Jeff Shi is no longer the chairman at Wolves, but some fans haven’t been so sure he actually won’t have any say in decisions at the club.
There was huge news last Friday as Shi left his post as chairman at Molineux.
There have been some suggestions he was fired from that position by Fosun. But either way, Jeff Shi is no longer in the role and it was stated he won’t have operational duties.
Initially, there was joy for a lot of fans about this development.
Because Shi had long been unpopular at Molineux, with many holding him responsible for the complete mismanagement of the football club.
But some then started to wonder if Shi really won’t be making decisions.
Jeff Shi definitely won’t still have operational duties at Wolves
With Shi remaining as Fosun Sports Group’s CEO and chairman, that led to people talking about Shi’s resignation as Wolves chairman.
Some have suggested that this was merely a move designed to take Shi out of the spotlight, and that he would still call the shots from afar. Essentially, he will be the puppet master, with Nathan Shi the new face.
Johnny Phillips said in his most recent Substack column: “‘He will remain chairman and CEO of Fosun Sports Group but will have no operational duties relating to Wolves’ the club’s official statement read.” That is a contradiction in terms because Wolves comes under the Fosun Sports Group umbrella, which in turn is a subsidiary of Fosun.
“If Fosun chairman Guo Guangchang has not been persuaded that Shi should leave his role as chairman of Fosun Sports Group then that is significant because, in theory, that leaves any Wolves incoming CEO answerable to the outgoing one.”
Amid all the speculation, journalist Liam Keen spoke about this on the latest E&S podcast – and he has allayed fears that Jeff Shi will still make decisions from afar.
What will go down as Jeff Shi’s biggest mistake at Wolves?🤔
He said: “What’s more important really is the direction moving forwards. Jeff stays on as the chairman and CEO of Fosun Sports Group, which is the subsidiary company of Fosun, that Wolves fall under.
“Of course people will look at that and think, ‘He’s going to cast an eye over Wolves from a distance’. Time will tell, I think, for that to be firmed up and guaranteed. Logic tells you from a distance he’s going to have at least an eye on Wolves because it comes under the Fosun Sports Group umbrella.
“But it’s important to know this – the people we’ve spoken to about this and asked this question, they are adamant that Jeff won’t be involved in decisions. The decision to put that in the press release, that he won’t be part of operational duties, is probably quite a big commitment from Fosun. Because it’s out there. It’s public, you’ve said it now.
“This has to be the case moving forward. You can’t have Jeff managing anything from the club from a distance considering what’s happened previously.”
Fosun appear to have seen the light with Jeff Shi
It was a decision that came far, far too late. Probably years too late. But Shi no longer being the chairman of Wolves is great news.
Shi has made countless poor decisions during his time as chairman and he also said the wrong things most times he was interviewed.
It was clear that he had no business being the chairman of a top Premier League club, and many will not forgive him for the damage he has done to this club.
Keen’s information about people being ‘adamant’ that Shi won’t make decisions from afar is encouraging.
Whether he stepped down of his own accord or if Fosun stood him down, hopefully Wolves can now set course for better times, with Nathan Shi the new interim chairman.
Nathan Shi released an encouraging statement to Wolves fans last night. There’s no overstating how big a job he has on his hands, but his initial words were encouraging.
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