Paul Lambert Leaves Wolves

[Langers]

Nathan Rao might be right for once if he opened with 'storm clouds gathering over Wolverhampton' then.

That's just Paddy watching Masterchef.

 

[Wombat del combate]

Apocalypse Pendeford.

 

[Lupo]

From The Mirror article...

Wolves have been linked with José Couceiro of Portuguese club Vitoria de Setuba but Molineux sources have dismissed the claim

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

The sensible approach would be to have Lambert & Thelwell working together to identify and bring in their chosen targets and have these supplemented by using Mendes contacts to bring in a few quality players we wouldn't otherwise have access to (such as Costa & Cav).

However, as I have no faith in Lambert & Thelwell to identify suitable players then the best course of action for me would be to replace them both with people who can bring in the required quality and have these guys bringing in their own targets alongside a couple of Mendes signings. Mendes should not be in charge of recruitment (not that I think he ever would be) but you can't turn down the chance to work alongside one of the most successful agents in the game, especially when our own non-Mendes recruitment has been pretty poor.

 

[Premier Quality]

I really can't see that mendes would want to be in charge of recruitment, he has a lot of other stuff to be getting on with. I can see that he might have a list of people he thinks would work well for us that would come, as long as that's being pretty sensible then I don't see a problem.

I guess the issue is whether those players would fit into lamberts master plan, but we've seen from tex and ola John that if they don't, then they just don't play so I don't see a massive issue either way.

given I'd like a keeper, full backs, centre mid and striker, there's no contest who I'd rather select them out of him or thelwell. I'd let lambert pick a centre back though if there's no amazing mendes version as that's the one position I do think the English league experience is a good thing.

My last comment is that whether he stays or goes (and I'm not massively fussed either way) I want it sorted quickly so we can get on with the summer recruitment and planning.

 

[Kenny]

The sensible approach would be to have Lambert & Thelwell working together to identify and bring in their chosen targets and have these supplemented by using Mendes contacts to bring in a few quality players we wouldn't otherwise have access to (such as Costa & Cav).

As far as I know and understand that is the approach. What I think has happened is one or 2 of the targets Thelwell/Lambert have put forward have probably been rejected as they are for the same position as a player or 2 Mendes has put our way. So Fosun have decided in a straight Mendes v Thelwell/Lambert fight, Mendes will win.

Now the player Mendes has put forward might well be another Ola John and of course Lambert will be rightly fucked off his player is being rejected. However there is a way to deal with that and it certainly isn't get your journo buddies to post a story and get things kicking off in a very public manner

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As far as I know and understand that is the approach. What I think has happened is one or 2 of the targets Thelwell/Lambert have put forward have probably been rejected as they are for the same position as a player or 2 Mendes has put our way. So Fosun have decided in a straight Mendes v Thelwell/Lambert fight, Mendes will win.

Now the player Mendes has put forward might well be another Ola John and of course Lambert will be rightly fucked off his player is being rejected. However there is a way to deal with that and it certainly isn't get your journo buddies to post a story and get things kicking off in a very public manner

Agree with that theory and the summary of why Lambert has got this wrong.

I would also say that if a signing is an obviously bad idea (Hugill definitely would be, I think Hanley would be too, the big oaf) - then this board will block it. They're going to be way more hands on in that respect than Sir Jack or Morgan were. And bloody hell, I wish they'd blocked us from signing Daley/Taylor/Olofinjana/Jones/Frankowski/Halford/Clarke etc.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I really can't see that mendes would want to be in charge of recruitment, he has a lot of other stuff to be getting on with. I can see that he might have a list of people he thinks would work well for us that would come, as long as that's being pretty sensible then I don't see a problem.

I guess the issue is whether those players would fit into lamberts master plan, but we've seen from tex and ola John that if they don't, then they just don't play so I don't see a massive issue either way.

given I'd like a keeper, full backs, centre mid and striker, there's no contest who I'd rather select them out of him or thelwell. I'd let lambert pick a centre back though if there's no amazing mendes version as that's the one position I do think the English league experience is a good thing.

