Assuming this match manages to beat the freeze, it will be a massive relief to finally see Wolves play some football and hopefully pick up three valuable points, putting some distance between ourselves and the dropzone in the process.
Wigan though, are an unpredictable force, capable of pulling off some quite unbelievable results like their home triumph over Chelsea and that opening-day away win at Villa Park. But they find themselves below Wolves in the table on goal difference, thanks to some stuttering form of late and a handful of shattering defeats; most notably that 9-1 humbling they suffered at the hands of Spurs.
Wolves came out on top at the DW Stadium
Of course we too have tasted victory over the Latics this season, securing our first ever Premiership away win, thanks to that early Andy Keogh header at the DW Stadium. At the time, I think the victory came as a pleasant surprise to Wolves supporters with many (including myself) forecasting doom beforehand. But there will be none of that this weekend, with the overwhelming majority of those in old gold, expecting the home side to get the job done against Roberto Martinez’s team.
I think the general consensus about Wigan is that if you can get on top of them, they’re susceptible to collapsing like a house of cards, hence why their goal difference is even worse than ours at present. They’ve got some good players though and the likes of N’Zogbia (don’t call him Insomnia), Gomez and Rodallega are likely to ask big questions of us, if we give them time and space to operate. Rodallega in particular is one dangerous customer and without wanting to sound disrespectful to Wigan, seems destined for bigger things. He’s the obvious danger and the man to watch on Saturday, capable of changing a game with a moment of brilliance.
From a Wolves perspective, I’m hoping to see a good performance from what I believe is our strongest eleven at this moment in time, which is:
Hahnemann
Stearman
Berra
Craddock
Ward
Foley
Henry
Milijas
Jarvis
Doyle
SEB
That team should be good enough to push hard for a positive result, so I hope Mick doesn’t entertain the idea of making wholesale changes. I can’t really see why he would, but perhaps the likes of Zubar, Surman and Mancienne might come into his thinking.
I’m feeling pretty confident ahead of this match I must say, which is usually when disaster tends to strike. But with another solid display, I believe we’ll get the win in this one and hopefully score a couple of goals.
I’ll stick my neck out for a 3-1 home win.
If you’re going to the match, have a great time and roar the lads on to victory.
Up The Wolves.
Pretty much agree with that team except I’d like to see Foley return to right back. I think he’s too defensive for right mid and is too solid a defender not to have in the back 4, although I don’t think Stearman has been playing badly. Bit of a tough one.
I’d love a 3-1 win but that just seems to straight forward for Wolves. I’m going for 2-1, with us all on the edge of our cold seats for the last 10 minutes.
Fingers crossed Blakey can get a goal or 2 this weekend, I think it’s got to be now or never for him. Don’t think it would have helped him not playing last week as he was getting better with ever game but hopefully MM will stick with him, at least for 1 more game.
im going for 2-0. Not an easy match but milijas and doyle being the difference i reckon
I’ll go with one nil to Wolves! And ‘ll be over the moon at 5pm on Saturday if I am right. I’ll go for SEB to score the goal (as I’m an old romantic)
First game I’ve had a ticket for since the Blues match so if they lose it’s obviously my fault for being a jinx.
Would be nice to sign Hunt today so we can see him in the starting line up on Saturday.
Oh, and I dont think Liverpool should consider Rafa’s future until after the 26th. Lets hope Torres and Gerrard remain injured too – I for one am not bothered about seeing them play as long as it gives wolves the advantage! Any team sheet with Ngog and Voronin up front sounds like a great to me!
Torres out for at least 6 weeks – he needs an operation – great news!
Might get my voodoo doll out for Rodallega now!
Stourbridge – So to be pedantic but Voronin was sold to dynamo kiev a few days back.
Any win will do but i can see us drawing this game I’m sorry to say
Nick – I agree about Foley at right back. But then who do we put in right midfield? There aren’t many options atm, maybe Surman or Milijas, but i think he’s best in the centre.
And i think he’s got to stick with SEB as we have no one else apart from Vokesey.
Don’t think we’ll be seeing Hunt this weekend. Interestingly, i’ve heard Wigan want him too.
Sorry, i’m forgetting Iwelumo. How could I?
Rich – you were right the first time “we have no one else apart from Vokesey” BCI was anonymous last time he played.
No reason we can’t get a result against Wigan as long as our team turns up hungry enough to compete.
Not a fan of Foley in midfield, would prefer a midfielder in midfield – Dave Jones, Surman are both fit or perhaps risking Mendez-Laing.
Remember the last time Wigan came to Molineux? That was a cracking game. Would prefer a 1-0 this weekend though
It’s a game we really need to win, but I’m going for a 0-0 bore draw…be happy if w enick it with one goal to be honest
Hallam – thanks for the info, how the hell did Liverpool find someone else stupid enough to sign Voronin? At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!
