Stale Solbakken surprise contender for Wolves

Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken today emerged as a strong contender in the race to manage Wolves.

The 44-year-old, who was sacked as relegated Cologne's head coach last month, is one of the names being considered along with current boss Terry Connor, who was interviewed on Monday.

Solbakken's odds were slashed to 1/2 by two online bookmakers amid growing speculation that he is on Wolves' radar.

But the club are also looking closely at Championship managers including Birmingham's Chris Hughton – also a target for Albion – and will take their time over their choice.

Until this season former Norway international midfielder Solbakken, whose playing career ended after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the training field, could boast an impressive CV after leading Copenhagen to five Danish Superliga titles and the Danish Cup in 2009, when they won the double.

But he was sacked four games before the end of the Bundesliga campaign when Cologne were third-from-bottom, in the relegation play-off place, and replacement Frank Schaefer was unable to save them.

Solbakken had several off-the-pitch issues to contend with at Cologne, including speculation about star player Lukas Podolski, who eventually joined Arsenal.

Polish midfielder Slawomir Peszko spent a night in police custody after an alcohol-related dispute with a taxi driver. Earlier this season, Cologne fined defender Miso Brecko for crashing his car under the influence of alcohol during the city's carnival celebrations, while another defender, Kevin Pezzoni, suffered a broken nose after being attacked by an unknown assailant.

"I give the players a lot of freedom. But they must prove they can deal with it, or I'm overseeing a kindergarten," Solbakken said at the time.

His successful playing career, which included a short spell at Wimbledon in 1997-98, ended with a cardiac arrest in 2001, when he was playing for new England manager Roy Hodgson at Copenhagen.

He enjoyed success as a coach in Norway at Ham-Kam, leading them from the second tier in 2004 to the Tippeligaen, where they finished fifth the following season which led to the offer of the Copenhagen job.