Whether it was evolution or revolution, it was unmistakably one of the most turbulent, troublesome, and triumphant period of Wolves current history.
From 2003 to 2023, the club had three different owners and a dozen or so managers, given the occasional caretaker or two. It was a long and winding road and it led to the doors and hearts of all committed supporters.
Now the journey has been traced in a new book, Revolution of Wolves – A Premier League Trilogy 2002-2023, written by journalists Paul Berry and Johnny Phillips. Midlands journalist and lifelong Wolves fan Dave Harrison has given his thoughts to wolves.co.uk.
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Berry and Phillips are committed fans of the club, but they have tackled the task with unfailing independence. It is a forensic study of the 20 years, but it is performed with both knowledge and emotion.
The range of interviews with all the main characters are revealing, insightful, and exclusive. Their frank discussions are far removed from the sanitised, cliched outpourings we so often see from the current mainstream media.
Pride of place goes to the Nuno management era, where the subliminal heights of his period in charge are captured in intimate detail.
Nuno’s dream began in earnest on a flight to Innsbruck for a pre-season training camp before the 2017 season. There was an empty seat on the plane next to Conor Coady and the new manager headed towards it.
“I can see the gaffer walking on,” said Coady. “I am just thinking ‘don’t sit there, whatever you do.’ I stand up and let him through and yes, he’s sitting next to me for the two-hour flight.
“It was the best conversation I have ever had in footy. On a plane going to Austria. Because he told me everything he was going to do. And everything he did in his time at Wolves and the approach he took, he told me it all in that conversation. That’s not an exaggeration.”
Coady immediately bought into the new manager’s philosophy and the book goes into further detail about how success evolved from that high-flying discussion with the soon-to-be new captain. He was ready for take-off.
There are countless interviews with all the main characters from that era and an insight into the revolutionary fitness procedures which Nuno introduced.
Did you know about Game Ready ice machines, complex muscle stimulation devices and bespoke compression garments to simulate the body’s lymphatic system? You will find out about them in the pages of the book.
And did you know that Joao Moutinho was something of an expert leg break bowler – a skill he developed in random games of cricket in Ruben Neves’s back garden.
The injury to Raul Jiminez after his head clash with Arsenal’s David Luiz is described in painful terms. Coady takes up the story: “As we’ve come down, Raul dropped on his side. He was lying on his side and then his nose started gushing blood.
“Leander [Dendoncker] was the nearest and tried to pull him over and we all shouted ‘No. don’t do it.’ It was the worst experience I had in football, seeing a friend like that, not just a team-mate.
“At half-time we never even talked about football. The only thing Nuno said was: ‘Let’s get this game over and go.’ We won the game 2-1 but it wasn’t about that.”
Nuno’s departure from the club was also wrapped in emotional despair and is dealt with in minute detail and interviews with Jeff Shi open that issue in great detail.
The interviews come thick and fast with all the main characters and an examination of the three owners, Sir Jack Hayward, Steve Morgan and Fosun international reveal one common factor. They have all been accused by fans, at various times, of failing to provide sufficient funds, despite their substantial investments in the club.
It was on a car park at Preston North End’s Deepdale Stadium where the end came for Steve Morgan, who had travelled to the game with his then partner Sally and her son Hugo.
“I was unbuckling Hugo from his seat when a bunch of Wolves fans came across the car park. “Spend your ******’ money Morgan’ they said. “You’re letting the club down.’
“I had a four year-old child in my arms and answered ‘Come on lads, there’s no need for that. I’ve got a young kid here.”
After the game there was more abuse. There was a note on his windscreen which said; “Steve, spend you cash or **** off out of our club.” While driving home that night, Morgan decided it was time to depart.”
This was a man who fulfilled the promise to his predecessor Sir Jack, spending countless millions on the new Stan Cullis Stand, the club museum and megastore as well as major investment in the team.
Going further back Paul and Johnny gained interviews with all the managers from the earlier days and I was particularly fascinated by the section on Glenn Hoddle.
Players like Joleon Lescott and Lee Naylor rated him highly as a coach and so did Matt Murray, who recounts one revealing training ground episode. “He was still amazing in training,” said the former keeper.
“He was just a genius but sometimes it was a bit too complicated. We were practising this set piece at the top end by the canal once, and he wanted us to do the one where you drill the ball to the edge of the box and someone comes in and volleys it.
“We were trying to get the ball to the edge of the box but it wasn’t quite coming off. He just walked over and said: ‘This is your pass.’ Bang. He nails it.
“Then the person at the other end mishits the volley and somebody passes it to him and he just pings the volley in. He had an aura. He was so good.”
Wolves finished seventh in Hoddle’s season in charge, scoring just and in 46 league games, Wolves managed just 50 goals. Sounds familiar?
If it’s food fights, fist fights, the Bomb Squad, you want they are all in this excellent book. But let me end this review on rather a sad note and how Nuno’s dream faded at the end.
There was Covid, empty stadia and the Wolves coach was unable to see his family back in Portugal. “Every now and then we would have a chat and say what’s up with the gaffer,” Coady recalls.
“We were all asking: ‘Do you think he’s lonely?’ It was horrible to think that might be the case because we went into work with him and wanted him to be the Nuno of the previous three years.”
But after his final game in charge – a 2-1 defeat against Manchester United, Coady and Adama Traore went into the manager’s office to say their final goodbyes.
Conor remembers it well: “After a while he said to Adama, ‘No matter where I go whatever the club, I’m going to take you with me.’ And I’m sat there thinking ‘What? I worked with you for four years what’s going on here?’
“And he just burst out laughing. It was good to see him like this.”
That’s the Nuno we all want to remember.
Revolution of Wolves – A Premier League Trilogy 2003-2023 is published by Pitch Publishing and is available here on shop.wolves.co.uk, at the Molineux Megastore, Waterstones in Wolverhampton and on Amazon.
