Reading the blogs on here these days and the responses to Steve Morgan’s recent statements in the E&S, it’s clear that there are a lot of supporters who are extremely unhappy at the moment.
I don’t know how many exactly, whether it’s the majority or not, but it’s plenty.
Fed up with the quality of football and even more fed up with the results. Week after week, in fact year after year, of being outclassed and what most fans hate most of all, losing.
Are things 'too stable' at Molineux?
Three years ago I fully bought into the official line. Buying only young and hungry players, spending within our means and stability of management and ownership.
An excellent and sensible business plan. But any plan only has merit in that it achieves it’s aims. And the aims of any professional football team is to progress and become better and more successful.
This is patently not the case at Wolves. The team shows no sign of improvement half way into a third season of premiership football. In fact, I would say we are losing ground on many teams.
So we have a lot of very unhappy fans. The problem is the management are far from unhappy.
First you have a CEO whose aim is to run a premiership team as cheaply as possible. And bullseye! He’s the best there is and is often keen to proclaim it. Lowest wage bill, bargain basement buys, optimum ticket pricing. Stay in the league, anywhere out of the bottom three, and coin the money in.
Then you have a manager who loves managing in the premiership. And who wouldn’t? Wonderful ground, training facilities and money to spend. Fantastic support. Most managers would give their right arm to have the privilege of managing our great club.
And Mick can do it his way. He can generally steer clear of foreign players because they take longer to bed in and they’re not always right good lads like the British boys. He doesn’t have to move good players on to get better ones, he can stick with the lads he likes.
He doesn’t have to put up with criticism from the fans or media, he can call them numpties and tell them he’s ready for a fight if they want one. He can refer to our club as ‘my team’ and last, and best of all, he doesn’t have to win. His job is safe, apparently, even if we go down. Yes, a very happy manager.
And finally we have the owner.
A scouser and lifelong Liverpool fan who tried to buy his club but had to settle for Wolves. How much this adventure is about football and how much is about the various building projects which ownership has allowed I don’t know.
But it’s definitely both.
And the bottom line once again is stay in the league, anywhere above the bottom three, and all is well. Plenty of money coming in and his empire growing. Maybe one day, with the ground rebuilt, he’ll sell up and have just enough to get what he really wanted in the first place.
That is the conundrum facing Wolves fans at the moment. Our main priority, a winning team which is good to watch, is not necessarily the priority of the three men who decide our fate.
* Thanks to Martin for sending in this blog. It’s great to get contributions from far and wide so we can express a variety of different opinions. So please don’t hesitate if you fancy a bash at writing something for us. You can find details on the Contact page.
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An excellent blog.
I think the majority of fans want MM out, but as you say, with each passing day it becomes more obvious that the three M’s do not care.
This is the worst of it.
To them we are just paying them to watch a football team, and they have no emotion as to whether we win or not.
They care about their wages/salary/bonus first and the team second.
The reincarnation of the Bhatti Brothers……
Thats about the strength of it. We passed laughable a long time ago, Wigan are strengthening and Rovers seem to have turned the corner… not only will we get relegated this year, but its highly likely we will finish absolute bottom./
I admire those Wolves fans who are trying to find the positives, but the procurement of an Arsenal youngster is the only decent addition made to our squad all season. And he is now injured – and will return to the Gunners at the end of the season anyways.
For some reason, which I cannot fathom, mcnugget is sack-proof, even though, as we’ve witnessed sunderland do a complete 180 under an infinitely better manager…
The silence from Morgan is deafening… and if we dont hear from the top, then we are left with no option but to fill in the blanks ourselves… and this isnt the first time WWFC has been wiped the floor with for some property magnets financial gain.
I am at a point where, for the first time I need to seriously consider not watching my beloved team play – it is just gut-wrenching to witness. And with the muppet in charge, wont change any time soon.
I find myself divided by the goings on at Molineux these days.
On one hand, I’m eternally grateful not to be supporting a club that’s living beyond it’s means, as so many others have been and still are.
We have responsible people running a tight ship and that should not for one moment be overlooked.
With the chairman and CEO we have, I couldn’t ever see the club going to rack and ruin, which is ultimately all that matters. As long as there’s a club, we all know deep down we’ll support it.
However…
I’m finding it increasingly difficult to understand some of the decisions being handed down from above lately.
The stadium redevelopment pause, the money being ploughed into training facilities, new academies, housing estates, etc. There’s something not quite right about the way all this has been balanced, particularly with the team struggling again at the foot of the table.
I was never one who wanted MM out right from the word go….but, now I agree entirely with the blog…We have not moved forward…we just survive! We are the worst team by far in the premiership whichever way you look at it. We are lucky we have Hennessey and Fletcher who have kept our heads barely above the water. What the 3 Wise Men don’t understand is that all wolves supporters need a strong heart every single saturday of the season! We never just win or just draw or just lose….no….it’s always torture….mistakes by senior players, stupid acts a la Henry….conceding goals in the last minutes….never a dull moment….. My advice….change the manager and fast….this time we are not going to be lucky….we will be bottom of the pack very very soon. Its useless having a bigger stadium…what we want is just a decent Premiership team.
