SEB has started the season impressively
Crunching tackles, bad decisions and well taken goals are the three things that will live long in the memory about this bruising afternoon at Molineux.
From the moment Karl Henry piled into Joey Barton in front of an approving South Bank, fairly I might add, the tone of the match was set and neither side shied away from this all or nothing, blood and thunder contest.
Kevin Doyle, Jelle van Damme, Matt Jarvis, David Jones, Adlene Guedioura, Ronald Zubar and a handful of Magpies all joined Henry in the book, some more deserving of their punishment than others.
This was a horrid match to referee, with both sides up for the scrap, but the man in the middle did himself few favours with a string of decisions that incensed the crowd and did little to appease either set of players.
The worst call, his failure to award Wolves a second half penalty was not only grossly incompetent but completely illogical. As Matt Jarvis skipped by James Perch and tumbled over the defender’s clumsy tackle, the outcome seemed obvious.
But having not given the penalty, not booked Jarvis for diving and not awarded a corner, what exactly was the referee’s conclusion? The answer to that, we will probably never know.
Of course at that point, Wolves were already a goal to the good thanks to an exquisite piece of skill and a finish to match from the resurgent Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Plucking a looping cross out of the sky and swivelling to fire the ball home in two sublime movements was our number 9 at his ruthless best and capped a performance full of endeavour.
Mick obviously appreciated his efforts too, choosing to withdraw Kevin Doyle when the time came to introduce Steven Fletcher. That was massive statement to make but one you’re hard pressed to argue with given Blake’s early season form.
Newcastle of course have a striker bang in form too and Andy Carroll’s measured header to drag the Geordies level was just reward for a towering performance in which he won practically every header.
It’s not often you’ll see Craddock and Berra bullied in the air, but that’s exactly what the young forward achieved and it surely wont’t be long until Fabio recognises the impact this powerhouse could have on our national side.
So ultimately, the spoils were shared and whilst both teams will feel they could have won it, both can count themselves lucky not to have come away from this bruising encounter with nothing.
And the fact both sides finished with eleven men on the pitch is, quite frankly, a miracle.
Good blog Thomas. Well, I already commented on a few of the players and incidents in the preview, but I will court controversy by saying that I did not think it was a penalty. Jarvis knocked the ball on too far (perhaps deliberately), knew that he had, and – with no chance of doing anything with the ball due to his last touch – he went over like a ton of bricks on the ensuing inevitable contact. Having seen the replay several times, I thought he was lucky not to have been booked for making a meal of it …
… on the other hand, I’ve seen them given though.
For me, it’s a penalty. I don’t care if he went down like he’d been shot. Perch lunged in, didn’t get the ball, Jarvis went over his trailing leg and that, in the Premier League, is a penalty kick.
However, it’s not just the fact he didn’t give the penalty that irks me.It was that he didn’t give anything. Surely it was either a penalty or a booking for Jarvis?
He just bottled it.
I agree with your last question. I’d have booked Jarvis.
Crazy mate, i’m sorry
What a nonsense. It doesn’t matter if he’s going to get the ball. Keogh won a penalty at Charlton in our promotion season for being nailed after he blazed a shot over the bar. What’s the difference? Keogh had lost control of the ball – It was in the stand. If you have to have control of the ball what happens if someone slide tackles another player 20 secs after the ball has gone? Where does the line get drawn? Perch legged him up in the box. Penalty. It’s not for the ref to decide what Jarvis might or might not have done. The fact that Perch felt it necessary to go to ground, that he legged Jarvis up and that he won none of the ball is all that matters.
Well, if we accept the premise that football is a physical game (and I hope we do), then there must be instances where the players make phyical contact but it is not a foul. And if such a contact occurs inside the box, does it make any difference? I don’t think Perch’s challenge was ‘bad’ enough to be called a foul, that’s all.
But, all right, I’ll try recourse to the rules. (Due to the inherent ref’s discretion in the rules, this won’t solve the difference in opinion I’m sure, but at least maybe you’ll see where I am coming from).
So, here’s FIFA Rule 12 (‘Fouls and Misconduct):
“A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits
any of the following seven offences in a manner considered by the
referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:
• kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
• trips or attempts to trip an opponent
• jumps at an opponent
• charges an opponent
• strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
• pushes an opponent
• tackles an opponent
A penalty kick is awarded if any of the above ten offences is committed
by a player inside his own penalty area, irrespective of the position of
the ball, provided it is in play.”
