The Molineux faithful can be pleased with the efforts of their team last season on returning to the Premiership under Mick McCarthy. With plans afoot to increase the stadium to a 50,000 capacity, things are looking brighter for Wolves across the board. Now, McCarthy has begun to strengthen the side to continue progressing upwards and onwards. Two major signings have come in and I have to say I’m impressed with both of them.

Equalling the club record signing of the industrious Kevin Doyle, is Steven Fletcher from Burnley. I thought Fletcher had an excellent season for the Clarets, in what was a tough learning curve for both himself and the club. Wolves, for all the industry and opportunities they created, struggled for goals. With just 32 goals in the Premiership they were the lowest scorers in the league, which considering they finished 15th, is remarkable.

It was crucial that they strengthened the options they had upfront and with Fletcher already having one season under his belt, it made sense to go for someone who knows the league. Added to that, surely Sylvan Ebanks-Blake can’t have as disappointing a season as last year. It was surprising that he struggled so much in front of goals. I appreciate he missed pre-season, which can have a massive effect, but he still has a nose for goal.

The signing of Jelle Van Damme is an inspired signing in my opinion, he’s really looked a top quality player these last two or three seasons at Anderlecht. Belgium seem to have a crop of really talented players coming through again, which I’m pleased to see. They’ve really struggled internationally the last decade or so and European football is the duller for that. With Anderlecht and Standard Leige bringing a good crop of youngsters through, Van Damme is one of the more experienced of the crop.

He’s already played in the Premiership, all be it for Southampton, spent a year in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen and has now been playing regular Champions League football with De Paars-Wit. He can only strengthen the Wolves defence across the board and Wolves fans should be pleased with this aquisition. McCarthy and Jez Moxey, the Chief Executive should be applauded for moving in to the transfer marker so quickly and quietly. No fuss, no messing about, they’ve chosen their targets and gone and signed them without playing fantasy football in the media.

With both players being signed nice and early they can get a full preseason under the belt with their new team-mates and ease the intergration in to a new side and set up. Since Steve Morgan took over at Wolves, they have continued to progress steadily and positively. No going mad and chasing a financial dream that weighs the club with debt here. The club simply go about business quietly and considerately.

It’s a long way since the days of Mark McGhee whining every week in the late 1990′s and a trail of big name managers that simply couldn’t cut the mustard. Liverpool fans must sometimes wonder what would have happened if Morgans attempt to invest in the club wasn’t blocked at every turn by David Moores. Moores clearly didn’t like Morgan, but for someone who claimed to only care about Liverpool’s future, Moores must take a large portion of the blame in regards to the chaos that surrounds Liverpool.

Wolves fans will not care one jot about Liverpool, the club is riding the crest of a positive wave and the things continue to move onwards and upwards for one of English footballs most famous names. Good luck to them and long may it continue.

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As is the usual preseason prediction, the three promoted sides are always the favourites to go straight back down. Last season gave us something of a novelty in recent years, with two of the three sides that came up in 2007-2008 staying with us for another year, as close as Hull tried to throw it all away. With Wolves returning to the Premiership after an absence of 5 seasons, they’ll be keen to hang in there for more than one season.

Let’s not forget that Wolves won the title last season and regardless of what anyone says, The Championship is the hardest league in the world to get out of in the right way. Leeds United, Charlton Athletic, Norwich City, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley have all gone the wrong way out of the league and the division is littered with sides that have big grounds, big squads and plenty of Premiership experience. Sure they faltered at the end, but not many clubs get up without a blip or two along the way. Newcastle United and Middlesbrough beware!

The 1990′s saw Wolves consistently challenge at the top of the Championship table, only to miss out in Play offs and falter in the final straight. Sir Jack Hayward, after taking over in 1990, spent plenty of money upgrading Molineux and attracting high calibre managers to the hot seat. For some reason, Wolves have a reputation as sacking club, but since 1990, they’ve only had 7 managers. Hardly the situation you would see at some other clubs in the same period who you would consider lesser sides in the scheme of things. Barnsley have had 12 managers, Sheffield Wednesday 11 and neither side has come close to returning to the Premiership this century.

