10 years at Wolves: The rise and fall of chairman Jeff Shi

Shi managed just under 10 years at Wolves and his tenure brought mixed results.

Mediocre start

When Fosun first bought the club in 2016, and Shi walked through the doors at Molineux, it was not all plain sailing from the start.

They inherited a club led by Kenny Jackett, who masterminded the League One winning season before finishing seventh in the Championship the season after and missing out on the play-offs by goal difference.

It initially appeared he might stay in charge, but just a week after Fosun bought the club and a week before the season started, Jackett was sacked.

Wolves had just finished 14th in the Championship when Fosun took over and they splashed the cash initially as Walter Zenga was brought in.

But he lasted just 87 days before receiving his marching orders and his career since proves he was not at the level required for Wolves.

Paul Lambert came in and did enough to keep Wolves in the league, eventually finishing 15th, and achieved a memorable 2-1 win at Liverpool in the FA Cup.

"We believe the club and the fans belong at the top of English football and getting there is our first and top priority," Shi said.

That rush to get promoted was evident as Lambert was also sacked in the summer of 2017 and Nuno Espirito Santo was brought in - as Fosun's first year in charge ended with three managers fired and three hired.

Promotion highs

It was the second year where Fosun and Shi found proper success at Wolves.

The relationship with Gestifute super agent Jorge Mendes had already begun with the arrival of players like Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro the year before.

But the summer of 2017 saw Ruben Neves' arrival for £15million, which sparked a remarkable run of recruitment that propelled Wolves into huge Championship spenders and favourites for promotion.

Nuno and his team instantly became fan favourites for their performances, likeability and determination to achieve the highest of success.

The 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa with goals from Diogo Jota and Leo Bonatini, the late 2-1 win at Bristol City thanks to a Ryan Bennett header and the 1-0 win at Cardiff from a Neves free-kick, in a match where the hosts missed two late penalties, were just a few of the memorable moments of that season.

And who can forget Neves' sensational volley at Molineux against Derby? Magical stuff.

Wolves won the Championship title with 99 points as one of the greatest ever second tier sides and Shi was riding high from a number of good decisions that allowed Wolves to flourish.

The chairman could do no wrong at that point.

Flying high

The Premier League beckoned once again for Wolves and the Fosun money was still flowing.

Rui Patricio, Raul Jimenez, Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore, Jonny Castro Otto and Leander Dendoncker came through the door - as well as making the loans for Willy Boly and Jota permanent - in a tremendous summer window.

The relationship with Mendes was strong, the Portuguese connection was mocked by many but embraced by Wolverhampton, and Wolves became a real force in the top flight.

Wins over Chelsea, Liverpool, a 4-3 thriller against Leicester, a Molineux win over Arsenal and that stunning 2-1 FA Cup win over Manchester United under the Molineux lights were all superb events.

The FA Cup semi-final defeat to Watford at Wembley was painful, but the progress Wolves had made was stunning and a seventh-placed finish meant qualification for the Europa League.

Wolves continued to press forward under Shi and Fosun, getting to the Europa League quarter-finals and finish seventh in the Premier League again, albeit disrupted by the pandemic. Wolves were flying high.

All of the promises that Shi had made were being backed up and their ambition was being realised. Wolves were competing with the very best.

However, the £35million record signing of teenager Fabio Silva in 2020 proved to be an embarrassing piece of business for Shi and, in hindsight, one of his worst decisions.

Starting to stutter

Wolves finished 13th in the Premier League in 2020/21 and it was revealed that Nuno would leave by 'mutual consent', although in reality he was sacked by Shi.

Bruno Lage arrived and fought for Europe until a poor end to the season saw them finish 10th.

In the summer of 2022, Shi and Fosun turned on the spending tap again and used Mendes to go big on Matheus Nunes and Goncalo Guedes for £38million and £27.5million respectively.

Nathan Collins also came in, Hwang Hee-chan's loan was made permanent and Sasa Kalajdzic arrived before suffering a serious knee injury on his debut. That resulted in the rushed free transfer of Diego Costa.

This was the first summer of consistent mistakes from Shi, as he ignored the advice of his recruitment team to sign overpriced players that were not good enough to impact the team and Lage struggled to get a tune out of them before being sacked in October 2022. In particular, Shi was advised against signing Guedes but pressed ahead anyway and it was a disastrous addition.

The club courted Julen Lopetegui and finally snapped him up in November, before spending big on six players in January - including the likes of Matheus Cunha and Joao Gomes - to stay in the Premier League and avoid relegation.

Team's decline

Wolves were meant to push on under Lopetegui and the head coach was given assurances of the club's spending, but they faced financial difficulties in the summer of 2023 and Shi did not keep his word.

As a result, Lopetegui walked away just days before the start of the 2023/24 season and Gary O'Neil came in and did a good job initially, despite Neves being sold before he arrived.

But this is where the team's decline truly took hold as Shi was determined to sell the club's stars every summer and make mistakes in bolstering the squad.

Max Kilman and Pedro Neto were both sold but not adequately replaced and Shi was getting away with his errors by luck more than judgement. He was fortunate that O'Neil got a tune out of players like Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen, for example.

As has been the trend of late, Wolves sunk into another relegation battle last season and Vitor Pereira kept the club up after O'Neil departed - but it was a messy process to appoint his successor at a time when many managers avoided Wolves.

In the summer just gone Wolves sold Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri and again replaced them with woefully inadequate players.

Pereira and Domenico Teti made their mistakes, but ultimately it was Shi steering the ship towards an obvious iceburg.

It was a dreadful summer of recruitment with Shi signing off on every decision and his appointment of Rob Edwards has so far not improved results.

Shi's departure was inevitable and warranted and he leaves Wolves with relegation almost certain.

From huge season ticket price hikes in 2024, to tone deaf interview answers, Shi's relationship with supporters was destroyed by the end.

A phenomenal few years under Shi, with Nuno at the helm, has since been overshadowed by a terrible few years of mistakes and for many fans that will ultimately be Shi's Wolves legacy.