Wolves - Home, Falmer Years
MANAGER; Nuno Espirito Santo (2017-19)
WOLVES PREM record from 11/12 to 18/19; 20, (23 @ Champ's), (1 @ L1), (7, 14, 15, 1 @ C), 7 - top ten - 1 time, relegated - 1 time (2 yrs).
C21 Ave = 16th (5 yrs), top ten - 1 time (18/19), stayed up - 2 times in bottom six (10 & 11), relegated - 2 times (04 & 12).
Recent Managers; Kenny Jackett (2013-16), Walter Zenga (2016), Paul Lambert (2016-17), Nuno Espirito Santo (2017-19)
WANDERERS FANS expectations; to get a toehold in the division and return to happy days of yore.

WOLVES AWAY;
18/19 - P19 W6 D5 L8 F19 A25 GD-6 Pt23 Po7 = 1.21pt/gm or 40.3% of total points. Wins = 31.5%, Loss = 42.1% - Nuno Espirito Santo.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, season 4-6).

Season8 Premier League (H) Sat 27/10/18 - 1-0 ~ Murray
Two years and a week previously Albion entertained the historical ex-Prem outfit during Championship days (scroll to Season6 below). Now it was billed a PL contest but just as significant ongoing to both teams. Today marked the first quarter stats on final whistle and thus set targets for immediate future this term. The Amex was a difficult place to gain three points for travellers, outside of the top six giant elite clubs. Only top-ten finishers Leicester had managed that last season but wiley Chris Hughton realised the threat carried now by progressive big-spending Black Country Wanderers. Albion needed the community stadium to be a fortress once more in the quest to consolidate in mid table if at all possible.
In the event, on a very cold afternoon, Murray scored his 100th goal for BHA to become the club's post war record holder. It was just enough to register victory in a contest Seagulls could so easily have lost. Glenn had wanted to start following being knocked out the previous Saturday up at Newcastle. Hughton duly went with that starting eleven but the first half home performance was dire. Soon after the interval our hitman notched his century when unmarked, clipping in a Bruno miscue across the area (48min). Kayal, Dunk & eventually Knockaert were booked while hosts kept unlucky visitors at bay. Bissouma came on in later stages to bolster two lines of defenders as Wolves pressed for an equaliser. Knockaert got on late to join in with with backs to the wall mentality. Hughton said, 'to win three in a row for a club like us is very difficult. We are more pleased with that than the performance. A club in its second season is always looking down, so to be nine points clear of the bottom three at this stage is good.' Most Brighton fans would agree, although realised without Murray still here we would definately be in trouble down there right now.
Stats; shape 4411-343, h-t 0-0, goal 48, poss 40%-60%, on target 1-7, off target 5-8, blocks 1-10, crosses 9-36, corners 1-10, o/s 0-1, tackles 21-12, fouls 11-8, yellows 3-0, subs 2-3. MoM Murray. Gate 30,654 ground record, away 2992. Weather - cold, sunny intervals.
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk Y77, 3 Bong, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal Y52, 19 Izquierdo (11 Knockaert 81 Y90), 20 March (8 Bissouma 71), 17 Murray. Subs - 23 Steele, 30 Bernardo, 14 Balogun, 9 Locadia, 10 Andone.
Prem P10 . W3 D1 L1 . F8 A6 . W1 D1 L3 . F3 A7 . Pt14 Po11 = 1.40pt/gm. Wins = 40%, Loss = 40%

