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Wolves in hunt Wolverhampton, Ipswich lead chase for promotionPosted: Friday August 09, 2002 10:22 AMLONDON (Reuters) -- Wolverhampton Wanderers starts its latest division one escape bid determined to make amends for last season's shattering failure to claim a long-sought Premier League place. The demise of ITV Digital and the subsequent loss of television revenue proved very costly to the division one clubs, meaning the promotion race is even more wide open than normal. Dave Jones's Wolves side, who last played in the top flight in 1984, missed out in May when they lost in the playoffs after looking certainties for automatic promotion at one stage. Years of investment have yet to pay dividends for the West Midlands club and Jones clearly thinks his team needs a little more experience to complete the job this time around. To that end he has brought in feisty midfielder Paul Ince from Middlesbrough and defender Denis Irwin from Manchester United over the close season. Wolves, who open their campaign at Bradford City on Sunday, are further spurred by the fact that local rivals West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City both won promotion last season. "What happened to Wolves last year has added a little more pressure, but I personally like to play under pressure," said Ince. "I thrive on it and I know how much it hurt the people in this area when West Brom went up." British bookmakers consider Wolves second favorites to win the division one title behind Ipswich Town, which was relegated from the Premier League last season. Ipswich manager George Burley has plenty of experience in trying to win promotion and has endured his fair share of playoff agony in the past. Even though parachute payments cushion the financial cost of dropping down a division, the East Anglian side says it needs to sell to balance the books. But apart from the five million pounds (US$7.71 million) sale of defender Titus Bramble to Newcastle, Burley has managed to keep his squad largely intact. Financial woe The two other relegated teams, John Gregory's Derby County and Leicester City, who will be playing in a new stadium, will also be among the favorites to win immediate promotion back to the top flight. But it is no easy task with a gruelling 46 league games to contest, as Coventry City discovered last season, and its new manager Gary McAllister faces a testing start to his managerial career. Norwich City and Millwall will have their eyes on a promotion slot, while Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth, having recruited Paul Merson from Aston Villa, is also an outside bet. Another ageing former England international, Des Walker, is back at Nottingham Forest as captain, but Paul Hart's otherwise youthful side still looks short of goals. Wimbledon is divided by its imminent move to Milton Keynes, while financial problems are likely to hit hard at Burnley, surprise leader for a while last season, Grimsby and Bradford, which went to the brink of extinction in the close season. Despite hanging on to exciting striker Bobby Zamora, Brighton may struggle following promotion having lost manager Peter Taylor. Fellow promotees Reading and Stoke City, who can look forward to filling their impressive stadiums on a regular basis, have more reason for optimism.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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