Wolverhampton Wanderers

Noel Sliney
Senior journalist

Chelsea seek a return to the top four when they host winless and managerless Wolves on Saturday night (20:00 GMT). BBC Sport explores some key themes surrounding the fixture.

Chelsea always under scrutiny

Six wins in eight games across all competitions should be cause for optimism, yet Chelsea seem to be always one misstep from negative scrutiny.

Questions about defensive lapses and team selection have been heightened by Wednesday's failure to beat Qarabag, an Azerbaijani side who have spent less than £7m on transfers since 2020 – in stark contrast to Chelsea's £1.8bn outlay over the same period.

Chelsea were vulnerable once more at the back throughout that 2-2 draw, with summer signing Jorrel Hato culpable for both Qarabag goals but not helped by his team-mates. Head coach Enzo Maresca described them as "silly goals". A week earlier, defensive errors meant they nearly blew a three-goal lead away to Wolves in the Carabao Cup.

It's a trend that has afflicted them all season. The Blues have lost possession in their defensive third on 47 occasions in the Premier League, one short of Aston Villa's league-high tally. In all competitions, Chelsea have made the most errors leading to goals among English top-flight sides, ahead of Wolves, while only Spurs have faced more shots as a result of their own mistakes.

By way of mitigation, Maresca said in midweek that playing in the summer Club World Cup has affected his team selections as he seeks to manage the players' workloads. Chelsea's 3-0 win over PSG in the final of that tournament came just five weeks before the start of the 2025-26 season; the 85 changes subsequently made to their starting XI in all competitions is by far the most of any Premier League side.

Expect plenty more on Saturday, with the squad only arriving back in London at 06:00 on Thursday after a 5,000-mile round trip.

Wolves seeking great escape

This will be Wolves' first match since Vitor Pereira was sacked as head coach in the wake of a 3-0 defeat by Fulham which left them eight points adrift of safety.

They are the first English side in history to start consecutive seasons without a victory in their opening 10 top-flight matches. Wolves achieved a near-miraculous escape from relegation last season after having only three points at the same stage. They're a point worse off this time – only two sides have ever preserved their top-flight status after making such a poor start: Stoke City in 1951-52 and Leicester City in 1983-84.

Wolves don't appear close to naming a replacement for Pereira, whose departure was swiftly followed by that of director of football Domenico Teti after just four-and-a-half months at the club. Gary O'Neil, who was sacked last December, has opted against a potential return after initial talks, while Middlesbrough have turned down an approach for their manager Rob Edwards.

Whoever they appoint, Wolves can twice point to recent successful managerial changes made while they were in the relegation zone. Pereira comfortably kept them up last season, as Julen Lopetegui had done after arriving midway through 2022-23.

Nonetheless, recent Premier League history does not reflect kindly in general on a club's decision to change the manager while stuck in the relegation zone. Across the previous 10 seasons, 37 managers have parted ways with a club in the bottom three – only 13 of those sides stayed up.

Karan Vinod
BBC Sport journalist

Wolves interim boss James Collins has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On team news: "We've got a couple of injuries. Matt Doherty is injured, and so is Rodrigo Gomes. The rest are fully available. We might get a couple of young boys around the group and make our decisions from there."

• Collins believes "this group has been tinkered" with so often that it has lost its "continuity and shape", but said that establishing those elements is now the new manager's job to "work out and implement".

• On the club's chances of avoiding relegation: "I told the players on the first day - when you're in it, you feel like you are listening to the outside noise. But there are 28 games to go, nearly 90 points to play for, and if you listen to everybody out there, it's like Wolves are down. I don't see it that way. We just need to put some results together. It starts now - 28 games to go and let's get some points."

• Collins revealed that the message from the board is that he will be "taking the game this weekend", but said he is unsure how long that arrangement will last, adding that his "focus is on the team and our week's work".

• On former manager Vitor Pereira: "Vitor and his staff were brilliant with me. They welcomed us to watch training, they welcomed us to be around it, they welcomed us into meetings. They were enthusiastic about the under-21s and getting players through. I can't speak highly enough of them. They were brilliant people and good coaches. Sometimes in football, it is dictated by results. In the end, if you keep losing, you lose your job. They understand that, but they did their job diligently. Great people and they treated me with great respect. I wish them well."

