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The
Voice Of Molineux, by Brian Myrie (A Fans Prospective)
Now it's four Premiership
games under their belt and the Wolves fans
certainly know what playing in the premiership will involve. What are we
to
make of this poor start? If we can emotionally remove ourselves
from the
fervent, anxiety-strewn environment of the average Wolves supporter, we
can try to analyze what has happened? We can then give some pointers has
to how things may pan out for the rest of the season.
Lets go back to the wonderful day in May when finally at the Millennium
Stadium, Wolves finally managed to prize themselves free of their
Nationwide shackles. Building on the disappointments of the previous
season, when they narrowly missed automatic promotion and they failed to
capitalize on a play-off spot, the seeds of this Premiership adventure
start were sown.
Dave Jones realised if he did not get the team promoted he was going to
be
out of a job, I think that was clear to all and sundry at the time. He
has
never appeared to be the dominant force within the management structure
of the club, say like a Keegan or Souness would have been. He also
inherited
the failings of all the previous managers and their perceived inability
to
use Sir Jack's money wisely.
Dave Jones was never going to be allowed to spend the Molineux kitty in
the
same way. He purchased experience players at a reasonable price, spent
within the parameters of what the board would allow and somehow managed
to get the promotion the board wanted. He was now though overloaded with
aging footballers. The Board having now sucked in the heady atmosphere
of Cardiff and enjoyed the warm glow of promotion decided that their own
judgment was spot on.
They looked around for a similar model to copy then decided that Bolton
and
Birmingham were the success stories to be copied from the Premiership.
So
they set about to emulate their opponents by setting a low budget and
forcing Dave Jones to look at players who had transferable skills for
the
Premiership. The one area they did not copy was to employ the services
of a
world-class performer for the team. A player that could galvanize both
fans
and team. A player who would not willingly accept defeat, and against
all
odds, would try to win every match. Dave Jones felt that the abrasive
Ince
would fill that role and after all he had no more money to spend.
Paul Ince would have succeeded in this role some 4 to 5 years ago and to
a
lesser extent was a formidable performer in the Nationwide League. This
team faced much, greater challenges and Paul Ince even though a great
fighter is not the recent world class performer the team and club
required. Dave Jones and Jez Moxey the Chief Executive at Molineux were
no left to negotiate with two arms tied behind their back in the
shark-infected waters we now know as the football transfer market.
I believe the management of the club were severely shocked by the
attitude
of players and agents and even Dave Jones must have sensed that the
Premiership had moved on even since the time he was a Manager, but his
team is far better than those two first matches where the players lacked
true guidance, leadership and purpose. After all Dave Jones was busy
trying to land new players the team I believe and they may not admit
were left to fend for themselves going through the motions.
After all did they not annihilate Sheffield United who last season
terrorised Premiership defences they would be alright, Moxey was running
up huge bills on his mobile he must have had to discuss this with his
Manager who was distracted from preparing his side properly for their
new
premiership life. The damage had been done by the team was ready to face
true opposition; the results echoed the thrashing the side had received
from
Morecambe in the pre-season. The Wolves side started the season not
ready in the true sense, hit by injuries and having a false sense of
security.
Lessons have been learned the team now has its leader back and Dave
Jones
has started to apply his considerable management experience to address
the
teams' overall vulnerability. I for one sense the team as changed
considerably, the fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers and the footballing
public at large may take a little more convincing.
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