Albion sent down a year after their great escape
... and Wolves miss out again
Season 2005-06 Part One
Walsall had a horrible season, ending the campaign rock bottom of League One
IT was ‘down again’ for Albion this season – having retained their Premiership status by the skin of their teeth just nine months earlier.
Unfortunately this time round manager Bryan Robson and his players simply couldn’t cope with another term with the elite, and were relegated straight back to the Championship after finishing in 19th position with 30 points (out of a possible 112).
Sunderland were bottom of the pile with Birmingham City just above the Baggies whose record was poor to say the least: played 38, won only seven, drew 9 and lost 22, scoring only 31 goals while conceding 58.
This, in fact, was the ninth time Albion had suffered relegation in the club’s history.
The best win of the seven achieved (goals scored) was 4-0 at home against Everton in mid-november, while their heaviest defeat was a 6-1 thumping at Fulham in February.
Nathan Ellington (signed from Wigan Athletic) and exArsenal star Kanu were joint topscorers with a mere five goals apiece.
As for Wolves … they just missed out on a play-off spot in the Championship, claiming seventh position with 67 points, which was eight less than sixth-placed Crystal Palace and almost 40 fewer than champions Reading. Wolves’ record under manager Glenn Hoddle was played 46, won 16, drew 19 and lost 11, goal scored 50 and goals conceded 42. The biggest win of the campaign was a 4-0 victory at Crewe, while their two heaviest defeats were 3-1, at Watford and at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Strikers Carl Cort (11) and Kenny Miller (10) netted 21 League goals between them while defender Joleon Lescott was the only ever-present in the team.
Walsall also had a horrible season, ending the campaign rock bottom of League One with 47 points from 46 games, leaving them five short of safety.
Their full record was won 11, drew 14 and lost 21 (nine at home).
They netted only 47 goals and conceded 70 – only Chesterfield and Scunthorpe United let in more (73 each).
The Saddlers’ best win was that of 3-1 at home to Rotherham while their heaviest defeat was a 5-0 walloping at Brentford, and they lost 5-2 at home to Swansea.
Matty Fryatt was top-scorer with 11 goals (4 penalties) while Jorge Leitao notched another five. And for the record Walsall failed to score in 14 of their last 23 matches, of which seven ended nil-nil.