If You Thought This Season's Start Was Dire, Try 1978/79 !!!!!!!!

[Norman Bell]

I had a look at the 1978/79 campaign this week, there are more than a few similarities with this one that thankfully will soon become history. That season saw Wolves lose their first 3 games without scoring , with a 1-0 loss at Villa to start followed by the first home game being another 0-1 reversal home to Chelsea, game 3 in the shocker of a start was a 3-0 loss at Dirty Leeds. Finally the first win achieved was 2-0 over Bristol City at Molineux with Kenny Hibbitt scoring our first league goal of the season. King Kenny was joined at the top of the Wolves goalscoring charts by Alan Rodgers a Bristol City winger who put through his own goal ! The win over The Robins was a false dawn ( I have seen a few of them in 50 years as a follower of Wolves ! ) as the next three matches were a 3-2 loss at The Dell to Southampton, a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich and then a 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to Everton. Of the 5 goals scored by Wolves two of them were put into the goal by the opposition, I have already mentioned Alan Rodgers, well the other generous opponent was the Ipswich legend Kevin Beattie ( what a player that man was ! ) . Wolves record was played 7 won 1 lost 6. This season after 7 it was 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses. You will not be shocked when I tell you that this season's massive haul of 3 goals was 2 less than even the stuttering starters of 78/79 managed ! Returning to 78/79 there was hope that the corner had been turned when the 8th match of the season saw Wolves beat QPR 1-0 then after losing to Champions Forest ( under Cloughie they were like the current Brighton side a lot of people's second favourite team, seems so long ago now, does it not ! ? ) Wolves beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. It truly is the hope that kills you as Wolves then lost 4 in a row with a 2-0 loss at Ayresome Park to the Smoggies ( Middlesbrough ! ) then a 4-2 home loss to Man Utd ( a game that was on Match of the Day and for masochists can be seen on YouTube, cracking goal by Steve Daley though ! ) Sadly for Sammy Chung who was by all accounts a lovely man the following Saturday's 4-1 walloping at Derby saw Sammy sacked. There was no respite from 4 goal concedings as the first game under the caretaker was a 0-4 crushing by the Villa. Can anyone remember who the temporary Boss for that Villa drubbing and then a 1-1 draw at home to Leeds before John Barnwell and Richie Barker arrived on November 20th 1978 ?

Sammy Chung lasted longer than Bruno Lage ( Sammy sacked after 13 games where as Bruno got the boot after 8 games ) but then Sammy had a lot more credit with the fans than the charlatan Lage had !

The record after 14 games in 78/79 was 3 wins 0 draws and 11 losses with 11 goals scored and 30 conceded.

The record after 14 games in 22/23 was 2 wins 4 draws and 8 losses with 8 goals scored and 23 conceded.

If I use the 3 points for a win method that had not come in by 78/79 Wolves had 9 points while they had 10 points this season.

John Barnwell took over after 15 games and guess what ? Julen took over after 15 games . Barney won his first match in charge which was away 1-0 at Bristol City and of course we all know Julen won his first match which was away 2-1 at Everton !

John Barnwell won 8 home matches after taking over and if we beat Everton on Saturday Julen Lopetegui will have won 8 games at Molineux after taking over ! In fairness when Barney was in charge it was a 42 game season not 38 as it is now.

Both Managers made Wolves more difficult to score against. It was not until the 79/80 season that Wolves secured the on field leadership, superb game reading and defensive skills of Emlyn Hughes where as this season from February onwards we have had ' Ballon Dawse ' do the same job !

Wolves scored only 44 times from 42 games in 78/79 with King John scoring 9 and the other forwards Norman Bell and Billy Rafferty scoring only 3 and 2 in the league. Mind you that seems like a deluge compared to the scoring this season !!! Steve Daley scored 7, Kenny Hibbitt 6 and Peter Daniel 5 from the midfield positions.

To conclude, hopefully there will be other similarities between the two managers that in the 1979/80 the first full campaign under Barney, Wolves won 10 times away, had two forwards in league goal double figures ( JR 13 , Andy Gray 12 with Kenny Hibbitt chipping in with 9 ) finished 6th and of course won the League Cup. I mean no pressure Julen but come on Mate it is not too much to ask is it !!!!!!!!!!

