Wolves blog: No-win November hits again

Wolves' fans will breathe a sigh of relief as their season moves out of the dreaded month of November...writes Wolves blogger Tom Tracey.

Much like the famous Guns N' Roses epic, November has felt like the longest month for the last couple of years for Wolves as they have failed to secure a November victory in both of Kenny Jackett's seasons in charge of the club in the Championship.

However, it has not rained either goals or points as both dried up during each period. They have managed just four points from nine November Championship games under Jackett, scoring a meagre four goals in the process.

Whilst every team will have a bogey team, it is surely not a common occurrence that a team has a bogey month.

In 2014, Wolves had won back-to-back matches in late October, before stuttering at home to Birmingham and succumbing to five straight losses during November and early December. However, a late winner at Sheffield Wednesday in December kick started the festive period as Wolves went eight games unbeaten.

Wolves ended the October just gone with a victory at St Andrew's before déjà vu struck, losing to Bristol City and then drawing three consecutive matches in November. However, where Wolves had only lost two league matches up until November in 2014, they had already lost six at the same point this season.

A victory against a Rotherham side who had secured back-to-back wins coming into this fixture has put a halt to a winless run and optimistic Wolves fans can now read recent results as four games unbeaten.

Whilst it is imperative not to get carried away – that last victory at Birmingham was the only one in eight games – Wolves must take heart and inspiration from last season's upturn in form. From a run of results that was actually worse last season than this one, Wolves went on to improve and in any other season would have reached the playoffs.

However, they do not have a returning Dicko to rely on in this campaign. Nor do they have a truly game-changing player such as Sako. It is unlikely that they will have the manoeuvrability and backing in the transfer market to secure a £2m player such as Afobe, who made Wolves that much more potent when he joined.

Whilst there is little doubt that Jackett's job is far tougher this season, it is his second bite at the apple in the Championship with his squad that still hasn't clicked into form. If he can establish some consistency in selection and tactics, there are many worse teams than Wolves in the league.

Jackett has shown that his strongest period within the season is from the New Year onwards, as his side improved to promotion-worthy form in both of his full seasons from January. The club's two best players, Dicko and Afobe, were both signed in respective Januarys.

Whilst it is too early to say for sure, Jordan Graham looks to have solved Jackett's left wing problem that has affected Wolves all season, with two assists last time out and three consecutive fans' Man of the Match awards.

The string of goalkeeping errors early in the season has not come back to haunt Wolves since, with Carl Ikeme playing far better now than during the drop, start, drop, start system that Jackett had been applying.

Whilst many – myself included – find it easier to linger on the negatives, the hope that Wolves can turn the corner as they did last year is certainly there and there is no reason why Wolves can't begin to make up some of the five point gap to the playoff positions.