Hoddle taking over his managerial duties. When the case eventually came to court, it was thrown out in its first week, with the judge recording a not guilty verdict and commenting that the case "should have never reached the trial stage". Southampton paid off the remainder of Jones' contract and he left the club – Jones contended that this amounted to unfair dismissal and took the case to industrial tribunal but Southampton's decision was upheld. Wolverhampton Wanderers Jones took over at Wolverhampton Wanderers, signing a three-year contract on 3 January 2001. The side were then sitting 12th in the First Division after a poor first half to the season under Colin Lee. Results continued to remain indifferent though and the side eventually finished 12th. The summer of 2001 saw Jones undertake a large overhaul of the playing squad in the pursuit of promotion. He spent over £7 million – the largest spending in the club's history in one transfer period – bringing in the likes of Nathan Blake, Colin Cameron, Mark Kennedy, Alex Rae and Shaun Newton. Additional firepower was also later purchased in Kenny Miller and a cut-price Dean Sturridge. The only major disappointment from the players Jones signed as he rejuvenated Wolves was Belgian striker Cédric Roussel, a £1.5million signing from Coventry City in February 2001. Roussel was one of the most expensive players ever signed by Wolves but he played just 27 times and scored twice in 18 months. Jones's new-look team quickly made an impact, hitting the top of the league by late September, and remaining in the automatic promotion spots over the following months. He won the Division One Manager of the Month Award in February 2002, as part of a sequence of ten wins from eleven games. By mid-March, they sat in 2nd place, with an eleven point lead over their arch-rivals and nearest challengers West Bromwich Albion. However, the final nine games saw Wolves take just 10 points from 27 available, while Albion, in contrast, won eight of their final ten fixtures to overtake their rivals and pip them to promotion on the final day of the season. Jones suffered more disappointment when his side compounded their poor end to the campaign by losing their play-off semi-final to Norwich City. The following season proved a similar rollercoaster ride for Jones. Inconsistent early form left them well off the pace for automatic promotion and