Wolves have sacked manager Rob Edwards just seven months after he was appointed, with the Championship side set to appoint Gil Vicente boss César Peixoto as his replacement following Premier League relegation.
Edwards, 43, was brought in last November after departing Middlesbrough, who were performing strongly in the Championship at the time. Despite failing to inspire a turnaround at the club—Wolves dropped out of the Premier League in 19th place following a catastrophic season—it seemed the ownership were intent on keeping him.
The Black Country outfit had even begun their summer recruitment with the acquisitions of former Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez, while midfielder Andre had pledged his future to the club, with Edwards seemingly instrumental in those deals.
However, he has been relieved of his duties just seven months after his appointment, according to The Telegraph, with Gil Vicente manager César Peixoto expected to be named as his successor. The Portuguese manager has been with the side since March last year and has also had stints with Academica, Moreirense and Pacos Ferreira.
Wolves' decision appears puzzling given Edwards had been instrumental in securing the signatures of Trippier and Jimenez, with both players crediting his influence in their moves to the club. Following the arrival of the former Newcastle defender Trippier, Edwards seemed to indicate he would be the man to spearhead the club's promotion push back to the Premier League.
He said: "We have to be up there this season, and I'd rather be there with good players! This doesn't add any more pressure, it just actually makes me feel better that we're building a squad that I've been banging on about and saying that we're going to need to do. We need to have a better and stronger squad than we had last year because we weren't able to compete well enough last year, and so we're working really hard to make sure we're competitive."
"Pressure is going to be there anyway because we're Wolves in the Championship after eight years of Premier League football. We know the pressure's going to be there, but I'd rather have the pressure with players like Tripps and then be able to turn around and know I've got a really good and strong group of players behind me."
Coincidentally, former Wolves manager Gary O'Neil could also be set for a move in the coming days, with reports linking him to the Ipswich Town vacancy following Kieran McKenna's departure.
