2014–15 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

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Wolverhampton Wanderers
2014–15 season
Chairman Steve Morgan
Head coach Kenny Jackett
Championship 7th
FA Cup 3rd round
League Cup 1st round
Top goalscorer League: Bakary Sako (15)
All: Nouha Dicko & Bakary Sako (15)
Highest home attendance 28,132
(vs Blackpool,
17 January 2015)
Lowest home attendance 6,171
(vs Northampton,
12 August 2014)
Average home league attendance 22,419
Home colours
Away colours
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 season was the 116th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club competed in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League Championship, following their return to the second level after being promoted as champions from League One at the first attempt.

The club finished the season in seventh position, missing out on a play-off place on goal difference. Their tally of 78 points represented the highest points tally not to earn a play-off place since the system was introduced.[1]

Season review

Following their record-breaking promotion from League One, pre-season training began on 26 June with Wolves having already made two of their three summer signings with Tommy Rowe and Rajiv van La Parra arriving on free transfers;[2] Chelsea academy graduate George Saville would join for a fee in late August but fail to make any impact before being loaned out.[3] The transfer window saw deals reached to remove some of the club's transfer listed players from the wage bill with Tongo Doumbia, Jamie O’Hara and Stephen Ward all moving on.

The season began with a 1–0 win over newly-relegated Norwich, which was soon followed by two further 1–0 wins against the other two teams to have fallen out of the Premier League, Fulham and Cardiff, respectively. The team lost just twice in their opening 15 league fixtures, bringing them a place in the top 4 of the division. However, a lengthy hamstring injury to striker Nouha Dicko left the team lacking attacking options, with Leon Clarke having scored just once.[4] The loan acquisition of Hull striker Yannick Sagbo failed to solve the issue as the player's lack of fitness became apparent and the deal was cut short.[5][6] A second Premier League striker was loaned in with Sunderland's Danny Graham then having a six-week stay but providing only one goal.[7] During this time Wolves suffered five defeats in a row, their worst run at Championship level since 1991, dropping them into mid-table.[8]

With Dicko regaining fitness by the Christmas period, the team went two months undefeated and bolstered their attacking threat by signing Benik Afobe from Arsenal,[9] who had led the goalscoring charts while on loan at League One side MK Dons.[10] The January window saw the departures of two further transfer listed players, Roger Johnson and Kevin Foley.[11][12] The following months saw the team regain a footing in the promotion race, as they became one of the eight clubs at the top of the division to break clear of the remaining teams.

After sitting in 8th place for several weeks, a run of four consecutive victories in late March/early April allowed them to finally break back into the play-off positions. However, they immediately suffered two consecutive losses - at local rivals Birmingham and promotion contenders Middlesbrough - that dropped them again down to 8th. After a home match against fellow play-off challenger Ipswich, managed by former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, finished 1–1, Wolves were left needing to hope that teams above them would drop sufficient points in the final two rounds of games to allow them back into the top 6. Although Wolves won their final two games to catch Ipswich on points, their goal difference proved insufficient to overtake either the East Anglian club or Brentford, who had been promoted as runners-up behind Wolves in the previous season. Wolves' tally of 78 points was the highest-achieved to date by a team that did not qualify for the play-offs since their introduction.[1]

Results

Pre season

Championship

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See also: 2014–15 Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League Championship in the 2014–15 season. Each team played every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.

The provisional fixture list was released on 18 June 2014, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.[13]

Matches
Results summary
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
46 22 12 12 70 56  +14 78 13 6 4 42 23  +19 9 6 8 28 33  −5

Source: Statto.com

Results by round
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
Result W L W W W D D W D L D D W W D L L L L L W D W W W W D D L W L W W W L D D W W W W L L D W W
Position 7 14 9 4 3 3 4 3 3 7 7 7 4 3 4 6 9 11 12 13 12 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 6 8 8 8 8 7

Source: Statto.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

League table
Pos Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
5 Brentford 46 23 9 14 78 59 +19 78 Qualification for Championship play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
6 Ipswich Town 46 22 12 12 72 54 +18 78
7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 22 12 12 70 56 +14 78
8 Derby County 46 21 14 11 85 56 +29 77
9 Blackburn Rovers 46 17 16 13 66 59 +7 67
Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2015. Source: Sky Sports
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
Notes:
  1. ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

FA Cup

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See also: 2014–15 FA Cup

League Cup

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See also: 2014–15 Football League Cup

Players

Statistics

Key

      ‡ On loan from another club       * First appearance(s) for the club

Correct as of end of season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.