Reading this comment was like reading my own thoughts!!
I never wanted McCarthy out…I’m not entirely sure I want him out now because I don’t know who we would get who is any better, but I also think things can’t stay as they are. There was comments recently about Darren Ferguson; having watched Wolves since the mid-90s (I was very young when I first got my season ticket) I don’t think all fans would take to him – he was not hugely popular as a player, and he is unproven totally at this level.
As for the idiocy of Henry (a player who, when accused of being a thug, I have defended to the hilt…so thanks for that Karl…I’m taking a battering in the office today!), the mistakes by senior players, the last minute goals. McCarthy always seems to blame “bad luck” or “individual mistakes”…sorry Mick, but there was no bad luck on Saturday, it was indivdual mistakes (1 by Berra, 2 by Jarvis, 1 by Henry) which led to the 3 goals. We have been watching individual mistakes for years under McCarthy and he doesn’t seem to grasp that as a manager it’s his job to drill individual mistakes out of players…you can’t just allow these mistakes to happen week after week and, in some cases, year after year.
As for the stadium which you comment on, you’re right, we don’t need a bigger stadium…the only stand which really needed doing (my stand, the Steve Bull/John Ireland) isn’t going to be done. They have blamed the Compton Park development; this is something they knew about when they started the demolishion of the North Bank, it will have taken months of planning. So to try to fob people off with a half-baked excuse about that is unacceptable and, quite frankly, a little insulting to think we’ll believe it.
As for changing the manager, which was the crux of your post, I don’t know…I have run different scenarios around my head many a time. My first choice (Mark Hughes) is now unavailable, and I just don’t know who we would get who is better.
Thank you so much for this post…it is heartening to know that there are like-minded people out there, and actually a little spooky how much this post reflected my own thoughts!!
….and by the way…that came all the way from tiny Malta….we have so many Wolves supporters here! Its the same every Monday morning at the office…..always unlucky…always misfortune, always bad decisions…always the same…we never hammer anyone and say well we won….it’s always heart stopping losing, heart stopping drawing…early goals conceeded, late goals conceded….I usually miss the last five minutes of every match because I always feel we will somehow concede…I did a statistic for last year….last minute goals cost us a lot of points. One other point I forgot to mention…..I believe we would have kept the Hoff for this season, after all he was playing rather well pre season…..With all those crosses coming in from two fine wingers I think the Hoff would have made a little hit in there…..even if thrown in as emergency in those last fifteen minutes, surely he wasn’t as bad as he was made out……MM brought him here after all…why wasn’t he given a real chance……with two great wingers you need someone like him winning balls in the penalty area. I rest my case.
I just despair, I really do!
The ONLY way for them to take notice is for us to vote with our feet. We stop attending matches.
I too think Mick has reached the end of the road, however who is there to come in? Do we take a punt on a young up and coming manager who would require time and almost certain relegation and a team rebuild.
Or do we go for a tried and tested prem manager and hope they can keep us up? Bruce?
An excellent blog by Martin. It sums up the 3 Ms perfectly.
Unfortunately, I feel that Steve Morgan may be as stubborn as Mick and that the more fans call for Mick to go the more Steve will back him.
Stability is fine providing you have the right manager who has a proven record. Someone like David Moyes of Everton, who doesn’t have much money to spend, has had one or two bad times but has come back strong and taken his club to a high position, a manager worth backing. Unfortunately, all Mick’s best work has been in the Championship. He does not have a proven record in the Premiership to suggest that he will be able to turn things around.
I think the quality and character of Wolves support is well demonstrated in the comments we are seeing on the blogs and the behaviour in the ground.
On the blogs there are clearly well thought out and balanced views on both the achievements of MM in getting us to where we should be the PL, but also bewilderment on why seemingly obvious failings are left uncorrected.
On the terraces we have shown patience beyond anything seen elsewhere in the PL and for our troubles we are dismissed or worse called numpties.
I really hate to see us in this state, I really hate to see players demoralised and left isoIated like Doyle, I really hate seeing barely League 1 players being trouped out after being told “we have 2 players for each place” and “I’m happy with the squad”, I really hate losing games due to inexcusible behaviour, I really really hate watching the dejected faces of the faithful trudging away each week after another defeat.
But worse much worse than all that is the thought that this as all avoidable and not beyond the wit and resources of such an established and successful football team and commercial enterprise. Now I’m not suggesting for one moment that we go on any kind of break the bank spending spree (although that would undoubtdly be cheaper than being back in the Championship next season!) but it occurs to me watching Keane on Saturday that thats a prety shrewd bit of business, I am sure we would happily “buy” 3 points for a million or less.
I think it is this lack of aspirational creative management of both the club and team that is the knub of our problems. We all know that a strong team spirit can make an OK team great and in the same way a weak indifferent management can create a negative atmosphere/situation. This needs changing and it is up to the Club management to do this whether that requires a manager change or not is their business but the buck stops with them.
