The Wolves Archive

[Deutsch Wolf]

Squandering the Akinbiyi money did for us, half of it went on Temuri Ketsbaia and Robert Taylor, you may as well have thrown £2.5m in the canal.

Dave Jones improved *nothing* when he came in too. He should be thankful to John Ward who won 3 of his 4 games in caretaker charge or we could easily have gone down.

Manuel Thetis on loan early doors. Easily one of the worst Wolves players I have ever seen.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Never heard of Manuel Thetis before - he only played 3 games so he certainly made a strong impression (negative) on you.

 

[Law's Bus]

Manuel Thetis on loan early doors. Easily one of the worst Wolves players I have ever seen.

We did go through a patch of loaning awful centre halves around then.

Wasn't Darren Peacock the same season?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

He was

Then we signed Pies Butler who was alright despite being a fat bastard

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Today's update:

2001/02 Season (50 matches)

Season Summary:
Division 1 = 3rd (Play Off Semi-Finalist)
FA Cup = 3rd Round
League Cup = 1st Round

The semi-final play-off defeats and disappointments in seasons 1994/95 and 1996/97 pale in comparison to what happened in season 2001/02.

The club had spent in excess of £11 million before and during the season to try and achieve promotion, in this, manager Dave Jones' first full season in charge. New players early in the season included Mark Kennedy, Shaun Newton, Colin Cameron, Nathan Blake and Alex Rae; and, in December, Kenny Miller and Dean Sturridge were added.

Wolves had sat in the automatic promotion spots for the majority of the campaign, and with 9 games to go Wolves were 10 pts clear of 3rd and looking to be competing with Manchester City for the title; but a late slump in form saw bitter local rivals West Bromwich Albion pip them to second place. Wolves won only twice in those last 9 games and earned only 10pts out of a total of 27.

Defeat then to Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals then ended their hopes of returning to the top flight for the first time since 1984.

I recall at the time I wasn't quite convinced during the first half of the season but when Wolves won 7 consecutive games in February to early March and Dean Sturridge was scoring goals for fun - he scored 21 goals in only 30 games - I was convinced this was going to be it.

Again home form was the achilles heel (like in previous seasons). Losing 6 games at home is not what you'd expect from a team chasing automatic automatic; whereas away form was excellent and was the best in the division, only losing 4 times and scoring 10 more goals than at home and with a better goal difference.

IMHO it was one of the great chokes in English football history.

It was awful enough experiencing it half-way around the world - being there it must have been excruciating.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I could write a bloody thesis on this season. I'll do my usual sum up later or in the morning as I'm watching the cricket now.

 

[Sniffer]

Although we didn’t finish the season well. A*****s run of form was ridiculous to pip us. Without looking I think they’d lost something like 11 in 30 something games and then didn’t lose again.

Edit: Won 8 and drew 2 of their last ten games including a late winner at Bradford.

 

[Quirkafleeg]

Fun fackt. That was the last game that the Liquidator aired at Molineux.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

Today's update:

2001/02 Season (50 matches)

Season Summary:
Division 1 = 3rd (Play Off Semi-Finalist)
FA Cup = 3rd Round
League Cup = 1st Round

The semi-final play-off defeats and disappointments in seasons 1994/95 and 1996/97 pale in comparison to what happened in season 2001/02.

The club had spent in excess of £11 million before and during the season to try and achieve promotion, in this, manager Dave Jones' first full season in charge. New players early in the season included Mark Kennedy, Shaun Newton, Colin Cameron, Nathan Blake and Alex Rae; and, in December, Kenny Miller and Dean Sturridge were added.

Wolves had sat in the automatic promotion spots for the majority of the campaign, and with 9 games to go Wolves were 10 pts clear of 3rd and looking to be competing with Manchester City for the title; but a late slump in form saw bitter local rivals West Bromwich Albion pip them to second place. Wolves won only twice in those last 9 games and earned only 10pts out of a total of 27.

