Steve Bull: Nuno departure comes as huge shock

I was at Molineux on Thursday night for the club’s end-of-season awards and there was simply no inkling anything major was afoot.

This has been a tough season, we all know that, but in my eyes Nuno has done a pretty good job in difficult circumstances. I felt with the right backing over the summer he would be able to rebuild and push on again next season, back challenging in the top half of the Premier League. Whether the owners deemed this season not good enough, or whether he has decided it is the right time to move on, we just don’t know at this point.

What isn’t in question are his achievements over four years at the club. He has put Wolves somewhere they have not been for a very long time. For so many years becoming an established Premier League club was what we wanted to be. We tried a lot of different managers and it is only Nuno who has managed it. That is before you even start talking about qualifying for the Europa League and all the wonderful achievements we had there.

It is not just Nuno, either. You also have to consider his coaching staff, who all arrived at the club as one team and who have done superbly for us. They are leaving too so it is going to be a huge change.

Their combined skills are what has helped us as supporters live the dream over the past four years. They have written a wonderful chapter in the history of the club and it will be down to someone else to write the next one. I don’t envy whoever takes the job. For sure, they have a big act to follow.

The shame now is there will not be a full house inside Molineux on Sunday to give Nuno the send-off he deserves. It is great there will be some supporters there. As someone who has sat through most of the behind closed doors matches and not particularly enjoyed them, I am really looking forward to it. But I just hope now that, sometime in the future, Nuno can walk out in front of a packed Molineux and feel the adulation of supporters.

For much of yesterday afternoon I felt a bit numb, in shock. It really was a bolt from the blue. When it comes to who do I want to come in now? I really don’t know. I’ve no doubt the owners will have an idea of who they want and to call it a big appointment, that goes without saying.

Four years ago they struck gold with Nuno. Now they need to find someone who can build on the foundations he has left.