It will take much more than changing the chairman to revive Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Jeff Shi’s departure will not suddenly turn Ki-Jana Hoever into Cafu, or Jorgen Strand Larsen into Erling Haaland. It makes Premier League survival no more likely.
A second-half double from Keane Lewis-Potter secured the points for Brentford and left Wolves rooted to the foot of the table on just two points. Approaching the halfway point of the season, they now face a tall order to overhaul Derby’s record low total of 12 in 2007-08.
As the second hit the net, fans’ patience snapped as they turned again on the players and unpopular owners Fosun. Strand Larsen’s late penalty miss also drew a furious reaction. The ground was half-empty at full-time and those who stayed booed.
At least the Chinese conglomerate Fosun have finally acted by removing Shi. It will almost certainly be too late to save the current campaign but as new interim executive chairman Nathan Shi (no relation) looked on from the directors’ box, supporters need something to cling to.
The atmosphere at Molineux was slightly better than it has been for most of the season. Though Fosun were still targeted, fans also celebrated Jeff Shi’s departure and backed the players more than they have done. This is a mere reprieve, though. If Fosun cannot prove they have a plan, they will not be spared by these fed-up supporters.
Jeff Shi stepped down as Wolves chairman on Friday night amid widespread fan protests
Wolves fell to a 2-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday afternoon to compound further misery
Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a late penalty for Wolves and was on the receiving end of boos
A tale of two Shis
Life moves fast in football. The departure of Jeff shocked most at the club, and he was still listed as ‘executive chairman’ in the programme on Saturday. By the time fans were flicking through the pages, Nathan had already made himself at home.
Still only in his early-thirties, Nathan is nonetheless trusted by Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun, and has worked as his executive assistant. He does not have a background in football, however, and before arriving at Wolves, he had a senior role at holiday company Club Med, another part of the Fosun portfolio. His LinkedIn profile was no longer visible on Friday night.
In the last 24 hours, Nathan held meetings with all senior staff, including head coach Rob Edwards. He addressed the players on Saturday morning with a clear message: Fosun still care, and we’re here to help.
Though Nathan has been at the Compton training base regularly in recent weeks, few suspected that he was being lined up to replace Jeff. It is not unusual for members of the wider Fosun group to visit Wolves and even as results deteriorated, there was no sense that Jeff was in danger. Until Friday morning, there was no sense at Compton that change was coming.
Throughout nearly a decade at Wolves, Jeff had been the sole link between the club and the parent group. Fosun’s method had always been to let Jeff get on with the job.
However, as bad results piled up, the bigwigs in Shanghai were starting to take note. The shambolic summer transfer window had left the squad weak, and then Vitor Pereira was sacked weeks after being handed a new contract. Fans had long since turned and would protest against Jeff and Fosun at every match.
New interim executive chairman Nathan Shi watched on from the directors’ box on Saturday
New boss Rob Edwards has got off to a disastrous start since taking the Wolves job last month
Perhaps the final straw, though, was Jeff’s disastrous local radio interview earlier this month. He made a number of extraordinary comments and seemed not to grasp the severity of Wolves’ position. His remark that ‘relegation’ was ‘not that serious’ cannot fail to have made it back to Shanghai.
Despite his unassuming manner, Shi dominated life at Wolves. Little could happen without his sign-off. That often left senior staffers feeling helpless and frustrated.
Decisions they knew could cause problems, such as elevated ticket prices, were bulldozed through, while recruitment staff were left on the sidelines as not a single player with Premier League experience was signed in the summer.
Shi allowed favoured agents and Pereira to drive recruitment and as Daily Mail Sport revealed in November, they rejected the chance to sign players like Kyle Walker-Peters, David Brooks and Harry Wilson.
What comes next?
Given Nathan’s lack of experience, the leadership team around him should wield far more influence than before. Though Nathan speaks very good English and has impressed senior figures, it would be unrealistic to expect him to control matters as Jeff did.
Fosun are looking actively for a permanent replacement for Jeff, though it is not impossible that Nathan will take the job long-term. At the least, fans should expect him to be in place for most of the rest of the season, if not all of it.
Will there be investment in January? With Wolves destined for relegation, the second half of the season could become a long lead-in to the Championship. Players may even be sold in January to fund those moves, though this is far from certain.
Fans in Molineux are growing increasingly frustrated with Wolves’ unpopular owners Fosun
That would mean giving more minutes to players like academy product Mateus Mane, as well as trying to sign players who would help Wolves bounce straight back.
On top of that, Fosun want to shift the narrative about their intentions. Following the flight of Chinese capital from English football, many assume that Fosun are looking to cut and run as soon as they can. For what it is worth, Fosun insist this is not the case.
As for recruitment, it seems unlikely that Wolves will revert immediately to the model of the early Fosun era, where super agent Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute group played a key role in transfers.
Rob Edwards’ future
When Wolves hired Edwards, they knew it may not represent a quick fix to keep them up. With his background at the club, Edwards was seen as someone who could slot in alongside existing staff and move Wolves forward over time.
Given Jeff Shi signed off the appointment, does this change this? At least initially, the feeling about Edwards remains the same. Right now, Fosun are not in the mood to appoint their third head coach of the season. If Edwards keeps losing, perhaps that conversation will change. For the moment, though, there is little appetite for greater disruption. After all, Wolves have had more than enough of that this season.
