Blog: What comes next for Wolves?

As the dust settles on the announcement that owner Steve Morgan wants out of Wolves, blogger Tom Tracey ponders what's next for the club.

It came to light on Monday evening that Steve Morgan has put his 100 per cent stake in Wolves up for sale, bringing to a head a topic that has divided supporters for the last five seasons.

Things started out on a promising note for Morgan. His backing of manager Mick McCarthy led to a Championship title within two seasons, followed by two seasons of Premier League survival.

But since the fateful campaign that brought about the first of two successive relegations, there's been a rift with fans wanting Morgan and chief executive Jez Moxey out of the club.

Eventually, the true reasons for Morgan's decision will come to light.

It could be a snap decision based on heavy criticism from some supporters, an announcement made having prepared the club for this moment or down to unrelated personal reasons.

In what has been an eventful eight-year tenure, Morgan has certainly made his mark on the club in certain ways.

Most notably has been the improvement of the club's infrastructure and a desire to implement a certain philosophy.

Many Wolves fans will be undergoing their own examination of the way in which Steve Morgan's ownership has affected the club's standing over the best part of a decade.

He appears to be a man that has had Wolves' best interests at heart and has never made a decision which he believes to be the wrong one for the club.

It's certainly not that he hasn't made wrong decisions, as his passions have led to him making decisions that later turned out to be rash, such as storming into Mick's dressing room after a match.

However, he himself would surely have lost heart when he had achieved the first step of his initial ambition to restore Wolves' status as an established top flight team, only for it to disastrously collapse in on itself.

An accumulation of mismanagement and bad decision making by Morgan and the management led to an alarming decline.

The financial backing of Stale Solbakken in the Championship relegation season burnt Morgan's fingers for the last time when it backfired.

A change of management style has since been in place, whereby Morgan has been far more risk averse.

He has chosen to invest in the training and academy facilities rather than expensive player acquisitions, creating a state-of-the-art infrastructure that currently has a Category One status.

By doing this, he hoped to downsize the cost of player recruitment as it would largely come from within.

But a stubbornness to follow this through has led to a rumoured friction between Morgan and Jackett who wants to supplement this with much-needed experience from outside.

His building of the new North Bank stand at Molineux has led to widespread criticism for its timing, as the money that was invested into the redevelopment came at the expense of signings and relegation followed.

Coinciding with massive Redrow development in Wolverhampton, many feel that Morgan's improvement of the infrastructure had a dual motive.

It has led to Redrow being able to build in the area - although, based on Morgan's actions in the last eight years, it is hard to believe that he would use an opportunity like this for the detriment of Wolves.

Regardless of the truth, Wolves will still benefit from the improvements for years to come.

While Morgan has appeared to secure the long term health of the club, it has come at the expense of on-field success.

Going into the eighth season of his ownership, Wolves sit a club that has not grown in stature during this time, even falling behind stronger Championship rivals.

Two titles and two relegations have contributed to a roller-coaster period, but there is a feeling of overall stagnancy compared to clubs that were in similar positions in 2007.

West Brom now look a relatively established bottom half Premier League side. Even if they were relegated, they are still currently years ahead of Wolves.

Stoke, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Leicester joined Wolves in the Championship in 2007-08 and have now all spent at least successive seasons in the Premier League.

You wouldn't bet on any of these teams to be relegated this season.

While Morgan has managed to secure the future of Wolves in terms of assets, infrastructure and potential from the academy, he has managed short-term goals less successfully.

While his heart appears to have been in the right place, his impetus and drive has obviously receded to the point where he feels he is no longer apt to run the football club.

The final task that Morgan must succeed in – a task that could potentially take years – is to find the correct owner for Wolves.

His departure with immediate effect – though the club have stated that he will still offer the same level of support – has created a sense of unease.

The timing of the announcement seems another poor and rash decision.

Sir Jack had a careful approach to finding the correct owner to take over, but Morgan may not have quite the vested interest as his predecessor.

If it's a quick exit that Morgan is after, this could be a dangerous time for Wolves. But he owes to the club, the fans and Sir Jack the best of his ability to find the ideal replacement.

Based on the minimal media profile surrounding Morgan, he will hopefully prove a man of integrity in this task – he does not appear a man who wants to leave failure and ruin in his path.

He must find a new owner that is willing to carry on the philosophy of bringing through academy players that he has instilled, although not to the detriment of first-team signings.

What say Moxey has in the proceedings is an interesting question – surely he will want to ensure that any potential buyer would keep him in employment?

Regardless of Moxey's involvement, this process could be a long one, as Aston Villa and West Brom have been up for sale with no concrete progress.

Wolves may be an attractive opposition given the low wage budget, balanced books, good infrastructure and a lower valuation than a Premier League club.

Caution in finding the correct owner of Wolves is vital – many clubs among the football leagues have been gutted or damaged by careless, hedonistic owners.

Imagine an owner such as Vincent Tan coming along and changing the club's colours and symbols, or a Mike Ashley renaming Molineux into some corporate arena.

Steve Morgan's legacy will be remembered by a failure of progression in footballing stature, but a strengthening of security and long-term health.

Many will be glad to see the back of him for his failures, but he will do no harm in how he is remembered.

That's only if he ensures that the next chapter for Wolves as a club is, as has been repeated throughout recent months, bright.