Vitor Pereira heading for last orders as Wolves boss - but problem is much bigger

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‘First the points then the pints’, that was his catchphrase when fans were slightly tipsy after some early success in Vitor Pereira’s time at Molineux. Now, if it is a pint of anything, it is bitter.

After what amounted to a bar-room row with supporters following the defeat to Burnley, it remains to be seen whether last orders are calling for Vitor. But what is for sure is that the landlords of a great club are responsible for the ugliness that has enveloped it.

From the relatively giddiness of the Nuno Espirito Santo days, this is managed decline. Owners Fosun and chairman Jeff Shi will say their recent stewardship has been all about sustainability. But sustainability is just an excuse for a lack of ambition, an excuse for being content to merely EXIST in the Premier League.

Wolves have not been alone in being afflicted by this disease - down the years, there have been plenty of examples.But they are now the grim poster boys for a mission statement that reads something like this. Let’s find three teams worse.

Perhaps they can get that translated into Latin and put on the club crest. With apologies for using another team’s motto, there is no daring to dream at Molineux.

Look, Pereira does not get a free pass, or even pint. He had a cracking start but this is a guy who has never been anywhere for too long and is a ruck waiting to happen.

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He is allowed to have a rant at punters but maybe save the real ire for players who have not won a Premier League game this season and have just given Burnley a late winner.

Save the finger-pointing for a squad that has succumbed to all three promoted teams. There is an old chestnut in professional football about someone having more clubs than Tiger Woods.

Pereira has exactly the same number of clubs as Tiger would have. In a 21-year managerial career, Pereira has managed 14. That is some going.

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Despite that honeymoon start, it was strange - and reflective of the ownership’s incompetence - that Pereira was given a fresh three-year deal and had his power-base strengthened. But it is odds-on Pereira will be looking - and finding - job number 15 before long.

The cornerstone of blame, though, is with the owners, who clearly do not want to invest any more than what is required to retain Premier League status. Again, that, sadly, is not an unusual way of working but there is a fundamental issue with limiting your ambitions to survival.

The mentality permeates every corridor of the club. Optimism is crushed. The bottom line is that the best Wolves players have been sold and have not been replaced by anyone remotely close to like-for-like.

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That is a combination that can only spell trouble. And, as the owners have at least spent a good portion of the transfer income on new players, those in charge of recruitment need to take their share of the blame for the current mess.

But a club rots from the head down and while there have been some very good times under Fosun and Shi, the rot has set in, hence the scenes of the manager going at it with supporters in the stand, supporters going at it with players in the car park, the two points from 27. And before Halloween, a fanbase resigned to relegation.

Yep, October is not even done and there is probably not a soul involved in the club - probably not even Vitor ‘Points then Pints’ Pereira - who believes the glass is half-full. Manager? Recruitment team? Owners? Chairman? Take your pick … but it is kicking-out time at Molineux.

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