Determined Paul Lambert fights for Wolves future amid crunch talks
Paul Lambert faces a waiting game on his Wolves fate – but while his position remains unclear the head coach's preference is to stay at the club.
Lambert is known to be deeply concerned at the influence agent Jorge Mendes may have on Wolves' summer recruitment.
Crunch talks were held on Thursday afternoon in a bid to thrash out the direction Wolves take in the coming months.
Lambert is keen to come to an agreement and is not adverse to the idea of working in conjunction with Mendes – and nor does the Scot want overall control on all off-field matters at the club.
But, while quitting remains a last resort and he will accept 'Mendes players' within reason to work alongside his own pinpointed signings, Lambert will not be dictated to by the Portuguese agent.
Equally, with the 2016/17 season now over, Fosun are still thought to be reaching their own conclusions as to whether they believe Lambert is the right man to take the club forward.
All options are still on the table and the situation is likely to come to a head in the near future.
Wolves' list of retained players is thought to have been delayed as a result of the talks.
The crisis talks have come out of the blue. Just a few weeks ago Lambert appeared confident that he, Kevin Thelwell and Fosun were on the same page.
The Scot left Blackburn at the end of last season owing to difficulties with the board. However he sees Wolves as a huge opportunity to build tangible success, in the right circumstances.
As recently as April 8, Jeff Shi told the Express & Star that Lambert was the right man for Wolves.
"We need a head coach to have the same genes as us - on that aspect Paul is fantastic," Shi said.
"We have just been working for a short while but I can say from the character perspective he's the right man for us.
"He suits every requirement of leadership, ability, hard work, passion, intelligence, everything.
"I hope he can stay here for a long time."
And even on Tuesday managing director Laurie Dalrymple called for an end to the 'Wolves rollercoaster', with all the messages from the club in recent months centring around the need for stability.
If Lambert does leave then Fosun will be looking for their fourth manager in 10 months.