• Collins also said he has held conversations with players and coaching staff, explaining that "you have to take the bits from that" and use them to improve the team. However, he reiterated that "you can't do everything in a week", so his priority has been to ensure that "at least three or four main principles are added to their week".

• On his hopes for this weekend's match at Chelsea: "We were determined it's not a week's holiday and a new manager comes in. We had to make sure that we prepared properly for the game this weekend. It's a Premier League game that can be won. That was the message to the players and they've responded brilliantly. They've been unbelievably receptive to what we've done with them."

Hear more from James Collins on BBC Sounds

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With the countdown to the Celebrity Traitors final under way, we asked you which Wolves player or manager - past or present - would make the best traitor and faithful.

Here are some of your comments:

Jack: The best faithful out of the current squad is Matt Doherty. He is the only player at the moment giving it 100%. The traitor in the ranks is Jeff Shi.

Jim: Traitor - Matheus Nune. How can we forget him going on strike. Faithful - Steve Bull. Had many opportunities to leave and play in the Premier League or abroad but he stayed faithful to the club.

Ian: Traitor - Gary O'Neil. He nearly sent Wolves down to the Championship. Faithful - Bull. Has stood by the club through the good times and the bad. Bull should be made either manager or football director.

J: Traitor is Henri Camara, who refused to play for the club and forced a transfer. Faithful is Bull, who declined offers from other clubs, instead wishing to stay at Wolves.

You can watch the final of Celebrity Traitors live from 21:00 GMT on BBC iPlayer

Daz Hale
BBC Radio WM presenter

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Plenty of people will be wanting an update on what is going on at Molineux.

As we know, 48 hours after Vitor Pereira's sacking, the club announced that the director of football Domenico Teti had also parted ways after just four and a half months at the club. He was instrumental in overseeing the player recruitment this summer.

The main update managerial appointment-wise is that nothing is imminent.

I have been told that the club are currently meeting a variety of candidates for the role, which I'm told was always the plan despite all the noise around Gary O'Neil's appointment being imminent.

The club have confirmed that they did speak to O'Neil, but they are also talking to a number of other candidates.

The process is being led by executive chairman Jeff Shi alongside members from the football leadership group that was announced last summer, notably Matt Wild and Matt Jackson.

There is decent interest in the vacancy at Molineux, but I have been told that there is no massive rush to appointment someone.

The club are hinting that there isn't going to be a manager in place before Saturday because they want a thorough and thought-through process in line with their longer-term vision, rather than rushing an appointment just to get someone in the dugout for this weekend.

Listen to Daz here

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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Wolves supporters have done plenty to make themselves heard over the past few days. Whether their opinions have changed, or will change, the course of events within the club is not yet clear. But they have left no doubt about their strength of feeling, and that merely changing the coach is by no means enough to address it.

You could tell that Saturday at Fulham was more than just another defeat simply by observing the away section.

The travelling supporters occasionally taunted Vitor Pereira and the club's executive chairman Jeff Shi, but spent much of the afternoon working wistfully through their back catalogue of songs, celebrating former heroes like Ruben Neves or Sylvain Ebanks-Blake.

Even the Patrick Cutrone song was heard at one point, while Raul Jimenez felt moved to applaud the away fans while he was still playing, so passionate was their rendition of "Si Senor".

The other clue was that, even after the third Fulham goal put the result beyond any conceivable doubt, nobody went home. They all stayed, and not just to jeer at the end; it was a far more compelling show of unity and defiance than their team had managed over the previous two hours.

That unity continued yesterday with an open letter issued by a collection of fan groups and podcasters. It expressed the deep concerns of many Wolves supporters, but did so in six firm but measured paragraphs, a quiet fury which somehow seemed to give the words more weight.

The letter did not mention Gary O'Neil, whose short-lived candidacy received such an appalling verdict on social media and fan forums that it came as a relief to hear that his interest in the job had ended, after just 24 hours.

O'Neil did not really deserve to have his name maligned like that. Before things turned sour, he did well enough in his first few months at Wolves to suggest he may go on to coaching success in other circumstances.

But it should have been obvious that these were not the right circumstances. The idea of returning to a coach the club had dispensed with less than a year earlier was widely read by fans as a statement of surrender, or even contempt.

Is any of this reaction being heard, or making any difference? Listen to the songs and read the letters, and you feel the supporters trying to assert that the club still, despite everything, belongs to them.

