Vitor Pereira’s dismissal: Why did the perfect match with Wolverhampton turn bad?

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

He replaced Gary O’Neill last December – after O’Neill managed another 10-match winless streak – and oversaw a six-game winning streak between March and April. This was the club’s best run in the top flight since 1970.

It looked like a perfect match – Pereira was nominated for Premier League Coach of the Year – but cracks began to appear in the summer, which have grown to the point where Pereira now regrets not leaving Molineux at the start of the season.

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

It was a very big draw, but he was not happy with the transfer planning. Wolves signed five top players, spending around £100m, but none of them had Premier League experience, and Pereira was disappointed not to get first-choice goals.

He eventually approved those who had already arrived, including striker Tolu Arukudar, and they were generally his picks, including leading the signing of winger John Arias.

They lost significant Premier League experience 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 pocketed almost £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.

Wolverhampton 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 its strategy and will target more local players in the future, to boost their share. They feel that they are at the beginning of a new cycle, and are aware of the risks that it brings.

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

But long-term planning may have distracted them from the short term and left the club facing another battle against relegation, one that appears final this time.

The players became mentally exhausted after conceding late goals that denied them wins over Tottenham and Brighton.

A late 3-2 defeat to Burnley last week, in which fans turned on Pereira for the first time, showed Wolves losing to a team that looked like they were playing for a point with 15 minutes remaining.

These results were fatal to the team’s confidence and the Clarets’ victory at Molineux meant Pereira lost to all the promoted teams this season.

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

At Craven Cottage on Saturday, the sight of Joao Gomez crossing the ball back into his own half late on or Ki-Jana Hoever shooting the ball across the pitch and making contact was indicative of the players’ mentality.