Total; P38 W16 D9 L13 F47 A46 GD+1 Pt57 Po7 = 1.50pt/gm. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 34.2% - Nuno Espirito Santo.
3qtrs; P29 W12 D7 L10 F37 A35 GD+2 Pt43 Po7 = 1.48pt/gm. Wins = 41.3%, Loss = 34.4%
Hlfwy; P19 W7 D5 L7 F20 A22 GD-2 Pt26 Po11 = 1.36pt/gm. Wins = 36.8%, Loss = 36.8%
Start; P10 W4 D3 L3 F9 A9 GD0 Pt15 Po10 = 1.50pt/gm. Wins = 40%, Loss = 20% - Santo.
EFL CUP; 3rd rnd - Leicester 1-3 pens 0-0 (H), 2nd rnd north - Sheff Wed 0-2 (A)
FA CUP; s-f - Watford 3-2 aet, q-f - Man Utd 2-1 (H), 5th rnd - Bristol C 0-1 (A), 4th rnd - Shrews 2-2 (A) 3-2 (H), 3rd rnd - Liverpool 2-1 (H)
NES record; to Aug 18 - P52 W33 D11 L8 Wins = 63.4%
Aug; know any top agents? Wanderers got a theme working and are hopeful of making it continue at highest level. Plus a 'little percentage' to do the deal.
October; excellent start to make the top ten in first year back for a while. Out of EFL Cup on pens.
New Year; top ten and cutting the mustard without killing the old gold goose. FA Cup progress.
March; in a scrap for seventh place. FA Cup semis.

PREVIOUS PREM;
18/19 - P38 W16 D9 L13 F47 A46 GD+1 Pt57 Po7 = 1.50pt/gm. Wins = 42.1%, Loss = 34.2% - Nuno Espirito Santo.
Was a Prem team in waiting last term but more than hit the ground running for this elite campaign. Got a Europa League qualifing spot too for next season.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, seasons 4-6)
Knockouts from 17/18; FA Cup - 3rd rnd, s-f. EFL Cup - 4th rnd, 3rd rnd.
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Season6 Championshp (H) 18/10/16 - 1-0 ~ Baldock
Brighton fans had witnessed a reversal of fortune in this fixture at very beginning of 2016, during an awful Xmas & New Year blip in the middle of last term's exciting campaign. Once again Albion were forecast for play-offs, having started this season well, being on target for enough points to make knockout phases. Chris Hughton now had a stronger squad on paper, signing Duffy, Norwood, Sidwell, Murray (loan) & Pocognoli (loan). And even allowing for injuries & suspensions, he had good quality cover in defence & across midfield. Maybe Seagulls were a little light up front but with the right service, both strikers (as 442 preferred at home) were more than capable of hitting back of the net. The question was, could they do it regularly? On the night 25k turned up, amid more rail chaos, to see if they could.
Seagulls won the match by a single goal and remained on heels of the top two. But victory came from the one they put away, while visitors missed their chances in an even contest. The winner came early when Skalak and Bong combined and Baldock headed in the cross off the bar (14min). And it wasn't all one way traffic thereafter as the away outfit had to come forward - especially in closing stages. Brighton defended well to earn another clean sheet, although Dunk received a 5th booking and ban next time out. Late in the evening Hughton withdrew Bruno injured and then Baldock as he went more defensive. In stoppage Pocognoli made up numbers as Wolves carried a threat with numerous corners. So Albion hung on to that slender lead and Hughton said, 'Sam is a team player, works hard and is at the right place at the right time.' Brighton fans were grateful he was and also happy to take three points, despite seeing lack of real chances created to abate that nervous ending.
Stats; ht 1-0, goals 14-x, poss 48%-52%, on target 3-4, off target 6-7, corners 9-10, o/s 0-1, fouls 14-11, yellows 2-3, subs 3-3, att 25,231
Stockdale, Bruno (Goldson), Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (Pocognoli), Norwood, Sidwell, Skalak, Baldock (Stephens), Murray.
Champ's P 13 . W 7 D 4 L 2 . F 17 A 9 . Pt 25 Po 3

