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Chris Iwelumo on Wolves heartbreak
Wednesday 2nd June 2010, 9:56AM BST.
Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo has revealed his Premier League heartbreak convinced him to leave Molineux after sealing a move to Burnley.
The 31-year-old made a £500,000 switch to the Clarets last night and immediately tipped his new club for an instant top-flight return.
Iwelumo is expected to lead Burnley’s frontline and says his frustrations of last season, where injury wrecked his season starting with breaking his metatarsal in Wolves’ first pre-season game in Australia last year, will inspire him to help his new side to promotion.
He said: “To go into the Premier League and make an impact you need to be fully fit and I never really had that opportunity.
“I have played a lot of football but had a bad time out for the last year and a half, being injured for eight months of that.
“This is my best chance though. I think we are going to go and bounce back. I think we can really kick on and get back to the Premiership.
“That’s why I came here, I think it’s an ambitious club with ambitious people who want to achieve great things and I want to be part of it.”
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy paid Iwelumo, who scored 16 goals in 52 games for Wolves, a glowing tribute and feels a move will benefit the Scotland international.
He said: “I’ve always described Lumes as a ‘proper bloke’ – someone who puts himself about and gives everything for the cause with no fuss or complaint and is also an excellent influence in the dressing room.
“Chris has also proved himself to be a very good player with us and his goals played a major part in helping the team win the Championship title.
“But at his age he wants to be playing regular football, which is something which might have been difficult with us next season.
“I’m delighted he’s managed to get a move to a good club like Burnley, who should certainly be there or thereabouts in the Championship next season.”
McCarthy signed Iwelumo from Charlton and 15 goals from his first 16 Wolves appearances helped him win his first Scotland cap against Norway in 2008.
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Cheers Big Chris, you were the complete professional on and off the pitch and a true gent.
Sad to see you move on but hope you do well at Burnley
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Good luck Chris, hope you get promotion this year.
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Always liked big Chris in the Championship but we need that bit more in premier league. I think 500k is a good bit of business and look forward to see who we get in as a replacement. I am sure there will be more through the door shortly.
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Good luck big man,thanks for the goals in the championship winning side,you will be remembered fondly by wolves fans and will always recive a warm reception when you return.
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Thanks for getting us to the Premier League, Chris.
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All the best Chris. Many sterling performances in a Wolves shirt but this was right for Wolves, now that Vokes was sorted. There will be a few others that will be sold or loaned out, as the 25 squad has to be adhered to.
I reckon that we will be looking to recruit another possible 3/4 players – centre half, winger, central midfielder and striker – and the retained list might look like this:-
Hahnemann, Murray, Ikeme, Zubar, Foley, Berra, Craddock, Stearman, Van Damme, Elokobi, Ward, Kightly, Jarvis, Mujangi-Bia, Henry, Edwards, Guedioura, Milijas, Jones, Doyle, Ebanks-Blake, Keogh
If its 4 new recruits Keogh, Ikeme or Stearman will need to be loaned out. The good news is that we will have plenty of good, young players to act as back up – Mendez-Laing, Vokes, Gorman, Batth, Malone etc.
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Pleased for Chris that he is happy with the move but the writing was always on the wall that he was one of many who would leave this summer.
Wolves have to look to the future if they want to stay in the PL and Iwelumo was never, in my mind anyway, going to be a part of that future basically because he was over 30 and we need more PL experienced players in our squad.
Now we must wait and see who else after Van Damme arrives through the doors of Molineux. Whoever they are and I hope it is another 2 or 3, we can look forward to having another successful season and rise up the PL a few places too!
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Best of luck to you at Burnley big Chris, you are a top, top man and I hope you go on and enjoy more success.
No-one can deny that in your 2 years at the club you have been an outstanding figure up front for us. It’s just my opinion, but I think you have firmly etched yourself in Wolves’ memories for that brilliant hat trick at Preston alone.
Thanks for all the goals and fantastic moments you’ve given us while you’ve been here. Make no mistake, you WILL be missed by us fans and all at the Wolves. I’m sure of one thing, there will ALWAYS be a warm welcome for you whenever you make a return to the Mol.
We are Premiership Wolves thanks in no small part to you Big man.
Up The Wolves and good luck Burnley too.
