Suppose We Survive
Posted by Ben on 8th March , 2010So picture the scene…
…It’s Sunday May 9th and we’re 1-1 with Sunderland. Transistor radios crackle, iPods dazzle and Molineux holds its breath in the hazy Spring sunshine.
But then, as our Impossible Dream cards begin to look weathered and limp, you’re nudged in the love handle by the bloke next to you. Gerrard’s scored for Liverpool against Hull. Cue a cacophony of ecstasy, trepidation, skepticism and joy which begins to wash over the stands like a tidal wave. Just 8 minutes of injury time to shit our way through and we’re safe.
Does purely surviving constitute success?
Ward slices one out for a corner, 28,000 whistles pierce through your ear drums, as Hahnemann fumbles, then catches. Molineux roars like the Maracana.
You can’t hear the referee blow his whistle, but you can see his pedantic arm gestures as the ball is booted skywards.
We’re safe! Some fans spill onto the pitch and Molineux’s PA system goes into overdrive with a pre-planned, well rehearsed medley of music. You applaud the players’ obligatory lap of honour and get poked in the eye by a flag waving pensioner who really should know better.
So how do you feel? Elated? Frantically thumbing your mobile to tell the wife you’ll be at the Clarendon for the foreseeable future? Maybe the boss will need a ring in the morning as you think of your excuse over a Carling. Or three or four!
Personally, I’d just feel a sense of mingled relief and frustration. Relief at witnessing our very own Great Escape, and frustration that we’d have made an unmitigated mess of a season that should never have got to that point.
I’d have clapped off the players, even waved my own flag as Sam Sparro piped up, before shuffling back to my car with my head down. I’d listen to WM, get home, draw the curtains and bury myself under the duvet, thanking God that it was all over.
We’d have stayed up, 17th place, done exactly what was said on the tin, so mission accomplished, yes?
Well it’s a no from me I’m afraid. And before I’m labeled a grumpy old git forever, let me elaborate.
Were it not for the consistent failings of three other clubs, our inexorable return to the Championship would have been confirmed long before the Mackems had rocked up.
In essence, we’d be celebrating the failings of others, rather than the achievements of our own.
A bit like me and my ‘A’ level results. Two ‘D’ grades and an ‘E’, and a dismal performance which deserved a kick up the arse from anyone who knew me.
What it didn’t need was me waving my certificates in the air like a lottery winner because three of my mates did worse than me, or the fact I scraped into University because UCAS took pity on me.
I failed. Just like Wolves would have failed. Failed to score enough goals, win enough games, sign enough quality or finish halfway up the table like Steve Morgan demanded we did back in September.
Did the Great British Winter Olympic team celebrate because Estonia and Kazakhstan came home with one silver each, compared to our gold?
I keep harping back to that Hall of Fame evening, when success actually meant something, where our old heroes wore smiles as shiny as their medals.
Today, we’ll all celebrate a fourth bottom finish in stands bearing the names of Billy Wright, Stan Cullis and Steve Bull.
Sunday May 9th would be the day that football eats itself. Either that or it will be the day we go down.
Ben – interesting thought provoking piece.
Have to probably disagree with you although i know entirely where you are coming from.
The#1 and sole objective as one of the promoted teams was to survive our first season and ensure PL football for next season. The gap is massive both in terms of finances and player ability so anything else for me is too ambitious.
If we survive it will be job done as far as I am concerned and everyone will deserve a pat on the back – although some more than others!
Then it will be a case of lessons learned heading into pre-season which is where the analysis of this past season, and another period of evaluation with regards to transfer activity begins.
MM didnt learn enough lessons last season and some of his failings have carried on into this season. Some players have made the step up, others have obviously not. Some flatter to deceive – Jarvis and henry for me are the biggest.
You said “Were it not for the consistent failings of three other clubs, our inexorable return to the Championship would have been confirmed long before the Mackems had rocked up.” Probably true but I would also suggest
“Were it not for the consistent failings of two or three other clubs, our return to the Premiership would have been a pipe dream” We didnt exactly blitz the Championship did we!
But we did win the league by seven points, we got 90, and scored around 80 goals. Reading messed it up towards the end but we won it because we were the best team.
Seventeenth= Success. I’ve never seen us have more than one season in the premier league and if we stay up I’ll be delighted. If we stay up with this young and ‘inexperienced’ squad, they will then have that experience and have shown they can do it. we can then push on and make maybe one or two Doyle quality signings.