Season5 (H) 1/1/16 - L 0-1
New Year arrived and so we all turned up for community stadium entertainment on a Friday afternoon instead of at the weekend. Second half of the season was underway and if anything like the first was sure to be exciting. However, no matter what Albion had achieved in first half of this campaign, they were without a win in five fixtures and had just suffered two straight losses at the Amex. Those fine lines of Championship form had fortunately gone Seagulls way since August but lately last year's problem of not scoring goals came back with a vengeance. Every team was going to have a bad patch but if Albion's dreams of promotion were to stay on track, clean sheets and consistent strikers were essential. Somehow Chris Hughton had to rejuvenate a squad hit by injuries and maybe get others in, to increase quality all round, now the transfer window was open. On the day about 27k attended and the match was on tv too.
Albion crashed to a third successive defeat at the Amex, to bring them down to earth at very start of 2016. To compound present troubles they failed to keep a clean sheet or even score again when beat at home. Seagulls fell behind when new cent-def Goldson put a low cross past Stockwell at his near post (32min). This single goal then secured all points for visitors but BHA battered them throughout and could be considered a tad unlucky not to rescue a point at least. Hughton threw on Manu around the hour mark and later switched to 442 with introduction of Hemed up front. But all the huffing & puffing in the world could not alter the score after ninety or so minutes. Hughton said of our poor form, 'the run is obviously a concern and a frustration, we have to find ways of winning matches and scoring goals.' It was kinda stating the bleeding obvious and what Brighton fans wanted to know was, what was he going to do about it?'
Stats; poss 64%-36%, on target 6-4, off target 11-1, corners 10-4, o/s 1-1, fouls 9-9, yellows 1-1.
Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Calderon, Stephens, Crofts (Hemed), Kayal, Wilson, Zamora (Manu), Murphy
Champ's P 25 . W 11 D 11 L 3 . F 31 A 25 . Pt 44 Po 4

Season4 (H) 14/3/15 - 1-1 ~ Bruno
There was a mighty battle for auto promo, let alone p-o places, at top of this division but Albion were far from actually being involved - unlike Wanderers. As a disappointing campaign extended into the run-in, Seagulls were stuck in lower third of the table and hoping at least to win a few fixtures at the Amex until the early May climax. In fact four of the last five home matches were against top-eight clubs and would be a useful test of how far the current squad had come under Chris Hughton. He had indeed managed to reverse poor domestic form under 2014 failure Sami Hyypia and fans were latterly beginning to enjoy games at the community stadium once more. The 50pt target for safety was 10pt away before k-o but Brighton fans were not too worried about threat of relegation at this stage. On the day 27k was the official attendance with over 2k travelled from Wolverhampton.
On stats alone it was pretty even and both goals were scored late in the day. Each side huffed & puffed and if Albion had taken a couple of first-half chances, might have got all the points. But with recognised BHA strikers out of form, perhaps Brighton fans expected too much. There was plenty of pressure on visitors third and Seagulls defended fairly well but couldn't get a breakthrough until flooding forward on a counter attack. Bruno ended the move with a low drive after a Wolves clearance rebounded (70min). Within five minutes opposition restored parity when Stockdale palmed a cross into the net (74min). Despite this setback the ex-Fulham keeper made three crucial saves to prevent visitors nicking a win. Hughton elected to leave changes late and injected O'Grady & LuaLua into the fray immediately after conceding. New boy Ledesma got a few seconds at the end. Hughton said, 'all we can do is keep working. CMS gives us great running ability and a good outlet. First and foremost you want a striker to be a team player - you can't fault his efforts.' Supporters went home thinking that when our finishing was finally up to speed, somebody was gonna get a right beating at the Amex.
Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Holla (LuaLua), Teixeira (Ledesma), Kayal, Calderon, Mackail-Smith (O'Grady), Stephens.
Champ's P 37 . W 9 D 14 L 14 . F 42 A 46 . Pt 41 Po 19

