Vítor Pereira sacked by Wolves after bleak 10-game winless run

Wolves have sacked Vítor Pereira after his team took just two points from their first 10 matches of the season, leaving the Premier League’s bottom club at severe risk of relegation to the Championship. Wolves, eight points adrift of the last safe spot, have not played in the second tier since 2017-18.

Pereira, who salvaged the club’s Premier League status last season after succeeding Gary O’Neil in December, conceded Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Fulham was the worst performance of his 11-month reign. Wolves have lost eight of their 10 league matches this season and last won a top-flight game in April.

Pereira signed a new three-year contract on 18 September but just 45 days on, the Portuguese, a Premier League manager of the year candidate last season, has been dismissed. It is understood the severance package due to Pereira is not significantly different to his previous contract, which expired in June 2026. He was informed of his dismissal on Sunday morning.

All eight of Pereira’s backroom staff have also exited, with a statement from the club’s executive chairman, Jeff Shi, saying: “Vítor and his team worked tirelessly for Wolves and helped guide us through a challenging period last season, for which we are grateful.

“Unfortunately, the start to this season has been a disappointment and, despite our strong desire to give the head coach time and matches to find an improvement, we have reached a point where we must make a change. We thank Vítor and his staff for their efforts and wish them the very best for the future.”

Wolves had been reluctant to sack Pereira despite an abysmal start. They instead sought stability after a churn of managers since Nuno Espírito Santo’s departure in 2021, before acknowledging that was unachievable after another alarming collapse. Wolves have conceded a division-leading 22 goals this season, including eight in their past three matches.

O’Neil pointed towards a challenging schedule in mitigation of their poor start last season, Wolves facing eight of the teams who qualified for Europe in their opening 10 matches, plus Brighton and Brentford, who finished in the top 10. This season, Wolves have lost to all three promoted teams, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland, while Fulham were 17th before Saturday’s victory at Craven Cottage.

Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate that owns Wolves, accepts there are issues with the makeup of the squad as a result of the summer recruitment and recognises, in hindsight, that Pereira perhaps had too much autonomy. In June Wolves appointed Domenico Teti, an ally of Pereira, to the role of director of football after the pair worked together in the Saudi Pro League at Al-Shabab, his previous club.

Wolves signed six players at a cost of about £90m, none of whom arrived with experience of the Premier League. It was a window in keeping with their model to sign typically young players with a potentially high resale value. That has generally served them well but left them short of experience.

Pereira favoured the £24m signing of Tolu Arokodare instead of a winger and rejected the chance to sign the former Burnley captain Josh Brownhill, a free agent. In the summer Wolves rebalanced the wage structure of the squad, with high earners such as Pablo Sarabia and Gonçalo Guedes offloaded, a step towards Fosun’s plan of making Wolves self-sustainable.

Wolves sold Matheus Cunha to Manchester United and Rayan Aït-Nouri to Manchester City in the summer, while Nelson Semedo, the club captain, departed on a free. Pereira was influential in recruitment but unhappy that the club, in some cases, landed their fifth-choice targets.

It was felt as long as Pereira maintained the belief of the squad that he could eventually steer clear of relegation danger and could continue in his post. A series of scattergun selections, including the dropping of purportedly key players in the Brazilian pair André and João Gomes from midfield, and the heaviness of defeat in a vital match at Craven Cottage have forced the hand of the ownership The loss of his previous popularity among fans had also become a significant issue.

Wolves supporters had turned on Pereira during their stoppage-time defeat at home to Burnley last month, after which he confronted irate fans. Jørgen Strand Larsen, who signed a new contract after Wolves rejected bids from Newcastle totalling £55m in September, also tried to reason with supporters, while the goalkeeper José Sá had a direct exchange with fans outside the Molineux players’ car park.

Pereira had to be restrained by stewards before being led away by the club captain, Toti Gomes, among those dropped in recent weeks as the coach searched for a winning formula. He had implored supporters to keep the faith. “If we fight with them, united, we can win games, we can compete and achieve our targets,” Pereira said. “If not, without them, it’s impossible.”

The departed manager is represented by the super-agent Jorge Mendes, whose Gestifute agency has longstanding links with Wolves, and it would be no surprise if the club turned to another manager with links to Mendes. The under-21s’ head coach, James Collins, and the under-18s’ head coach, Richard Walker, will take training until a new appointment is made.

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