Kevin Thelwell hails Wolves' support system

Head coach Kenny Jackett led Wolves to six club records and two national milestones in winning League One.

But as head of football operations Thelwell praised the superb achievements of Jackett and assistant head coach Joe Gallen, he believes the quality of the pair's work is mirrored through the 'support network' behind them.

While the coaching, attention to detail, preparation and astuteness on the training pitches of Jackett and Gallen is well known, other departments have equally excelled to combine to turn Wolves into such an efficient outfit this season.

Head of recruitment Stuart Webber and his scouting team carried out the detailed reconnaisance on the seven signings Jackett made.

Head of medical Phil Hayward and his colleagues, along with fitness coach Tony Daley and the sports science staff, surpassed their 84 per cent target for availability of 'platinum players' – delivering a staggering 94 per cent.

All of which Thelwell is delighted and very proud of.

"It's been a fantastic season and I don't think we could have wished for it to be any better," said Thelwell.

"What we worked hard on was making sure there was a really strong plan in place to support the first team.

"Kenny's primary responsibility here is focusing on the preparation of the team and producing performances and results and then behind him there's a really strong team making sure we get as much as we can from each department.

"It's about making sure we're all 'fit for purpose' to bring about those marginal gains which can make a difference.

"For example the recruitment, with Stuart Webber, speaks for itself this season.

"The level of diligence that's gone on around the players has been excellent and the signings have been strong.

"Then when you look at Phil Hayward on the medical side and Tony Daley with sport science, our player availability rate this season has been 94 per cent, which is phenomenal.

"That makes a massive difference to the overall picture.

"Then you look at Phil Boardman with analysis and making sure we're completely up to speed with how we're playing and performing, and also looking at other teams and that's also been really important.

"I really can't speak highly enough about what Kenny and Joe have done with the team but also how well they've been supported by the rest of the staff.

"What Kenny and Joe have done has been second to none in terms of getting themselves bedded in so quickly and organised in the way they want to work, how we wanted them to work, and then taking the team forwards.

"And then there are the players, who have got the most difficult task, because they've got to go out and do it!

"If you make a comparison to the previous season, in a relatively short period of time we've seen young players, homegrown players and new signings come in, all alongside players here before, to play not only in a way to get us up but also get us up in style.

"We're delighted on all sides."

A superior budget to their rivals meant the pressure was on for Wolves to excel in League One.

But several factors also meant there was plenty stacked against them achieving their goal.

Their recent Premier League pedigree and the size of the club meant they were everyone's cup final as teams queued up to raise their game against them, not to mention a new team gelling and a relationship to repair between the players and the fanbase.

Thelwell believes Wolves' achievements shouldn't be under-estimated.

"When we set out we knew it was going to be difficult, but now we can look back and reflect on a terrific achievement," he said.

"I know people will say Wolves should never have been there and that it should be easy to get out, but it never works out like that automatically.

"You only have to look at some of the big clubs who have gone into League One and found it very difficult to bounce back up.

"There certainly aren't too many clubs who go straight back up at the first time of asking.

"For us to have done that, with around 50 per cent of the squad being homegrown, with some of the problems we had before the season, with Kenny and Joe having to bed down, it's an unbelievable achievement which shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Not least because the team also broke many records along the way."