Graham Turner blames Wolves players for demise

The veteran Shrewsbury manager is fondly remembered by Wolves for his part in the resurgence of the club in the late 1980s.

He has joined the chorus of anger from the long-suffering fans at the demise of the club he grew up supporting and then managed.

Turner will be facing Wolves competitively next season for the first time since he left Molineux in March 1994 after seven-and-a-half years in charge.

But the 65-year-old believes most of the blame must be pointed at the under-performing players who have earned Wolves an unwanted slice of history.

They have become the only club to have twice suffered the drop from the top to the third tiers in successive seasons.

Turner said: "It's a sad state of affairs when a club as big as that who do not appear to have financial difficulties find themselves in League One.

"They have had four managers in a very short space of time so players have got to look at themselves – that's where the blame lies.

"You can't have four managers in 15 months and not point the finger somewhere else because they're not all bad managers. The common fact there is the players.

"I shouldn't be sat here giving advice to Wolves. They're our rivals next season, but it just bugs me when I see a big club like that, one I supported as a boy, dropping down into the third division."

Turner will relish locking horns with the club where he is fondly remembered and connected forever as a member of the Wolves Hall of Fame for his part in their recovery.

He led them from the old Fourth Division to respectability in the Second and said: "They will be very welcome here and it will be nice to go back to Molineux and renew some old friendships there.

"They are two great fixtures for us. The season before last we were four divisions apart and now we find ourselves in the same division so it's an interesting prospect."

Along with Shrewsbury, Wolves will face a host of Midlands derbies next season, with Walsall, Coventry, Port Vale and Notts County all in League One.

Turner welcomed the increased number of local games while being confident of improving on this season's 16th-placed finish.

He said: "There's some good games in there. With Sheffield United staying in there, it's going to be a tough league.

"But we will be better equipped to deal with League One football next season.

"I'm optimistic we can achieve what we have set out to do and that is to build a squad of players that can take us forward."