Defeat then to Norwich City in the play-off semi-finals then ended their hopes of returning to the top flight for the first time since 1984.

I recall at the time I wasn't quite convinced during the first half of the season but when Wolves won 7 consecutive games in February to early March and Dean Sturridge was scoring goals for fun - he scored 21 goals in only 30 games - I was convinced this was going to be it.

Again home form was the achilles heel (like in previous seasons). Losing 6 games at home is not what you'd expect from a team chasing automatic automatic; whereas away form was excellent and was the best in the division, only losing 4 times and scoring 10 more goals than at home and with a better goal difference.

IMHO it was one of the great chokes in English football history.

It was awful enough experiencing it half-way around the world - being there it must have been excruciating.

I was 14/15 during this season (when it mattered most for me I think) and it will never not hurt. I shuddered when I saw the dates on your post!

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Although we didn’t finish the season well. A*****s run of form was ridiculous to pip us. Without looking I think they’d lost something like 11 in 30 something games and then didn’t lose again.

Edit: Won 8 and drew 2 of their last ten games including a late winner at Bradford.

True but one more win in our last 9 games (we only won 2) would have gained Wolves promotion on goal difference.

Not that’s it much consolation but Albion were woeful in the PL in 2002/03 - gaining only 26 pts (they were 18 pts from safety). Compare it to Wolves 2003/04 season where we won 33 pts and were only relegated in the last couple of weeks, and finished 7 pts from safety.

Obviously I’ll have more to say on the 2003/04 season which isn’t that far away. First off I’m in the process of uploading all the games from the 2002/03 season, which of course turned out quite memorably for Wolves although it was nowhere near plain sailing.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

I was 14/15 during this season (when it mattered most for me I think) and it will never not hurt. I shuddered when I saw the dates on your post!

Probably about 4-5 weeks away from uploading 2014/15 season.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

I could write a bloody thesis on this season. I'll do my usual sum up later or in the morning as I'm watching the cricket now.

I’ll look forward to it.

22 years later I’m still angry - more so after having re-watched (a few times as well) the games in working on the match videos for the season.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

As I say, I could genuinely write a book about this season. Maybe I should

On the positive side:

1) There's a number of players in this squad who I had and have a hell of a lot of time for

2) It was the first time since the early 80s that we'd had a seriously quality (for the level) central midfield partnership in Rae and Cameron, and as I didn't start going until 1988, that was new to me

3) Some of the attacking football was simply sublime, we just blew teams away

4) Well, it's bloody memorable isn't it. We can all wax lyrical about it to one degree or another more than 20 years on

5) You have to begrudgingly say fair play to Albion for putting such an insane (fluky bastards) run together

On the negative side:

1) Of course, the outcome. Goes without saying

2) Because of the road we'd gone down in who we'd bought and barring Miller, what kind of profile they were, we'd bet the farm on doing it this season. And we didn't do it. Don't listen to Dave Jones when he says he gave the board an alternative plan, he never ever bought younger players, anywhere he went. And don't believe him when he says this was the only way

3) The lack of change when results started to falter was ridiculous. We had a large squad with experienced players kicking around doing not very much. Yet he persisted with the patently knackered (Cameron), the wildly out of form (Newton, arguably Blake) and the simply shite (Camara) regardless, always in the same formation, every single week. Well nothing will change, will it Dave

4) People look at the Grimsby game as a turning point and there's the whole Muscat narrative that goes with it (worth pointing out it WASN'T his last game for us) but really, it's Forest and Blues away in the same week for me. Leading twice at Forest and don't win, with Nathan Blake missing from about a yard. 2-0 up against a painfully ordinary Blues team and throw two points away with a goalkeeping howler that Sa would be proud of and Ratface Devlin scoring five minutes after he should have been sent off for a dreadful challenge. The playoffs to me were a lost cause from the outset as our mentality was never going to be right. But still, that FUCKING foul by Camara in injury time at Carrow Road. Just don't foul him. It's nearly full time. Take the one goal defeat back to Molineux. But no, you do you, Mo