The last experience of the Premiership for Wolves in the 2003-2004 season was one of gallant failure. The side was made up of aging pro’s who had plenty of Premiership experience but not necessarily the legs or skill required to keep them up finishing 6 points adrift of Everton. In the five years since they last played top flight football, the league has changed somewhat. 6 of the teams that finished above them have now been relegated, 3 of them suffering further with Leeds United and from next season Southampton and Charlton Athletic having another relegation out of the Championship.

The key factor this time around is the away form for Mick McCarthy’s men. Last time round, they didn’t manage to win a game away from home, conceding 4 or more goals 7 times and going 7 games without a win in two separate runs. The strike force of Miller, Blake and Iversen didn’t deliver and whilst Ganea, Cort and Camara tried their best once they came in, it was too little, too late.

This close season has seen Wolves smash their transfer record with the £6.5 million capture of Kevin Doyle. If they can get Doyle and the promising Sylvan Ebanks-Blake working in tandem in friendlies, that could be the relationship that keeps them up. With the promising Sam Vokes, Andrew Keogh and Stephen Ward in reserve, they need another striker who can get them goals if injury effects the first choice line up.

What he would give for discovering another Steve Bull on a bargain price from West Bromwich Albion again. Don’t forget though that Ebanks-Blake has hit 37 goals in 63 games since he joined them from Plymouth Argyle. He won the Golden Boot for being the league’s top scorer two seasons in a row, so he’s no mug and graduated through the ranks of Manchester United.

McCarthy has also added Andrew Surman, Nenad Milijas, Bobo Balde and Ronald Zubar as well as former Reading players Marcus Hahnemann and Greg Halford. I’m not surprised they went for an experienced goalkeeper, as solid as Wayne Hennessey and Matt Murray are, Hahnemann knows exactly what to expect in the Premier League. A strong character between the sticks is crucial and as highly rated as both current goalkeepers were, confidence can be shattered by a 4 or 5 goal mauling at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge.

There will be no doubt that Molineux will see Wolves and their fans celebrate wins, of that there is no doubt. Last time round, the home form wasn’t too bad all in all, keep things tight at home and go after teams like Stoke, Hull, Burnley, Birmingham and renowned travel sickness sufferers Spurs, Portsmouth and Fulham.

Don’t forget that Manchester United left with their tails between there legs after losing 1-0 last time they visited Wolves in the Premiership. Stoke City’s home support last season showed just how important crowd backing can be. It is crucial when you’re up against it and can make all the difference. If the crowd sense you’re giving 100%, they’ll match you all the way.

The other factor for Wolves now is the backing of owner Steve Morgan. Wolves have money to spend, but need quality over quantity. McCarthy had his hands tied with a miniscule budget whilst at Sunderland, but brought in too many players who simply couldn’t cope with the rigours of Premiership football. He’ll know that another striker is the crucial signing, but I don’t see Wolves struggling this time.

It’ll be tight but I think they’ll stay up. They’ve got money, passionate noisy fans, the nucleus of a hungry, keen side and the fans should be looking forward to a steady season. A couple more signings are needed but they’ll be fine and with plans to expand the stadium, Wolves could be about to enter a new era in the best shape they’ve been in since 1960.

So, 5 years after relegation, the famous Black and Gold strip of  Wolverhampton Wanderers has made a belated return to the Premiership after Saturdays tense 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at Molineux. It’s an impressive return from a complete turn around from the side relegated from the Premiership under Dave Jones back in 2003-2004 season, Jones was unable to push them back up and was replaced by Glenn Hoddle but he also failed in his attempt to return Wolves back to the Premiership.

It was the choice to replace Hoddle with Mick McCarthy in the Summer of 2006 that saw the green shoots of recovery appear at Wolves. Taking over a team short on confidence and players, the expectations were for a tough season of mid-table mediocrity, but McCarthy exceeded all expectations by steering his collection of youth players and experienced Championship players to the play offs, before ultimately losing in the semi finals. Last season saw Wolves make a slow start and crushingly missed out on the play offs by the slimmest of margins, goal difference but the club didn’t panic.It stood by the manager and gave him the funds to strengthen the side for a proper tilt at the title.

The key to this patience was the new owner Steve Morgan, who may be a name familiar to Liverpool fans, as the man who tried to buy the club off the Moores family in 2004 before it all turned a little bit nasty at Anfield and Moores sold the club into a world of debt and petty squabbles under Gillette and Hicks. Morgan was eager to get himself involved in a football club that he could take to the next level and Wolves fitted the bill perfectly.

