‘What? Really?’ – Matt Le Tissier stunned by Wolves manager development
Wolves’ owners were wrong to give Vitor Pereira a new contract as manager just to sack him 45 days later following their dismal start to the campaign.
That is the verdict of Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that he feels the 57-year-old was rightly sacked and should never have been given a new deal in the first place.
Wolves have endured a horror start to the 2025-26 campaign, with no wins from their opening ten games causing Vitor Pereira to lose his job after their latest 3-0 loss at Fulham.
Pereira was hired by Wolves last December after Gary O’Neil’s sacking with the team in the bottom three, and he led them to a well-improved second-half of the season and an eventual 16th-placed finish.
Wolves handed Pereira a new three-year contract in September despite a poor start to the new term, but he now finds himself out of a job after being unable to turn the tide at Molineux.
Pereira was sacked by Wolves despite new contract
Pereira’s job was not believed to be in immediate danger after their 3-2 loss to Burnley on 26 October as the board backed him to turn it around, but he only got one more game to prove his worth.
A crushing defeat at Craven Cottage on Saturday (1 November) saw him officially sacked on Sunday (2 November), with the Portuguese boss releasing a statement to “thank the club’s owners for their trust” and “wish the club all the best for the rest of the season.”
Fans have revolted in recent times over the board’s lack of strategy and forward planning, and Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has told Football Insider that Wolves’ problems lie with their owners, Fosun, and chairman Jeff Shi, rather than Pereira.
He has still been the fall guy in the situation after a tough start to the campaign, with the relationship between him and the fans clearly strained after Pereira screamed at supporters following their loss to Burnley.
Le Tissier not surprised at Pereira sack as Wolves owners slammed for contract decision
Le Tissier backed Wolves to stick with Pereira last week, due to him recently being given a new deal, but they decided his time was up despite the short time since he signed terms.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider this week, the former England and Southampton striker criticised the Molineux chiefs for making that contract call in the first place, as the 57-year-old was unlikely to ever turn their poor start to the season around.
He said: “Seeing him on the pitch arguing with the fans and all that kind of stuff, it was not a great look. I mean, the big surprise to me was that they gave them a new contract a few weeks ago.
“That was what I couldn’t get my head around, you know, given the start that they’d had to the season. It was like, what? Really? What are we doing that for?
“I don’t know if that was a move from the board just to, you know, cement in the players’ minds that this manager is the one that we’ve chosen and he’s going to be here.
“And perhaps they thought that that was the right way to do things, to get a reaction out of the players, but it didn’t happen. I’m sure there’s a clause in the contract which says he’s not going to get paid out the whole lot.
“I mean, in this day and age, if you struggle one season in the Premier League and then you start the next season pretty bad as well, you’re going to be back under pressure, so (his sacking) didn’t come as any great surprise.”