Wolves v West Bromwich Albion, 18th March 2001

Extended highlights of Sky TV's broadcast of the First Division derby between Wolves and West Bromwich Albion at Molineux on 18th March 2001.

Following the sacking of Colin Lee after a home defeat to Birmingham City on 17th December, Dave Jones signed a three-year contract on 3 January 2001 to become Wolves manager. Wolves were in 16th position at the time of Lee's dismissal and just a single point clear of the relegation zone. At the time of Jones' appointment Wolves had risen to 12th, but results remained indifferent under Jones as the club eventually finished 12th - their lowest league finish for five seasons. However, two seasons later, Jones guided Wolves to promotion to the Premier League following an absence of nearly 20 years from the the top flight.

Prior to their match against West Bromwich Albion, Wolves were situated in 13th position in the league and had lost their previous match at Preston North End some four days previously. Albion had also lost their previous match, a 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday but, in contrast to their near-neighbours, were in a play-off position and vying for promotion.

The strength of Wolves throughout the 2000-01 season was in a defence that, statistically, was equal fourth best in the league. Wolves benefitted from a generally settled line of defence, with the consistent presence of Michael Oakes in goal behind the uncompromising Australian Kevin Muscat at right-back, 2000-01 Player of the Season Lee Naylor at left-back and the excellent centre-half pairing of Joleon Lescott, in the first season of his burgeoning career, and the popular and combative Frenchman Ludovic Pollet. Manager Dave Jones further strengthened the defence with his first signing for Wolves at the end of January 2001, future captain Paul Butler.

In contrast to Wolves' defensive strength, their attack was generally toothless, with centre-forward Adam Proudlock top-scorer for the season with just 8 league goals. However, Wolves did possess talented attack-minded players in former England international Andy Sinton and popular forward George Ndah. In the opening week of the season, Colin Lee had signed striker Robert Taylor for £1.55m and, in an attempt to improve the paucity of goals scored by Wolves, Cédric Roussel was signed by Dave Jones for £1.53m a month before the match against Albion. Both players were selected as substitutes for the match against Garry Megson's team but ultimately, during their brief careers at Molineux, they failed to score the goals required by Wolves.


Wolves: Oakes, Pollet, Lescott, Muscat, Naylor, Robinson, Proudlock, Andrews, Sinton, Ndah, Branch. Subs: Osborn, Stowell, Camara, Roussel, Robert Taylor.

West Brom: Hoult, Van Blerk, Carbon, Butler, Lyttle, Clement, Appleton, Sneekes, Fox, Roberts, Hughes. Subs: Jensen, Taylor, Jordao, Sigurdsson, Balis.

Referee: Uriah Rennie (Sheffield)

Approximate time of goals on YouTube footage:

08:40 Wolves 1 West Bromwich Albion 0 (George Ndah)
14:42 Wolves 2 West Bromwich Albion 0 (George Ndah)
21:15 Wolves 3 West Bromwich Albion 0 (Ludovic Pollet)
28:20 Wolves 3 West Bromwich Albion 1 (Neil Clement)