 

[hankin]

I had a look at the 1978/79 campaign this week, there are more than a few similarities with this one that thankfully will soon become history. That season saw Wolves lose their first 3 games without scoring , with a 1-0 loss at Villa to start followed by the first home game being another 0-1 reversal home to Chelsea, game 3 in the shocker of a start was a 3-0 loss at Dirty Leeds. Finally the first win achieved was 2-0 over Bristol City at Molineux with Kenny Hibbitt scoring our first league goal of the season. King Kenny was joined at the top of the Wolves goalscoring charts by Alan Rodgers a Bristol City winger who put through his own goal ! The win over The Robins was a false dawn ( I have seen a few of them in 50 years as a follower of Wolves ! ) as the next three matches were a 3-2 loss at The Dell to Southampton, a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich and then a 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to Everton. Of the 5 goals scored by Wolves two of them were put into the goal by the opposition, I have already mentioned Alan Rodgers, well the other generous opponent was the Ipswich legend Kevin Beattie ( what a player that man was ! ) . Wolves record was played 7 won 1 lost 6. This season after 7 it was 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses. You will not be shocked when I tell you that this season's massive haul of 3 goals was 2 less than even the stuttering starters of 78/79 managed ! Returning to 78/79 there was hope that the corner had been turned when the 8th match of the season saw Wolves beat QPR 1-0 then after losing to Champions Forest ( back then under Cloughie they were like the current Brighton side a lot of people's second favourite team, seems so long ago now, does it not ! ? ) Wolves beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. It truly is the hope that kills you as Wolves then lost 4 in a row with a 2-0 loss at Ayresome Park to the Smoggies ( Middlesbrough ! ) then a 4-2 home loss to Man Utd ( a game that was on Match of the Day and for masochists can be seen on YouTube, cracking goal by Steve Daley though ! ) Sadly for Sammy Chung who was by all accounts a lovely man the following Saturday's 4-1 walloping at Derby saw Sammy sacked. There was no respite from 4 goal concedings as the first game under the caretaker was a 0-4 crushing by the Villa. Can anyone remember who the temporary Boss for that Villa drubbing and then a 1-1 draw at home to Leeds before John Barnwell and Richie Barker arrived on November 20th 1978 ?

Sammy Chung lasted longer than Bruno Lage ( Sammy sacked after 13 games where as Bruno got the boot after 8 games ) but then Sammy had a lot more credit with the fans than the charlatan Lage had !

The record after 14 games in 78/79 was 3 wins 0 draws and 11 losses with 11 goals scored and 30 conceded.

The record after 14 games in 22/23 was 2 wins 4 draws and 8 losses with 8 goals scored and 23 conceded.

If I use the 3 points for a win method that had not come in by 78/79 Wolves had 9 points while they had 10 points this season.

John Barnwell took over after 15 games and guess what ? Julen took over after 15 games . Barney won his first match in charge which was away 1-0 at Bristol City and of course we all know Julen won his first match which was away 2-1 at Everton !

John Barnwell won 8 home matches after taking over and if we beat Everton on Saturday Julen Lopetegui will have won 8 games at Molineux after taking over ! In fairness when Barney was in charge it was a 42 game season not 38 as it is now.

Both Managers made Wolves more difficult to score against. It was not until the 79/80 season that Wolves secured the on field leadership, superb game reading and defensive skills of Emlyn Hughes where as this season from February onwards we have had ' Ballon Dawse ' do the same job !

Wolves scored only 44 times from 42 games in 78/79 with King John scoring 9 and the other forwards Norman Bell and Billy Rafferty scoring only 3 and 2 in the league. Mind you that seems like a deluge compared to the scoring this season !!! Steve Daley scored 7, Kenny Hibbitt 6 and Peter Daniel 5 from the midfield positions.

To conclude, hopefully there will be other similarities between the two managers that in the 1979/80 the first full campaign under Barney, Wolves won 10 times away, had two forwards in league goal double figures ( JR 13 , Andy Gray 12 with Kenny Hibbitt chipping in with 9 ) finished 6th and of course won the League Cup. I mean no pressure Julen but come on Mate it is not too much to ask is it !!!!!!!!!!

What memories. I went to every home and away match before Xmas in the 1978/79 season. I remember the Villa match first game of the season and someone called Norman Bell blazing over from a few yards out late on which would have got us a point. He got a lot of stick for that!

