Wolves In 2004 - Part Five - November and December

Hoddle
By Scott Cooper
December 31 2004

WOLVES In 2005: The final part of this five-part special in which we take a look at Wolves in 2005.

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WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS IN
2004

Part Five

NOVEMBER

Wolverhampton Wanderers sacked Manager Dave Jones after four years in charge for the poor start to the season. The game at the end of October (a 1-0 defeat to Gillingham) had proved the last straw and the first ever man to take Wolves to the Premiership had lost his job.

November was to be a tough month, but with Caretaker boss Stuart Gray in charge performances did improve.

Wolves lost 3-1 to Sunderland in the immediate aftermath of Jones' sacking, but later went on to beat Nottingham Forest, Rotherham and Reading.

However poor performances against Sunderland, Coventry and a 3-3 draw away at Sheffield United made it unlikely that Stuart Gray would get the job on a full-time basis.

DECEMBER

Wolves opened their account for December in the best possible fashion as Wolves thumped Reading 4-1 at Molineux.

Stuart Baxter, the current South African coach had turned the opportunity to manage at his home-town club down, but Wolves were to land the football world with a huge shock the following week.

Former Swindon, Southampton and Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle was announced as Manager of Wolves and was unveiled at Wolves 1-0 home defeat to Millwall.

Hoddle's first game in charge came at Watford later that week and Wolves could only manage a 1-1 draw.

Wolves ended the season with three more draws in a spooky sequence of results. In Wolves final four games of the year (Watford, Crewe, Cardiff and Brighton) Wolves went a goal down. In all four games Wolves got themselves back in the game and went on to draw each game 1-1.

Wolves ended the year closer to the bottom of the table than the top and as we head into the new year Glenn Hoddle - although without defeat - is still in search of his first win.