Revitalizing Wolverhampton Wanderers will require more than just appointing a new chairman.

The exit of Jeff Shi isn’t a magical fix that will transform Ki-Jana Hoever into a football legend like Cafu or turn Jorgen Strand Larsen into a prolific scorer akin to Erling Haaland. It doesn’t significantly boost their chances of staying in the Premier League.

Brentford’s Keane Lewis-Potter struck twice in the second half, securing their victory and leaving Wolves languishing at the bottom with just two points. As the season nears its midway mark, Wolves face an uphill battle to surpass Derby County’s dismal record of 12 points from the 2007-08 season.

Though Shi’s removal by the Chinese ownership group Fosun was a necessary step, it seems unlikely to salvage this season. Nathan Shi, no relation to Jeff and now serving as interim executive chairman, observed from the directors’ box as fans search for hope.

The atmosphere at Molineux showed slight improvement compared to earlier in the season. While some supporters expressed dissatisfaction with Fosun, many celebrated Jeff Shi’s departure and demonstrated stronger support for the team. However, this is only a temporary reprieve. Without a clear plan from Fosun, disgruntled fans won’t remain patient for long.

Jeff Shi stepped down as Wolves chairman on Friday night amid widespread fan protests

Wolves fell to a 2-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday afternoon to compound further misery

Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a late penalty for Wolves and was on the receiving end of boos

A tale of two Shis

Football’s landscape changes swiftly. Jeff’s sudden departure surprised many within the club; he was still listed as ‘executive chairman’ in Saturday’s program. Meanwhile, Nathan Shi quickly settled into his new role.

Still only in his early-thirties, Nathan is nonetheless trusted by Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun, and has worked as his executive assistant. He does not have a background in football, however, and before arriving at Wolves, he had a senior role at holiday company Club Med, another part of the Fosun portfolio. His LinkedIn profile was no longer visible on Friday night.

In the last 24 hours, Nathan held meetings with all senior staff, including head coach Rob Edwards. He addressed the players on Saturday morning with a clear message: Fosun still care, and we’re here to help.

Though Nathan has been at the Compton training base regularly in recent weeks, few suspected that he was being lined up to replace Jeff. It is not unusual for members of the wider Fosun group to visit Wolves and even as results deteriorated, there was no sense that Jeff was in danger. Until Friday morning, there was no sense at Compton that change was coming.

Throughout nearly a decade at Wolves, Jeff had been the sole link between the club and the parent group. Fosun’s method had always been to let Jeff get on with the job.

However, as bad results piled up, the bigwigs in Shanghai were starting to take note. The shambolic summer transfer window had left the squad weak, and then Vitor Pereira was sacked weeks after being handed a new contract. Fans had long since turned and would protest against Jeff and Fosun at every match.

New interim executive chairman Nathan Shi watched on from the directors’ box on Saturday

New boss Rob Edwards has got off to a disastrous start since taking the Wolves job last month

Perhaps the final straw, though, was Jeff’s disastrous local radio interview earlier this month. He made a number of extraordinary comments and seemed not to grasp the severity of Wolves’ position. His remark that ‘relegation’ was ‘not that serious’ cannot fail to have made it back to Shanghai.

Despite his unassuming manner, Shi dominated life at Wolves. Little could happen without his sign-off. That often left senior staffers feeling helpless and frustrated.

Decisions they knew could cause problems, such as elevated ticket prices, were bulldozed through, while recruitment staff were left on the sidelines as not a single player with Premier League experience was signed in the summer.

Shi allowed favoured agents and Pereira to drive recruitment and as Daily Mail Sport revealed in November, they rejected the chance to sign players like Kyle Walker-Peters, David Brooks and Harry Wilson.

What comes next?

Given Nathan’s lack of experience, the leadership team around him should wield far more influence than before. Though Nathan speaks very good English and has impressed senior figures, it would be unrealistic to expect him to control matters as Jeff did.

Fosun are looking actively for a permanent replacement for Jeff, though it is not impossible that Nathan will take the job long-term. At the least, fans should expect him to be in place for most of the rest of the season, if not all of it.

Will there be investment in January? With Wolves destined for relegation, the second half of the season could become a long lead-in to the Championship. Players may even be sold in January to fund those moves, though this is far from certain.

Fans in Molineux are growing increasingly frustrated with Wolves’ unpopular owners Fosun

That would mean giving more minutes to players like academy product Mateus Mane, as well as trying to sign players who would help Wolves bounce straight back.

On top of that, Fosun want to shift the narrative about their intentions. Following the flight of Chinese capital from English football, many assume that Fosun are looking to cut and run as soon as they can. For what it is worth, Fosun insist this is not the case.

As for recruitment, it seems unlikely that Wolves will revert immediately to the model of the early Fosun era, where super agent Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute group played a key role in transfers.

Rob Edwards’ future

When Wolves hired Edwards, they knew it may not represent a quick fix to keep them up. With his background at the club, Edwards was seen as someone who could slot in alongside existing staff and move Wolves forward over time.

Given Jeff Shi signed off the appointment, does this change this? At least initially, the feeling about Edwards remains the same. Right now, Fosun are not in the mood to appoint their third head coach of the season. If Edwards keeps losing, perhaps that conversation will change. For the moment, though, there is little appetite for greater disruption. After all, Wolves have had more than enough of that this season.