I hope we can agree that only the last misdemeanor (‘tackle’) is in question here. So, the question comes down to: was Perch’s tackle careless, reckless, or using excessive force? If any of those three – it’s a penalty. But of course that’s a matter of the ref’s discretion. Now, I reckon it was none of the three. Perch went after the ball with the utmost care, I would suggest, and certainly was not reckless or using excessive force. Your mileage may vary, of course. And as I said, I’ve certainly seen ém given.
but he did trip him.
Yeah, but carefully
So if Jarvis was tripped why would you book him?
Because as I said in the opening post (which BTW I am so glad now to have made
), Jarvis engineered the trip. He was looking for the pen. He wasn’t trying to shoot or cross. By his last touch, he’d taken the football out of the equation. He went down with under a less than moderate touch (I am 45, dodgy knees and all, and I reckon I could have rode the challenge). Yellow card.
Sorry, i’ve never read so much rubbish in my life
I’m with you Rich – defo a penalty.
Robbed of two points by a sh*te referee (again).
We should be used to it by now.
Sorry Kowloon but that was a penalty all day long IMO, stonewaller. How many times have we seen Jarvo cross from the byline? I think he was going somewhere. But even if not, it doesn’t not make it a penalty.
Wasn’t Karl Henry the powerhouse? I’ve seen him get stuck in before, but not like that. If that was Joey Barton though, i think we’d all be slating him.
And what a great goal from SEB. He is a confidence player if there ever was one. This was the SEB who scored those to glorious goals at Charlton. Keep confident Sylvain! Probably a fair result overall
Stonewall penalty.
Karl Henry is getting some real stick nationally and, after Craddock on Kenwyne Jones, Guedioura on Heitinga and now Match of The Day’s montage last night you sense we are about to be pigeon holed as a dirty team. I don’t particularly mind that.. fight fight wherever you may be and all that.. but it is quite amusing that hardly any of those incidents were actually given as fouls.. For the most part we were just very very hard yesterday. Superb I say.
A word on SEB.. it looks like we got 2 players for price of 1 when we sign Fletcher – it’s certainly put a rocket up SEB’s ample arse. I’m delighted for the Wanderers number 9 – once a goalscorer always a goalscorer and now he is visibly fitter I think the truth of the matter is that, whilst Doyle & Fletcher are vastly superior in other aspects of the game, if SEB is given the same minutes on the pitch that they get he will score the most goals. Was it Dazza who would have bombed him out the club in summer?
As for Andy Carroll, he is quite the specimen and could go to Hollywood and play Conan the Barbarian but I don’t share Thomas’ view that he has a role with the national side. To be honest, reading the papers and listening to radio reports devote half their match analysis to the bloke was annoying. Talk about a media bandwagon – he missed a sitter 1st half and you could barely attrribute him that awful cliche ‘good touch for a big man’. Poor technique was a problem in South Africa – I hardly thing that guy is the answer.
I think Carrol’s a brilliant prospect, not the finished article sure but give the bloke a chance. I’d stick him in the national team and give youth a chance. What else do we have, Heskey, Cole, Zamora. Hardly vintage
Carroll got 17 in 39 last season. I know a young English number 9 who scored 25 in 41 in that league and scored a far better goal at Molineux yesterday
Hear hear!
You don’t need to be 7 foot mutant to be a strong centre forward. A big arse will do.
If we are going to be portrayed as a dirty team I say “Bring it on”!
It will be great if teams arrive at the Mol dreading playing us. I hope we give Nani the Barton treatment next (like big G did in the cup game last year!)
IMO the Ref caused the issues on Saturday by not calming the situation down early in the game.
Lets not forget that Barton is a complete scumbag – he got exactly what he deserves on saturday.
I’ve looked at the incident about 20 times from 10 different angles and it wasn’t a penalty. No matter what angle you look at it you can clearly see that Jarvis has not got a Chelsea or Man Utd top on, therefore, no penalty. Simples.
LOL! Nice one …
Ha, nice. I like that.
Funnily enough Giggs got a penalty at Old Trafford for much less yesterday.
I just hope we get our fair share along the way which tbf we usually do.
Ha,ha,ha – never a truer word spoken in jest!
Premier league – full of sh*t! Here we go again!
It’s not looking good lads – after today’s matches we’re down to seventh.
It’s OK Neil, City and Spurs dropped points.
Hey t’om …did you see the Sydney game? The handball, offisde, dive over the keeper, sending off , and penalty , all in 30 seconds… that ref made Attwell look like Jack Taylor !
Would you believe I slept through it. Was having an epic power nap in anticipation of a late night. Saw the highlights though. The A-League is not a bad standard this season (relatively).
Was out yesterday as well, taped Glory, only up to 1/2 time though. We’ll be a force this season, thankfully Dave Mitchell has started playing 5 in midfield.