But staying up is all I am thinking of. I didn’t expect europe, who did?
Louie. Wouldn’t it all feel a bit anti-climactic though? You’ve waited so long, you frantically get yourself into Molineux to watch what you think is going to be a season so far removed from the last one in 2003….and what happens? How do you feel?
I didn’t expect Europe, of course! And I know we didn’t expect Kites and SEB to be so injured or out of form, but when Steve Morgan gave that tubthumping speech in May 2009 (after we beat Doncaster 1-0), don’t you feel a bit let-down somehow? Deflated like my cheap Japanse tyre?
Maybe 17th, at any cost, is a success, irrespective of any mitigating circumstances, failings, or shortcomings.
I just won’t be pulling my plonker over it.
(BTW, agree re: Championship. We won more games, scored more goals and exceeded the ave pts target that most champions need to hit)
In 2003 our team was so way out of its depth at the start. We lost 5-1 to blackburn and 4-0 to Charlton. don’t forget the two Chelsea games and Tottenahm and thrashed by Villa. We have been thrashed only once or twice. We look more competent and more ready for the league. It’s certainly an improvement.
What has most annoyed me this season is the way all the players keep talking us up. Just shut up and do the talking on the pitch I say, same with Morgan! I know he said we wouldn’t be there to make up the numbers and I don’t think we are. Like the three year plan in the first place, we need a plan like that. Keep improving, like Stoke seem to be doing.
I hope it doesn’t come down to the last game, we need to get the points before that game. let’s hope the game at Fratton Park or one before that keeps us up.
We need twelve mor epoints I think, maybe less. three wins and two/three draws. Could do with a win this week to create a gap.
A Big Big Thank you has to go to the 2 Prem guys we brought in – Hahnemann and Doyle and to Jarvis, Henry, Craddock and even Berra for rising to the prem challange so brilliantly.
Jez Moxey, Morgan and the WWFC board didnt do nearly enough to give us a fighting chance but the whole squad, especially those mentioned above have played out of their skins to keep us with as good a chance as any of staying up.
Im really proud of the Wolves players and really sickened by the board.
WE ARE WOLVES !
Fair comment, though some team selections haven’t helped us either.
I think we’ll be fine….. I love goal difference.
Ad Mant. What else would you have done given the Moxey/Morgan/Board chair?
Problem is if we go down, it’s “job well done, Moxey, the company made a handsome profit this season, you get to keep your job”
“MIchael, we’ll give you until Christmas to be top of the CCC, and if you are, we’ll let you keep your job”
If by some humungous miracle we stay up, it will be ” job well done Moxey, etc. etc. etc. and of course Michael, you get to keep your job”
So, we are bollocksed either way.
Nothing will change next season coz “what worked once will work again”
The collective comments about who has played well, stepped up, etc are totally irrelevant as far as I’m concerned, we just are not good enough.
The root cause of all our present evils is Moxey.
It has been said by a reliable source that Stoke fans were dancing in the streets when he came to us. A slight exaggeration, but wont we be dancing in the streets the day he is fucked off from Molineux?
What about this 2.5 million bonus he got?
Where are the accurate figures on the finances of the club?
I know Moxey has his blogg police scanning every thing written about our beloved team, so I hope they pick this up…..Moxey, your hour is upon you, we don’t want you anywhere near the Molineux ever again, you are a pox and a blight on the face of everything decent about our club.
FUCK OFF NOW.
FOWB
Yeah too right lets start the Moxey out Storie in protest!!!
Moxey will have got his bonus for ensuring the club is run prudently, and he has done that. Yes we have missed out on some players this year because we have not rated them as highly as other clubs, but on the other hand we are one of the most financially stable clubs in the Prem.
I bet you would love to see us splash cash on players and their salaries, but when that comes back to bite us on the arse like Portsmouth what will you say then???
I dont give a rats arse about ” financial stability”
I couldnt care less for Prudence, or any other tart, this is football, and we, the paying public, the thousands of fans, are the customers and we need to be treated accordingly, not fobbed off with the prudently run, financially viable platitudes we always get.
That’s all bollocks. I personally dont care about seats and expensive drinks and snacks and unclogged toilets, I would stand in six feet of shit to see my beloved Wanderers win the league, and be honest, most of you would as well. ( except Scooped, who is only 5ft 6 tall)
Look at this scenario.
We come into the Prem and have to play 38 league games and possibly 4 or 5 cup matches.
