Vitor Pereira and Wolves - where it all went wrong: The red flags that went ignored, gambles that backfired off the pitch, a leadership vacuum and why changing the manager may not fix everything this time

There are enough facts and figures to fill a book on how Vitor Pereira lost his way at Wolves yet even among such stiff competition, this one takes some beating.

When Jorgen Strand Larsen was named captain for the 3-2 home defeat by Burnley on October 26, he was the fifth player to wear the armband this term. At that stage, Wolves had had twice as many skippers as they had accumulated Premier League points.

Strand Larsen had his turn because not one of club captain Toti Gomes, Jose Sa, Matt Doherty or Joao Gomes was included in the starting XI for the Burnley game.

That quartet had been named the club’s leadership group at the start of the season and yet nine games in, none is a regular starter. After he was unused substitute against Burnley, Sa stopped in the Molineux car park to discuss Wolves’ plight with irate supporters.

Pereira no longer trusted the goalkeeper to rally others on the pitch, however. Now Sa may have another chance, with Pereira sacked the day after the pitiful 3-0 defeat at Fulham. It looked inevitable: the Portuguese was wise enough not to move too close to the furious away fans and when he spoke to the media post-match, he looked broken.

Last season, Pereira would join fans in the pub after a win, leading to the slogan ‘first the points, then the pints.’ This season, the 57-year-old has spent a painful two-and-a-half months on the wagon and now he is looking for a new job, after executive chairman Jeff Shi reluctantly cut the cord on the manager he was convinced would bring back the good times.

Only in September, Shi gave Pereira a new three-year deal even though Wolves had still to pick up a point.

Ever since he sacked Nuno Espirito Santo more than four years ago, Shi has been searching desperately for the manager who could be a similarly effective ‘frontman’ for Wolves. Based on less than six months’ work, Shi became convinced Pereira was that guy. How wrong he was.

After Pereira had kept Wolves up impressively last season, Shi decided to reshape the football operation as Pereira wished.

Out went sporting director Matt Hobbs, to be replaced by a five-man football leadership team, with Pereira’s ally Domenico Teti at its heart. Hobbs is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea and his record at Wolves was mixed, yet replacing him with Teti, who had never worked in English football, was a gamble.

Pereira was given the final say over recruitment decisions and had clear instructions on what he wanted: tall, strong, athletic players who suited his 3-4-2-1 system. The one problem? Pereira abandoned that set-up after only five games and has been playing 4-3-3 ever since, with no improvement in results, even if performances have been slightly better.

So players were bought to fit a plan that Pereira then stopped following, a handful of weeks into the season. Such are the risks that come with an all-powerful manager or head coach. Pereira returned to the back five at Fulham but it was too late.

When Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil last December, he realised quickly that he needed to strip back O’Neil’s complex, ultra-tactical approach that left players scratching their heads.

Simplifying matters is an effective strategy when a manager takes control of a struggling team during the season yet when that manager is in charge for a whole campaign, a little more depth is needed. Pereira looked at the increasingly physical nature of the Premier League and decided this must be Wolves’ priority when signing players this summer – apparently forgetting that many of the powerhouses in England’s top flight are also impressive technicians.

Any footballer who reaches Europe’s top-five leagues deserves huge respect. Yet even Marshall Munetsi’s most devoted supporters would accept that the midfielder is a little scruffy on the ball. David Moller Wolfe might be 6ft 1ins but is apparently not ready for the Premier League. Tolu Arokodare is… a work in progress, let’s say.

Much has been made of the focus on set pieces this season, with Brentford held up as an example. But take a look at their attacking talent – Dango Ouattara, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago. All four of those players would improve most Premier League teams at a stroke. Hardly any of Wolves’ would expect to start for a top-flight rival.

Much of Pereira’s focus in training has been to get the ball wide and return it to the middle. In the first nine games of the season, only Nottingham Forest had crossed the ball more times than Wolves’ 208. Teams need other strings to their bow, though.

Pereira knew from a long way out that game-breakers Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri would be sold and his answer was Jhon Arias, a player who had shone in South American football but who had never been summoned to Europe, even though he was 27 when Wolves bought him. That would have been a red flag to many other clubs. Again, though, with a head coach driving recruitment, such matters are overlooked.

Alone, some of these details do not damage a season. Taken together, however, they lead to situations where Pereira is heading for Molineux’s South Bank and appearing to shout angrily at the die-hard Wolves fans stationed behind the goal. Where those same supporters chant ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ as Pereira walks back to the dressing room.

In those situations, many clubs would have put the manager out of his misery before the evening was out and Pereira survived on Sunday only because Shi had gone all in on the Portuguese. A few days later, these fans have their wish, and once more Wolves are back in that familiar cycle.

In 2022, Wolves replaced Bruno Lage with Julen Lopetegui, who was given a huge contract and money to spend in January. They duly stayed up – as they did last season when O’Neil was ditched and Pereira was appointed, with similar backing.

Will it be third time lucky? It seems unlikely. There are no mavericks like Cunha anymore, who would be capable of dragging Wolves out of a hole with their artistry. And even if Wolves do release funds in January, how many players would be willing to join a club if they look nailed-on for relegation?

There are still plenty of games left to turn the situation around. And if Pereira successor does so, he will deserve a statue in front of Molineux.