Brisbane are going OK too, good to see. I like them more than Gold Coast Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Melbourne 2.0, Central Coast.
I still say we were really lucky yesterday, we were a shambles.
Yes the goal as well taken, yes Henry was imense, but then who????
A more clinical opponent would have stuffed us, as well as given us the run around as they did.
We are gonna get a royal hammering very soon if Cowardly Lion does not recognize the fact that the defense he put out to start yesterday’s match are too slow, by far.
And, despite a game saving tackle at the end ,Ward is still shite.
Nice result from Anfield tho’, haha
FOWB
Clive , I reckon we were separated at birth, again, totally agree, I’m dreading the run of games coming up, we may need some Pakistani inside info on how many we are going to let in !
Lads, Henry was a bit petulant with those comments yesterday, firstly he will get a name with referees and secondly he will be the one targeted. Belive be we will then see him turning into a whiney bitch.
I can’t wait to see him at SJP.. Tiote is going to snap his femer.
NUFC Howay the lads!!1
So….. Tiote will then get a name with refs and turn into a whiney bitch. And so on and so on….. It’s like the okey cokey Geordie lad. Good luck for the season tho. Just stop the leg breaking stuff. Not nice that.
Sounds like a very sensible blog they’ve got going there…
Thanks Rich. ‘preciate it.
Kowloon- can you dig out the rule about calling the ref a f*$king t*%t up to 50times in a game? Nolan did this and was the real ref. Nolan stuck the boot in on Hahnemann, barton maimed van damme who had to go off, guetierez feigned injury to get van damme booked before that, Carroll elbowed craddock in the head, smith tried to break jarvis’ leg with a 2footed lunge, while Colin calderwood bayed for more. And I haven’t even mentioned the penalty which was the most blatant pen and blatant example of a referee cheating ever. Meanwhile, Doyle gets booked for nudging their curly haired tramp who spent the whole game kneeing him in the back. In all this time, nolan called the ref a f*$king t*$t a further 50 times. What were we supposed to do? Fold like villa did the week before and accept being shafted? Our resolution in the face of such thuggery obviously didn’t fit in with Stuart atwell’s script, who may as well have stuck a Pakistani track suit on and left molineux in mazhar majeed’s aston martin. That we (and Karl Henry) have been highlighted in the press – and not the most bent ref and thuggish opposition I have ever seen – leaves me more gobsmacked than Andrew Strauss this afternoon.
Good stuff Ben.
Talking about NOTW. The report of the Wolves was appalling. All they talked about was Capello. Who gives a fuck?
LOL Ben. Yes Nolan was very lucky not to have seen red. Carroll for all his acclaim was no angel either. Perch and Barton also put themselves about and on another day could have attracted a red card. But van Damme was equally as lucky as Nolan (his challenge on Gutierrez was studs clean into the back of the calf, and the sort of tackle which could have put the Newcastle man out for months).
And I agree that overall, the ref did not favour us (and personally I don’t think that picking a ref from Warwickshire is the best thing for ensuring a neutral opinion in a Wolves match).
But I still don’t think it was a pen. Sorry.
Sorry Kowloon, but I just cant resist any longer. You’re having a laugh ‘not a penalty’!
Tell you what, lets have a vote. Penalty or no penalty?
Me and the guys on MOTD say yes so thats 3-1 to us. Who’s gonna vote for Kowloon and say it wasnt???
Hi Scooped. Well, if the intellectual collossi who pesent MOTD have been brainwashed into the “Football-is-a-game-for-prima-ballarina-pansies-so-it-must-be-a-penalty-if-there’s-any-contact-in-the-box-at-all-especially-if-one-player-falls-over” dogma which has seen the Premier League become what Serie A was in the 90s, then I am only too glad that I cannot receive MOTD broadcasts out here in Hong Kong.
Hi Kowloon.
No, I dont think any of the guys on MOTD fall into the category you describe. Alan Hanson and Alan Shearer just happen to have played the game at the highest level.
You’ve been out in the sun too long!
Hi Scooped,
Well if Alan Shearer was involved I ought to at least retract my word ‘brainwashed’. I mean, it’s a physical impossibility innit?
Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to the sun ….
Newcastle are a big club though…
Not as big as Albion though
Nailed on penno. However, the referee masked our woeful second half performance, we were shocking. Created nothing, and totally over run in midfield. Can’t see us getting anything at all at Fulham and Spurs. All of a sudden 5 points from 5 games won;t look so good.
We lack so much quality all over the park, and I can’t believe we have signed so many lemons. Not happy.
