Tim Spiers comment: Steve Morgan's Wolves exit is a huge shock - and dreadful timing

Talk about a bombshell. Steve Morgan has washed his hands of Wolves. And, as the statement says, is it 'with immediate effect'.

So no gradual handover, no "we're up for sale" announcement. Just gone.

Nothing at all seemed untoward during Kenny Jackett's pre-Fulham press conference early on Monday afternoon, writes Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers.

The Wolves boss, endearingly positive as ever, was relaxed about Wolves' current form and looking forward to tomorrow's trip to Craven Cottage.

Then at 5.10pm, without any prior indication or warning, came the bolt from the blue, a club statement announcing the departure from Wolves of owner and chairman Steve Morgan.

It's worth revisiting that statement to pick out a couple of lines.

"Steve will step down from the board with immediate effect and day-to-day activities will continue to be managed by the chief executive with the current board overseeing operations," it read.

"Steve would like to relay to all concerned that his ongoing commitment and financial support to Wolves will continue until a new owner can be found."

Those sentences immediately yield a contradiction. Morgan will step down immediately from the board. However his commitment to the club somehow remains the same? Something doesn't add up there.

The statement also suggests it's 'very much business as usual' at Wolves. Empty rhetoric, of course, but a needless and almost laughable comment to make at a time when the chairman and owner of eight years has upped sticks. It would be of far more concern if it was business as usual, than if it wasn't.

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Morgan's commitment to the club hasn't, in public, appeared to be on the wane in the slightest, he's attended almost every game, always noticeable by his grand helicopter entrance/exit, and even in recent weeks spoke of his continued long-term vision for both Wolves as a club and Wolverhampton as a city.

But there are many factors believed to have contributed to this passionate, impulsive man's shock decision.

He and head coach Jackett are long thought to have been at odds over transfer policy, with Morgan a staunch believer in promoting young talent, particularly from the academy in which he invested so heavily, while Jackett is desperate for proven, experienced heads to bolster his youthful squad.

Morgan is dealing with personal issues away from Wolves, in the midst of divorcing and coming to a settlement with his second wife (his first ended with a £100m settlement around 15 years ago).

He had his fingers painfully burned by handing former boss Stale Solbakken a £10million warchest, on which he and Wolves got absolutely no return (even the only successful buy in that spree, Bakary Sako, left on a free), leading to a tightening of the purse strings in terms of transfer outlay, a policy not popular with senior members of the Molineux hierarchy.

And, in what is thought to be the final straw, he was said to have been angrily confronted by a group of Wolves fans as he arrived at Deepdale for Saturday's game against Preston.

Morgan has always listened to his heart over his head, and was consistent in his assertion that he would leave Wolves if the supporters wanted rid of him.

The infamous 'Scouse Mafia Out' banner and protests which followed it in 2012 were a big hint, but Morgan wanted to repair what damage had been done.

Those supporters, be they a vocal minority or not, have now got their wish.

A lack of investment in players, a perception he was more interested in building (i.e. a new stadium, training ground, houses, car parks) for the future rather then splashing the cash on players in a bid for the more instant success supporters so crave, his hot-headed nature (like when going into the dressing room post losing heavily to Liverpool, or confronting the referee after defeat to Bournemouth last season) and his increasingly reclusive public persona all contributing to a deepening mistrust of his ambitions, his intentions and his competency.

What many will find harder to argue about is the timing of the news, which is in a word, dreadful. Poor results on the field see Wolves experiencing their first major slump of Jackett's tenure.

There were six defeats in a row last season, yes, but the current discontent has been growing for some time, after a summer of cheap signings, the lack of a Sako replacement and the still-baffling sale of player of the season Richard Stearman.

Indifferent results see Wolves three points off the bottom of the Championship and with increasing anger among their fanbase.

But the timing of this means Wolves are plunged into crisis mode.

As Albion and Villa will testify, finding a new owner is no quick fix. But Wolves are already a club in a hurry, falling further behind not only current Premier League clubs, but those who have enjoyed its prolonged riches in the past two or three years, such as Hull City and Burnley who look far better placed for promotion this season, not to mention big-spending Derby County and Middlesbrough.

Morgan's parting gift must be helping to ensure its future is a sound one, not running off into the sunset with a profit on his considerable investment in Wolves in his back pocket.

The nature of the man, and his hitherto unstinting commitment to the club and the city, suggests he is more likely to take a leaf out of his dear predecessor Sir Jack Hayward's book and handle the sale with care.

And the continuing success of his housing firm Redrow hints that this isn't a fire sale either.

If the right successor isn't found, Wolves supporters may long for the days of an owner who cared not for renaming the stadium, changing the team's shirt colour, or indeed even the name of the club, and one who gave such attention to its long-term health and wellbeing.

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His legacy will be that of infrastructure, of laying the foundations for that sustainable on-field success that never came.

The magnificent Compton Park facility, and Wolves' Category One academy status, are a living, breathing legacy from which the club will benefit for many years.

For that, Wolves will be forever in his metaphorical debt.

The beginnings of the mouth-watering Molineux rebuild have been realised, with the Stan Cullis stand setting the standard by which the rest of the grand old stadium will, one day, hopefully live up to.

What a pity he won't be around to realise his grand ambition of a rebuilt Molineux.

Molineux's infrastructure is undoubtedly on a far surer footing, as are Wolves' financial books, while the welcome family ethos surrounding the club has been generated by Morgan.

Wolves end the Morgan tenure where they began it - in the Championship.

He recklessly acted with impulsivity in sacking McCarthy - and having no alternative plan, or starting with a 'blank sheet of paper', as the resulting manager search was termed.

Then in his quickfire hiring and firing of Solbakken, letting his heart rule his head, as he too often did, in first allowing the Norwegian to completely transform the team, its methods and its philosophy, before ripping that to shreds and going back to square one with a relegation battle looming half a year later with the bizarre and disastrous appointment of Saunders.

Morgan, wisely, took more of a back seat when Saunders' replacement was identified, and lo and behold, Jackett has been an almost unstinting success.

In the months and years to come, the widespread youth policy he so vigorously fought for may yield success, if the current crop unleash their undoubted potential.

But right now Morgan's on-field legacy, in a results-related business, is one of underachievement, a notion Wolves are sadly more than familiar with.

And that's why 60 per cent of around 5,000 fans are pleased Morgan's gone, in this evening's snap Express & Star poll.

A sadly high number, but not one that surprises, for while Morgan's intentions were pure, his long-term plan an admirable one, he made some bad decisions, and in a sport now run by billionaires, not millionaires, those bad decisions couldn't be rectified by throwing money at the problems he encountered.

Wolves do, though, remain a hugely attractive investment, with its academy in place, the stadium a ready-to-go £20m upgrade that would make it, arguably, the finest in the Midlands, a one-club city with a huge, passionate fanbase.

In the middle of all this Jackett's team go to Fulham tomorrow night for the first of two games in five days that could define their season.

There are big uncertainties on the field. But Morgan's shock departure means there are even more off it.