Thats it. No Champions league or UEFA cup round robin matches, so, not too many games overall.
Why then do we need a “squad” of players?
Back in the olden days of the seventies, when we had a damn good team, we played more games, but didnt need a squad. We had a first eleven and the reserves. When one of the first team were injured we brought in the reserve for that position, we didnt jumble up the team and play half of them out of position.
And we did OK.
If we got rid of some the squad, we would save big on wages, and would then be able to afford better players than the ones we have now, and have a better team, thus ensuring our future in the prem, which would keep us “financially stable.”
The problems associated with this scenario are that it is logical, and it presupposes that we have a manager and management team that can recognize good players when they see them.
Morgan who is supposedly a good businessman, should see the logic and act accordingly….NOW.
FOWB
FOWB
Well its lucky we dont have you in charge of the club then isnt it Clive!
This season more than any should be a reminder as to what happens to clubs that cant run themselves properly. Leeds still havent recovered from their cash problems a few years ago and Portsmouth are even worse off than they were!
When you say treated accordingly what do you mean? You say you dont mind standing in 6ft of shit but if that happended to customers in any other industry they would not have customers for long. The league rules state all grounds must be seated so how is that the clubs fault?
In regards to your squad statement, what a load of rubbish! The first eleven and reserves ARE the squad. Of the squad that finished last year most fans would have thought that both SEB and Kightly would do well this year and would have been in the first 11 list. But neither of them has had an impact to speak of this year, so we would be using at least 2 of the reserves in our most important season in recent history. Times have changed massively from the 70′s and to wax lyrical about them is fine, but just dont compare them to today as things have moved on, and maybe so should you…..
I don’t actually see what your complaining about there Clive. If we stay up Mick will obviously keep his job and if we go down he’s proven he’s one of the best managers for getting teams out of the championship so it would make sense to keep him. Personally I think Moxey has done OK this year, there’s been money to spend and we’ve bought some decent players, not all of them have worked out but that’s to be expected.
You say we’re not good enough but we’re sitting in 17th place having just outplayed Man U and been unlucky to loose. How do you manage to turn every discussion into an anti Moxey, Mick and players protest.
As for what happens if we survive, I’m pretty sure you’ll be celebrating in the Clarendon with me Ben. Even if it’s by 1 goal difference. I think anywhere from 17th and above will be a succes and gives us something to build on. We’ll be starting next season with a team of experienced premiership players and I’m sure Moxey will allow a few quid to be spent to get in another player of Doyle’s quality.
I think MM should keep his job if we go down. He’s proved himself as a class CCC manager – and the players clearly love him. It’d be madness to sack him.
I have to say I am sick of MM talking about Doyle leaving wolves. Take the Express and Star on Friday…
“If we stay up, we might have a problem holding on to him. If we go down, there’s no chance we’ll hold on to him because he will be going.
But I think we’ll have the first problem – trying to hold on to him having stayed in this league.”
This is the second time he ha raised it now – almost like the club are acclimatizing Wolves fans to the fact we might cash in. Lets talk about the fact he has only just signed for the club on a four year contract, although he has been our best player he sits on 6 goals for the season (not 20) so why draw any attention to him?
I’d rather have a manager issuing ‘hands off’ warnings rather than admitting defeat. He gave Reading a season in the CCC when they went down too.
MM should be a lot more concerned about hanging on to his job than worrying about whether Doyle is around or not.
If he dont get his shit together pretty damned quick it wont be his problem to worry about.
FOWB
True – but I wonder who Morgan’s preferred new man would be?
I heard he is mates with Paul Jewell – please god no! One sign of stress and he’d be on his bike, and he did such a great job at Derby!
As bad as MM did at Sunderland? Lol! No, I know he did even worse.
I’ve done it!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made the top twenty comment list!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yipee Kay A Mother f……..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FOWB
Haha, congratulations Clive.
I’m glad it brings joy to your life.
And the Die Hard reference only sweetens the accomplishment from my perspective.
Was that a cheap way to get one more comment Clive?
Good post Ben.
The problem with the Prem is exactly where do we go from here? If we stay up we will fight for mid table safety every season – doesn’t exactly fill you with excitement does it?
I have mates who support Blues and Albion who tell me they actually prefer the fizzy pop league as they see their teams win more often rather than praying for a draw or not to get dicked by one of the big boys!
