Wolves sack Bruno Lage after slipping into drop zone with West Ham defeat

Bruno Lage has been sacked as Wolves manager after 16 months in charge at Molineux. The Portuguese has paid the price for a slow start this season, with Wolves winning just one of their league matches – a 1-0 victory against Southampton – to date. Their 2-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday left them in the relegation zone with six points from eight games.

A Primeira Liga winner during a short spell with Benfica, the 46-year-old Lage succeeded Nuno Espírito Santo in June last year. His first season in the Premier League was a mixed bag, with Wolves having a long spell in the top half of the table only to slump to 10th with a seven-match winless run at the end of the campaign.

Wolves have scored just three goals in the league this term, with two in their past five matches, picking up three draws in addition to that one win in their eight games.

Having spent more than £100m during the summer transfer window on high-profile signings such as Matheus Nunes, Gonçalo Guedes, Nathan Collins and Sasa Kalajdzic – also bringing in the former Chelsea forward Diego Costa on a free transfer – the club hierarchy have seen little return on their investment so far and have opted to make a change.