Reliable Ward takes change in his stride

The Premier League may be a global operation but there are times when it cannot disguise its insular roots.

Wolves owner Steve Morgan discovered as much earlier this month when he eschewed the usual list of has-beens and never-was candidates by asking Stale Solbakken, a former Copenhagen and Cologne coach, to take over at Molineux.

Whether he proves to be another Arsene Wenger or a Christian Gross remains to be seen but Stephen Ward, though blindsided as much as everyone else by the choice of new man at the time, wasn’t long in digesting it and moving on.