Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Paul Lambert has left the club today after spending seven months in charge of the Championship outfit.
His job has been on the line for a significant amount of time now after his disagreements with the club's hierarchy over the club's transfer policy at the end of the season was well publicised.
A steady job at Molineux
Lambert's short time in charge at Molineux was not the most successful, but he arguably did a steady job as he inherited a squad very low on confidence. He took over from Walter Zenga last November with the job of steering the club clear of trouble.
Overall during his time at the club he managed 14 wins, five draws and 14 defeats in 33 matches in all competitions. The club's position in the Championship did look under threat in February after five consecutive defeats. However, a superb run of five consecutive wins in March and April including wins against teams around them in the table, saw their relegation worries eased considerably.
Wolves had a very inconsistent finish to the season as they finished 15th which saw them a comfortable seven points clear of relegation. It might have been a very different situation for the club if it was not for £13 million signing Helder Costa who joined on a permanent basis from Benfica in January.
Majority of Wanderers fans will remember Lambert for the famous 2-1 win over against Liverpool at Anfield in The FA Cup. Richard Stearman and Andreas Weimann got the goals for the away side.
A controversial set up
A huge factor in Lambert's departure is the influence of Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes on Wolves' Chinese owners Fosun. Lambert was not willing to work under the current structure of the club.
Mendes has the biggest influence on signings at the club and had had a key part to play in the 12 summer signings that arrived at Molineux in the last summer transfer window. Majority of these signings have proved to be unsuccessful with Costa being the only exception.
Lambert was only willing to stay on at the club if he was to get full control over transfers, similar to a lot of other managers in English football. However, this was something which was not offered and he is now without a job again. He has already been linked with the Portsmouth job after Paul Cook left to join Wigan Athletic earlier this week.
What next for Wolves?
Whoever is next to take on the job at Molineux will be under no elusion as to how tough it will be. The owner's clearly have lofty ambitions and a lack of patience when it comes to managers. After seeing both Zenga and now Lambert out of the door, it is vital the club's hierarchy get their next appointment right.
The early favourite for the job is Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo who has only recently been relieved of his position at Porto. He is still a relatively young and inexperienced manager. He was successful in his first job at Rio Ave but resigned from his position at Valencia CF and was sacked by Porto after failing to win any silverware.
The potential appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo is likely to split opinion amongst fans, not least due to his complete lack of experience in the Championship. This is something Lambert had in abundance but he was clearly not willing to work under the influence of Mendes.