Points, pubs and Pereira - why a perfect match at Wolves turned sour

Pereira won 14 of his 38 games in charge of Wolves, losing 18

No pints and just two points. It was inevitable Wolves called time at the bar for Vitor Pereira.

The 57-year-old, who enjoyed going to the pub to celebrate victories with Wolves fans last season, leaves after just 11 months at Molineux.

Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Fulham - their eighth in 10 games - was a result and performance which gets managers the sack and teams relegated.

A loss to a relegation rival, a red card and an own goal ticked all the boxes of a team that is sitting bottom of the Premier League and in a dangerous spiral.

Wolves did not want to make a change, and even leading into the weekend the club's hierarchy was still backing Pereira, but that changed after a disastrous afternoon in west London.

Stability and consistency was sought but the axe fell on Sunday morning with the club eight points from safety and now looking for a fifth permanent manager in four years.

Pereira only signed a new three-year deal 45 days ago after guiding Wolves to safety last season.

He replaced Gary O'Neil last December - O'Neil having presided over another 10-game winless start - and oversaw a six-match winning streak between March and April. It was the club's best top-flight run since 1970.

It looked like a perfect match - Pereira nominated for Premier League manager of the year - but cracks started to appear in the summer, which grew to a point where Pereira now regrets not walking away from Molineux at the start of the season.

The former Porto manager, who won the Portuguese title twice, wanted to continue last season's success after finishing 17 points above the relegation zone in 16th.

The draw to do that was too big, yet he was unhappy with the planning over transfers and Wolves signed five senior players, spending around £100m, but none had Premier League experience and Pereira was disappointed not to land first-choice targets.

He ultimately sanctioned those who did arrive though, including striker Tolu Arokodare, and they were generally his picks, including driving the signing of winger Jhon Arias.

They lost significant top flight know-how in the summer when captain Nelson Semedo left on a free and Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri joined Manchester United and Manchester City respectively, meaning Wolves brought in nearly £120m, including other departures.

Cunha's £62.5m transfer was a club record, after United triggered his release clause, but Wolves have been unable to replace his 15 goals and all-round talent.

Wolves scored 63 goals last season but the players who scored 32 of them are no longer at the club.

The club is looking to change strategy and will target more homegrown players in the future, to help their quota, and feel they are at the start of a new cycle, aware of the risks it brings.

There is a long-term view at Molineux that Wolves can succeed and even if they are relegated it can be handled, with owners Fosun not looking to sell the club, instead being open to minority investment into Fosun Sports Group.

But perhaps the long-term planning has seen them distracted from the short term and has left the club facing another battle against relegation, one which looks terminal this time.

Players have become mentally drained after conceding late goals which denied them wins over Tottenham and Brighton.

Last week's late 3-2 defeat by Burnley, in which fans turned on Pereira for the first time, displayed Wolves losing to a team that appeared to be playing for a point with 15 minutes left.

Those results were fatal for the confidence of the side and the Clarets' win at Molineux meant Pereira had lost to all of the promoted sides this season.

The fact the players were unable to respond under Pereira is believed to be one of the factors behind the decision to sack him, along with the obvious issue of poor results.

At Craven Cottage on Saturday the sight of Joao Gomes casually walking the ball back into his own half late on or Ki-Jana Hoever booting the ball across the pitch and into touch pointed to the players' mindset.

When asked by BBC Sport after defeat on Saturday how Wolves could be the only team in Premier League history to survive after two points from 10 games Pereira was unable to provide a convincing answer.

"I don't have the answer but I can answer by saying last season, do you think for a club like Wolves, it was possible to win six games in a row?" he said.

"It's very difficult, even for the big teams. It's difficult to win six games in a row. This is my answer."

It was a team which needed to get a result after the omission of Andre and Joao Gomes in midfield and Pereira had made the most changes to his starting line-up [31] in the Premier League this season.

Pereira reasoned the different structure and personnel on Saturday was because they needed to be more defensively solid but Wolves conceded after just nine minutes, Ryan Sessegnon capitalising on Santi Bueno's error.

He is an honest man and was well liked by staff at the Compton training base. He was someone who took time to get to know the fans and the area, coining the phrase 'first the points, then the pints', and the club is unlikely to have that again.

It was genuinely sad to see him struggling for answers at Fulham but he is experienced enough to have known what was likely to come.

After Stamford's 3-1 over Stourbridge in the Southern League Premier Central on Saturday, Wolves are the only side in the top seven tiers without a league win this season.

Results dictate, despite executive chairman Jeff Shi's willingness to be loyal, and they are now cut adrift at the foot of the table with little to suggest there would be a dramatic upturn in form.

A trip to Chelsea is next on Saturday with Wolves looking for a swift appointment, although Under-21 head coach James Collins and Richard Walker, who leads the Under-18s, being in caretaker charge has not been ruled out.

The former Olympiacos and Fenerbache manager labelled the Fulham defeat the worst performance under him and there was a debrief planned on Monday for both the head coach and players to air their feelings.

Pereira wanted to understand the nature of the performance, but he will not get the chance after his last orders on Sunday morning.