Goodbye League 1.It's been great...

Nobody really knew what to expect from Wolves at the beginning of this season down in the depths of Division One.Although the bookies had made us favourites to go up, after two torrid years lurching from crisis to crisis both on and off the pitch many Wolves fans laughed at the bookies apparent lack of knowledge regarding our club...Most fans realistically thought grabbing a play off place would be a fantastic showing...

There was also a big worry about how the fans would react to the last two seasons of our club becoming a laughing stock in the football world.Would we abandon the club which appeared to be on a downward spiral of our own making-----Indeed we had become a byword for how not to run a football club.Any club in the mire were warned against "doing a Wolves"----The split between Wolverhampton Wanderers Ltd and their  fans seemed irreversible.It needed the club to put forward a complete root & branch change in the way it went about it's business both on and off the pitch to begin to win the trust of the fans back...

Whoever advised Wolves to employ Kenny Jackett as the new boss deserves a medal---I'm guessing it was Kevin Thelwell,Head of Football development & recruitment---He came to the club in the full knowledge of what had gone and what was expected in the future.He arrived in the summer with quiet determination to get things going in the right direction.Making it clear that Wolves were what was important not himself.Many new managers would have ridden in on a wave of self publicity and rampant ego but KJ saw the big picture.

The club had mooted that it had wanted to change the style of play associated with it historically to a more controlled passing game long before KJ arrived.Stale Stollbaken had tried to implement the change but it would appear player power went against him as those in the dressing room either would'nt,or could'nt,alter their style of play.When Dean Saunders replaced him this was abandoned when everyone finally woke up to the fact that we were in grave danger of successive relegations.It's doubtful that DS could have overseen a complete overhaul of club playing ethos.He barely seemed to know what was happening at any given time on the pitch anyway...

So KJ was charged with dispensing with the deadwood on the playing side,promote players from the youth academy to the first team,buy in the sort of player who could play the required way,stop the seemingly inexorable slide down the divisions and reconnect the fans with the club.Phew...Easy!

That first game away to a strong Preston would be the acid test of whether the fans had bought into all this.The fact that nearly five thousand fans took the trip to Deepdale to support the team is testament to both how quickly KJ had won us over and also our fortitude in the face of overwhelming evidence against parting with our hard earned cash...It really was the triumph of hope over experience.

In truth the first few months were a bit of a mish mash.We showed glimpses of the style KJ was trying to implement but with virtually a whole new team these things take time,however we were still getting results even when maybe we were fortunate to do so.A sign of a good team they say...As is the way of these things the possessive  quick passing game yearned for finally clicked into place during our worst spell of the season results wise but despite Wolves fans reputation of having the patience of a 5 year old on Christmas Eve we stayed with it as we could see progress was being made.

For me the turning point of the season was when KJ---Who's clearly not afraid to make tough decisions---got rid of Hennessey & leading scorer Griffiths, along with record signing Doyle out on loan and bought in Dicko. It takes a brave manager to get rid of his top scorer halfway through the season.After all it could go horribly wrong,the replacement may not fit in and that's basically half a season wasted...Luckily it did'nt go wrong.Dicko hit the ground running,grabbing two goals on his debut and he has'nt looked back since...

Dicko is a better all round player than Griffiths.I'd also say he's a better goalscorer and ---maybe crucially---does'nt carry the evident self destruct button and baggage Griffiths appears to have.Last, but not least, it's also cleared in KJ's mind what formation to play rather than chop and change up front weekly in an effort to find the right combo in attack...

After that mid-season blip we have gone on a run of winning 15 games out of 18 which has propelled us to the title.If anyone looks at the table without any prior knowledge of the season it looks like we've had it easy but in truth it's been anything but...Us,Brentford and Leyton Orient have been jockeying for position in the top 3 all season long.It's only over the last few weeks we've pulled away and dominated.

It's been a wonderful season.Wolves have been playing some of the most enjoyable football i have ever seen them produce.Some teams play the possession game to no purpose---Think Wolves under Glen Hoddle---and it's as dull as ditchwater.Under KJ our game is based on quick pass & move with an eye to the fast controlled break out the back.When it comes off it can be scintillating.I'm impressed with the way we play from the defence when under pressure.No more just lumping the ball out only to lose possession straight away.Now we try to find a teamate to hopefully set up an attack.This approach not only means the opponents have to be wary of committing too many players forward but also if they do we can usually create a goalscoring chance ourselves...