Jed – totally agree on Foley. Play midfielders in midfield and full backs in defence! Hate to see a starting line up with two defenders in midfield (Foley and Mancienne).
Dazza – leave it out mate, I’ve paid £28 for a ticket so no bore draw predictions please (ha,ha,ha!)
I reckon another one nil, a nice clean sheet!
Hahnemann
Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Ward
Foley
Milijas
Henry
Jarvis
SEB
Doyle
I reckon that’s a good enough team to get past Wigan. Foley is better at right back but he has done the job in midfield (especially as it’s not his position. The sooner Kightly get’s back the quicker, so Foley can get back to his right place where he was our best player
Massive opportunity for us to put some distance between us and other relegation candidates. Going by the table and the form book, you can’t see Hull, West Ham, Burnley, Portsmouth or Bolton picking up maximums this weekend. If added to that Wigan lose we’ll end up in a decent position come Sunday evening.
COME ON WANDERERS!
PS. Doyle’s first hat trick in the Old Gold has to be on its way…might stick a few bob on that tomorrow
I’m torn as I think (read hope) we’ll win, but the value in the betting market over here is in the draw at 3.20, but I never bet against Wolves.
Suggestions?
I think McCarthy has had long enough to realise that Blake can’t cut it at this level.Any other PL striker would have scored today. Henry, works hard..not good enough…Jarvis..runs hard..not good enough.Too many nearly players , and teh Manager has no idea what his best team is.He has to go and soon please
Dazza, that’s really unfair. I thought SEB was good today, just a lack of confidence for that chance atopped him from scoring. I really don’t know how you can say that about Henry, hes been our best player by far.
I couldn’t believe hehad taken of Jarvis. We needed an outlet to give soem of them a rest.
Not a great performance but not a bad one. Mancienne and Milijas I thought were excellent in the first half and Hahnemann made soem great saves. Did anyone see the ref get in Henry’s way for the first goal?!
This team have bounced back everytime and I won’t be surprised if they produce a great performance agaiinst ‘pool.
Louie, did you watch the game yesterday? I only ask because SEB had probably one of the worst games I’ve ever seen from a Wolves forward. Nothing went right for him.
Two minutes in, he got into a great position to cross and spooned it into the South Bank. Then he had the easiest chance you can possibly ever ask for as a centre forward; middle of goal, 8 yards out, goalie rooted to his line, quite simply, must score. Flufffed it.
And it continued to go downhill for him all game. I can’t actually recall one thing he did right. I’d love to know what you saw to make the statement that he ‘did good’?
Now I’m a big fan of the bloke and have constantly said he’s better than what he’s showing at the moment, which I still believe, but there’s no excuse for yesterday’s performance. Utter rubbish.
Whilst Dazza does have a glass half empty view on a lot of things (which he’s perfectly entiteld to have), you can’t disagree with his statement that SEB doesn’t look up to Premiership football because up to this point, he’s yet to prove otherwise.
I think it’s time to take SEB out of the firing line for his own good. Introduce him from the bench a few times and see if he can get the goal to reignite his season.
I’m with you Dazza.
I was at the game yesterday and to be frank Wolves were rubbish.
The problem is that you can not pin it on one player (although I will single out a few performances later) – collectively they looked terrible. What is worse about it is that we were playing Wigan – a so called relegation rival! From what I saw they were faster, sharper and looked head and shoulders above what Wolves had to offer. So if this is the standard we are heading for the drop!
As for the performance…
SEB – I found myself sat in the Steve Bull saying to myself ‘this is the guy who scored the goals to get us here – give him a break’. But to be honest he had an absolute shocker and does not deserve his place in the team. Not the miss that annoyed me (which I would have scored!) but the general low work rate. Only in the team as MM has no one else any better. 14 days of the transfer window left to solve this issue.
Stearman – absolutely stupid penalty to give away, lucky to stay on after his first booking, needs to grow up quickly.
Jarvis – never beat his man once in the whole game, had space to cross in the first couple of minutes
Henry – I have said he is one of our more consistent performers, but I am now begining to wonder if he is actually part of the problem! His distribution is so slow, and so rarely forward that it allows the opposition to get men back behind the ball. Wigan came forward like Arsenal against the Wolves – quickly and in numbers.
Jones – where the hell did you come from, I’d forgotten about you! Not fit, poor decision by MM to bring him on in a relegation 6-pointer.
Doyle – unbelievably won absolutely everything in the air! Working too hard to make up for SEB though – get in the box, we need you there to score the goals.
Hahnemann – thank god you were in goal and not Hennessey, it really could have been five or six without a great performance.
Radio WM were saying that Morgan was quoted as saying ‘It wont be a disaster if we are relegated’ – sounds to me like he isn’t going to put his hand too deep in his pocket this January then? He also said transfer money isn’t an issue but there is a wage structure. Lets be real in that the best players will only come for decent money, we need to find a balance between not ‘doing a Portsmouth’ and not ‘doing a West Brom’ (Blues seem to manage it?)
