Wolves are now set for a new dawn following the sacking of Gary O’Neil on Sunday – and Jeff Shi will no doubt be praying Vitor Pereira can work a miracle.
O’Neil was sacked by Wolves after the defeat to Ipswich Town, after which there were ugly scenes involving Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Those scenes came just days after Mario Lemina lost his head after the defeat to West Ham United, and there was just a strong suggestion that O’Neil had lost all control of the players and their emotions.
He was sacked, and there is an acceptance that while he ultimately failed, Fosun did not support him in the way they should have.
Chairman Jeff Shi is a deeply unpopular figure at the club right now, and one report’s revelation about him is going to do little for his standing with the Wolves fans.
Jeff Shi rarely seen at Molineux recently, ‘preferring instead to focus on contests in the e-sports world’
Jeff Shi, Executive chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Southampton FC at Mo...
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Just days before the game with Ipswich, Shi had backed O’Neil in a column he wrote for the Express & Star.
He talked about uniting behind him, and lots of other things that fans didn’t have a great deal of time for.
It was a baffling decision to release such a column, and ultimately Shi was left with egg on his face as the club sacked O’Neil days later.
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There were chants against Fosun at Molineux on Saturday, but Shi was nowhere to be seen. It was a move that didn’t surprise fans.
Journalist Johnny Phillips wrote an article last night about O’Neil’s sacking, and made a claim about Shi that will no doubt infuriate supporters, and it relates to why he hasn’t been at Molineux much recently.
Phillips writes: “Shi has rarely attended games in these recent weeks, preferring instead to focus on contests in the e-sports world. That is fair enough if his role is to increase brand awareness and alternative revenue streams in far flung global destinations, but if Wolves want to succeed in a Premier League environment there must be a strong hand on the tiller in a traditional football chief executive role.”
Fosun have chance to show they still care about Wolves
The fact Shi has been choosing to focus on e-sports contests more than Wolves is very alarming, but supporters will not be surprised.
Shi knows he would get a terrible reception if he showed up at Molineux at the moment, given his role in the club’s demise to this point.
Fosun did great work in their early years of owning the football club, but in recent times their ownership model has been proving unsuccessful – and now, it could result in the club being relegated.
But they do have one last chance to show fans they care about this club.
Vitor Pereira is coming in, and the new Wolves manager needs backing considerably in January. If they can get him the targets he wants, there might be a chance of Wolves turning things around.
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