English Premier League top side Wolves have sacked their Portuguese manager Bruno Lage after 16 months in charge following Saturday’s defeat by West Ham United. The defeat left them in the bottom three in the Premier League table. Wolves have won just one and lost nine of their past 15 Premier League matches under the former Benfica manager.
Lage succeeded fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo last summer and led Wolves to a 10th-placed finish in his first season in charge. However, his side have only scored three goals and picked up six points from eight games this season. Wolves spent over £100m over the summer in an attempt to improve their tally of 38 Premier League goals last season but it looks like it’s not working out well for them.
They brought in Portuguese internationals Goncalo Guedes and Matheus Nunes, with the latter bought for a club record fee of £38m. Lage also signed veteran forward Diego Costa, who had been a free agent for nine months and made his first competitive appearance since December 2021 against West Ham.
However, £15m summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic damaged knee ligaments days after his move from Stuttgart and key striker Raul Jimenez suffered knee and groin injuries in a pre-season friendly.
Wolves were booed by some fans following the defeat at London Stadium yesterday. They are winless in eight Premier League away games which is their worst top-flight run since 2011-12. In a news conference Lega said: “The only thing I can say is that I’m sorry about the situation.”
“We’ve tried to solve these little problems we have and at the moment we aren’t getting points or goals, but we are working hard for them.”
Lage’s replacement will be Wolves’ third Premier League manager since Terry Connor in 2012. Wolves are in next in action against Chelsea on 8 October.