for morale among the players left at the club following the departures of Raúl Jiménez, Diego Costa, João Moutinho, Conor Coady, Ryan Giles, Nathan Collins and Adama Traoré, Wolves have now lined up his replacement in Gary O’Neil. Younger readers may remember him as the man who got his big break in management when Scott Parker got sacked from Bournemouth for flagging up the quality of squad his employers were expecting him to him fashion into a Premier League team.
Obliged to make a hefty profit in player sales if they are to avoid being punished for being in breach of FFP regulations, Wolves chairman Jeff Shi recently wrote an open letter to supporters explaining the club’s perilous financial situation. To cut a very long, commendably detailed and often quite dull missive short, the club’s owners Fosun International have been forced to cut their famous old gold jerseys according to their cloth. In a nutshell, this means – having spent this summer’s budget in January – they can only afford to replace the stampede of big-name players towards the exit door with such intangibles as “team spirit, chemistry, momentum, morale, leadership, tactics, training, hard work and a variety of other factors”, in the form of Matt Doherty on a free.
Having led Wolves to the unexpectedly dizzy heights of 13th in the table at the end of last season despite them having been rock bottom on Christmas Day, Lopetegui has established himself as a firm fan favourite, but his future has been up in the air since June. Six weeks ago he pledged his future to the club having apparently been given assurances about his summer budget but he now looks headed for the exit door once a severance package has been agreed. Having kept Bournemouth up despite his predecessor’s withering public assessment of the squad at his disposal, O’Neil looks ideally placed to replace Lopetegui even if his appointment may underwhelm. But with their season-opener against Manchester United looming next Monday at Old Trafford it still remains to be seen who exactly will be the leader of the Wolves pack.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am sorry for what happened. Also, for our England fans and my teammates, playing with and for you is my greatest honour and I promise to learn from my experience” – Lauren James apologises to Michelle Alozie for treading on her and getting sent off in the Women’s World Cup last-16 game against Nigeria. “Lauren is really sorry for her actions which led to the red card and is full of remorse,” added a somewhat needless England statement.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
The new added-time guidelines (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition) are intending to increase the amount of football actually played during a match. I’d have some sympathy for critics, but really their complaints come down to being forced to work while they’re at work. They just need to get better at looking busy: what is the on-pitch equivalent to reading Football Daily (and composing a contribution) in your work email?” – Ed Taylor.
Cracking story about Nahuel Guzmán’s trick during a penalty shootout (yesterday’s Now That’s Magic, full email edition). But Peter Shilton went one further against West Germany during Italia 90 and disappeared during the shootout. Hey, if he can still be bitter about El Diego …” – Antony Train.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Ed Taylor.
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