I’d like to say I have enjoyed our season, but truth is it has been a slog all the way. More lows than highs, a realisation that unless we got a Man City type owner in the best we can hope for is lower end to mid table premier league.
The only thing I will say is that the Sky coverage of the Prem is great – I will really miss that if we go down! No extended highlights on football first – just coverage missed in the blink of an eye on the football league show at some un-godly hour of a Saturday night/Sunday morning.
My sister’s only renewing her season ticket if we get relegated. She hates being in the premiership.
Thank God I’m not the only one who thinks like this! From the teams outside the top 11 we’ve got 11 points out of a possible 33. That is rubbish. If we’d done as well as we should have – played the best players in their own positions, not selected out of sentiment, and picked a team shape intended to get bodies into the oppositions’ penalty area more often – we’d have been up there with Birmingham and smiling already. Aside from the pathetic performance in the transfer market in the summer, we could still have don a hell of a lot better and everyone with half a brain knows where the buck stops. MM set the bar stupidly low with his blather about survival – that’s a minimum requirement; Morgan’s froth about midtable was just that cos he didn’t get his wallet out enough; Moxey is just a greasy weasel on the take and doesn’t know or care about football. Whatever happens, we need a few new brooms next season. And I desperately hope it’s the Prem we’re having our clean up in.
So we’ve got 13 points of the rest? not too bad.
I’d rather be getting beat in the Premiership (but staying up) then winning every game in the CCC
The point is, dropping points to our competitors (4 to Hull, 3 to Bolton, etc) is letting them stay in touch with us when we could and should have had some breathing space. It’s certainly not going to help us stay up. I’d rather see us WIN in our mini-league at the bottom because if we don’t those other 13 points will be wasted. What’s wrong with a bit of ambition?
Premiership = Misery
Rob and Nick, you are like clockwork mice…..wind you up and off you go!
You miss the point entirely.
The reserves were just that, reserves. Lower pay.
Therefore fiscal frugality.
More of the same money available to pay for better players without going into extra debt.
Ian, we agree.
It doesnt matter how “well ” we play against anyone, if we lose, sorry, when we lose, it matters not…still 3 points lost.
We seem to end the goal droughts and losing streaks of everyone.
When are we gonna have the boot on the other foot?
Not until we have a manager with balls who is not afraid to put out a team to win, not “to not lose”, coz we all know what happens.
GET SOME BRASS ONES, McCARTHY.
And i am still onna rant and rave on here, coz I am passionate about my team, and I dont got no filters!!
So bollocks to all you pussyfeet naysayers, we are crap, we have shit management…………………but we are Wolves!!!
FOWB
OOps, some spellin errors above, but who gives a shit, I’m drinkin.
Scooped, get a polish.
FOWB
I’d personally be over the moon. Where do we go from here? If we stay up – we look to improve. Build the squad – try and win a Carling Cup or a FA Cup. The beauty is that young players, with Prem experience, improve. That is the beauty of this set up – probability says that this squad, in 3 years time, will be better than now without spending a penny. If we do spend, however, we need to spend wisely.
Hope you are right t’OM – but a few of our squad dont look capable of improving to the level required.
Take SEB as an example – say we do stay up, if you were MM would you take a gamble on giving him another season or go out and sign a new striker? I would sign another striker which will limit SEBs opportunities anyway.
Kites too – if we had signed Hunt he would have had limited first team opportunities if he could manage to drag himself off the treatment table.
The longer you stay up the more money you throw at the team which can stop players developing – I would start with a left back, a striker and a centre half!!!! If we do stay up I doubt SEB would even be there in twelve months time.
I agree that a few of our squad don’t look capable of improving (Halford anyone?).
SEB and Kites might be a victim of this, however, you assume that the only way footballers get better is by playing games. I’d like to look more at how players have improved under MM and Terry Connor – that is how the coaches (not manager) should be judged. I’m not prepared to make a call on it though.
How did I manage to forget Halford from my abuse? (Probably because no one has seen or heard of him for months as he is so rubbish!)
Total waste of over two million quid (just like the Hof) – f*ck them both off in the summer at a massive loss!
Ben, agree with a lot of what you say but for this season i’d be over the moon just to stay up. I don’t care if we stayed up with 10 points, as long as we did. All but one of the last 25 years have been spent out of the Prem, so i think that’s enough this year. And with all the qualms about a shit squad and shit players it’d be quite an achievement. It amazes me how people can question being in the Prem, we might as well just give up now.
