Stale Solbakken Sacked: Reaction

Solbakken walks off the pitch for the last time as Wolves manager

At around 8:45pm on the 5th January 2013, Wolves announced that after only 6 months in charge, Stale Solbakken has been relieved of his duties. This afternoon's embarassing exit to non-League side Luton Town proved to be the final straw - although if some rumours are to be believed, the decision to sack Stale was taken before today, but he wasn't informed of it until after the match. Apparently he was sacked via a phone call too. If these are true, in all honesty it wouldn't surprise me. The Norwegian has been hung out to dry by messers Morgan and Moxey, and the attitude of the players has been disgraceful. Clearly this is a squad that is so used to having its tummy tickled by Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor that when someone new came in, they didn't like it.

The 2-0 win at Peterborough was part of an enjoyable winning run

If I was to have one criticism of Solbakken (and this is my only criticism), it's that he tried to change things too fast. He should have played to the players strengths and slowly phased those players out, before bringing in his own players and having the team play his way. But he seemed to be too stubborn for that, and insisted on the players playing his style of football - something they were never going to manage. It looked to be working, with early wins over Leicester, Ipswich, Peterborough and Sheffield Wednesday that saw Wolves up to 3rd in the table. But then injuries struck hard - in particular the loss of Slawomir Peszko which was, in hindsight, a monumental blow to Wolves. From that moment on, results tumbled and Wolves went on a 9 game winless run that saw the side slip to as low as 18th. December had briefly brough restbite, with 3 wins in 4. But it was the pathetic no-shows against Peterborough and Ipswich at Molineux, and subsequent 3-0 and 2-0 defeats, that had the home fans baying for blood. A disappointing (but expected) defeat to Crystal Palace on New Years Day was followed up by one of the lowest points in Wolves' recent history, as Blue Square Premier side Luton Town knocked a strong Wolves team out of the FA Cup. That proved to be the killer for Solbakken, and his dismissal was announced a few hours later.

Moxey & Morgan: Both as bad as each other

I do have to question exactly what the board - and in particular Morgan and Moxey - are playing at here. Morgan wanted Solbakken for almost 18 months before he finally got him, and yet he doesn't stick by him when it was most needed. It seems that, yet again, our chairman has taken the coward's way out and has seemingly been pushed towards that direction by our CEO. It does feel as though Moxey thinks he runs the club and that isn't helped by the fact the fans barely hear a peep from Morgan. Obviously nobody wants a chairmen who's in the dressing room picking the team, but likewise we don't want one who seems so far removed from the fans. I can guarantee that, on Monday morning when we have the press conference about the sacking, it will be Moxey handling the questions whilst Morgan will probably not even show his face. The fans want answers, we need them and quite honestly they're the very least we deserve. 6 months is absolutely no time to change the philosophy of a football club, but sadly time and patience are two commodities in very short supply at Wolves - particularly in the stands.

Kevin Foley: Looks a shadow of his former self this season

The next choice of manager is a big one for Wolves. It will be the difference between relegation to League 1 and staying in the Championship. The first task they've got, however, is to clear out a lot of the deadwood we have sitting in our squad. Players like Ward, Foley, Berra, Doyle and Ebanks-Blake who have all proven themselves to not be good enough anymore. And they're clearly not playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers - they only played for Mick McCarthy. I don't think they were ever really that bothered about making Stale Solbakken a successful figure at Molineux and it showed with their recent pathetic displays. As usual with Wolves over the last few years, there's been plenty of talking to the website and local media, but not nearly enough talk where it really counts - on the pitch. One thing I would like to see the new boss do is bring the young players into the team. People like Danny Batth and Jake Cassidy who are the future of this club and will, I have no doubt, go on to become top quality players. But we need to start playing them now, otherwise we risk losing them.

Wolves fan O'Driscoll is bookies favourite to take Molineux post

As for who the next manager is going to be, the two main candidates appear to be Sean O'Driscoll and Dean Saunders. Both men with Doncaster Rovers connections, and who play very different styles of football. O'Driscoll, who happens to be from Wolverhampton and a life-long Wolves fan, likes his teams to play possession football. When he was with Doncaster in the Championship, they were incredibly difficult to play against simply because it was very rare the opposition got the ball off them. Dean Saunders, despite having done well with Wrexham, was in charge of Doncaster when they were relegated and although he has guided Doncaster to 2nd in League 1, the football he plays is one of a long-ball, 'hoof' vareity. This would suit the players, seemingly (particularly Johnson and Berra) but not the fans and it's not what Wolves are trying to build towards.

Wanted Karl Robinson before we had Solbakken. Big fan of him.

In an ideal world, I'm sure we'd all jump at the chance to have Roberto Di Matteo at Wolves. However, we all know that is never going to happen. My personal preference would be either Sean O'Driscoll or even, if we do take a chance on a manager from a lower division, Karl Robinson from MK Dons. He is one of the brightest young managers in the country and, provided the price is right and he is sufficiently backed, I could see him coming here and doing a fantastic job. Whatever happens though, this next appointment is the most important in years and it is one that Morgan and Moxey must get 110% right. I dread to think of the consequences if they screw this up.

In Stale I Trusted.