Wolves sack Rob Edwards after seven months with Gil Vicente's César Peixoto lined up

Wolverhampton Wanderers have sacked manager Rob Edwards, the club confirmed, ending his seven-month tenure at Molineux just weeks after the club’s relegation from the Premier League. Gil Vicente head coach César Peixoto is expected to be named as his replacement, according to The Telegraph.

Edwards, 43, was appointed in November last year after leaving Middlesbrough, where the club had been among the Championship’s pacesetters. He inherited a Wolves side in freefall and was unable to prevent relegation, with the club finishing 19th in the Premier League following what the manager himself described as a season in which they “weren’t able to compete well enough.”

The timing of the dismissal has raised eyebrows given Edwards appeared central to Wolves’ summer rebuild. Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez had both been signed, with each player publicly crediting Edwards’ influence in their decision to join. Midfielder Andre had also committed his future to the club during the same period.

Speaking after Trippier’s arrival, Edwards struck a confident tone about the season ahead. “We have to be up there this season, and I’d rather be there with good players,” he said. “We need to have a better and stronger squad than we had last year because we weren’t able to compete well enough last year, and so we’re working really hard to make sure we’re competitive.”

He added: “Pressure is going to be there anyway because we’re Wolves in the Championship after eight years of Premier League football. I’d rather have the pressure with players like Tripps and then be able to turn around and know I’ve got a really good and strong group of players behind me.”

Peixoto, the man set to inherit that group, has been in charge at Gil Vicente since March last year and previously managed Academica, Moreirense, and Pacos Ferreira in Portugal.

In a further twist, former Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil has been linked with the managerial vacancy at Ipswich Town following Kieran McKenna’s departure, meaning both the man who preceded and the man who succeeded him at Molineux could be on the move simultaneously.