It's been a defining season off the pitch too.The season Wolves fans fell back in love with their club.The support has been nothing short of phenomenal both home and away.The average home attendance is over 20,000 with over 30,000 turning up for an extraordinary 6-4 win over Rotherham last week---The highest gate at Molineux since the early 80's---We have sold out our away ticket allocation at nearly every game.Apparently Wolves fans are responsible for almost 20% of all division one attendances combined.League one may not miss us but they'll miss the money we've generated...

Much has been made about the parachute payments we're getting---And will continue to do so next season---This is due to spending three years in the Premiership.Whether you agree with the PP system is immaterial.It's there, and for the foreseeable future will continue to be so.Were we supposed to decline it because we found ourselves in league one? Would any other club? No.

We never bought any players out of the PP.Any players bought were done so from selling players unwanted or shipping them out on loan.Yes we've had an unfair advantage with being able to afford the day to day running of the club but there's nothing illegal going on here even though according to some of our opponents the PP makes us a cross between Judas and the Devil incarnate...

With two games to go hopefully we can beat the previous points record in this division and then look forward to next season.I believe we can get into a top ten place next term without too many drastic changes to the squad.Maybe even fight for a play off place....As for this season i've loved the football,loved the winning,loved seeing home grown players in the team,loved the prices of tickets,loved the atmosphere,loved being a Wolves fan again...

Goodbye League 1.It's been great...

Easter Monday at the Orient.Wolves resurrection continues...

On a hot Easter Monday at 10am what else is there to do but sit in an Olympic Stratford boozer as a prelude to a much anticipated game at Leyton Orient?

Unfortunately the only one we could find was a Wetherspoons.They have long been my least favourite pub chain and they confirmed my zealously held belief that they're a pox on this fine land by restricting us to two drinks maximum because one of our company was with his 13 year old son and we were informed in the idiom of the humourless that we were being "Monitored"

Don't worry Wetherspoons i will not be venturing into one of your establishments in future.The nation's moral fibre will never be tested again thanks to your unending vigilance...

A quick taxi to High Road Leyton where it seemed like a home game transplanted to East London.All we saw were Wolves fans milling about, and into Brisbane Road a good half hour before the game.As there was no booze sold to Wolves fans the smell of Bovril hung about the place.It's been quite a while since i have been in this ground and the O's have had some major work done to it,apart from the East Stand where we were of course.To call it "Old School" would be a massive disservice to that hoary old cliche.The East Stand is practically Biblical---and i'm talking Old Testament here---In one way it's good that football can still be watched in these ancient edifices to act as a reminder of where the game came from in these days of corporate hegemony.On the other hand the phrase "Health & Safety" was never far from my mind...

The opening 35 minutes were pretty predictable.Wolves grabbed a two goal lead without breaking into much of a sweat and it seemed the rest of the game would be a stroll in the Springtime sunshine but then Leyton Orient woke up and started to pile on the pressure---To be fair at 1-0 the O's had a stonewall penalty appeal turned down---This continued after half time and the O's pulled one goal back quite early.It was game on but thanks to some brilliant saves from Carl Ikeme----"He looks like Matt Murray,without the dodgy knee"----and some desperate defending we kept the score down to 2-1.With Orient attacking they'd always leave space behind them to exploit and James Henry took advantage with a cracking 30yarder in the last minute to give a slightly lop-sided 3-1 scoreline to Wolves.

To all intents and purposes we had become Champions but with Brentford playing later on in the day it had to be officially confirmed.Luckily we were invited into the well appointed Leyton Orient supporters club bar---after a few pints in the local flea pit called the Coach & Horses---and we were confirmed as title winners at about 4-55pm after Brentford could only draw.There was probably about eight Wolves fans there to witness this momentous occasion but i'm sure news spread rapidly among the fans scattered around East London or nearing home...

A great day all round.Many thanks to the warm welcome afforded to us from the Leyton Orient fans.It was much appreciated and i'm sure all Wolves fans wish them all the best for the upcoming play offs...Meanwhile.
..We are CHAMPIONS!