Wolverhampton Wanderers are still searching for a successor to former boss Bruno Lage, with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers having now been put forward as a potential candidate to fill the vacancy.
What’s the word?
Speaking on BT Sport, via Birmingham Mail, both Peter Crouch and Robbie Savage gave their backing to the idea of the Northern Irishman taking on the top job at Molineux, with a replacement for the aforementioned Lage – who was sacked just over two weeks ago – still yet to be confirmed.
Savage said: “I think if Leicester were to get rid of him, and a Premier League job came up, possibly not a top four, five or six club now, but anybody else… Wolves for instance. Just say, if Rodgers wasn’t the Leicester manager, would Wolves (go for him)”, before Crouch responded: “They’d take him in a heartbeat.”
The Old Gold had seemingly identified long-term target Julen Lopetegui to take on the role although the Spaniard subsequently turned down the offer due to family reasons, with Queen’s Park Rangers head coach Michael Beale as well as former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo just two of the names who are now being considered.
Managerial masterstroke
Much of the talk at present is about that man Nuno, with the 48-year-old having previously guided the club out of the Championship, before enjoying a remarkable spell in the top flight which also included European qualification.
While a popular figure as a result of the work he had done during that stunning four-year spell, the jury is out on whether it would be wise to bring the Portuguese coach back to the club just 17 months after his departure, with The Athletic suggesting that there is split opinion over the wisdom of such a move.
The current Al-Ittihad boss had endured something of a frustrating end to his time with the Midlands outfit, with the feeling being that the relationship had simply run its course as the club secured an underwhelming 13th-placed finish in the Premier League during the 2020/21 campaign.
As such it may feel like a step backwards to re-appoint the former Tottenham Hotspur boss, with turning to a fresh face such as Rodgers potentially the better option, particularly due to the latter man’s impressive CV to date.
While the 49-year-old is currently struggling at the King Power Stadium – with doubts over his future after seeing his side pick up just five points in ten league games to date – prior to this season it had largely been a tale of success with the Foxes, having overseen a first ever FA Cup triumph for the club back in 2021, as well as a subsequent Community Shield success.
That time in the Midlands had come following a glittering stint in Scotland with Old Firm giants Celtic, memorably guiding the Hoops to a remarkable unbeaten domestic campaign during the 2016/17 season.
Prior to that, the Carnlough-born genius had narrowly missed out on the league title during his time at Liverpool in 2014, after finishing just two points behind Manchester City, with managerial counterpart Jose Mourinho only recently lauding the “amazing” job that he had done at Anfield.
While there are yet to be any confirmed links to Rodgers at present – beyond the suggestion of Savage and Crouch – it would no doubt be a managerial masterstroke for the Wolves hierarchy to consider an approach, even amid his ongoing turmoil at Leicester.