Season2 (H) 4/5/13 - 2-0 ~ LuaLua 2
Brighton had qualified for play-offs in our previous match at Leeds but Wolves were second from bottom and in deep trouble. Albion had not lost at the Amex since very end of 2012, while poor away form nudged Wanderers nearer to relegation. Gus Poyet said, 'the Championship is becoming more and more difficult so we are delighted to be in the play-offs.' Meanwhile WW supporters had been in this position before but in elite days of the Prem! The old gold and black club appeared to have a losing mentality, so would have to rely on results elsewhere to get a similar miracle as per B&W devoted at Falmer.
There was 30k (ground record) crammed into the Amex because Wolves had a full contingent of fans to witness their demise. The end came quick, if painful and by 5pm they were in League One for '13/14. Meanwhile Albion would face Palace in play-offs for half a chance at the Prem. After five minutes LuaLua shot Seagulls ahead and we never looked back. Not long before the interval he did it again with skill (39min). Wanderers were down and out and produced a performance to confirm their rapid decline. Brighton fans were there to celebrate a super season and so didn't rub visitors nose in on a very happy afternoon for home support. Gus Poyet wanted to manage in the elite and said, 'we are in a great moment as a team and as a club.' And so say all of us.
Kuszczak, David, Greer, Upson, Painter (Hammond), Crofts, Bridcutt, Vicente (Barker), Barnes, Ulloa, LuaLua (El-Abd).
Champ's P 46 . W 19 D 18 L 9 . F 69 A 43 . Pt 75 Po 4

Wolves - Away, Falmer Years
WOLVES HOME;
18/19 - P19 W10 D4 L5 F28 A21 GD+7 Pt34 Po7 = 1.78pt/gm or 59.6% of total points. Wins = 52.6%, Loss = 26.3% - Nuno Espirito Santo.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, seasons 4-6).

Season8 Premier League (A) Sat 20/4/19 - 0-0
There were five fixtures left, 3 away & 2 at home. At this stage Albion were 17th and in a dogfight to stay alive in the div for next term. A bad run of form, five straight losses (including FA Cup) with no goals scored, had severely dented hopes of making the cut again. Home form had collapsed, which paired with poor results on the road made for bleak reading of seasonal stats to date. The 25 man squad didn't look up to the task, no matter who got chosen to play on any given day. Chris Hughton was pragmatic but realised there was a crisis that required to be fixed somehow. He said, 'we have no choice but to get on with it, roll our sleeves up and show the quality that we've got. We need to show the fighting spirit and togetherness we know we have.' Of course, once the team kicked off he could only watch and his words and influence kinda stayed in the technical area & dressing room. It was up to the selected match-day players to go get points or let everybody, at the club & also watching, down again.
Albion got a point to break their duck and somehow prevented hosts scoring. Propper limped off after 10 minutes but Kayal played very well thereafter and was part of a backs to the wall team performance. Bruno lasted as long as he could prior to Bernardo relieving him to take up the sword with 20 mins to go. Ryan made a couple of saves and fortune favoured Seagulls when a brace of hosts efforts hit woodwork. Hughton said, 'we had to show a work ethic and determination. We are lacking confidence in front of goal and a bit of creativity. The reaction out there showed we are not such a bad team after all. It feels like a really good point for us.' Brighton fans congratulated green shirts at the end, pleased with the clean sheet and battling defensive display. The side had gone back to basics, using much of the old promotion team today. And they did ok too by any standards. So rot was effectively stopped at this juncture... with four games to go.
Stats; shape 352-451, poss 68%-32%, on target 5-0, off target 13-4, blocks 4-1, crosses 38-8, o/s 0-1, corners 14-1, tackles 12-24, fouls 0-8, yellows 0-1, subs 3-2. Gate 31,096, away 2748. Weather - warm & sunny. MoM - Kayal.
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (30 Bernardo 70), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 13 Gross, 6 Stephens Y, 24 Propper (7 Kayal 10), 20 March, 17 Murray, 19 Izquierdo. Subs - 27 Button, 33 Burn, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 9 Locadia, 10 Andone.
Prem P34 . W6 D4 L7 F17 A23 . W3 D3 L11 F15 A30 . Pt34 Po17 = 1.00pt/gm. Wins = 26.4%, Loss = 52.9%
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Season6 Championship (A) 14/4/17 - w 0-2 ~ Knockaert 2
It was Good Friday and tv schedules set the kick-off for this run-in clash to 5pm. Albion hadn't been back to Molineux for over 18 months but of the side then that had got an app here, merely Zamora & Greer were no longer at Seagulls. The 15/16 squad had finished 3rd with 89pts, although beaten merely by goal difference. But now with five fixtures to complete, Albion were vastly superior on gd to play-off contenders and occupied first place by 2pts from title favourites Newcastle. A large group of 2.7k travelling support went up to the midlands to see if Albion could win after 3 draws there in previous Chapionship campaigns. In build up to the Easter fixtures people in the city of Brighton & Hove were asked to wear blue & white. On the day Seagulls wore home kit - as they were to for those four remaining matches.
In the event Albion reached the same number of points as last term when registering a record 11th away victory. Visitors weathered hosts opening gambit and got into the game. At the psychological moment prior to the interval Seagulls took the lead. Stockwell booted up field and Knockaert collected before driving in low from outside the area (45min). Hughton replaced injured March with 20 minutes left, as well-supported travellers continued to counter attack locals threats. It was such a move involving Murphy & Murray that gave Knockaert his second goal from another low strike (82min). Norwood took to the field, as rain poured at Molineux, to help BHA see it out and get a first win there to boot. Hughton said, 'four points will do it. We would like to do it as quickly as possible but you have to keep level-headed because if you lose the next game then it all changes. The focus will be on trying to win on Easter Monday.' Brighton fans were hoping that would be the case and the team would go on and lift the championship title on or by the last fixture in early May.
Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 45,82, poss 51%-49%, on target 4-2, off target 4-7, corners 6-3, o/s 0-2, fouls 13-10, yellows 1-0, subs 2-3, att 23,221
Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Sidwell, March (Murphy), Hemed (Norwood), Murray
Champ's P 42 . W 27 D 8 L 7 . F 71 A 35 . Pt 89 Po 1