No. Pos Name P G P G P G P G A yellow card A red card Notes
League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
1 GK Nigeria Carl Ikeme 33 0 2 0 0 0 35 0 0 0
2 DF Republic of Ireland Matt Doherty 26(7) 0 2 0 1 0 29(7) 0 4 1
3 DF England Scott Golbourne 23(4) 0 0 0 0 0 23(4) 0 2 0
4 MF Wales David Edwards 32(9) 6 1(1) 2 0(1) 0 33(11) 8 3 0
5 DF England Richard Stearman 38(4) 0 2 0 1 0 41(4) 0 11 0
6 DF England Danny Batth 44 4 2 0 0 0 46 4 7 0
7 MF England James Henry 23(14) 5 2 0 1 0 26(14) 5 1 0
8 MF England David Davis † 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 MF England George Saville ¤ 5(2) 0 0 0 0 0 5(2) 0 3 0
9 FW England Leon Clarke ¤ 5(11) 2 1(1) 0 1 0 7(12) 2 3 0
10 MF Mali Bakary Sako 39(2) 15 1 0 0(1) 0 40(3) 15 2 1[lower-alpha 1]
11 MF Scotland Kevin McDonald 45(1) 0 1 0 0 0 46(1) 0 8 1
12 FW Ivory Coast Yannick Sagbo ‡ 1(3) 0 0 0 0 0 1(3) 0 0 0
12 FW England Danny Graham ‡ 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0
12 FW England Benik Afobe 19(2) 13 0 0 0 0 19(2) 13 1 0
13 GK Republic of Ireland Aaron McCarey 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
14 MF Wales Lee Evans 18(1) 1 2 0 1 0 21(1) 1 6 0
15 MF England Tommy Rowe 7(7) 0 0 0 0 0 7(7) 0 0 0
16 FW Republic of Ireland Kevin Doyle ¤ 0(6) 0 0 0 0 0 0(6) 0 0 0
17 MF Netherlands Rajiv van La Parra 29(11) 1 1 1 0 0 30(11) 2 2 1[lower-alpha 2]
18 DF Wales Sam Ricketts (c) ¤ 4 0 0 0 1 1 5 1 2 0
19 MF England Jack Price ¤ 20(3) 1 2 0 1 0 22(4) 1 5 0
20 FW Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden ¤ 1(5) 0 1 0 1 0 3(5) 0 0 0
21 MF England Zeli Ismail ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 DF England Ethan Ebanks-Landell 9(5) 2 0 0 1 0 10(5) 2 2 0
27 MF England Michael Jacobs ¤ 3(8) 0 0 0 1 0 4(8) 0 0 0
29 GK Poland Tomasz Kuszczak 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0
30 DF England Kortney Hause ¤ 15(2) 0 0 0 0 0 15(2) 0 1 0
31 GK England Jon Flatt ¤ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 DF Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley ¤† 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 DF England Dominic Iorfa 20 0 2 0 0 0 22 0 4 0
39 FW France Ibrahim Keita 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 FW Mali Nouha Dicko 30(7) 14 0(2) 0 0(1) 1 30(10) 15 5 0
  1. ↑ Rescinded on appeal on 10 March
  2. ↑ Rescinded on appeal on 9 December

Awards

Award Winner[14]
Fans' Player of the Season Richard Stearman
Players' Player of the Season Richard Stearman
Young Player of the Season Dominic Iorfa
Academy Player of the Season Regan Upton
Goal of the Season James Henry
(vs Bolton, 31 January 2015)

Transfers

In

Date Player From Fee
3 June 2014 England Tommy Rowe Peterborough United Free[15]
10 June 2014 Netherlands Rajiv van La Parra Heerenveen Free[16]
26 August 2014 England George Saville Chelsea Undisclosed[3]
3 November 2014 Poland Tomasz Kuszczak Unattached Free[17][18]
5 January 2015 England Jordan Graham Aston Villa Undisclosed[19]
14 January 2015 England Benik Afobe Arsenal Undisclosed[20]

