After staying in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons, Wolves got relegated from the Premier League in 2012. Wolves fired Mick McCarthy who had managed them for six years. Following the relegation, wolves lost a lot of key players including Wolves leading goalscorer Steven Fletcher, winger Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly.
Photo: Wolves former manager Mick McCarthy, source:
At the start of season, wolves appointed Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken. Solbakken brought into the club a lot of foreign talents with the likes of Bakary Sako and Björn Bergmann. Wolves had an inconsistent start to the season wolves managed to reach third place in early October. That position was their highest of the season and Wolves form went downhill after that and went ten games without a win. Wolves poor for meant that wolves found themselves in 18th place, 6 points clear of the relegation zone. Solbakkens position as manager was further jeopardized as Wolves were beaten by a non-league side, Luton town in the FA Cup. Despite the concerns, Solbakkens was not concerned about his future as he stated in an interview with BBC Sport: „There will be a lot of questions over me but that is normal, that's football and I have to take that, it's no problem," he said afterwards. "I can put it right. I'm not embarrassed by the result." However, four hours after the game, Solbakken was sacked as a manager. Two days after dismissal of Solbakken, wolves hired former Doncaster Rovers Manager Dean Saunders on 7. January. Saunders hoped he would improve Wolves position however that was no the case and Wolves were relegated from the Championship. It was for the first time since 1989 that Wolverhampton were outside the top two division. Saunders wanted to rebuild the team in League one but was sacked a couple days later. In addition, Wolves became the first team to be relegated from the top division to the third level within two years.
Following two consecutive relegations, Wolves hired Kenny Jackett as manager at the start of the 2013 season. He aimed to transfer list key players to make greater use of the clubs youth academy players. Wolves were confident at the start of the season starting on a 6-match unbeaten run and 11 matches unbeaten with one loss in between. Wolves strong beginning put them on top of the table at the start of the new year. Wolves strengthed their Squad in the January transfer window and signed 5 players, including prolific striker Nouha Dicko. With the new signings, wolves went on a club record nine straight victories. Wolves finished the season with 103 which was a new Record for the League One. Manager Kenny Jacket won the LMA (League Managers Association) manager of the year.
After being promoted back to the Championship, Wolves started strong in the league and in January wolves found themselves in 8th place. Wolves signed Benik Afobe from Arsenal who was top Goalscorer in League One with MK Dons on loan. However, at the end season, Wolves finished 7th missing out on the playoffs by goal difference. Wolves 78 points was the highest ever score by a team that did not qualify for the playoffs. In the next season many fans were confident that wolves would reach the playoffs but were disappointed as Wolves found themselves in 16th in January. The supporters’ frustration was increased when Benik Afobe was sold to Bournemouth in the January Transfer window. In the latter stages Wolves continued to be inconsistent and finished 14th and Wolves Owner, Steve Morgan Resigned.
Photo: Wolves former owner Steve Morgan, source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3256201/Wolves-CEO-Jez-Moxey-confirms-owner-Steve-Morgan-words-angry-fans-putting-Championship-club-sale-insists-not-reason.html
Start of a new Era?
Chinese investment group Fosun bought Wolves from Steve Morgan for 45 million pounds. Jeff Shi became the clubs representative and in an Interview with BBC, Jeff made his plans with wolves clear. "Our goal is crystal clear: we will do our very best to help take Wolves back to the Premier League as soon as possible and to stay there. "We believe the club and the fans belong at the top of English football and getting there is our first and top priority." Wolves hired Walter Zenga to replace manager Kenny Jackett. Zenga brought staggering 13 players into the club including Portuguese Winger Helder Costa on loan and Icelandic Striker Jón Daði Böðvarsson for 2.7 million pounds. Despite new signings, Wolves struggled to perform and Zenga was sacked after just managing 14 league games with the team in 18th position. Paul Lambert was hired in place of Zenga on 5 November. Wolves had a great run in the FA Cup, winning premier league teams stoke 2-0 and Liverpool 2-1 before losing to Chelsea in the 5th round 0-2. On the other hand, wolves remained in the bottom half of the table and finished 15th. It was announced on 30 may Wolves would not extent Paul Lamberts contract
Photo: Wolves current club representative Jeff Shi, source: https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2017/06/10/jeff-shi-becomes-chairman-of-wolves--and-relocates-to-wolverhampton/
Shortly after Lambert´s departure, Wolves signed former Porto and Valencia manager Nuno Espirito Santo. He became 7th manager since 2012 and the fourth boss in 10 months. Nuno had great success with Porto, he finished 2nd in the Primera league and reached the final 16 of the Champions League. Jeff Shi continued to allow Wolves to spend and Nuno brought in 17 players including club and league record signing Ruben Neves, youngest ever captain in the Champions League for 15.8 million pounds. Likewise, Nuno also offloaded 9 players, including Jón Daði Böðvarsson, which failed to perform and only scored 3 goals in 42 games. Wolves contradicted last season poor beginning by only losing two of their first games putting them second in the table. Nuno success brought interest from Everton, who recently sacked Koeman. According to Guillem Balague at Sky sports, said that Nuno would not leave Wolves. "The answer to that from the representatives was that not even the biggest club in the world will take him away from Wolves right now," he said. „That is basically the message sent by him. He is focused on the job at hand, he considers the Championship one of the strongest leagues in the world, one of the most difficult ones in the world to actually win, and he is in the process of doing that.
Despite the rumours, Wolves were stronger than ever. They went on a 13-match unbeaten run before finally losing 0-2 against Nottingham Forest on 20 January. In January Wolves brought Benik Afobe back to the club on loan from Bournemouth. Wolves dominance in the Championship continues and today they are first, 6 points clear of Cardiff city. However, some rivals club are suspicious of Wolves transfer and according to Birmingham mail, a couple of Championship clubs want authorities to lunch an investigation into Wolves Financial Affairs. One official said: “If Wolves have brought in players such as Neves for £15m, he must be being paid as a player worth £15m should be. It’s the same with others they have brought in from Monaco, Atletico Madrid and Valencia. None of these players would come on the cheap. Something doesn’t add up”.
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Post by: Guðjón Ingi Ingólfsson
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