28 Sep 2012 21:24:40
For all of you that slate Morgan perhaps you should remove your rose tinted glasses and read this article which is an extract from a book by Dave Jones!
We™d developed a three-year plan to win promotion when I joined, and I had achieved it in two.
The atmosphere was unbelievable, everyone was pulling the right way. The fans were delirious with joy and swarmed on to the streets of the city to party as we showed off the play-off trophy final on our open-topped bus tour.
It was a fantastic achievement, but, as we™ve seen many times before, if you get into the Premiership you have to have funds to strengthen.¯
At a meeting with the board and then owner Sir Jack Hayward - now Wolves president - Jones was asked how much it would take to keep the club up. Twenty million pounds,¯ he replied. How much to finish in the top half? was the next question. Up to 30 million,¯ he replied.
The third question was: How much to win the whole thing?¯ Jones says he was amazed by the boldness of that question and gave a truthful answer: Why don™t we just consolidate and make sure we stay up, then slowly build?¯
Jones was encouraged by the questions but says: Imagine my disbelief when the board stumped up next to nothing. Three million quid was all I was offered. Laughable. Peanuts. Pocket money. The kind of money that buys you one player, and an average one at that.
I had to stay and attempt to achieve the impossible instead of just walking away, as some would have done.¯
He had lined up a few players who would have cost around £16m but had to change his plans.
I will never understand why, having waited 19 years to get there, they didn™t throw money at it. I never found out Sir Jack™s reasons,¯ he wrote. In the January transfer window I did get another couple of million ... but even that was vastly insufficient and anyway we were too far off the pace by then.¯
As the club headed towards relegation Jones was told by friends and other managers that he should move on, but he didn™t. I had a lot of respect for the people at Wolves and, still, for Sir Jack. I was just confused and angry about how he had failed to back me, the club and the fans after promotion,¯he added.
Now I'm not knocking Sir Jack, but perhaps its time to be thankful for the backing SM gives.
And before you all moan about how we only spent 7million yet racked in 20odd million this summer, remember that money still sits in the bank and can be used wisely on well scouted players, rather than blowing it all on crap.
Wolves Moose
Woooh thas kind of sinks in.. When you think about it like that seems like sm building what could be something special..
I think the bloke desires abit of a chant at the football think most of us fans only see what we wana see..
Wolves ay we
I can still remember the 'rush' of signings and being told about Silas's potential, Okoronkwo's international pedigree and the experience of Iverson and Luzhny. They came for next to nothing and now we know that Dave Jones didn't really want them and was already disillusioned...and then it all turned to dust! You don't have to like SM, but you do have to respect his business track record. He will be financially prudent, but will also take risks and I think bringing in SS and backing some of the foreign imports shows that. He also must know that going up we will need a further injection of transfer cash to compete. For now, there's also the need to keep back if SS wants to strengthen in January.
Did u see Wolves flag at 20/20 England game today? :) I'm goin 3-1 Mighty Wolves today! Paul Tamworth
Silas and Okonwronko (wasn't he in the Wombles?) never got a chance. Saw Okon........ at Man City and he looked handy. As for Luzhny - he was just after the cash after his time at Arsenal before hanging up his boots.
Never saw it m8. Cant stand cricket. N i hate golf even more! Lol. Fantastic win 2day tho. U.T.W's!
I saw Silas play several times and he was frail and lacked confidence...aka useless!
Its mad 2 think tht Silass was back up 2 Figo? Lol. Wht was the Portagal manager thinking? Lol. He was terrible! Luckily for them Figo was never really injured.
Maybe got his back up, or backed up his computer, but not backed him up in the team!
...hard to believe that Silas had a couple of seasons with Mourinho and won three caps for Portugal in the years just before he came to us. Also, that he went back and played for three teams in their top division afterwards. It just shows that a team in trouble and a foreign player who's a bit frail don't mix. Just hope SS hasn't got one in our latest clutch.
What about the fact that Jones spunked over 24 million up the wall on over the hill dross, with no resale value, in the previous years trying to get us promoted.
In over four years he brought in people like Rae, Kennedy, Miller and Cameron got us promoted after years and then suffered no real Monet and Murray/Lescott injured...yeah, all his fault rather than the Boards...
Some of the people in that period like Luzhy would be in an all time worst XI, with Silas a good partner for Corica and Ferguson in midfield. You can't blame Dave Jones for those two!