Football Season Review

Wolverhampton Wanderers started life in League One with their sole goal being to return to the Championship at the first time of asking. Despite suffering back to back relegations and losing some of their best players over the summer, the Wolves were widely seen as the favourites to win the division, but life was not always as easy for Kenny Jackett's men as a look at the final League One table would suggest. Jackett, who took over last summer, needed a lot of time to make the squad his own, and he faced heavy criticism from pundits and fans alike due to the unattractive style of football his men played in the first half of the season. The Wolves did have some flashes of brilliance between August and December, but they managed to keep up with leaders Leyton Orient mostly thanks to flashes of individual brilliance by Bakary Sako and Leigh Griffiths, whose goals often papered over the cracks and helped the Wolves get points from games in which they did not play well. However, it was obvious all along that Jackett was not happy to see his side continuing to collect points and not playing well, and he worked very hard to reshape the squad, ship out the players who did not want to be at the club and replace them with quality alternatives. He therefore made the difficult decisions to part ways with both Griffiths and Kevin Doyle, who spent the second half of the season on loan to QPR, and made several signings, such as James Henry, Michael Jacobs and Nouha Dicko, who all added much needed flair and goals to his side. The Wolves started to hit their top gear in January, an never looked back, as they kept winning games with ease and did not have a single dip in form in the second half of the season. They ended up clinching direct promotion with five games to spare and secured the division title with three games remaining, breaking several club and division records in the process. Everyone associated with the club will, without question, be delighted with the season the Wolves had, but Jackett will know that he cannot afford to rest on his laurels, as he will be expected to use the summer to turn the Wolves into a side capable of pushing for back to back promotions.

Player of the Season: Kevin McDonald