Clive, it’s not we’ve not got the balls to say we’re shit, it’s just that some of us believe and have some optimism. You make out you’re a great fan when all you do is criticise and find no positives.
Intersting post on the Express and Star website today – basically saying the whole Prem league is shit this year!
I agree – there are a lot of poor sides in the dividion this season (including wolves) which is why it is our best ever chance to drag ourselves out of the CCC for a sustained period.
There are teams worse than Wolves – some have better players then us but collectively we are more of a team. We need a bit of luck and some decent referee decisions in the final phase of the season.
Out of the three who it looks like are in the battle (us, Hull and Bunley) we definitely have the best player. I can’t think of anyone as good as Doyle, and don’t say Bullard!
Defo think Doyle is better than anything Hull have, however…. Bullard, Hunt and Geovanni would walk straight into our first team!
It p*sses me off a cr@p club like Hull, with a dayglow manager have attracted these players when we couldn’t!
For the record – I love being in the Prem. I’ve got a good mate who is a Spurs maniac, refuses to talk football with me still, point blank – because he knows he’ll cop it.
Only just picked up on this blog. Think Ben started it, but then it became the Clive from Houston show! Agree with his comments about making too many changes to the team when you get one injury – “your right-back gets injured, your reserve right-back should come in – simples”. But all this bollocks about Moxey being the root of all our evils is as predictable as it is wide of the mark. Dead easy to chase the dream, a’la Leeds, Charlton, Southampton, Portsmouth etc etc but I ain’t up for that and no right-minded fan would be. It’s admirable that you have gold&black eyes Clive but they’re clouding your vision chap – and Ian’s as well. It ain’t Moxey’s money – he ain’t a multi-millionaire, able to sink his own dosh into the club – he has to a job according to the budget afforded to him by Steve Morgan. I know – let’s slag off Morgan and push for our own A-rab instead, who can send us into the abyss, so that Clive has nowt left to moan about.
I will always have something to moan about………….I’m a Wolves fan!!!!
The beauty about this blog is that we can voice our opinions without getting personal………I hope!!
It’s amazing how I am being brandished as a pessimist, love it.
Those who know me, know me.
Nuff said.
FOWB
Morgan must have made a fortune out of Wolves so far – and I agree he has done little to support the manager or the fans in this seasons campaign.
Everyone wants financial security for the club but we also will never get a better chance to establish ourselves in the Prem. A rediculous wage cap has tied MM’s hands behind his back – where we can not afford experienced Premiership players.
Hope the money men at all the big clubs p*ss off and land them in the cr@p! How great would it be to see clubs that do budget well on a level playing field with such teams.
If we stay up, I think Morgan might spend a bit more than he did last summer. He has spent a bit, but next summer we need a few more stars (like Doyle) because next season’s premiership will be harder than this season’s.
Morgan will be worried about us staying up – as if we do he will have no excuses for not developing the ground to the 42,000 all seater he has promised! Bang goes the player budget – just look at Arsenal!
I agree that next seasons Prem will be harder – Newcastle, Albion + one more back up, better than some of the s**t up there this year!
MM said on the official web site today that ” he knows between the jigs and reels of the situation”
Can someone please translate from Yorkie to English.
FOWB
Almost as indecipherable as clipboard’s hand movements during a game!
And for what it is worth I hope we never play in the CCC ever again. It might be corrupt as hell but the PL is only place to be!
That is fantastic. Up there with ‘if you form a commitee to design a horse you get a camel’ or whatever it was. Mick speaks as he finds, calls a spade a spade, doesn’t mince his words, etc and it stills doesn’t make any sense at all. How can you not love him?
The Premiership is meant to be for a joyous celebration of football, giving the chance for all teams to fight for the right to win the league, qualify for Europe and maybe have a good domestic cup run.
Unfortunately it fails for all clubs except those with financial clout to compete at the top.
Sky provides great coverage for the TV viewer, but a lob-sided playing surface for the clubs in the Premiership.
The likes of Wolves, Bolton, Burnley, Hull etc are just cannon fodder for the ‘Big Boys’, sucked in, chewed up and spat out without a seconds thought for where they’ll end up.
Playing in the lower half of the Premiership may offer financial rewards for the players and management, but it offers abject failure to fans wanting to see their team compete and, above all, win games of football.
I predict we will win the league in a canter. Is that even mathematically possible? How early in the season was winning the league impossible for us?