I reckon we’re good enough to get something from the Fulham game. But I can see the Spurs game being a revenge mission for them, especially since they’ll probably still be smarting from their loss at home to Wigan. I wouldn’t be shocked to see us revert to the 4-5-1 for both those games.
I reckon we should go 8-1-1
Just in case we hoof it up the pitch ( just for a change) and Doyle can knock it back to the solitary midfielder ( again, no change there) to have a pop
Would Milijas fit in that system?
Off to Turkey…. allegedly
Interesting. It’s a shame… I hope the allegations prove spurious.
He’s missing something Henry, Jones and Guedioura have; desire and the ability to tackle. I can’t see him getting near the team any time soon
Why a shame? He’s virtually immobile (possibly his alleged smoking habit) and since about his 5th appearance last season his left foot (his only asset) has lost its radar. Offload at once.
Get rid – great dead ball delivery, but that’s it.
We need a midfielder with legs, not a quarter-back!
Can I just make the point (off topic I know) how happy I am that Jay Bothroyd is doing well for himself at Cardiff (6 from 6 or something). He was a player who was a crucial signing for us at a difficult time, did what we (or at least I) assumed he’d do, be lazy, be talented, score enough goals to keep us away from the relegation zone. Where we were as a club eventually surpassed him (like Collins, Jemal Johnson, Craig Davies, Gary Breen etc) but that wasn’t his fault. I like it when people like that do well.
I always liked jay t’om. One of the most skillful players I’ve seen and a phenomenal shot on him. Remember Leeds away and ipswich at home…blimey! His reputation seemed to proceed him unfortunately!
Are you on Twitter Ben? Bothroyd’s signed up and seems to be doing nothing except trying to get into the knickers of one of the fitties off Sky Sports News. Brilliant.
KWolf, that’s great.
Hi kwolf. I am indeed. I am brimfieldben so ill get following! I don’t blame him. Every presenter on ssn is more than worth a wipe-and ill include Claire tomlinson in that category,even if she did suck robbo’s spuds
This thread is why WolvesBlog is the best blog on the net, haha.
I love Bothroyd.. gutted when he used to get booed by blokes around me. I really enjoyed watching him play. Fortunately, early impressions suggest Steven Fletcher is the same player but better.
The game reminded me of so many matches in the championship when the opposition played 3 central midfielders, and our 2 midfielders were out numbered and outplayed. i`d have thought MM would have realised that in a 2 man midfield Jones lacks the pace and mobility to be involved. Same problem at Everton last week, 3 quick mobile midfielders, we were outplayed. Our two wide men were isolated so we had no possession and could not get our forwards involved.
Jones may have done a great freekick against Stoke, but they let us play, we haven`t been that fortunate since. Henry was awsome agin on Sat, as he was at Goodison, but he can`t do it all by himself. Jones was rightly subbed as he didn`t have a kick on Sat, but why play the Algerian wide right – we need his pace and tenacity in central midfield helping the skipper.
If we paly 442 against some of the better sides, we`ll be on a hiding. Moving Foley to central midfield isn`t the answer. Thought our bench on Saturday was the best we`d had since MM has been at the club. Still believe we need Mancienne in front of a one paced central defence.
No point in buying another forward frankly, MM prefers his championship olg guard even though better players have been signed, he `seems not to want to play them. Sort out the system and the midfield MM.
Completely agree with a lot of this mate. MM has yet to solve this problem – we’ve been outplayed in last 2 games and been lucky to get out of them with draws in terms of balance of play. (although I would say Nolan effectively played as a centre forward). It is slightly disappointing that we are linked with a 4th striker – why not an attacking midfielder to play in a 4-5-1? Give us a different option.
Someone like Charlie Adam, adam?! I would probably agree with you both more or less, but would give mick some credit for going 442 in these games, which he might not have opted for last season, albeit with personel we can agree or disagree with. You’d like to think hunt would play right mid when he’s back, Zubar right back, jarvis on the left? I still worry about jarvis getting crocked – such a scenario would cause no end of headaches. No point worrying though!
If you’re looking for a onesided, biased view of the game…..please….look no further…..
Comments Paleeese!!
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-match-reports-results/2010/08/30/wolverhampton-wanderers-1-newcastle-united-1-72703-27164712/
Joey Barton got exactly what he deserves, I hope when he was having a word with MM on the way off Mick said..
“Well at least no one stubbed a cigar out in your eye Joey!”
I hope we give him the same at St James Park too.
The foul on Jarvis was a penalty all day long IMO! Try and tell me these cr@p referees wouldn’t have given it to the home side if it had been Giggs at old trafford or Gerrard at Anfield? Anelka got one for less this weekend too.