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Thanks Chris and good luck. A good move for everyone involved.
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Big Chris is a top bloke, and true professional who defenders hate to play against. All the best at Burnley!!
According to skysports wolves are closing in on a deal for Fletcher believed to be about 8M. Good player but I think 6M would have been a more appropriate price to pay!
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Thank you for everything Chris, you graced our colours well. Very best of luck for your future.
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This guy should never be forgotten by Wolves fans as he was the missing piece of the jigsaw that saw us get promotion. He gelled attack and midfield like no other did and we all know the outcome.
All the best to Chris Iwelumo
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GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!!!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK BIG CHRIS AND THANKYOU!!
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A cracking player who will be missed at Wolves – I’ll always remember the hat-trick at Preston started with that magical overhead kick.
This leaves us short on strikers with Hoff, Keogh and Vokes not up to the job and Ebanks misfiring.
Any chance of shipping some of the deadwood out that? Ward, Keogh, Surman, Halford, Berra, Craddock, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Jones, Milijas, Zubar, Clipboard Connor and Mick all need to go.
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Thank you Chris. It’s sad to see you go. Hope you score lots for Burnley and bring them back up. Pray you will free from injuries.
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A good championship player but never up to the standards required in the Premier.
Expect a few more in the same bracket to go as well if we really want to stay in this division.
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Chris, I am absolutely gutted that you have left us, but would like to wish you all the very best of luck for your future with Burnley.
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Good luck Chris you have been a credit to the club and I wish you well.
Bob Wolf, while you are shipping out most of the team that kept us in the premier why don’t you ship yourself out as well. We really don’t need your constant negative carping. What is wrong with you? we’ve stayed up against the odds, we have already started buying players, we could have a spanking new ground and all you do is moan.
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Big thank you to Chris, hope to see you at the Molineux again.
As for – I must be a comedian Bob Wolf, what are you on?
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Thanks Chris, you were part of something only one other team at Wolves have done since my time watching wolves and you will never be forgotten for it. Good luck at Burnley, hopefully see you in the Prem season after next.
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Great player and I hope our best wishes are sent onto him because he was a major player in getting us where we are.
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Good luck,Chris Iwelumo.
Top bloke and a classy player.
Good memories.
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Thanks Chris, you were our only real signing the year we went up – that says it all about the difference you made.
I think you can play in the Prem – a bit like Seb though you need to be fit and given a run of games, all the best.
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Good luck, Chris, and thank you. Injuries got in the way of things for you, but you are a player who will always br remembered fondly by Wolves’ fans. We will miss you. With Chris moving on, it is imperative that we get an experienced striker in asp.
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All the best for the future Chris and hope you keep injury free.Looks like as Chris leaves, Fletcher will be coming to the Wolves,reports out that Blackburn have pulled out of the race and are looking to sign a Polish striker from Germany instead!!!.
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Fletcher will confirmed next week apparently 6mil and Hennessey on loan, Wolves will sign Myhill as back-up.
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cheers for the memories chris. the 4th against forest at molineux especially sticks in the mind. good luck at burnley!
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For the money we paid, Big Chris put all the big-money signings of the Hayward era to shame. Were you watching Branch, Taylor, Roussel? I hope he has a fantastic season at Burnley, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for them from August onwards.
£8M for Steven Fletcher? Really? I’m not convinced. £6.5m for Kevin Doyle was justified because of his scoring record with Reading – £8m for Fletcher sounds like a very expensive punt.
And talking of transfers, it’s a shame we can’t transfer people onto other message boards! Bob Wolf could then boing boing back to the Albion message board, which must be one of the most under-used message boards in media history. You’d think their fans would give a toss about their own club, instead of rabbiting on about ours!
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@BOB WOLF same record same record with you isn’t it? Zubar was probaly one of our best players last season and mick has done a fantastic job. How about you just ship yourself of to the boggies bob eh do us all a favour.
Sad to see big Chris go and i wish him all the best at Burnley he is a true profesional and a great guy too.
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Chris Iwelumo was an inspired signing by McCarthy in our Championship winning season.
My everlasting memory will be the away match I witnessed at Preston in which he scored a hatrick.
Sadly because of injuries he never had the same impact in the Premiership. If he can regain full fitness he should make a big impression at Burnley. I wish him well.