Season5 (A) 19/9/15 - 0-0
Albion's start to the season was breaking records. It seemed it was way back in the fifties that BHA last opened their campaign with such success. And Brighton fans were loving it, especially after much disappointment from last term (see below and compare points tally). Chris Hughton appeared to be working wonders, selecting from an almost fully fit squad that included many signings to help boost a once supposed mere top-ten finish. An unbeaten side went to Moilneux brimming with confidence, being five points clear at top of the table prior to kick-off. On a nice September afternoon, 20k turned up to see if there was going to be a shock on the cards.
It was yet another draw with Wanderers and Albion failed once more to beat the West Midlands outfit on their turf. For the first time this term Brighton failed to find the net but not without trying very hard (see stats). Wolves goalie proved to be the hero with a man of the match performance, thwarting scoring chances again & again. With twenty mins gone, Murphy was upended in the area but Hemed's spot kick was blocked twice by the keeper. Hemed then cleared off the line ten minutes later to keep parity continuing. In the second period Wolves had a player sent straight off, only a few moments after resumption of play, for a foul on Rosenior. Seagulls maintained one-way traffic thereafter but couldn't break down the home defence. Hughton said, 'we could have done more in the final third. We needed that one moment. You have to give them credit but we made it too comfortable for their keeper. But after the disappointment we still have to realise we have done great so far this season.' And Brighton fans would drink to that amazing revelation as well.
Stats; poss 44-56, on target 1-8, off target 4-4, blocked 1-7, corners 3-4, fouls 10-18, o/s 2-3, yellow 1-2, red 1-0.
Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bong, Rosenior, Stephens, Kayal, LuaLua (Zamora), Murphy, Hemed (Manu)
Champ's P 8 . W 6 D 2 L 0 . F 11 A 5 . Pt 20 Po 1

