Football Season Guide

Wolverhampton are starting life in League One after two years of hurt, as their previous two seasons ended in back to back relegations. The atmosphere at and around the Molineux Stadium has been toxic for some time, with the majority of fans being furious with both a lack of effort by certain players and the fact that the board kept appointing inexperienced managers following the dismissal of Mick McCarthy back in early 2012. Unsurprisingly, Dean Saunders was given the boot at the end of the previous season, with Kenny Jackett taking over following a six year stay at Millwall. Given the fact that the club ended the previous season with a lot of players who played for them in the Premier League still on their books, it is hardly a surprise that they had to cut the wage bill and suffered a real summer exodus of players - seven players have left so far, and at least a few more are expected to also depart, including the highly rated winger Bakary Sako. The only signing to date is Bolton defender Sam Ricketts but, as depressing as the list of departed players may seem, the Wolves still have a rather big squad and a number of players who are top quality by League One standards. In Jackett, they finally have an experienced and proven manager, and there is little doubt that anything but a promotion straight back into the Championship would be seen as a disaster by the majority of their fans.