 

[tonto]

I had a look at the 1978/79 campaign this week, there are more than a few similarities with this one that thankfully will soon become history. That season saw Wolves lose their first 3 games without scoring , with a 1-0 loss at Villa to start followed by the first home game being another 0-1 reversal home to Chelsea, game 3 in the shocker of a start was a 3-0 loss at Dirty Leeds. Finally the first win achieved was 2-0 over Bristol City at Molineux with Kenny Hibbitt scoring our first league goal of the season. King Kenny was joined at the top of the Wolves goalscoring charts by Alan Rodgers a Bristol City winger who put through his own goal ! The win over The Robins was a false dawn ( I have seen a few of them in 50 years as a follower of Wolves ! ) as the next three matches were a 3-2 loss at The Dell to Southampton, a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich and then a 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to Everton. Of the 5 goals scored by Wolves two of them were put into the goal by the opposition, I have already mentioned Alan Rodgers, well the other generous opponent was the Ipswich legend Kevin Beattie ( what a player that man was ! ) . Wolves record was played 7 won 1 lost 6. This season after 7 it was 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses. You will not be shocked when I tell you that this season's massive haul of 3 goals was 2 less than even the stuttering starters of 78/79 managed ! Returning to 78/79 there was hope that the corner had been turned when the 8th match of the season saw Wolves beat QPR 1-0 then after losing to Champions Forest ( under Cloughie they were like the current Brighton side a lot of people's second favourite team, seems so long ago now, does it not ! ? ) Wolves beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. It truly is the hope that kills you as Wolves then lost 4 in a row with a 2-0 loss at Ayresome Park to the Smoggies ( Middlesbrough ! ) then a 4-2 home loss to Man Utd ( a game that was on Match of the Day and for masochists can be seen on YouTube, cracking goal by Steve Daley though ! ) Sadly for Sammy Chung who was by all accounts a lovely man the following Saturday's 4-1 walloping at Derby saw Sammy sacked. There was no respite from 4 goal concedings as the first game under the caretaker was a 0-4 crushing by the Villa. Can anyone remember who the temporary Boss for that Villa drubbing and then a 1-1 draw at home to Leeds before John Barnwell and Richie Barker arrived on November 20th 1978 ?

Sammy Chung lasted longer than Bruno Lage ( Sammy sacked after 13 games where as Bruno got the boot after 8 games ) but then Sammy had a lot more credit with the fans than the charlatan Lage had !

The record after 14 games in 78/79 was 3 wins 0 draws and 11 losses with 11 goals scored and 30 conceded.

The record after 14 games in 22/23 was 2 wins 4 draws and 8 losses with 8 goals scored and 23 conceded.

If I use the 3 points for a win method that had not come in by 78/79 Wolves had 9 points while they had 10 points this season.

John Barnwell took over after 15 games and guess what ? Julen took over after 15 games . Barney won his first match in charge which was away 1-0 at Bristol City and of course we all know Julen won his first match which was away 2-1 at Everton !

John Barnwell won 8 home matches after taking over and if we beat Everton on Saturday Julen Lopetegui will have won 8 games at Molineux after taking over ! In fairness when Barney was in charge it was a 42 game season not 38 as it is now.

Both Managers made Wolves more difficult to score against. It was not until the 79/80 season that Wolves secured the on field leadership, superb game reading and defensive skills of Emlyn Hughes where as this season from February onwards we have had ' Ballon Dawse ' do the same job !

Wolves scored only 44 times from 42 games in 78/79 with King John scoring 9 and the other forwards Norman Bell and Billy Rafferty scoring only 3 and 2 in the league. Mind you that seems like a deluge compared to the scoring this season !!! Steve Daley scored 7, Kenny Hibbitt 6 and Peter Daniel 5 from the midfield positions.

To conclude, hopefully there will be other similarities between the two managers that in the 1979/80 the first full campaign under Barney, Wolves won 10 times away, had two forwards in league goal double figures ( JR 13 , Andy Gray 12 with Kenny Hibbitt chipping in with 9 ) finished 6th and of course won the League Cup. I mean no pressure Julen but come on Mate it is not too much to ask is it !!!!!!!!!!