Their underlying fear must be that the owners' actions will demonstrate that it does not.

Listen to live commentary of Chelsea v Wolves at 20:00 GMT on Saturday on BBC Radio WM (all frequencies except online)

And tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

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Challenges. Leaders and followers. Tactics. Second guessing and wondering where to turn next.

This could be any game of football in the Premier League this weekend.

It is also the plot to any episode of BBC's hit show - The Traitors.

The countdown to the end game of the Celebrity series is on, but, while we wait for that, we want to know which Wolves player (or manager) - past or present - you think would make the best traitor, and who would be more suited to the role of a faithful.

Was it the way they could appear at the back post without anyone noticing? Or could they stop anybody getting past them?

Get in touch with your choices and the reasons why here

The Celebrity Traitors final will air on Thursday, 6 November on BBC One and iPlayer

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves will not rush to appoint a new manager this week with the club likely to still be under caretaker charge against Chelsea.

Under-21 coach James Collins and Under-18 boss Richard Walker are currently taking the side after Vitor Pereira's sacking on Sunday.

With the international break coming after Saturday's trip to Stamford Bridge Wolves are unwilling to push through an appointment just for the sake of Saturday, although the situation could still change quickly.

Former manager Gary O'Neil pulled out of talks on Monday, ending a shock chance of a return, while appointing ex-Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is unlikely.

Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards is of interest but Boro would be due compensation. Edwards was previously Under-23 manager at Molineux and had a two game spell in interim charge in 2016.

Wolves are bottom of the table with just two points, a total no side in the Premier League has survived from after 10 games.

Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

Crikey, where do we start? Any appointment has a mammoth task.

The new manager must set clear requirements with owners Fosun: be firm, direct and specific about club structure and the transfer window. The priority is a solid spine that can rescue poor performances.

Next, restore confidence and belief. The team look at rock bottom, but there is still faith they can turn it around.

The errors are not about talent, they stem from a lack of confidence, direction and belief. That must change.

Don't concede and you won't lose. It sounds basic, but it has been forgotten. Pick a back line and live with it through the bumps.

Stop shunting Ladislav Krejci into midfield, then dragging him back. He needs a settled role. He is a £30m central defender; when you are leaking goals, use that ability. Or play him in a Conor Coady-style sweeper role to distribute and get the team moving upfield.

Up front, it is about belief and habits. There is little creativity, it is all too static.

Use Jackson Tchatchoua's pace. Release some players from heavy defensive duties and provide cover so they can attack and create.

Goals do not come from sideways and backward passing, they come from chaos in the box. Get crosses in and look like you are not afraid to score.

Stability is essential. The manager must find their best XI quickly and keep it. There has been too much chopping and changing.

The team needs consistency to gel. Play footballers in their preferred roles where they are most comfortable if results are to come in the short term. Stop forcing square pegs into round holes.

Leadership is non-negotiable. Great teams have great leaders and Wolves are short. Five captains already this season tells its own story. Choose a captain, stick with them and demand standards on and off the pitch.

Make Molineux a fortress. Getting a despondent fan base on side is key. If the faithful turn, Wolves are doomed.

Above all, the ownership question looms. Fosun talk prudence, supporters want ambition. Wolves need a clear plan and a manager empowered to execute it. Without that, they are not flirting with the drop - they are packing their bags for it.

Find more from Dazzling Dave at Always Wolves, external

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

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Wolves are looking for a third manager in less than 12 months after becoming the first side in history to start consecutive seasons without a victory in their opening 10 top-flight matches.

They achieved a near-miraculous escape from relegation last season after having only three points by this stage of the campaign - but no side has stayed up in the Premier League with two points after 10 games.

Wolves' owners have opted to act quicker than they did last term, when Gary O'Neil was sacked after 16 matches with the team 19th in the table and four points from safety. Vitor Pereira replaced him and Wolves earned 33 points from their remaining 22 games to finish 16th.

The fact Pereira's appointment produced the desired short-term effect in ensuring Wolves stayed up was vindication of the decision taken by the club's owners. It echoed similar success in late 2022 when Bruno Lage was replaced, eventually, by Julen Lopetegui.

Nonetheless, recent Premier League history does not reflect too fondly in general on a club's decision to change the manager while stuck in the relegation zone.