Morgan amazingly paid £10 to the owner, Sir Jack Hayward, to take over at Wolves but had to promise he would invest £30 million into the club. Morgan has been as good as his word, with his chief executive Jez Moxey and McCarthy working in tandem to identify the hungry and eager players they knew the club needed if it was to get back up to the Premiership. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was one such signing, at what now looks like a steal from Plymouth Argyle at £1.5 million. In 63 appearances for Wolves so far, he’s scored 37 goals, a remarkable return for the front man.

Now, i’m not going to go on one of those raining on a promotion teams party postings. In fact Wolves are possible one of the strongest clubs in terms of finances coming into the Premiership. They’ve made profits 3 seasons in a row, the owner has invested plenty of money on players and has plenty of cash to throw at the club if they need to invest more money. They know they cannot repeat the mistakes of the 2003-2004 season, when experienced free transfers and old legs just couldn’t gel to keep them in the league.Winning the play offs, left them chasing the sales over the Summer of 2003 and it showed.

They spent a pittance and got what they deserved: relegation.This time it’s completely different, Wolves should stay up easily, as long as McCarthy can attract the right type of player to balance the youthful, pacey and hungry side he’s developed. He’s eager to show that the lack of support he received from the board of Sunderland was a one off, that he can indeed manage at the top level.

Yet, look a the two clubs who came down with them that season, Leeds United and Leicester City. The Foxes have just won the title to return back to the Championship and Leeds will be hoping to follow them in the play offs from Divison One. What they would have given for the stability of Wolves in the same period, Leicester have had an amazing 11 people sat in the dug out since the beginning of 2006, Leeds United have had 7 people in the hot seat. That says a lot about Sir Jack Hayward and Steve Morgan and their refusal to listen to a minority of fans who wanted McCarthy sacked last summer.

Congratulations to Wolves and their passionate fans, I’ll be looking forward to visiting Molineux again next season and I think they’ve got a great season ahead of them in 2009-2010.

Maybe I’m a sentimentalist, but watching a former top flight stalwart fight for promotion holds an undeniable appeal. Former league giants Leeds United nearly made it back to the top flight in 2006, and I found this notion exciting. Leeds repaid my interest with a disastrous season the following year and relegation in the spring of 2007.

Now, Wolverhampton Wanderers sit atop the Championship table, five points clear of Birmingham City.

The once mighty Wolves, who won three top tier titles in the 50s (and were a mere point away from winning a fourth in 1960), sunk as low as the fourth division in the mid 80′s until they were saved from an untimely death by an ownership change in 1986.

Eventually, Sir Jack Haywood bought the club in 1990 and invested in making Molineux Stadium into “one of the most modern in the country.”¹

Wolves made it to the playoff semi-finals in 1995, 1997 and 2002. They finally enjoyed promotion to the top in 2003, but were relegated again at the end of the season.

In the summer of 2007, Cheshire businessman Steve Morgan bought the Wanderers. “I remember the days when Wolves were the greatest club in the land,” said Morgan after taking over the club.² “And, although times have changed, we are going to do our best to take Wolves back to where they were.”

Now, Morgan’s Wolves may have a great chance at making the leap back to the top flight.

Wolves certainly have a fight in them. Their goal differential of 24+ is second only to Reading, who sit third. And they have one of the most exciting strikers in the Championship in 23-year-old Sylvan Ebanks-Blake who was named FourFourTwo Championship Player of the Year and also won Mitre Goal of the Year for a stunning individual goal against Charlton Athletic in 2008.

Nine points clear of the playoff zone, Wolves still have to face Birmingham, Southampton, Derby County, Queens Park Rangers and Barnsley. Wolves have a strong away record (11, 3, 6) and are unbeaten against the sides they still have to play away. Birmingham, who held Wolves to a draw when they visited Molineux, will likely be the biggest challenge as they too are fighting for promotion. Southampton who currently sit in the relegation zone will also have the motivation to cause problems for Wolverhampton as three points and some goals could deliver them to safety.

Wolves hit a five match rut in February, earning two points from five matches, but seem to be back on the right path lately, enjoying four wins and a draw since their slump.

A lot can still happen and who knows how Wolves will fare if they do win promotion, but this remains one of the most exciting times for Wolverhampton in years. The dream is in sight. If only the side can remain focused.