Out

Date Player To Fee
June 2014 England Jordan Cranston Released[lower-alpha 1] Free[21][22]
June 2014 Cameroon George Elokobi Released[lower-alpha 2] Free[23][24]
June 2014 Sweden Tim Jakobsson Released Free[21]
June 2014 Slovakia Kristian Kostrna Released Free[21]
June 2014 England David Moli Released Free[21]
June 2014 Wales Robbie Parry Released Free[21]
June 2014 England Jamie Reckord Released[lower-alpha 3] Free[25][26]
June 2014 England Jamie Tank Released[lower-alpha 4] Free[21][27]
June 2014 England Sam Whittall Released[lower-alpha 5] Free[21][28]
18 June 2014 England Michael Ihiekwe Tranmere Rovers Free[29]
11 August 2014 England David Davis Birmingham City Undisclosed[30]
12 August 2014 Republic of Ireland Anthony Forde Walsall Undisclosed[31]
15 August 2014 Republic of Ireland Stephen Ward Burnley Undisclosed[32]
28 August 2014 England Jamie O'Hara Released[lower-alpha 6] Free[33][34]
29 August 2014 Mali Tongo Doumbia Toulouse Undisclosed[33]
12 January 2015 Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley Released[lower-alpha 7] Free[35]
2 February 2015 England Roger Johnson Released[lower-alpha 8] Free[36]
  1. ↑ Following his release, Cranston joined Notts County on 1 September.
  2. ↑ Following his release, Elokobi joined Oldham Athletic on 8 August.
  3. ↑ Following his release, Reckord joined Ross County on 17 September.
  4. ↑ Following his release, Tank joined Leamington on 1 August.
  5. ↑ Following his release, Whittall joined Cambridge United on 14 August.
  6. ↑ Following his release, O'Hara joined Blackpool on 5 November.
  7. ↑ Following his release, Foley joined Copenhagen on 12 January.
  8. ↑ Following his release, Johnson joined Charlton Athletic on 3 February.

Loans in

Date Player From End Date
30 September 2014 Ivory Coast Yannick Sagbo Hull City 13 November 2014[37][6]
14 November 2014 England Danny Graham Sunderland 31 December 2014[38]
27 November 2014 England Jordan Graham Aston Villa 4 January 2015[39]
27 November 2014 England Donovan Wilson Bristol Rovers 4 January 2015[39]

Loans out

Date Player To End Date
18 July 2014 England Zeli Ismail Notts County 4 January 2015[40]
25 July 2014 Wales Jake Cassidy Notts County 4 January 2015[41]
28 July 2014 England Kortney Hause Gillingham 24 November 2014[42][43]
1 September 2014 England Jack Price Yeovil Town 4 October 2014[44]
1 September 2014 Republic of Ireland Kevin Doyle Crystal Palace 1 January 2015[45]
11 September 2014 Austria Georg Margreitter Chesterfield 13 December 2014[46]
2 October 2014 Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden Fleetwood Town 30 October 2014[47][48]
7 October 2014 England Jack Price Leyton Orient 3 December 2014[49][50]
9 October 2014 Portugal Eusébio Bancessi Cheltenham Town 6 November 2014[51]
20 November 2014 England Jon Flatt Wrexham 5 January 2015[52]
27 November 2014 Republic of Ireland Kevin Foley Blackpool 3 January 2015[53]
13 January 2015 Iceland Björn Sigurðarson Copenhagen 30 June 2015[54]
15 January 2015 Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden Fleetwood Town End of season[55]
15 January 2015 Wales Jake Cassidy Southend United End of season[56]
15 January 2015 England George Saville Bristol City 20 April 2015[57]
23 January 2015 England Scott Dutton Crawley Town 21 February 2015[58]
2 February 2015 England Ashley Carter Chesterfield End of season[59][60]
2 February 2015 England Leon Clarke Wigan Athletic End of season[61]
12 March 2015 England Michael Jacobs Blackpool 9 April 2015[62][63]
21 March 2015 Wales Sam Ricketts Swindon Town End of season[64]
26 March 2015 England Jon Flatt Chesterfield 24 April 2015[65][66]

Management and coaching staff

Position Name
Head Coach Kenny Jackett
Assistant head Coach Joe Gallen
First Team Fitness and Conditioning Coach Tony Daley
Goalkeeping Coach Pat Mountain
Head of Football Development and Recruitment Kevin Thelwell
Head of Recruitment Stuart Webber
Academy Manager Gareth Prosser
Club Doctor Dr Matthew Perry
Club Physio Carl Howarth

Kit

The season brought both new home and away kits again manufactured by supplier PUMA.[67] The new home kit featured the club's traditional gold and black colours with black arms, which had been worn on the final day of the previous season,[68] while the away kit was an all white design with black collar.[69] Both shirts featured sponsor What House? for a second and final season.[70]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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