Across the previous 10 seasons, 37 managers have parted ways with a club in the bottom three. Only 13 of those sides stayed up.

That equates to a 35% success rate. Wolves have twice beaten the odds in recent seasons - will a hat-trick be beyond them?

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Wolves have parted company with the club's head of professional football Domenico Teti.

The former Sampdoria technical director only joined in June to work with Vitor Pereia, with the pair having previously been together in Saudi Arabia with Al Shabab.

However, after Pereira was sacked on Sunday following a 3-0 defeat at Fulham that left Wolves bottom of the Premier League with just two points from 10 games, Teti has followed the Portuguese out of the door.

The decision comes after amicable talks between the club and Teti, who replaced previous sporting director Matt Hobbs.

Executive chairman Jeff Shi said: "Domenico approached his role with total professionalism and built strong working relationships across the club during his time with us.

"He made a positive contribution to our football processes and has carried himself with integrity throughout.

"We thank him for his efforts and support and wish him every success in the future."

Wolves continue to search for a new manager with former boss Gary O'Neil having pulled out of the running on Monday.

Meanwhile, any appointment of ex-Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is unlikely.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Vitor Pereira was sacked at the weekend with his Wolves side propping up the table.

The question is, was he sacked because they are bottom or are they bottom because he and other Wolves managers have been sacked too quickly?

The next Wolves boss will be the fifth in five seasons. Does that really give anyone the time to develop a squad, especially if someone else is choosing the players?

West Ham are on a measly seven points from 30 so far, with a record of three managers in the past 18 months after foolishly getting rid of David Moyes.

With the spirited victory against Newcastle, Nuno Espirito Santo showed that there is a team in there somewhere but will they stick with him?

The other team currently in a relegation spot is Nottingham Forest. They have gone through more than a manager per year in the eight since Evangelos Marinakis got hold of the club, surpassing himself lately with three different managers this season alone.

This many changes can be made to work in the short term. Chelsea did it brilliantly for years with some of the greatest coaches in the world but it cost a huge amount of money. Roman Abramovich had the dosh and was willing to spend it. More crucially, he was allowed to spend it back then with different rules in place.

I would hazard a guess that the three currently at the bottom will each get relegated if they change managers yet again and destroy the last vestiges of stability and any remaining facade of intelligent planning at their clubs.

Any one of them might still go down anyway because of rash decision-making in the past that has finally caught up with them.

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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There are other contenders, and Wolves have always had open dialogue with other contenders apart from Gary O'Neil. There was a framework in place, a large part of the framework was agreed upon for O'Neil's return, but ultimately, he has decided that he has pulled himself out of the running.

There is interest in Rob Edwards at Middlesbrough, and he's got a really big connection with the club, having coached the Under-23s, first team and had two games in interim charge in 2016 when Walter Zenga was sacked.

But we understand that former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is of interest to Wolves, and obviously, he is available, having been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen in September after just three games in charge there.

Obviously, though, there needs to be mutual interest for that to happen. He is the name that has been mentioned to me by more than one person."

Listen to Nick speak about Wolves on BBC Radio WM here

Ryan Leister from The Wolves Report Podcast says "any manager has got to be pretty desperate to go to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the moment" because the club is in such a poor place on and off the pitch.

Leister spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club as it was being reported that Gary O'Neil had pulled out of the running to re-join the club, 11 months after being sacked.

"I'm not sure Wolves have the pull to get someone of a real high quality, that has the credentials of giving us any chance of staying up," he said. "Any manager of a decent calibre that wants a job in the Premier League, has got to be pretty desperate to go to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the moment.

"The ownership have made it clear that they are not ambitious anymore and the self-sustainable model is just not working.

"If you look at Brighton, Brentford and to an extent Bournemouth, they are data driven clubs who are pretty much self sufficient. That is because they have a plan.

"If their manager gets poached then they have their best players and a succession plan. It feels like there is not that plan at Wolves and they seem to be winging it.

"It hurts me to say, but we deserve to be where we are because the club is being ran appallingly and the football has not been much better."

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"The issue with Wolves is that there is no vision," said Rory Smith on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"That means whoever comes in as manager will be working with a squad that has been incrementally, but consistently, weakened for the last four or five years.

"I saw a post on X that said Wolves have become an experiment as to what happens if every single year you sell your best players and replace them with worse ones.

