Two managers and a title – bottom-placed Wolves have shaken up the Premier League
· Yahoo Sports
If you just looked at the league table, Wolverhampton Wanderers are having one of the worst seasons in Premier League history. They’ll do better than Derby County’s infamous 11 points (across 38 games!), but expecting them to double their points tally in the last 11 games of the season is wishful thinking, regardless of how good a manager one thinks Rob Edwards is.
And yet, Wolves have helped dispatched two Premier League managers and with a 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal last night, they’ve also dragged Arsenal back into a three-way title race when Arteta’s men looked like they had one hand on the trophy.
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And if you look at Wolves’ results this season, it’s woeful reading, but there are highlights that mark the damage they’ve done to other clubs. Here’s a look at the seasons they’ve disrupted:
West Ham
Wolves knocked out West Ham out of EFL League Cup back in August, one of the early results in wretched stretch of form for the Hammers under Graham Potter before he got sacked end September.
Wolves meanwhile would go on to knock out Everton of the League Cup as well (while still on zero points in the league) before snatching their first point away at Tottenham – around the same time Potter was getting sacked.
Wolves would also beat West Ham 3-0 in the league early January (a few days after the draw at Old Trafford, discussed below) – a game that kept West Ham mired in a relegation battle.
Manchester United
After beating Everton 2-0 in the cup, Wolves went on a run of 14 games without a win – a few draws here and there but a dismal run and a 1-4 lashing by Manchester United at home to boot.
But the reverse fixture at Old Trafford was a different story. United were without their Africa Cup of Nations contingent, and barely scrapped to a 1-1 draw. It was the final game of the year, and for Ruben Amorim, this led to a behind-the-scenes argument with techincal director Jason Wilcox which eventually led to his sacking a few days later.
Wolves had their first scalp.
Nottingham Forest
Forest are having a terrible season of their own having recently appointed their fourth manager. They’re also barely above the relegation zone, and weren’t helped by a 0-0 draw against Wolves last week. That game saw Wolves get their 9th point of the season, but also their second managerial scalp.
Forest’s third manager, Sean Dyche, was sacked after that game, and eventually replaced by Vitor Pereira, a former Wolves manager. The circle (circus?) continues.
Arsenal
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
The all-too-familiar feeling of their team struggling to cross the finish line has possibly caused permanent psychological damage to many Arsenal fans over the last few seasons (or the last few decades rather). There was talk over the weekend about Arsenal ‘looking scared’ (Overlap Fan Debate, so it doesn’t count for much) but that came after their 1-1 draw away to Brentford last week.
Arsenal have been in fine form in the cups – one foot in the League Cup final (although Chelsea could still do a smash and grab at Stamford Bridge in the second league of the semifinal), through to the fifth round of the FA Cup and topping the league table in the Champions League – a club in rude health and fine form.
Arsenal are still mathematically the favourites to win the league – five points in hand, one more game played, but crucially, both Manchester City and Aston Villa have shown weaknesses this season and are capable of losing the odd game in five.
But psychology matters, and until they can actually see a season through and come out as champions, the doubts will be there. It doesn’t matter whether this observer thinks they should still win – the fans need to back the team in the stands and the players themselves need to back themselves win the remaining games, even if it means ignoring the domestic cups.
Were Arsenal to fail to become Premier League champions after leading the league for so long – then Wolves fans will have one more scalp to celebrate as they prepare for a season in the Championship.
And as for fans of other clubs – the meltdown will be immensely pleasurable to watch.