My last comment is that whether he stays or goes (and I'm not massively fussed either way) I want it sorted quickly so we can get on with the summer recruitment and planning.

I'm not sure that's really Mendes thought process, I doubt he really gives a toss what works best for Wolves, it's going to be more looking at which of his clients could benefit from a bit more exposure to turn them into a profitable asset. I don't for a second think he recommended Costa to Wolves because he saw some desperate need to improve the wide positions at the club, more that he saw a player who just needed the right platform to attract some attention and the money that often follows.

Obviously there will be times when the two lines of thinking crossover, as with Costa, where Wolves get a good player for, probably for a limited time in most cases, and Mendes manages to get a deal wrapped up in the process but I think as we've already seen with the likes of Texeira and John that there is also potential for a lot of cases where there is little to no benefit to the club.

 

[Johnny75]

For your theory to work Mark then Wolves do need to be a success. If Wolves are in the PL then he can place more players at a higher value in a club where he has control in what is regarded as the richest league in Europe.

Players like Costa are worth more having a season in the PL than they are in the Championship.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

For your theory to work Mark then Wolves do need to be a success. If Wolves are in the PL then he can place more players at a higher value in a club where he has control in what is regarded as the richest league in Europe.

Players like Costa are worth more having a season in the PL than they are in the Championship.

For it to maximise it's money making ability then yes, but I'd hazard a guess that the Championship is a significantly more visible platform to display players than any other league outside the top 4-5 European leagues so already it's a pretty decent stage for Mendes' clients without promotion. Add to that the number of clubs he's already got in his network that are already much more prominent than Wolves, the big Portuguese clubs, Valencia, Monaco, Atletico, then does he really need another one at that level at the moment? Costa already went to Monaco with nowhere near the success he's had here so would he have been able to place him at another club at that level? Perhaps having a club like Wolves at a lower standing suits him with some of the lesser lights in his stable.

Costa perhaps would've just sat in Benfica's reserves all season if he hadn't come to Wolves and been a year closer to leaving for nothing but instead he's already moved for big money, gained a load of exposure and you'd think would be well set for another money making move to the PL in the not to distant future.

 

[Norman Deeley]

One thing is absolutely certain: Mendes does not bounce out of bed every morning thinking, "What's best for the supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers..."

 

[nimrod]

As far as I know and understand that is the approach. What I think has happened is one or 2 of the targets Thelwell/Lambert have put forward have probably been rejected as they are for the same position as a player or 2 Mendes has put our way. So Fosun have decided in a straight Mendes v Thelwell/Lambert fight, Mendes will win.

Now the player Mendes has put forward might well be another Ola John and of course Lambert will be rightly $#@!ed off his player is being rejected. However there is a way to deal with that and it certainly isn't get your journo buddies to post a story and get things kicking off in a very public manner

from a professional perspective, that's true but football often doesn't live up to that standard.

assuming he initiated it then who knows what he's trying to achieve by it. if he decided it's not going to work out he could see it as a way of getting his name out there early in the merry-go-round process, or an additional way of making fosun work harder if they really want him to stay

 

[Johnny75]

For it to maximise it's money making ability then yes, but I'd hazard a guess that the Championship is a significantly more visible platform to display players than any other league outside the top 4-5 European leagues so already it's a pretty decent stage for Mendes' clients without promotion. Add to that the number of clubs he's already got in his network that are already much more prominent than Wolves, the big Portuguese clubs, Valencia, Monaco, Atletico, then does he really need another one at that level at the moment? Costa already went to Monaco with nowhere near the success he's had here so would he have been able to place him at another club at that level? Perhaps having a club like Wolves at a lower standing suits him with some of the lesser lights in his stable.

Costa perhaps would've just sat in Benfica's reserves all season if he hadn't come to Wolves and been a year closer to leaving for nothing but instead he's already moved for big money, gained a load of exposure and you'd think would be well set for another money making move to the PL in the not to distant future.