"What happens is you slide down the league table and eventually get relegated."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is among the candidates being considered by Wolves with no decision on Vitor Pereira's successor as head coach expected this week. (Athletic - subscription required), external

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Former Wolves manager Gary O'Neil has pulled out of the running to take the vacant managerial role.

Sources have told BBC Sport a large part of the deal had been agreed but O'Neil has now withdrawn from the process.

The former midfielder previously spent just over a year in charge, overseeing 63 matches in all competitions. During that time, his side won 20, lost 32, and conceded 117 goals, while scoring 94. This included away wins against Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Chelsea.

Despite making a promising start in his first campaign, Wolves' form dipped sharply towards the end of his tenure. O'Neil won only two games in his final season and lost 11 of his last 16, a run that ultimately led to his departure.

Gary O'Neil has held talks with Wolves over a potential return to the club - less than 12 months after he was sacked by the relegation-threatened Premier League club.

You can read more on the story here but from our poll, it seems fans would rather the club make a move for ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards, who made 100 league appearances for Wolves, has been linked with the role but today told BBC Radio Tees: "I can understand it with my links to the club but my full focus is on this job here, which is a brilliant job, and trying to turn things around for a really big game against Leicester.

"It's hard for me to comment on speculation and anything other than Middlesbrough.

"We've done a decent job so far and all I care about is trying to win tomorrow."

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Wolves are looking for a third manager in less than 12 months.

Owners Fosun wanted stability and consistency but they have been left with a wreckage that could ultimately drag them down to the Championship.

It is fair to say they did not want to be in this position and were reluctant to sack Vitor Pereira on Sunday morning but the nature of the defeat at Fulham left them with no choice.

They are bottom of the Premier League, eight points from safety and with just two points from 10 games.

It means they are also looking at their fifth permanent manager in four years and the stability Fosun crave has given way to insecurity and uncertainty.

That Gary O'Neil - who Pereira replaced last December - is being considered for a return shows the difficult situation at Molineux as they look to save themselves from the drop.

Pereira's predecessor won 20 of his 63 games in charge of Wolves, losing 32, and has been out of work since leaving. However, he was close to the Norwich job in the summer, knows the majority of the squad and has experience of keeping teams up.

He kept Bournemouth up in 2022-23, finishing 15th, and took Wolves to 14th after replacing Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the 2023-24 season.

It unravelled early in 2024-25 after a 10-game winless start but O'Neil, who recently changed agents, could make a surprise return.

Rob Edwards has his admirers at Wolves, having been the Under-23s coach and first-team coach, while he also had a two-game interim spell in charge in 2016.

The Middlesbrough boss has Boro second in the Championship after taking over in the summer but there has been no contact from Wolves yet.

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We asked for your views on who the next Wolves boss should be.

Here are some of your comments:

John: 'It can't go on like this, can it? It can'. Famous words from Mick McCarthy. We have to get whoever we can get at this point, because who would want this job? Realistically, I would want Brendan Rodgers, but whoever it is good luck!

Allen: Not Gary O'Neil! It's the ownership's fault for the decline as they have sold players and not replaced them well. All Wolves fans know whoever comes in has their hands tied behind their back and their reputation will be shredded by association with a flailing club. I'd really like Julen Lopetegui back but he won't work for Fosun because of the sell-and-not-replace model. Maybe try Steven Gerrard? He can learn his trade here and then keep us in the Championship, and build a team for a future in the Premier League when Fosun have decided what they want to do with the club - run it to the ground or give it a chance of success.

Paul: Must be some sort of joke if they're considering O'Neil! Rodgers is the only one on the 'possible list' worth considering.

Simon: Certainly not O'Neil - that would be a bad move. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could be a decent move.

Jay: I want Rodgers but would he want to come into this, or wait for a better opportunity to come along? Honestly, whoever we get is going to struggle as the squad is poor and we don't have any money to improve it in January. Fosun will have to sell the club as they have not got the money to keep us fighting.

Richard: The next appointment should be part of a long-term plan which must include the high probability of returning to the Championship. Therefore, a coach that understands the challenges of both leagues, as well as how to rebuild an unbalanced squad. Rob Edwards would be a good shout, especially as he has a strong connection with the club already.

Cyril: It has to be Rodgers. Out of those linked with the job, he is the only one with a track record. That is unless Nuno Espirito Santo becomes available, as I think his heart is still at Wolves.

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