5) Instinctively I'd have sacked Jones at the end of the season. He'd failed. The glib nonsense he'd come out with was infuriating. His limitations were there for all to see. I haven't really changed my mind on that since and as we'll go into when 02/03 comes out, he could have gone any number of times in the following season. Harsh? Perhaps, but I never took to him and this wasn't unlucky, this was his fault.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Great write-up mate

Dave Jones should have gone after this debacle. I don’t accept the view that it was worth it given Wolves got promoted the next season because, IMHO, season 2002/03 had many serious flaws despite the euphoria of the play-off win, which became very apparent in 2003/04 PL campaign.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Today's update:

Robbie Keane: Wolves Goals

The Irish teenage sensation was only at Wolves for 2 seasons and 2 games but his impact was immense with his infectious and impish sense of a goal. He scored twice, aged 17, on his debut away at Carrow Road against Norwich City.

He scored 29 goals in 87 games for Wolves at a rate of a goal every three games which was quite outstanding for someone so young and he was top scorer in only his 2nd season in 1998/99.

Keane's performances and goalscoring record with both Wolves and the Republic of Ireland attracted much interest from larger clubs and a move for the young striker seemed imminent which occurred just weeks into the 1999-2000 season, when he was sold to Premier League club Coventry City for £6 million, then a British record for a teenager.

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Today’s update:

Andy Gray: Wolves Goals

A relatively short compilation as TV coverage of football in the late 70s and early 80s was infinitely less than it has been for the last 35 years.

Andy Gray has always been a favourite of mine, ever since he signed for Wolves from Aston Villa in September 1979 for an English record transfer fee of £1.49m. He was an aggressive and incredibly brave striker who was an outstanding header of the ball and in 159 games in total for Wolves he scored 45 goals.

Gray’s transfer to Wolves made the club sexy and one of the league’s most talked about clubs for season 1979/80. The previous 2 seasons, since promotion in 1976/77, Wolves had struggled in the lower half of the division, but this all changed with Gray’s move which led to a 6th place finish in the league plus winning our last major honour - the 1980 League Cup (when it really was a major trophy) with Andy Gray scoring the famous winning goal against Nottingham Forest.

But if was all a one-off as the team struggled in 1980/81 and were relegated in 1981/82.

Law’s Bus outstanding article in Oscillating Wildly details the time and how it all fell apart for Wolves:

The Perfect Storm of 1982

Gray stuck it out with Wolves through the relegation to the 2nd Division and helped them gain promotion back the 1st Division on their first attempt where he also made the 2nd Division PFA Team of the Year. Eventually he was transferred to Everton in November 1983 for £250,000 as Wolves were in desperate financial need.

 

[Lupo]

Andy Gray was my first Wolves hero too. Never saw much of him but he was our no.9 and looked a bit like my Uncle Paul who got me into Wolves!

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

Gray leaving Villa meant they had to rely on a local youngster and sign an aging Peter Withe to play with him for the 80/81 and 81/82 seasons. I was never the Gray fan that most were but wow, must he have regretted joining us!

 

[KiwiWolf61]

Gray leaving Villa meant they had to rely on a local youngster and sign an aging Peter Withe to play with him for the 80/81 and 81/82 seasons. I was never the Gray fan that most were but wow, must he have regretted joining us!

Actually he didn’t.

I’ve seen him in a couple of interviews where he said his most enjoyable time in football was when he was at Wolves. He also was not a fan of Ron Saunders, the Villa manager during this time.

As for Peter Withe, he was one that got away. He was the perfect replacement for the Doog, but McGarry in his infinite wisdom just never saw it.

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

Playing for Rangers was, he said in an 1877 club speech I was at, the highlight of his career [along with playing for Scotland]. He actually referred to both as 'pulling on the blue of Rangers and Scotland". I think we can all imagine what playing for the club you grew up supporting actually means - however late in your career or over the hill you are.