Hope there isn’t a car crash to **** it all up then bankruptcy
Now you do have me worried

 

[Norman Bell]

Hope there isn’t a car crash to **** it all up then bankruptcy
Now you do have me worried

Typical bleeding Wolves fan got to look for the downside in everything ..................................








But tonto now you mention it !!!!!!!!

 

[Norman Bell]

What memories. I went to every home and away match before Xmas in the 1978/79 season. I remember the Villa match first game of the season and someone called Norman Bell blazing over from a few yards out late on which would have got us a point. He got a lot of stick for that!

The ball clearly hit a divot otherwise Norman would have buried it !!!!!!!

 

[JimB]

Remember the Bristol City home match, the E&S gave a monetary reward for our first goal scorer, and it was an og. Someone shouted from the back of the north bank ‘yow gonna give the money to him then?’

 

[Spitfire]

I had a look at the 1978/79 campaign this week, there are more than a few similarities with this one that thankfully will soon become history. That season saw Wolves lose their first 3 games without scoring , with a 1-0 loss at Villa to start followed by the first home game being another 0-1 reversal home to Chelsea, game 3 in the shocker of a start was a 3-0 loss at Dirty Leeds. Finally the first win achieved was 2-0 over Bristol City at Molineux with Kenny Hibbitt scoring our first league goal of the season. King Kenny was joined at the top of the Wolves goalscoring charts by Alan Rodgers a Bristol City winger who put through his own goal ! The win over The Robins was a false dawn ( I have seen a few of them in 50 years as a follower of Wolves ! ) as the next three matches were a 3-2 loss at The Dell to Southampton, a 3-1 home defeat to Ipswich and then a 2-0 loss at Goodison Park to Everton. Of the 5 goals scored by Wolves two of them were put into the goal by the opposition, I have already mentioned Alan Rodgers, well the other generous opponent was the Ipswich legend Kevin Beattie ( what a player that man was ! ) . Wolves record was played 7 won 1 lost 6. This season after 7 it was 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses. You will not be shocked when I tell you that this season's massive haul of 3 goals was 2 less than even the stuttering starters of 78/79 managed ! Returning to 78/79 there was hope that the corner had been turned when the 8th match of the season saw Wolves beat QPR 1-0 then after losing to Champions Forest ( under Cloughie they were like the current Brighton side a lot of people's second favourite team, seems so long ago now, does it not ! ? ) Wolves beat Arsenal 1-0 at home. It truly is the hope that kills you as Wolves then lost 4 in a row with a 2-0 loss at Ayresome Park to the Smoggies ( Middlesbrough ! ) then a 4-2 home loss to Man Utd ( a game that was on Match of the Day and for masochists can be seen on YouTube, cracking goal by Steve Daley though ! ) Sadly for Sammy Chung who was by all accounts a lovely man the following Saturday's 4-1 walloping at Derby saw Sammy sacked. There was no respite from 4 goal concedings as the first game under the caretaker was a 0-4 crushing by the Villa. Can anyone remember who the temporary Boss for that Villa drubbing and then a 1-1 draw at home to Leeds before John Barnwell and Richie Barker arrived on November 20th 1978 ?

Sammy Chung lasted longer than Bruno Lage ( Sammy sacked after 13 games where as Bruno got the boot after 8 games ) but then Sammy had a lot more credit with the fans than the charlatan Lage had !

The record after 14 games in 78/79 was 3 wins 0 draws and 11 losses with 11 goals scored and 30 conceded.

The record after 14 games in 22/23 was 2 wins 4 draws and 8 losses with 8 goals scored and 23 conceded.

If I use the 3 points for a win method that had not come in by 78/79 Wolves had 9 points while they had 10 points this season.

John Barnwell took over after 15 games and guess what ? Julen took over after 15 games . Barney won his first match in charge which was away 1-0 at Bristol City and of course we all know Julen won his first match which was away 2-1 at Everton !

John Barnwell won 8 home matches after taking over and if we beat Everton on Saturday Julen Lopetegui will have won 8 games at Molineux after taking over ! In fairness when Barney was in charge it was a 42 game season not 38 as it is now.

Both Managers made Wolves more difficult to score against. It was not until the 79/80 season that Wolves secured the on field leadership, superb game reading and defensive skills of Emlyn Hughes where as this season from February onwards we have had ' Ballon Dawse ' do the same job !

