Stale Solbakken---Velkommen til Ulvene

It's probably fair to say that the appointment of Norwegian Stale Solbakken took 99.9% of Wolves fans by surprise last week.Whichever way you look at it the installation of the feisty ex Copenhagen & Cologne boss is a bold move by the Wolves owners.Only time will tell if it's an inspired choice or a foolhardy one...

Since the sacking of Mick McCarthy in early February the issue of who should take over at Wolves has been muddled at best,stupidly handled by Owner Morgan and CEO Moxey at worst.The usual suspects were wheeled out.Curbishley & Bruce among the old guard and younger managers like Poyet,Clark and Fergie Jnr.Even,and may the Lord have mercy on my soul for even uttering this on here,Megson.

None really fitted the bill,and the offer of a 13 game initial contract was restrictive,putting off potential managers.So the club stuck with promoting from within by offering the job to club stalwart Terry Connor.TC is a dignified and honourable man and one day may make a good boss but not here,not now.Relegation was virtually assured from the day he was appointed to the post...What was needed was a quick fix.An adrenalin rush if you will, if we were to avoid the drop...

It never came and we bowed out,not with a bang,but a whimper...

At the fans parliament which the club holds with the Wolves fans where grievances can be aired and answered, Morgan & Moxey promised they would soon be acting to install a new boss and that money would be available.Nobody believed it would be so quick and so "Leftfield" .

So what of our new man in the hot seat? The bare facts are these;He was a goalscoring midfielder for HamKam.Lillestrom,Wimbledon,Aalborg BK & Copenhagen.Playing nearly 300 games and netting almost 100 goals.He also represented Norway a creditable 58 times grabbing 9 goals.

After retiring from the game he became manager of HamKam.Copenhagen & Cologne.He took HamKam to their highest ever position in their league.With Copenhagen Solbakken enjoyed much success.Taking them to 5 titles and took then to the latter stages of the Champions league where they tweaked the noses of some of the European hierachy.

The one black spot on his CV is the Cologne job.Some Wolves fans have pointed this out as a reason why the club should'nt have hired him.But how many managers have  a CV that does'nt include at least one perceived failure? Even most of the greats have one blot on their copybook...And Cologne are not exactly a stable club,have'nt been for a good number of years now.Imagine a cross between One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest and The Keystone Cops and you'll get Cologne.Even Fergie at his height would struggle there.Solbakken took on the job with the club already in terminal turmoil.A bit like becoming the Captain of The Titanic after the iceberg had been struck...

But cold hard stats only tell some of the story.Solbakken is very passionate,of that there's no doubt.Just take a look at You Tube...He's also said to be innovative.We desperately need some fresh idea's at Wolves...Hopefully he will also have enough money available to bring in some much needed new blood too.He should have some good contacts in mainland Europe.

We're lucky to have him: I don't mean Wolves but all of us.In 2001 he had a Heart Attack and actually "Died" in training.Luckily the training camp was near a top hospital and he was revived.He now wears a pacemaker.Not that it seems to have slowed him down or doused the fire in his belly as this clip will show;

So this is it Wolves fans.The start of a new era.Personally i'm excited by the prospect and hope the majority of my fellow Wolves fans feel the same.

Stale Solbakken---Velkommen til Ulvene.