2010-11 EPL Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Official Name: Wolverhampton Wanderers

Nickname: Wolves, The Wanderers

Home Colors: Gold and black

Trophy Case: Three First Division titles (1954, 1958, 1959); four FA Cup titles (1893, 1908, 1949, 1960); two League Cup titles (1974, 1980); 2008-09 Colaship title; Second Division titles in 1932 and 1977; Third Division titles in 1924 and 1989; Fourth Division title in 1988; 1988 Sherpa Van Trophy; and 1971 Texaco Cup. Wolves also were in the European Cup (now the Champions League) in 1958-59 and 1959-60.

2009-10 League Finish: 15^th in the EPL

2009-10 Average Home Attendance: 28,366

2009-10 Cup Finish: Wolves lost to Crystal Palace in a fourth-round replay in the FA Cup, and they were dumped out of the League Cup with a 1-0 third-round loss to Manchester United.

History:
Unlike Wigan, who have spent much of their existence outside of the Football League, Wolverhampton is one of the League’s founding clubs. The club was originally a school side formed in 1877, and Wolves finished third in the first year of the 12-team Football League in 1888. Over the years, Wolves have been in every division of the League. And here’s a tidbit you might not know: In 1967, Wolves played a summer season in the United States as the Los Angeles Wolves in the United Soccer Association, which later merged with the National Professional Soccer Association to become the NASL. In their summer in the States, Wolves won the Western Conference and defeated the Washington Whips (aka Aberdeen) in the championship. Since the 1970s, Wolves have been up, down, and all around. In the past few years, the club have started over twice with new players and, after years of struggle, got back to the Premiership last season.

Team Legends:
Paul Ince, Denis Irwin and our favorite commentator, Andy Gray, have all appeared in a Wolves shirt during their careers. The Wolves Hall of Fame was created last year and now has 12 names in it: Mike Bailey, Peter Broadbent, Steve Bull, Stan Cullis, Ron Flowers, Billy Harrison, Jackery Jones, Derek Parkin, John Richards, Bill Slater, Billy Wright and Bert Williams.

He can't even understand what he's saying.

Gaffer:
Irish happy man Mick McCarthy has led Wolves since 2006. Wait, did I say happy man? I meant dour, sour man Mick McCarthy.

Transfers In:
Adlene Guediours, undisclosed from RSC Charleroi
Jelle Van Damme, undisclosed from Anderlecht
Steven Fletcher, 6.5 million pounds from Burnley
Steven Mouyokolo, undisclosed from Hull City
Stephen Hunt, undisclosed from Hull City
Geoffrey Mujangi Bia, loan from RSC Charleroi (Belgium, if you were wondering)

Transfers Out:
Jason Shackle, undisclosed to Barnsley
Mark Little, free to Peterborough United
Chris Iwelumo, undisclosed to Burnley
Daniel Jones, free to Sheffield Wednesday
George Friend, free to Doncaster Rovers
Andrew Surman, undisclosed to Norwich City

Key Players:
Fletcher. The Scottish forward scored 12 times for Burnley last season. He would have led Wolves in goals with that tally by 3 — Wolverhampton scored a league-worst 32. Can he do it again?

Stephen Hunt. He’s an ugly bastard, but he’s the best quality Wolves have, and he creates down the wing with regularity. McCarthy will need that.

Rising Stars:
Matthew Jarvis. Sure, 24 isn’t exactly a rising star, but Jarvis has the ability and the drive to do something now that he has Hunt to take some attention to the other wing.

Molineux

Stadium:
Molineux. Wolves have been playing in the same location since 1889, though the current stadium has not one brick of the original.

Tactics!:
One of the knocks on McCarthy in his previous managerial jobs was they he played the same 4-4-2 style all the time without fail. With Wolves, he’s learned to use the players he has a little bit. They’ll come out in a 4-5-1 most times, relying on an organized defense and American Marcus Hahnemann in the net to keep things close. McCarthy admits it’s not pretty football, but he doesn’t apologize for going for the result when the club’s goal is survival in the EPL.

Probable Starting XI:
Hahnemann, Craddock, Berra, Zubar, Van Damme, Hunt, Henry, Jarvis, Guedioura, Edwards, Fletcher.

Question Marks:
The big question for Wolves is where will the goals come from? Sylvan Ebanks-Blake led the team with 9 last season, and defender Jamie Craddock was next with 5. That just won’t do this season.

Important Fixtures:
Manchester United v. Wolves, Nov. 6. This ends a run of matches with Chelsea, Citeh and United all in succession. If Wolves are already falling behind, this stretch could put them in a world of hurt heading into the holiday period.

Prediction:
Wolves are the classic lower-table team. They’ll struggle, and I think they will be on the edge of relegation again this year. They played above their station at the end of last season. I just don’t see them with enough quality to finish higher than 16th.