As Wolves’ relegation crisis continues to unfold at Molineux, former manager Bruno Lage has been making the headlines.
Those in the West Midlands were stunned when learning that Lage was appointed as Benfica manager earlier this season.
After driving his Wolves side towards relegation, the coach was hired by Botafogo and was then sacked 15 games later due to an eight-match winless run.
Things have somehow turned around for Lage on his return to Benfica, where he’s averaging 2.45 points per game at present, as per Transfermarkt data.
Bruno Lage involved in press conference blunder
Following what unfolded at Wolves, it’s astonishing to envisage Lage managing in the Champions League, which is what he’s doing this term.
Benfica currently sit one point behind Arsenal and Manchester City in the competition standings however, suffered defeat in their most recent test.
The Portuguese giants lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on match day four, which resulted in Lage becoming part of a bizarre press conference moment.
When speaking to the media after the game, the former Wolves boss was asked to “take responsibility” by director of communications Ricardo Lemos.
- Watch the bizarre moment here, via Record
A CMTV microphone picked up the exchange, to which Lage responded, “how?”
Record did then explain that an ‘official source’ clarified that the exchange had been somewhat misinterpreted, claiming that it was a ‘positive reinforcement’ of Lage’s words, stating that, “Very good, take responsibility,” was apparently said.
Drama seems to follow Lage around however, for all of his low points at Wolves, the former manager took a different approach when he packed up and left Molineux.
Lage took responsibility after leaving Wolves
Following his departure, Lage opened up about what went wrong in the West Midlands.
Earlier this year, Coaches’ Voice published Lage’s words on his time at Wolves, where he took full responsibility for something that led to his downfall.
Speaking about Wolves’ inability to sign more players at the time, Lage said:
“That was a big mistake we made. I was very vocal, warning of the potential problems and insisting on having the new players for pre-season but I still hold myself responsible.
“Maybe I wasn’t persuasive enough about the importance of having the squad ready as soon as possible.”
The manager’s approach in that instance was opposing of the blunder that unfolded live during the press conference, with full responsibility taken when reflecting on his time at Molineux.