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Good luck Chris and thanks for everything you did for us.Hope you take Burnley to early promotion,you deserve it.
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all the best big man,good luck at burnley. sky sports breaking news is fletcher is very very close to signing for 7 million!!!
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Well done chris maggie may will be pround.
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Such a true footballer! Keep ur head up! One of the major players in the promotion from the championship! Should have been given more of a chance as he did alot of the work! Thanks for making history and wearing the shirt with pride! Good goals too!
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Thanks Chris, you’ve always been a ‘Footballer’ is can be approached at any time n place, who would always give supporters the time of day. Unlike so many so called ‘Super Stars’ who wouldn’t give us a quick glance, let alone talk to us. GOOD LUCK CHRIS, i hope you find a ‘Good Local Chinese Take-Away, as i know only to well how much you like them. UTW
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Thank you and all the best Chris, our modern day Andy Mutch!
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While a lot is being said about the fact he is a nice guy, the truth is he is not a Premiership striker capable of getting ten goals or more so this is good business for Wolves.
The Club has to find a quality striker to improve our goalscoring as we are unlikely to be so fortunate next season in staying up unless we do much better in our home games.
There is still a lot of deadwood to clear out of the squad some of which, hopefully, will provide the Club with more funds to bring in stronger players.
COME ON YOU WOLVES!!!
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Very sorry to see you go, Chrs.
I really rate you as a player and as a goalscorer. You were probably the best investment the club made since the £50k we paid for Bully! Your goals got us started the year we won the league and all the other good things that have happened since are as a direct result of that good start we got.
Our loss will be Burnley’s gain: Good luck to you, hope you stay injury free.
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In only 2 years with us, you made yourself a Wolves legend. Good luck to you and Burnley next season.
On a different point, does anybody have any up to date info on Zele Ismail. Apparently the next big thing, but being kept so tightly under wraps, that you hear very little about him.
In Mick we trust!!
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Yes good luck Lumes hope you do well thanks for helping us get out the toughest league in football. P.S. have a word with your new boss and convince him that the Mol is the best place for Fletcher and Eagles.
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Class act on and off the pitch..
“Good luck Chris”.
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14) I suspect with a comment like that you are one of the skiprats from down the road. If not be warned as you are not welcome anywhere near the Golden Palace. A buffoon of the highest order!
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Good luck big man
your leaving us some fond memories
best of luck at Burnley
15+ goals next season i bet
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@pelsallwolf wolves are very close at getting fletcher so it will be done in a some weeks nowing wolves
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Bob wolf 14)….. Your bonkers.
As for Chris ….. he never had a real chance as I feel he needed a run in the team to find his legs and we couldn’t afford that.
I really wish him well and now Burnley have the parachute cash and probably a good manager, Chris may be at molineux far quicker than we expect.
Well done Chris, thanks for the memory’s and no one is going to forget you soon.
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Thanks and best of luck, Chris. You really made an impact in getting Wolves promoted to the PL. I’ll be keeping an eye on Burnley next season, hope you’ll be successful and injury free.
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good luck big chris. hope u & burnley do well next season.
also a massive thank you for the part you played in getting us up to the prem – you are part of the championship winning team & will always have a special place here in wolverhampton & around molineux!!! best of luck!!!
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all the best chris, top man.
Bob Wolf = Halfwit
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Best wishes to Chris and thank you. That Scotland cap was the kiss of death for you wasn’t it. Never the same after that miss.
A hat trick at Preston , sent off, suspended and then ?????
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sorry to see you go Chris you were outstanding in our championship campaign wish you all the best!!
i think we will get a good player in Fletcher if he signs not sure about the price but let him prove i also think ebanks will step up next season tbf he was unlucky last season but hopefully he steps up :)
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All the best Chris, you have gone to a club where
they play attacking football and you will be a better goal scorer than you were with wolves. You
will pass wolves on your way up as they will be
demoted.
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Having paid tribute to Chris earlier today, can I now use this board to ask if anyone can give me the latest on Michael Kightly? As I live on the coast and don’t get so much local (Wolves) news, I may have missed out on something. I just wonder how his recuperation is progressing.
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Good Luck Big Chris…
Those goals in the early part of the championship winning season will not be forgotten, thanks big man!
