Wolves end the season in style - analysis

The perfect man for the job –Kenny Jackett – got his wish as Wolves finished with a bang.

In fact, in keeping with the meticulous planner that he is, it couldn't have gone much better if he had written the script himself.

He probably wouldn't have wanted to have got drenched in champagne while suited and booted, but he and his players have earned the right to celebrate this momentous season which the fans just didn't want to end.

The only thing he might have done differently was ensure there was a warmer reception for chairman Steve Morgan as the boos mixed with polite applause were slightly incongruous to a day of utter gold and black joy.

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But in fact, maybe that wasn't a bad thing as the frostiness reserved for Morgan suggests the painful memories of the last two years are still fresh and there is still work to do.

At 6.15pm, long after the last of the partying fans had left the ground, Jackett, his mum Joyce, wife Samantha and their two sons David and Ryan linked arms and posed happily on the pitch for pictures.

At that moment, it was difficult to imagine a man happier in his work or more comfortable in his surroundings. What a difference a year makes.

A year and eight days ago, Molineux was a toxic and unhappy place as angry fans protested on the pitch and kicked in advertising hoardings after the final home game against Burnley, furious at their under-achieving team as it stood on the brink of a second successive relegation.

Fast forward 12 months and it's difficult to recall when the ground has ever been happier – we even had pantomime villain Jez Moxey starting the Mexican wave!

Perhaps not since the 1970s has there been such a close bond between supporters and players.

It's hard to think of a Wolves team that has played so fluently and, for that, we must thank the head coach.

As one senior official remarked while the Jackett family photos were being taken, he's Wolves' best signing.

He's the one who has done so much to nurse the sick patient that was Wolverhampton Wanderers back to robust health.

It was him who from day one started the process of rebuilding the broken relationship between players and fans.

It was him who has transformed the squad by getting rid of the under-achieving players and bringing in young, fresh and hungry ones eager to play their own part in creating a new era.

He's the one who has introduced a playing style built to last that can sustain the club at the higher levels of the game.

And it's Jackett who has kept the team ticking over at the top of their game even after winning promotion on April 12 to ensure they didn't 'hit the beaches' and down tools before time.

After securing a return to the Championship at the first attempt, the Molineux gaffer has kept his squad focused by setting little targets to achieve.

First of all it was winning the title, then to successfully chase down the record points haul for the division, which they did in style on Saturday as they eclipsed Charlton's 101-point marker by two.

It all seemed a long way off on that windswept Friday night when they lost 1-0 at Gillingham. But Wolves haven't looked back since, winning a staggering 17 out of 21 games and losing just once.

Six club milestones have fallen to Jackett's side, but on Saturday they were able to add two national ones to the consecutive wins, most overall wins, most away victories, most clean sheets, most points and fewest away goals conceded: That record points tally for the third tier and a 25th shutout in the league, which is the best ever at this level.

Carlisle boss Graham Kavanagh said his team played with fear, and there was a feeling that they were mere cannon fodder for a rampant Wolves side who oozed confidence and class.

No one emphasised that more than captain Sam Ricketts; the skipper chose the final game of the season to produce arguably his best game for the club. Not only did he score for the second successive home game, his sweeping left-foot drive from the edge of the box putting Wolves ahead in the fifth minute, but he was a constant threat down the right.

Twice in the first half he set up Nouha Dicko, the latter when he was picked out for a golden chance when he arrived unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box only to blaze over on the volley.

By then Michael Jacobs had headed the second on 23 minutes, producing a majestic leap to nod home off the post after Scott Golbourne's cross from the left had been allowed to bounce on the edge of the six-yard box.

Dicko had another chance seven minutes after the break but headed inches wide from Golbourne's cross.

But three minutes later he finally got on the scoresheet when he lashed home after Golbourne's shot from Kevin McDonald's pull-back had been parried by Jordan Pickford.

Like many others, this 31st victory of the season could have been more emphatic, with Lee Evans lashing over, Ricketts seeing another shot blocked and substitute James Henry inches away with a curling effort.

But it didn't matter.

Wolves have breezed through League One with plenty to spare.

And there is such a positive feeling around the place that a second successive promotion challenge might not be as fanciful as it seems to some.