Docherty promoted 17 year academy player Tim Flowers into goal where he remained for the season with Burridge also leaving the club. The 1984-85 season began at home to Sheffield United in front 14,908 fans. After a good start to the season, later progress started to slowly disintegrated and the club found themselves bouncing around position 13th - 15th position in the table by November. Wolves were misfiring but despite this, Docherty allowed central defender Geoff Palmer, having been capped 394 times for the club, to move to Burnley. Palmer was a very experienced defender and with him leaving, this left a far less experienced team to that which had finished the previous season. Palmer left the club believing he had fallen out if favour with Docherty and cited that "the club just wasn’t a nice place to be at the time, it wasn’t being run properly, and was on its knees." Shortly afterwards, Wolves endured a 21-match winless run in all competitions (19 of those in the Second Division). Pressure was mounting in January 1985 and former fan favourite and now Chairman Derek Dougan eventually resigned from his position on the board. The season performances would also see the club be beaten 5-1 on three occasions. Two of them televised live on ITV and the other, away at Brighton & Hove Albion the day the club were officially relegated. Docherty's final game at home was against Huddersfield Town where Wolves secured just their 8th victory of the season, in front of just 4,422 fans. Wolves finished the season bottom of the table and Docherty's torrid season had finally come to an end. He left the club in July 1985. When asked about his time at Wolves Docherty said, "I could hardly say ‘no’ when a club as famous as that came in for me..... But it was a hopeless task really. There was no money. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to work with Derek Dougan but I accepted the challenge anyway. As for the Bhattis, I only met them twice – once when they hired me and once when they fired me." Docherty took up his final managerial position at Altrincham. He retired from management at the end of the 1987–88 season. Personal life Docherty married his first wife, Agnes, in December 1949, after he left his native Scotland to sign for Preston North End. They were married