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IWELUMO
IWELUMO
Oh-Oh
Well done Chris.
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Thanks for the goals and 110% effort on the pitch big man.If we draw burnley in the cup you will get a great reception from us.
All the best.
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all the best chris you will allway`s be rememberd for your goal`s scored in the championship the season we went up now go do the same for burnly with all the best wishes from every true wolves fan and we`ll see you at the molineux very soon good luck big man WOLVES TILL I DIE.
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Big Chris has always been a favorite of mine. Big heart and totally committed. Always gave his best. You will be greatly missed. Every good wish to you at Burnley, nothing would give me greater pleasure than welcoming you back to Molineux as a Premiership player in a year’s time with your new club.
You have worn the Black and Gold with pride as I am sure you will wear your new colours.
The Preston hat trick will always live in the memory.
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Why does there always have to be a child like #51 to come on and spout rubbish, even with a send off thread like this one.
Jack The Hat, grow up and concentrate on your own team or are you more interested in ours?
You sound like a closet Wolves fan to me spending more time on our threads than your own, are you?
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Good luck big chris, every single wolves fan I know loves you. Top man.
WWFC
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An honest man and player. Thanks for your time with us, and best wishes for some good playing years ahead of you.
Never worry about coming back to Wolves, you have earned our respect and you’ll always be one of us.
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Good luck Big Chris, great player for Wolves and sure u will be for Burnley aswell.
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top bloke
can only wish him and burnley all the best for next season
was there at preston…..
what a game!
good on ya lumes
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Good Luck Big Chris and Thanks
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Sad but expected news, although watching him play in last few games, he looked much like his old self again. Big Chris will be sorely missed at Molineux and wish him all the best at Burnley. I too think that in only 2 seasons, he has become a real hero with the fans!
I think Jack the Hat must be Bob Wolf’s brother, although I think this is the first time that I remember seeing Bob Wolf adding anything slightly positive.
WE ARE WOLVES!!
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lads, lets not keep responding to idiot Bob Wolf, he just loves it, do any of you lot get the impression he is a child of about 7 or 8 years old…..i mean to pick on Zubar….as many see him as having a excellent 2nd half of the season
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14 BOB WOLF said
Any chance of shipping some of the deadwood out that? Ward, Keogh, Surman, Halford, Berra, Craddock, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Jones, Milijas, Zubar, Clipboard Connor and Mick all need to go
He is quite right.
How many Premier clubs would come in for these players if we let them go?
Says it all doesn’t it
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Chris, you are a true pro and you’ll be a valuable asset to Burnley.
Best of luck
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When Chris finally hangs up his boots I hope he gets offered a coaching job back with us. With a real football brain and obvious leadership qualities I reckon he is a future successful club manager. MM is right – exactly the the kind of guy that it’s good to have around the place.
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Enlish Exile [66] asks ‘How many Premier clubs would come in for these players [Ward, Keogh, Surman, Halford, Berra, Craddock, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Jones, Milijas, Zubar]if we let them go?
Blackpool would probably want all of them.
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Chris was an excellent signing and I for one would wish him well with his move to Burnley. I think he will do well for them in the Championship (Sorry to see him go, but we need to get some out to get some in)..
Lets hope that we can sign Fletcher – still think Hooper would be a good additional signing for the front and cover injuries.
I hear that Jimmy Bullard is NOT going to Celtic, but is coming to us next season. That would also be a good move if true??
Bring in S Hunt please, I also think J ledley would have been a good signing as well… :-)
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ALL THE BEST LOOMS !!!
Your incredible partnership with SEB got us promoted and that will always be remebered.
Sure to see you banging them in next season for Burnley – they’ve got you for a steal !
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Sources say Fletcher in Wolverhampton for a medical,expected to sign Friday.
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69 Spirit of 60
I thing you will find Blackpool already has it share of Donkeys……….
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH BIG CHRIS, YOU WERE AN EXCELLENT PLAYER
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thanks for everythin chris, you were a great signing for wolves did us proud, hope everything works out well for you and you’l be more than welcome back anytime..
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Good luck Chris, you will always be a hero in Wolverhampton. My best personal memory was the goal that you scored against Charlton at Molineux, you had no right to get there before the goalie and the defender, but you did! Fair play.
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What a ledgend pretty sexy aswell ;)
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