Another question raised by many callers was ‘where are all the players we signed in the summer?’. Too many have not made the grade which ultimately comes back to the manager and his scouting team.
Still in with a chance of survival at this stage, but based on this weekend I wont be holding my breath!
I’m not a half empty glass person.Blake has scored once, rubbish at this level, can;t hack it, may as well get rid… Craddock has scored more than him!!! He is truly clueless, a passenger. Henry is a negative player, a headless chicken, with no cutting edge, no attacking thoughts. Now this idiot Manager wants to buy another winger,… who exactly is he going to cross teh ball to? Desperate stuff, i bet Liverpool are clapping their hands that their bad run will soon end. Morgan, stating its not the end of the world if we go down shows his intent too.What a shambles. teh fans deserve better than this
Sean ‘Driscoll for Manager….soon!!
I have to agree with Dazza as well, yesterday was a poor show from all the outfield players. No one’s mentioned Foley yet, he’s gone from being our player of the year to looking like someone who’s never seen a football before. I know he’s out of position but that doesn’t excuse his bad passing and decision making.
It really pains me to say it but SEB’s got to be put out of his misery, he looks like he doesn’t want to be on the pitch anymore. Unfortunately there’s no one to replace him. I’ll probably get some stick for saying this but I think we’re really missing Keogh.
The frustrating thing for me this season is that we seem to play our best football against teams we haven’t got a chance against, when a beatable team comes to molineux we seem to play at 50% (apart from Burnley). Last time we played that badly was against Blues and followed it up with a good run, hopefully we can do the same this time. All is not lost………..yet.
Criticising SEB for his workrate is beyond moronic. He’s never ran around chasing defenders down and i don’t want/expect him to start now. Yes he was very poor yesterday but at the end of 2009 he put in a few great performances in a row. To say he simply can’t cut it is incredibly OTT. Yes i would drop him but from some of the reactions to the game you’d think he should be shot like a lame horse. Regarding Doyle doing all the leg-work, that IS his game! It always has been, have you not watched a R.O.I game? What we drastically need is an injection of pace. In the 2nd half watching Jones, Milijas and Henry trudge about was depressing and with no wingers our only outlet appeared to be S.Ward. Without Kightly AND Jarvis we are no threat at all which isn’t a suprise because without them last season we were dreadful. Adam Johnson would be an amazing signing and there’s paper talk today we’ve bid £6.5mil! If we pulled this off i would be absolutely stunned. He’s exactly what we need and would make such a difference to our side.
You can’t criticise him for what hes not known for doing. His work rate was good in first half but the second half he looked downhearted.
Yeah it was a shocking shot but its all confidence and he has had no luck all season, like wolves.
He played alright in the first half, i was watching him on the stream.
Henry has been our best player and he hardly put a foot wrong, like Milijas and Mancienne (his only mistake was fro second goal, no idea what he was doing.
I hope Mick keeps playing SEB though, he needs his chance and I’m sure he can do it. He’s only 23/24 you know. All he needs a goal, and he needs to keep playing for that. I think we need to create more chances, which is why he may buy a winger (Johnson) but where does Kites fit in then or Jarvis?
Kwolf – have to disagree, the statistics dont lie about SEB. Over half way through the season and just one goal from the penalty spot tells the true story. Not good enough! Score goals and no one gives a s**t about your work rate – don’t score goals and you need to contribute more than just making up the numbers.
It pains me to say it as part of the excitement about this season was seeing how he, Kites and Jarvis would perform in the Prem. SEBs work rate might never have been the best but when you are down to ten men you at least expect him to make himself an outlet for the midfielders. Plus every time the ball went to him he got caught in possession. He plays as if he has something on his mind other than the game.
I would love to see him come good, and to be fair I still dont see anyone else in the current squad I would put in his place. To be fair to MM who would have thought the CCC leading scorer of the past two seasons would have scored a duck from open play at this stage in the season. Equally if we do go down then you would want him there to score the goals to take you back up. But having been to the games I have this season, and having seen what i have seen, I could’t see any other Prem teams tabling a bid for SEB.
Chelsea are reportedly after Adam Johnson too, so I wouldn’t hold your breath! Like the Hunt story it stinks of smoke and mirrors to me! I’d love to be wrong though!
Kwolf, take those rose tinted specs off. Blake has scored one goal, and NONE from open play. He has missed heaps of sitters, and if this had been Keogh, people would have been calling for his head long before now. Blake is rubbish at PL level, offers nothing to the team. He is lazy, overweight, and thinks he is doing OK. A good Manager would drop him as he has clearly lost all belief in himself. Blake’s touch is crap too, how many times do yous e ethe defender take the ball of him and get the oppo midfiled on the attack. Blake did a job last year, and his goals got us promotion. Job done, get rid, we need better than this to stay up.No room for sentiment in football, and your post smacks of it