Wolves rule out Darren Ferguson as new boss

Wolves today reacted with shock after bookmakers stopped taking bets on Darren Ferguson to be their next manager.

Some High Street bookies stopped the betting on the Peterborough manager replacing Terry Connor in the Molineux hot-seat this summer after Ferguson's odds were slashed to as little as 5-4 yesterday.

But the 40-year-old, who led Posh to an 18th-placed finish in his second spell at London Road, is not even on the club's list of potential candidates.

It is also understood that no interviews have taken place for the post. Wolves are looking closely at Championship managers as they try to plot the quickest route back to the Premier League next season and insist any decision will not be taken until after May 19 – the date of the play-off final.

The club does not want to comment publicly on their search but sources say 40-year-old Ferguson, who made 149 appearances for Wolves under Graham Turner, Graham Taylor, Mark McGhee and Colin Lee at Molineux from 1994-99, has not got enough managerial experience to be considered for the post yet and wrote the rumours off as "nonsense".

Wolves are taking their time to try to make the right appointment and want to get the season out of the way before starting the process in earnest.

They will first sit down with Connor and get his thoughts in a full review after Sunday's final game at Wigan before taking things any further. But the current boss has support in the dressing room and boardroom.

Chief executive Jez Moxey, writing in the matchday programme before yesterday's 0-0 draw against Everton, said: "The quality of football in recent games has been of a higher standard than what came before.

"The various tweaks to tactics and approach made by Terry Connor have helped to improve the level of performance and encouraged an attractive style of play which has come to the fore over the last month or so."