Julen Lopetegui has left Wolves with just days to go until the new Premier League season.
The Spanish manager has departed after being angered by the club’s financial situation and the fact he was not told about it.
Information is slowing coming out now about Lopetegui’s last weeks at the club.
It has been claimed that his interview with Guillem Balague irritated the Wolves hierarchy.
Yesterday, Balague said that Lopetegui had told him that Wolves had told him he would get to sign new players if he kept them in the Premier League.
The club then apparently told him they couldn’t, which was seen as a ‘moving of the goalposts’ by Lopetegui.
Gary O’Neil has come in as his replacement, but there is just real disarray right now.
A lot of the players loved Lopetegui and are likely just baffled at the events of the past couple of days.
And spare a though for Matt Doherty, who made some comments just a few days ago about Lopetegui that have aged pretty horribly.
Matt Doherty sang Julen Lopetegui’s praises at the weekend and said he was a major reason for him returning to Wolves
Doherty gave an interview with the Express & Star after the 3-1 win over Rennes.
He spoke about some of the reasons for coming back to the club.
And it turns out the prospect of working with Lopetegui was a major factor.
He said (Express & Star): “His resumé speaks for itself. I’ve not had much time with him, but from what I’ve heard and what I believe watching from afar, he’s going to be a superb coach to work with.
“I spoke to him before I signed and he was a good reason why I came, with the way he spoke to me. When I had the chance to come back you do wonder if it’ll be the same as before, and it may or may not be, so he was a big part of that.
“He’s telling me to take my time, step by step, with a different style of play. But he believes in me and thinks I can be even better in a back four than a back five.
“You want to feel like the manager has confidence in you and believes in you, it’s very important.
“As most people know, confidence in any walk of life can make the difference. His belief in me was a good reason why I wanted to come back and the confidence he’s instilled in me.”
Doherty must be feeling let down
One can only imagine what Doherty, 31, has made of this farcical situation.
The comments he made show how highly he regarded Lopetegui.
It’s possible Doherty may still have come back to Wolves this summer even if Lopetegui was not at the helm. After all, he was a free agent and had been looking for a chance to reignite his career.
But it is clear that the Spaniard was a big factor in him coming back.
Doherty may well be feeling a bit let down by the 56-year-old for walking out just days before the new campaign.
But hopefully, O’Neil can now get the best out of the Republic of Ireland international.