Wolves scored only 44 times from 42 games in 78/79 with King John scoring 9 and the other forwards Norman Bell and Billy Rafferty scoring only 3 and 2 in the league. Mind you that seems like a deluge compared to the scoring this season !!! Steve Daley scored 7, Kenny Hibbitt 6 and Peter Daniel 5 from the midfield positions.

To conclude, hopefully there will be other similarities between the two managers that in the 1979/80 the first full campaign under Barney, Wolves won 10 times away, had two forwards in league goal double figures ( JR 13 , Andy Gray 12 with Kenny Hibbitt chipping in with 9 ) finished 6th and of course won the League Cup. I mean no pressure Julen but come on Mate it is not too much to ask is it !!!!!!!!!!

That was my first season with a season ticket. It was in the old Molineux Street stand. You’ve omitted the 0-3 loss at home to Albion around the same time as the Villa 0-4 debacle .
Still some great memories from that final season in the old stand once Barnwell got them going. Amongst them being injury time winners from Hibbitt against Spurs and Richards against Forest .

 

[Norman Bell]

That was my first season with a season ticket. It was in the old Molineux Street stand. You’ve omitted the 0-3 loss at home to Albion around the same time as the Villa 0-4 debacle .
Still some great memories from that final season in the old stand once Barnwell got them going. Amongst them being injury time winners from Hibbitt against Spurs and Richards against Forest .

Where that December 16th loss to Albion are concerned that ruined some Christmases as Wolves did not play again until beating Birmingham 2-1 on Boxing Day some things are best not mentioned Mate !!!!

We did the double over Arsenal that season ( but sadly lost the Semi Final ) Both games ended up 1-0. Mel Eves scored at Molineux and then later in the season John Richards scored at Highbury.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

That was my first season with a season ticket. It was in the old Molineux Street stand. You’ve omitted the 0-3 loss at home to Albion around the same time as the Villa 0-4 debacle .
Still some great memories from that final season in the old stand once Barnwell got them going. Amongst them being injury time winners from Hibbitt against Spurs and Richards against Forest .

Was the Albion game the one where we kicked off and we kicked it straight into touch? It didn’t improve after that. I was sat in the old Molineux Street stand. Think we drew 1-1 in the return fixture at the Hawthorns. To be fair Albion had a good team at that time.

The only thing to remember is that we got to the semi final of the FA Cup and lost to Arsenal at Villa Park. Other than that there are a lot of similarities in terms of results although Sammy Chung did have a clue.

 

[marrs-guitar]

Hope there isn’t a car crash to **** it all up then bankruptcy
Now you do have me worried

The car crash happened during this season. Brian Garvey had to take over as caretaker for the final 5 games of the campaign.

 

[RutlandWolf]

That was my first season with a season ticket. It was in the old Molineux Street stand. You’ve omitted the 0-3 loss at home to Albion around the same time as the Villa 0-4 debacle .
Still some great memories from that final season in the old stand once Barnwell got them going. Amongst them being injury time winners from Hibbitt against Spurs and Richards against Forest .

If I remember the Villa game correctly, thick fog came rolling into Molineux after the fourth goal and everyone was screaming for abandonment
.

 

[Spitfire]

If I remember the Villa game correctly, thick fog came rolling into Molineux after the fourth goal and everyone was screaming for abandonment
.

You may well be right but I can’t say as I remember that. I just remember being completely ****ed off .

 

[Norman Bell]

Was the Albion game the one where we kicked off and we kicked it straight into touch? It didn’t improve after that. I was sat in the old Molineux Street stand. Think we drew 1-1 in the return fixture at the Hawthorns. To be fair Albion had a good team at that time.

The only thing to remember is that we got to the semi final of the FA Cup and lost to Arsenal at Villa Park. Other than that there are a lot of similarities in terms of results although Sammy Chung did have a clue.

John Richards scored for Wolves in the 1-1 draw at Albion. Pretty sure it was on a recent Big Match Revisited.

When watching the Wolves v Shrewsbury FA Quarter Final on a Big Match Revisited from that season a mate's 20 year old kid could not believe how much sand there was on the side of the pitch in front of the Waterloo Road stand and how much mud there was elsewhere on it !!!!