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...
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...
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