Many Wolves decisions for Paul Lambert to make in the summer

There are a number of decisions to be made and the public posturing has already begun on a few of those, with Richard Stearman stating he's on trial for his Wolves future and Paul Lambert saying he wants to sign Andreas Weimann.

Mike Williamson also left nothing in doubt when he yesterday said he wants to stay at Molineux.

Deciding the fate of these players, as well as the out-of-contract Jack Price, George Saville, Silvio and James Henry – who all have one-year options on their deals that Wolves could take up – will be Lambert's first job.

Williamson and Stearman proved what they can do in Monday's 1-0 win at Leeds, when they were outstanding, but the former's injury record will count against him and a Stearman deal has to be financially right for a player who will turn 30 next season.

The clear-out will most likely number between five and 10 players. Henry and Silvio are both odds-on to be let go, Jed Wallace will probably complete a permanent move to Millwall and flop Paul Gladon will certainly go.

You can't imagine Lambert keeping Williamson and Ethan Ebanks-Landell and signing Stearman, so one of that trio is likely to exit and it's the same scenario for Saville, Price, Lee Evans and Romain Saiss.

Will Lambert also keep Weimann, Nouha Dicko, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Joe Mason, while adding a striker? And on the flanks Wolves are well stocked too. Helder Costa's big-money departure looks on the cards but that still leaves Ivan Cavaleiro, Jordan Graham, Michal Zyro and Ben Marshall on the flanks.

And the club's youngsters – particularly Connor Ronan, Morgan Gibbs-White and Niall Ennis – will be counted as first-team players next season with Lambert stressing he doesn't want them to be bit-part players.

With the Scot wanting a core squad of 22 or 23 players, including those young starlets, you can see the number of departures required. Including all of the above players, plus Bright Enobakhare and Harry Burgoyne and the rest of the first-team squad, Lambert has 34 to choose from. Yes, 34.

As for incomings, a clinical striker and a seasoned left-back are the obvious priorities, while a dominating box-to-box midfielder and a commanding centre-half may also be on Lambert's list.

The task of transforming Wolves from an inconsistent team that has gone through spells of not scoring goals, or of regularly conceding them, is certainly not an easy one.

And throwing money at the squad isn't necessarily the answer, as this season has proved. An estimated £27million has been spent and yet ahead of today's game against Blackburn, Wolves were on track to end the campaign below last season's 14th-placed finish.

Lambert pointedly stated as such after the Leeds game.

He hadn't even been asked about the summer, with the point merely put to him that Lambert must be pleased that Championship safety had been secured.

He agreed and then added: "One thing I know 100 per cent, what happened here in the summer can't happen again.

"You cannot influx 12 or 13 people who turn up and don't really know the division. It's a recipe for disaster.

"Thankfully we stopped it and rectified it. But it needs to be done properly."

When asked if he had reassurances from above that would be the case, he replied: "I hope so."

If he and Shi are on the same page, Wolves' chances of success are far greater.