Angry Wolves fans accuse club chief of 'poor leadership' and call for management review
Angry Wolves supporters have urged owners Fosun to conduct a review of the club’s senior management in the wake of Gary O’Neil’s sacking.
In a statement, the Wolves 1877 Trust have accused chairman Jeff Shi of showing “poor leadership” and alienating the fanbase with increased ticket pricing and inconsistent communication.
O’Neil was axed as head coach on Sunday with Wolves sitting 19th in the Premier League, having lost their last four matches.
The Trust believe an experienced Premier League boss must now be appointed to give the club a chance of avoiding relegation. Al Shabab head coach Vitor Pereira, who has never managed in England before, is the clear frontrunner to replace O’Neil with the club expecting to have the new man in place before Sunday’s clash with Leicester City.
O’Neil departed having won just three out of 26 Premier League matches since March but the Trust claim the 41-year-old “can’t be held responsible for this situation alone”.
Instead, most of their frustration is directed toward Shi, who has been in charge of day-to-day operations at Molineux since Fosun’s takeover in 2016.
They believe Shi is responsible for “questionable recruitment and poor leadership” and say he has: “Done his best to alienate the fan base in recent months with above inflation season ticket prices and inconsistent communication with the press and fans.
“We feel that Fosun needs to review the leadership of the club. The club has commercially never been so successful but this is not being reflected in investment in the Team.”
Wolves have conceded 40 goals in 16 matches this season and the statement continued: “As a Trust we feel we need an experienced Premier League Manager who can organise our defence and retain our Premier League status. We need our owners to back our new Manager in the January and future windows.”
