Good, bad and ugly – three managers in one season
Wolves almost scraped the play-offs despite a managerial merry-go-round
Season 1993-94
WOLVES and Albion had totally different seasons out on the pitch, finishing 8th and 21st repectively in Division One, while Walsall took tenth place in Division Three.
For Wolves it was a stop-go campaign. They had good, bad and ugly spells under three managers – Graham Turner (up to March), Peter Shirtliff as caretaker-boss and then at the end Graham Taylor.
Wolves’ seasonal record was played 46, won 17, drew 17 and lost 12, goals scored 60, goals coceded 47, points 68 – 22 adrift of champions Crystal Palace, 15 fewer than runners-up Nottingham Forest, yet only three off the play-offs! In fact, they won just one and drew two of their last five games, and that was so disappointing.
Biggest win
Wolves’ biggest win was that of 4-0 away at Derby in early November when Steve Bull bagged yet another hat-trick, while their heaviest defeat was a 4-0 reverse at relegation-threatended Oxford in April. This was a certainly a bad day at the office!
With 14 goals, Bully was once again the team’s top scorer in League games, followed by David Kelly with 11. Goalkeeper Mike Stowell was the only ever-present.
After the joy of gaining promotion, Albion started the season with a new manager in charge – Keith Burkinshaw – former assistant to Ossie Ardiles, who surprisingly resigned after just one term in office.
But things didn’t go at all well for ‘Burky’, despite some seemingly good signings. The Baggies struggled for long periods, both at home and away, and in the end they had to win their last game of the season, away at Portsmouth, to stay up! Thankfully they did just that, courtesy of a header by new signing from Preston, Lee Ashcroft … but it was a close call. Albion’s record for the season was played 46, won 13, drew 12, lost 21, goals for 60, goals against 69, points 51 … 39 less than champions Palace.
Heaviest loss
Things didn’t go well for Albion despite some seemingly good signings
Their biggest win of a moderate campaign was 4-1, achieved twice, at home to Portsmouth and Watford, while their heaviest loss came at Derby where they went down 5-3. They also lost 4-1 at home to the champions.
Bob Taylor (18 goals) and Andy Hunt (12) led the scoring list, while no less than 30 players were used during the season.