Come home Sam Allardyce: Wolves fans clamour for ex-England boss to replace Walter Zenga

Wolves moved swiftly to end Zenga's brief reign as head coach yesterday, with the Italian lasting just 14 Championship games and fewer than three months in charge.

Opinion was mixed on whether it was the right decision to let Zenga go, with 55 per cent of 7,000 fans saying they disagreed with the sacking.

But the overwhelming fan favourite to succeed Zenga was Dudley-born boyhood Wolves fan Sam Allardyce, who took 67 per cent of a vote of more than 5,000 people.

Whether Allardyce is a realistic target for a club that has recently changed its hierarchical structure remains to be seen.

And the ex-England boss would be a controversial choice with many, given that he was given the boot by the FA last month for being filmed in an undercover sting by the Daily Telegraph allegedly agreeing to be paid £400,000 to offer advice on how rules could be broken on player transfers.

First-team coach Rob Edwards has taken temporary charge of the first team and will be assisted by under-23 coach Scott Sellars.

It's believed that Wolves don't have Zenga's replacement lined up and that Edwards will be in charge for Saturday's vitally important trip to face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Edwards may even get the following weekend's home game against Derby County to stake a claim for the full-time job, with Wolves known to be keen not to rush the recruitment process.

A two-week international break follows the Derby game.

Ex-goalkeeper Matt Murray, a former team-mate of Edwards, called him a 'hungry coach'.

Murray said of Edwards: "I hope Rob Edwards does really well. I played with Rob, he's a very hungry coach.

"He's worked so hard and progressed very quickly. He worked voluntarily in Wolves academy and got the under-18s job. Wolves have seen the potential he has.

"I don't know how long Rob will get, but if he gets a couple of games and he wins those, then why not promote from within?

"It will be a big ask of course, the fans and the owners are probably looking for someone tried and trusted."

Of the other names in the frame, young Portuguese boss Marco Silva will feature prominently after he was spoken to by Wolves in the summer.

The 39-year-old made his name at unfancied Estoril, whom he guided to fourth in the Portuguese top flight (a record finish), before winning the Portuguese cup with Sporting Lisbon and then enjoying a record-breaking title success with Greek side Olympiakos last season.

He left Greece in the summer citing personal reasons and it's believed Silva's lack of English was a problem when he was considered for the Wolves job in July.

Other candidates include ex-Spurs and Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, who has close ties with super-agent Jorge Mendes, as well as recently-sacked Derby boss Nigel Pearson, former Villa chief Paul Lambert and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

But it seems that Allardyce is the man the fans want.

Wolves fan Ian Jones from Wednesfield said yesterday: "He's a Wolves lad and the kind of manager who could take us up and keep us up."

And Stuart Filmer, from Penn, added: "We missed the ideal candidate in Steve Bruce but I've heard rumours about Sam Allardyce who would be good as he knows how to get out of the Championship."