Former Wolves goalkeeper Matt Murray has backed the clubs owner’s decision to sack Bruno Lage and is confident they will get it right in finding his replacement.
Lage was sacked last weekend, 24 hours after the defeat to West Ham, which left Wolves with just one win from their last 15 Premier League matches. Wolves have won just one game this season and currently sit in the relegation zone with the poor run of form costing Lage his job after 15 months at Molineux.
Murray, who came through the ranks at Wolves and spent his entire career at Molineux, believes Lage can have no complaints about being sacked after being backed in the summer transfer window with a figure of £100m lavished on new signings.
Wolves have parted company with head coach Bruno Lage.
We would like to thank Bruno and his coaching team for their efforts during their time at the club and wish them the very best for the future.
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 2, 2022
“It wasn’t really a surprise [Lage’s sacking], Wolves don’t take those decisions lightly, ” Murray told Compare.bet.
“Bruno had been backed, he finished last season strongly and started this season with some big decisions.
“I don’t know how much of it [the decisions] were him or the owners, but Conor Coady was allowed to leave, [Leander] Dendoncker was sold while players like Matheus Nunes, [Goncalo] Guedes, Nathan Collins were brought in so north of a £100m has been spent, [Sasa] Kalajdzic was unlucky with the injury but he [Lage] had been given players.
“I just feel it’s not always about the results, but sometimes if you can see a real improvement in performances. I felt when he first came in the performances were not too bad, they lost to Man Utd, they lost to Tottenham, whereas now the West Ham performance wasn’t great.
“One win in 15, 13 defeats in 22, three goals in eight games it’s not a surprise he has gone.”
Murray, who won promotion to the Premier League with Wolves in the 2002/03 season, believes the players need to take some responsibility for Wolves’ slump in form.
“The players have always got to look at themselves,” adds Murray. “They are the ones that go out there on the pitch, you can talk about formations, tactics, coaching all of that, but the players have to go out there and perform.
“There are players who earn a lot of money, and they have to implement a game plan.
“Is it tactics or is it players making the wrong decisions when they get there? That’s why they were not working the goalkeepers enough and that’s why their XG [expected goals] was so low.”
Wolves are reported to have made Julen Lopetegui their first-choice candidate to replace Lage as manager with the Spaniard now available after being sacked by Sevilla.
Murray believes Lopetegui fits the bill for Wolves and has the credentials to be a success in the Black Country by transforming the side’s fortunes.
“I think he is probably better known than what Bruno Lage and Nuno [Espirito Santo] were when they came to Wolves,” admitted Murray.
“I don’t think their names were that big over here whereas Lopetegui has got a big reputation – he has managed Sevilla, Real Madrid and the national side with Spain.
“At the end of the day they [the Wolves owners] are probably looking at it that he was linked with Wolves when Fosun first came in so there is definitely that history there.
“He is a proven manager. He is a name that is well known and what I would say with Fosun since they have come into Wolves, they have done a fantastic job so you would have to back them again on their decision.
“Whoever comes in will still have to, I imagine, fit a certain profile, set teams up in a certain way, probably implement younger players and not be afraid to play young players.
“Wolves will always have a list [of managerial targets] because it could be like the situation with Graham Potter and a manager gets poached or like it is with Bruno Lage and the manager gets sacked, so you always have to have that succession plan ready.”
Wolves’ problems in front of goal have been well documented and have played a huge part in their disastrous run of form.
They are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season with just three goals and their plight can be summed up in the fact that they have scored fewer Premier League goals than Burnley since April – and Burnley were relegated at the end of last season.
Wolves moved to bring in former Chelsea star Diego Costa to solve their goal scoring problems after big-money summer-signing Sasa Kalajdzic was ruled out by an ACL injury he unfortunately suffered on his debut.
Costa, 34, who has signed a deal until the end of the season, after arriving as a free agent, made his Wolves debut off the bench against West Ham last time out and Murray believes the Spain international can provide the Wolves attack with something different, and will relish the prospect of coming up against his former club Chelsea this weekend.
Building up to Stamford Bridge ✊ pic.twitter.com/YMNyBqs7DH
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 6, 2022
“It was a difficult one with Diego Costa,” continues Murray. “Wolves signed Kalajdzic, but he tore his ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] after 45 minutes of his debut so they clearly wanted a focal point.
“Raul Jiminez, obviously had a bad injury and has had a few other injuries as well so they knew they needed to bring someone else in.
“As soon as Diego Costa came on against West Ham, Wolves looked better, he gives that focal point and he offers something different.
“How fit is he? How many minutes can he play?
“I think going into the Chelsea game he is going to love that he is going to be the centre of attention, the pantomime villain and everything else.
“Diego Costa of course is not the Diego Costa that graced the Premier League five years ago or so, but he is still a good player and if it’s only getting an hour at a time out of him you would like to think he can improve Wolves’ scoring problems.”
“He is a top player, his record speaks for itself, it’s just how fit he is and how many minutes Wolves can get out of him.”
Murray admits relegation is a worry for Wolves right now and that going down would be a disaster for the club, but he is confident they have enough in the squad to stay up.
“It’s always a concern [relegation], no team is too good not to go down,” says Murray.
“Wolves have been relegated before, but this has been the most established Wolves team I have seen ever in the top-flight.
“I joined Wolves at the age of nine, we had a few years when I was in the squads where staying up was an achievement whereas under Nuno and then Bruno Wolves they do feel like an established team.
“With the amount of money spent on the team it would be a disaster if Wolves went down.
“You would like to think the squad is good enough to stay up for sure, but they do need to start putting results together.
“There are seven big games before the break for the World Cup and you would like to think Wolves have a bit of breathing space there.
“Then whichever manager does come in, they will be able to do some good work with them and then it won’t be far off the January transfer window either and there are a couple of positions the squad needs to be strengthened in and you would like to think the new manager would be backed in the transfer market.
“I am not saying Wolves are safe, but I feel there is enough in the squad to pull away from the relegation zone.”
Wolves fans for one will be hoping Murray is right and that they don’t suffer relegation this season and that the club get their managerial appointment right.