Season4 (A) 20/12/14 - 1-1 ~ Bent
It was the last Saturday before Christmas when hard core devoted made tracks to the west midlands instead of shopping in Churchill Square. Although the season of goodwill reached climax soon, a lot of Brighton fans were a tad disappointed by later stages of 2014. Instead of anticipating a play-off push during 2015, we were now faced with a relegation battle of titanic proportions. Albion had one win in seventeen and went up to Moly off the back of three straight defeats. The team had accepted collective responsibility for lack of points, backing Sami Hyypia as the man capable of saving the day. That pointed the finger of blame toward Tony Bloom and his sidekick David Burke for their disastrous turn-round of players in the summer.
Bruno started in midfield for once but it was his sending off for a two-footer around the hour mark that was one factor in preventing Albion taking all three points in the black country. Seagulls were out of the blocks like they intended to fly free and took an early lead. Calderon was able to find space down the right and put his centre onto the head of ex-England striker Bent (10min) on loan from Villa. It was a crucial opener, albeit actual chances were still few & far between. By contrast Wolves had to put two subs on from beginning of the second period to get a grip on the game. And they were awarded a pen soon after when Stockdale collided with a gold-shirt - but lino flagged for a dive by the local hero, so Ref reversed his decision. Gardner (61m) and later Ince (74m), shored up defence for ten good men as visitors attempted to hold on and grind out a one-nil victory. Colunga got on with five minutes left but then Wanderers snatched a point following a corner two mins from time (88min). Stockdale made some excellent saves, especially when pressure became intense at end of each half. On stats alone, Albion were still way short of looking like winners but it's goals that count and with a little more luck and 11 men, might just have keep it clean until the final whistle from a battling display. As a consequence, Sami Hyypia resigned as manager early in the following week - just before Christmas.
Stockdale, Calderon, Halford, Dunk, J Bennett, Bruno, Forster-Caskey, Holla, March (Gardner), Bent (Colunga), Teixeira (Ince).
Champ's P 22 . W 3 D 10 L 9 . F 22 A 30 . Pt 19 Po 22

Season2 (A) 10/11/12 - 3-3 ~ CMS, Buckley, Dobbie
It had been a few years since Albion last visited Molineux. We were first a Championship club during the early to mid noughties, while Wolves had plenty of Prem history on their resume. The wheel of fortune had brought us together again and our future looked promising now that we'd finally got the Amex and were managed by Gus Poyet. He assembled a better second season squad for BHA, although results to date were mixed. The problem was Seagulls looked ok in flight but lacked bite when zeroing in on target. Also we lacked a goal-scoring midfielder and Spanish ace Vicente hadn't gotten over injury or played any sort of game since last term. On the positive side we didn't concede many but an average of 1.5pt/gm wasn't gonna get us into play-offs come next May.
In the event this fixture ended with six goals scored and a point apiece in bizarre circumstances. Wanderers opened both their account and our defence to take the lead a tad easily (22min). Calderon replaced injured Bridge fifteen minutes later. Just before halftime CMS struck the equaliser in superb fashion (43m). Then WW had a bloke sent off for excessive foul play on Bridcutt. After the interval Brighton pressed for a winner but ten men hit back and fired one past Kuszczak from distance (61m). Barnes and Buckley subbed immediately and Will pulled us level again after a decent forward move (72m). BHA went for the winner but were only ahead on stats. At the death Ref gave us a dodgy pen, duly dispatched by Dobbie after he ran to grab the ball (89m). In stoppage Wolves got a point when netting with a soft header from a f-k (90+). Poyet was furious with the result and said, 'It is not good enough. you need to do the basics and we didn't do it.'
Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bridge (Calderon), Crofts (Buckley), Bridcutt, Orlandi, Lopez (Barnes), Mackail-Smith, Dobbie
Champ's P 16 . W 6 D 6 L 4 . F 22 A 14 . Pt 24 Po 8