Comment: Fosun's Wolves project at risk of descending into farce

Just as life at Molineux looked to be on a fairly even keel, with the club's main protagonists seemingly singing from the same hymn sheet, the wheels threaten to fall off yet again.

Not only is Paul Lambert's future now suddenly very much in doubt, but owners Fosun could be about to perform another u-turn and take the club back in yet another completely different direction this summer.

Jeff Shi has gone from backing Kenny Jackett to sacking him in the space of a week, to stating what a good job Walter Zenga was doing before firing him a month later.

Now it's looking that when Shi remarked just 34 days ago that Lambert had the 'same genes' as Fosun before adding "I hope he can stay here a long time", we all should have taken it with a large pinch of salt.

All is not well behind the scenes at Molineux, far from it.

The cautious optimism that followed a final-day win, Lambert's galvanising talk of 'shaking up' the club and Tuesday night's end-of-season dinner (at which hope and positivity for next season wasn't in short supply, not least from Dalrymple's realistic yet optimistic speech) has suddenly given way to a full-blown power struggle and a potential crisis at a club that should be craving some much-needed stability.

Players, staff, supporters, people across the city, this reporter...heck, we all want what's best for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Whatever you think of Paul Lambert, this isn't it.

Forget the people involved here and just ask yourself who should have more influence at a football club...a head coach or an agent? An agent that's attended one Wolves game this season.

It's an almost farcical situation to be in.

The crux of the dispute is that Lambert, while not demanding total control of on-and-off field matters at Molineux (his title is head coach, after all) doesn't want new signings forced upon him on via "super agent" Jorge Mendes or his Gestifute agency.

While willing to work in conjunction with Mendes, the Scot believes it vital that he moulds a squad and a team that ties in with his vision. And he can't do that if he hasn't a clue who some of the players are. Sound pretty reasonable?

Fosun, on the other hand, want to lean heavily on Mendes, as they did last summer. Which again begs the question that when Shi stated Fosun had learned their lessons from this difficult first season – when £27million was spent (with only Helder Costa an unquestionable success) and Wolves finished with the same points total as 2015/16 – what lessons was he referring to?

It feels unfair to be singling out Shi here. After all, he's under severe pressure from above to make Fosun's Wolves project a profitable success. But he is the public face of their three-year plan to win promotion to the Premier League and one third of the way in Wolves have made no progress whatsoever while spending a hell of a lot of money along the way.

With Fosun, as well as Lambert, believed to be chewing over whether their union can be a happy one, it does throw up the poser that if Lambert now isn't Fosun's man, why not just sack him? The whole thing feels eerily reminiscent of Jackett's final days. Are they looking for a preferred candidate? Or waiting for Lambert to walk to they can save face and salvage a a portion of their dented reputation?

Lambert certainly hasn't been everyone's cup of tea. After joining in November he had no honeymoon period to speak of and soon found patience to be in short supply from a vocal minority who were underwhelmed with his appointment.

In his defence he can point to an impressive six months on the road (eight wins from 17 away matches including unforgettable days at Stoke and Liverpool and notable victories at Fulham, Leeds, Barnsley and Brentford) and a fruitful January transfer window in which Ben Marshall signed for a bargain £1.2m (and, after a slow start, played a key role towards the end of the season), while loanee Andreas Weimann scored a couple of vital goals and proved to be an unspectacular but important team player.

Yes, there have been plenty of lows too (defeats to Burton, Wigan and Bristol City in particular), some puzzling team selections and some befuddling tactics at Molineux.

But Lambert's main defence is time. More specifically, the lack of time he's so far been given to make the many changes he believes are necessary.

To transform a bloated and struggling squad, an unhealthy proportion of which has been taken up by unmotivated and dissatisfied players, into a coherent winning team in the unforgiving slog of the Championship inside six months is an almost impossible task.

Lambert now wants battle-hardened experienced players with a winning mentality to complement the flair and style that Mendes can bring to the party.

Even his harshest critics must surely concede that, having being given the job, the Scot deserves the opportunity to bring in those players and build into next season. Otherwise his appointment, as with Zenga, becomes bizarre with the benefit of hindsight.

The biggest concern for supporters here should be the influence of Mendes on Fosun's decision making, which is believed to be considerable.

While it would be foolish to ignore the contacts book of the man considered to be the most powerful in the game, who in their right mind would want an agent having such an influential say in the running of a football club? Goodness only knows what Sir Jack Hayward or Rachael Heyhoe Flint, two bastions of Wolves' fine and historic traditions, would make of all this.

Fosun are at a crossroads. Are they going to revert to Plan A by sacking their third head coach in 10 months, bringing in a yes man and throwing a load of talented but unproven players his way? Or will they stick with Plan B, turn the interference down a notch and allow Lambert and Kevin Thelwell (whose position surely becomes untenable if Mendes is to again run the show) to oversee this summer's recruitment?

There's a happy medium in there somewhere although in Lambert and Mendes you don't see two men who will easily compromise. And if it comes to the crunch there's only one man Fosun will side with.

There's also the potential for a car crash here if the next series of decisions are the wrong ones. There are huge contracts to fulfil at Wolves and if Fosun grow frustrated and their interest wanes...well you know the rest. And no, while Fosun's business record is deeply impressive, we don't have evidence that they won't let the club stagnate if success isn't forthcoming soon.

Whatever happens, it's going to take more than an impassioned plea from Dalrymple for Wolves to shift that rollercoaster tag.

Fosun need to back Lambert or sack him. But either way do it quickly, before this great club becomes any more of a circus.