Again, this makes little sense. If Wolves were in the Premier League they wouldn't be on the same footing as Monaco, Valencia, At Madrid or Benfica so there would be space to play with by trying to get Costa in there for a season. Whatever we think as Wolves fans we aren't as big a club as any of them.

Costa would be worth more now if they had done that and he would probably still have had the same success. It makes no sense for Mendes to have a club not in the top flight if as you say it's all about the Mendes money.

 

[Quirkafleeg]

One thing is absolutely certain: Mendes does not bounce out of bed every morning thinking, "What's best for the supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers..."

The commotion this has caused is unreal. Mendes is only recommending certain players, he's not forcing players on people at gunpoint. The outrage is fantastic.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Again, this makes little sense. If Wolves were in the Premier League they wouldn't be on the same footing as Monaco, Valencia, At Madrid or Benfica so there would be space to play with by trying to get Costa in there for a season.

Costa would be worth more now if they had done that and he would probably still have had the same success. It makes no sense for Mendes to have a club not in the top flight if as you say it's all about the Mendes money.

There's sense in him having ties with clubs at different levels, as we've all seen not all of his clients are world class talents so he can't go peddling them round if he restricts himself to a small very elite few clubs who wouldn't be interested in majority of the players in his stable. Obviously Wolves being the Premier League would offer him greater money making potential and they're unlikely to ever reach the level of those other clubs even with Fosun's backing so he'd still have scope to move some lesser lights around using Wolves if they were promoted, what I'm arguing is that it's not essential for Wolves to be in the Premier League for them to be useful to Mendes. As we've seen this season with Costa there is still scope for reasonably big money to be shifted round by a Championship club, not to mention other deals in recent years like Kodjia and McCormack, so I don't think Mendes has any reason to really care if Wolves are promoted or not, he'd probably be pretty uninvolved if Wolves had managed to get relegated mind, as he's already got enough big players for the mega-deals but anywhere in the Championship or bottom half of the Premier League puts Wolves in a good position for some mid-range Mendes deals.

 

[b3h]

One thing is absolutely certain: Mendes does not bounce out of bed every morning thinking, "What's best for the supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers..."

Some people take this way too far though and think Mendes is some kind of disease to our club.

 

[Kenny]

The commotion this has caused is unreal. Mendes is only recommending certain players, he's not forcing players on people at gunpoint. The outrage is fantastic.

Everyone needs some cyber rage to get through the day

 

[AndyWolves]

If Mendes has suggested that maybe we shouldn't be buying Steele from Blackburn and that Preston forward then that's a good thing.

The only name mentioned by Lambert i'd actually want is Abraham, but it's not like it's hard to suggest Tammy Abraham as a transfer target.

I agree with the sentiment that Lambert hasn't really done enough to warrant me wanting him to stay - too many questionable team selections

 

[Kenny]

too many questionable team selections

When your squad is 75% League 1 standard what else can he really do other than changing them around every few weeks in the hope something clicks (which it did a few times, such as January and the 5 wins on the bounce). Granted, no excuse for the auto picking of Edwards though when his form had dropped below an accpetable standard.

 

[machin05]

Pat Murphy getting involved now - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39896628

Lambert and Wolves could part company soon because Lambert believes he is going to lose control over recruiting players, with renowned agent Mendes winning the power battle.

Mendes advises Wolves' Chinese owners Fosun and brought a number of players to the club last summer when Fosun took over. But many of them were failures. The standout success was Helder Costa and Lambert recognises Mendes got that one right.

He is happy to use Mendes' contacts and recommendations, as long as Lambert has the final say. Lambert said at Tuesday's end-of-season awards what a privilege it is to manage Wolves, but he has clear ideas about the sort of players he wants to buy this summer - mostly British.

But his recommendations are being knocked back as Fosun continue to back agent rather than manager.