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Dedicated, driven and never, ever dull: A profile of the 'Spider-Man' - new Wolves boss Walter Zenga

Dedicated, driven, intense, impassioned, hot-blooded and headstrong.

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Personality traits which should guarantee that Wolverhampton Wanderers under Walter Zenga will be anything but boring,

writes Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers

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When Zenga's appointment was announced, completely out of the blue, as Wolves boss early on Saturday morning the initial reaction from fans was mixed.

A legend in his playing days with Inter and Italy, winning the best goalkeeper of the year award in 1989, 1990 and 1991, Zenga was nicknamed the Spider-Man for his incredible athletic ability between the sticks.

If he'd enjoyed such success off the field as on it, then let's face it he wouldn't be managing in the Championship

And his chequered managerial career – and the number of clubs he's managed – make him a big risk for many.

But dig down into his record and he's enjoyed admirable and very respectable success, especially between 2004 and 2009 during which he won league titles with Red Star Belgrade and Steaua Bucharest and led minnows Catania to Serie A safety in Italy for two seasons in a row.

From there onwards the career trajectory does veer downhill, with a surprise move from Catania to rivals Palermo not working out (mixed results led to him being sacked after only 13 games).

Since then he's taken charge of four clubs in the short-term, ruthless climate of football in the Middle East.

His best season came with Al Jazira in 2013/14, but even a third placed finish, a cup final and progress to the last-16 of the Asian Champions League wasn't enough to save him from the sack.

Last season came a homecoming at a former club from his playing days, Sampdoria.

But just 14 games later he was on his way again, despite the team being 10th in the league (they would finish 15th that season) with president Massimo Ferrero saying: "I had realised that, being the great person that he is, Zenga could not express his ambitions.

"Zenga is a great person and a great coach, but these are the rules of football."

A return to the Arabian Gulf League and bottom-placed Al-Shaab lasted only three months, until February of this year.

For Wolves the word that springs to mind when analysing their choice of new boss is 'gamble'. It would be hard to draw a different conclusion, judging on his record and his lack of English football experience.

Zenga is a firebrand. A passionate, feisty, emotive, charismatic motivator who will inspire some players and infuriate others.

Referees, players, supporters and the media – expect everyone to feel the full force of Zenga's zest for life and lust for success.

While tactics and motivation can translate from country to country, the great unknown is how Zenga will cope in the rough and tumble of a 46-game dog-eat-dog Championship season.

If he's stung by recent failures then Wolves may suffer. If he comes out fighting with something to prove in a huge new chapter in his rich and varied football career, he could be Wolves' trump card in the Mick McCarthy rabble-rousing mould.

Judging on Wolves' limp pre-season campaign, which ended in a 4-0 shellacking at the hands of Swansea on Saturday, then Zenga's approach could be just the one that Wolves need.

New signings are also clearly of the essence: Wolves' squad has more holes than a slice of Emmental.

The arrivals of Helder Costa and Silvio are a good start. More of the same and Zenga's prospects are greatly improved.

He'll certainly need, as all managers do, some good fortune. Appropriately a traditional Italian message of good luck - "in bocca al lupo" - translates as "in the mouth of the wolf".

As journalist John McCauley, who covers football in the UAE, wrote this weekend in UAE-based newspaper The National , Zenga can be an engaging and enthralling character. A maverick who can veer from one extreme to the other, with varying degrees of success.

McAuley said: "A cumulative four years here were characterised for the majority by an exceptional zest for his profession.

"Zenga was dedicated, driven, intense, impassioned, hot-blooded and headstrong. However, that final trait, that stubbornness displayed from Al Ain to Dubai to Abu Dhabi and through to Sharjah earlier this year, is ultimately what has been his downfall.

"Zenga can be volatile and combustible on the touchline, in the dressing room or the boardroom, or in front of the media. He is receptive one minute, rough the next.

"Without doubt, he is an incredibly complex character: emotional, yes, yet cerebral, too, intriguing and engaging in equal measure."

McAuley believes a move to English football could re-invigorate Zenga.

But he added: "Admittedly, it might also be brief because, Nasr aside, Zenga does not tend to hang around for long, another nod to his powerful personality, to his reluctance to defer to others.

"One thing is certain, though: however long it lasts, Walter at Wolves will be well worth the watch."

It's quite ironic then that Sky Sports - after showing a record number of mind-numbingly dull Wolves matches last season - haven't selected a single one of Wolves' games in the first two months of 2016/17.

You suspect they might be regretting that now.

So benvenuto to Wolves, Walter Zenga. In bocca al lupo!

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