I think it would be fair to say this probably won’t be one for the neutrals, which is just as well as it isn’t on the TV, despite being shunted back to an annoying 12pm Sunday kick-off.
Wolves will once again pack the midfield on our wafer-thin home pitch and with Stoke attempting to enforce their usual physical game, I don’t expect this encounter to be particularly easy on the eye.
Who cares.
Jody Craddock was the hero at the Britannia
It will actually be nice to see an old fashioned dust-up between two honest sides trying to get one over on their near-neighbours, particularly after the goings-on at the Emirates last Saturday.
Unquestionably, Wolves need a favourable result, as we still hover precariously above immediate danger and with a tricky visit to Craven Cottage next week, we could easily find ourselves back in the brown stuff.
By contrast, Stoke’s season is all but over having surpassed the 40 point mark to secure their Premiership status for a third consecutive year. They’ll play with no pressure on Sunday, but it’s always debatable as to whether that’s a good or bad thing for the opposition. We know they won’t make it easy for us either way.
As always, ‘Rory’s Rockets’ will be under the microscope and I’ve been having nightmares about just how far Delap can actually fling the ball on our laughably narrow pitch. Expect anything in our half to be given the treatment, so big performances from our back four and goalkeeper are imperative. We did a pretty good job of defending them at the Britannia earlier in the season, but one clearance did pop out to the edge of the box for Etherington to volley home, which shows the second clearance is often as important as the first.
For Wolves, the big decision will be who slots into the midfield with our skipper ruled out. There’s a decent chance it could be Edwards and Milijas is long overdue an appearance, but I think the more like for like replacement is Adlene Guedioura. That should really be the only change, which would mean a team of:
Hahnemann
Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi
Foley
Guedioura
Mancienne
Jones
Jarvis
Doyle
Up at Stoke earlier in the season, Mick surprised everyone by bringing Iwelumo into the side and whilst I wouldn’t expect the big Scot to start on Sunday, there’s every chance he’ll be introduced from the bench, particularly if we’re not coping with the physical bombardment. Milijas performed the role of super-sub in that game, so perhaps he could be our ace in the hole should we need to turn things around.
By the time this game kicks off on Sunday we will of course know how Burnley, Hull and West Ham have fared, which will undoubtedly have a baring on what constitutes a decent result for Wolves.
A win would probably keep us up, but a draw wouldn’t be a terrible result.
That’s what I think we’ll get.
My prediction: 2-2
As always, if you’re going to the game, have a great time and get right behind the boys in old gold.
Up The Wolves.
How can you have a game with no TV in this day and age?
Someone here recommended iraqgoals.net to me earlier in the season and I have watched a few away games using it.
The quality of the stream depends on your broadband speed (like I understand what that means!) but it is well worth a try!
It’s on the tele in Australia
Thank God for Fox Sports..live in Brisbane….9pm
Solution? EMIGRATE !!!
That’s where illegal Internet feeds come in handy tim! Stoke will be tougher than we expect and a draw would please me!
Cant wait for this one – not been to a game for what seems like ages!
I would love to get three points from Stoke to repay my low point against them when Dean Richards went in goal and we lost about 1:4 to the loudest ever chants of Delilah! And for some reason I was in the Billy Quiet – what a grim Saturday afternoon that was!
I hope they bring the advertising boards in nice and close to the pitch to stop the long throws, and for f*cks sake dont let Fuller have the freedom of Wolverhampton like we allowed him in their promotion season.
I fancy 2:1 wolves with goals by Adlene and SEB from the bench – leftfield I know but I can feel it in my water!
Stoke are in good form and are hard to beat though – so I’d take a point right now!
C’mon Stourbridge, we’re in good form too and Stoke aint all that away from home, i reckon we can have em 2-1. Be interesting to see if we can reproduce our away form at home.
Hope you’re right Rich! Three points would be great!
Yeah, but internet feeds still mean the game is being televised somewhere.
Do they mean “not televised” or “not televised locally”?
The reason the game’s on a sunday is cuz the police moved it due to the risk of trouble between fans. It’s not televised here. But games are always filmed for higlights and stuff, and you’re right, i imagine it’ll be televised in some countries
Being Stoke born and bred this is a huge game for me – my family are all Stoke supporters and could never understand why I supported the other Staffordshire team, I could never understand why they could never understand, I mean who in their right minds would want to watch Stoke week in week out?
This game is being screened almost live here in Canada so I’ll be staying clear of all forms of media on Sunday morning, so no phone calls please!
This game will not be pretty and I half expect a no score draw although one goal should win it – who that goes to is anyone’s guess. Stoke are poor away, we are poor at home so who knows.
Fingers crossed we’ll win and we can all breathe a little easier. Burnley are in free fall, Hull are awful and West Ham are equally as bad, however I wouldn’t be surprised if both Hull and the Happy Hammers survive and drag Wigan Bolton or us into the poop – lets hope not!
UTW!
A win would be massive – a loss not the end of the world. How nice it is to be in this situation. Not everything to lose, but not nothing to play for either
wolves to win. just. no fuller i heard. just heard newcastle are in for o hara in the summer. i hope jez is good to his word this time (unlike the summer) when he says we’ll be buying quality not quantity this time. o hara would be ideal.
Hunt, O’hara and a decent striker and centre half.
Oh, and a left back!
Sh*t – half a team almost! Hope Redrow shares are doing well at the moment!
First time I’ve ever cheered for Burnley – Great result! One more win for us should be enough!
Wish I had your confidence Jed!
I still worry about Wolves ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory! Think about the horrid season we were all thouse points clear and ended up losing in the play offs! Three points against Stoke would obviously change everything for me (for a few days at least!)
Rather be in our position then that of Hull or Burnley so I guess we are lucky!
We will lose 1-0 , just to keep us on edge
Wouldn’t be Wolves otherwise ….
I want to subscribe to your site, do you have newsletter ?