There is just one thing that turns the PL world and that is money, we may not like it but it is a basic truth and it is very unlikely to change anytime soon. Bargain basement will not provide a stable long term future and no it’s not just about spending on signings, it’s about salaries and giving prospective players confidence to come to Wolves. There is a difference between young and hungry and just plain desperate, we absolutely have to identify key targets (which we seem to) and land them, far too many are rejecting us so the question must be posed why? The position we are in is hardly attractive to prospective in demand players is it? I for one if in that enviable position would look at the “management team” and go to a QPR or Swansea setup instead.
In any other industry a Company board of Wolves size and value would not allow a failing strategy to continue unchecked.
So there you have it, the team manager may be at fault or not but in my eyes the buck stops with the Board/ownership.. so please get off your backsides and do SOMETHING before it’s too late!
I feel the blog is a bit harsh on Steve Morgan. I think Steve made a decision that Jez Moxey was the CEO for him, and that he has been naive giving Moxey too much rope. Moxey, for some reason, is a true believer in Mick McCarthy—after all, he scuppered Paul Ince after Jack Hayward had all but promised Ince the job.
McCarthy, I think, has considerable talent—nobody could beat top four teams (at the time) six times in two years without it. But Mick thinks totally as a defender: he seems to have no feeling or understanding for constructive play and believes that stopping the opposition scoring is the way to win matches. He is scared to death to attack. Particularly in key relegation battles, Mick adopts the attitude, “We can’t afford to lose,” not that of, “This is an opportunity to win.”
For a club with a great tradition, Mick has a disgraceful attitude as the manager—no wonder Sunderland got rid of him. He thinks Wolves are Barnsley.
Wolves outplayed Blackburn and Fulham at the beginning of the season. Since then Fulham have beaten QPR 6-1 (immediately after a trip to Europe) and Newcastle 5-2. Except against Blackpool after they were reduced to 10 men, when have Wolves ever looked as though they were even trying to score 4 goals?
Week after week we have been forced to watch dire football that loses matches. This from a manager who is in the top six for net expenditure on players over the last two years. This season Mick has dug us into a hole we should never have been in.
By failing to sack McCarthy in December, Morgan has now dug himself into a similar hole. With the January transfer window almost finished, Wolves are now in a hole whether or not McCarthy is kept.
Before the Blackburn game last May, Morgan said that if Wolves won that game they would have five points more than in 2009-10; and if they got five more points this season then that could be called progress. Wolves lost the Blackburn game and are now well below a point a game this season. This cannot be called progress.
I believe Morgan will move either now or at the end of the season. By his own definition, Wolves are not improving. I trust Morgan to act in the best interests of the club in the long run, but I think this season we better get used to the idea that we will be relegated. Let’s all hope against hope that we will eventually get a bright young manager (e.g., someone like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Brendan Rodgers or Paul Lambert) and not another out-of-date manager like Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock. If we are now too poor and unattractive to achieve that, personally, after the trauma of this season, I would even settle for an untried young manager who understands the Wolves’ tradition, like Rob Kelly, Alex Rae or Mike Stowell—at least they would start off with the goodwill of all the supporters. For gawd’s sake, let’s move into the 21st century!
Top six in expenditure since we were promoted yet eight of the starters on saturday came up from the championship and two of the three substitutes. Yet another damning statistic.
I am baffled by comments such as “yes we know he’s useless but is there anybody out there who could do any better” The man has a 16% win rate as a premiership manager, less than 1 in 6. We have failed to keep a clean sheet in 20 matches and we have won just twice in those 20 matches. The question should be is there any manager out there who could do any worse !
Well said! I could not agree with you more. The odds of us picking a manager who could do worse than McCarthy are huge!
Anyone will do better than him but as someone else pointed out not someone who has done it, aka, Bruce, Warnock but someone young and hungry……
Mick, for all his shortcomings as a manager seems like a decent human being to me and I think he genuinely cares about the Wolves. I like the way he carries himself in post match interviews and has infinitely more class than Kenny Dalglish or Arsene Wenger for example. That said, we’re going backwards and he isn’t the man to either halt the decline or take us onwards, so he should be sacked, but with thanks for getting us to the PL. Jez Moxey on the other hand, is a a complete w*nker. He’s a greasy, arrogant, despicable turd who can f*ck off back down that sh*thole he came from and never come back. I also wouldn’t p*ss on Steve Morgan if he was on fire, that greedy, Scouse conman is using this great old club as a means to line his own wallet. He deserves as much abuse as the Venky’s are getting at Blackburn for this Compton redevelopment trick
I am not sure what your definition of ‘class’ is but to me Wenger has class and McCarthy has no class. I think the difference in the way their two teams play shows this very clearly.
It’s nothing to do with footballing style etc, as stated above it’s how he carries himself. Wenger’s behaviour after the Swansea game, is just one example in many of him laying into officials for no good reason. He also regularly criticises it when other teams don’t sit back and let Arsenal play but get in their faces and makes outrageous statements about individual players. McCarthy more often than not, will avoid laying into officials and ask for other teams players to be sent off – and generally conducts himself in a fashion that is a credit to his club. Yes Wenger is a much better manager than McCarthy, and yes his teams style of play is generally considered to be “classier” (although his red card ratio and the current tactic of hoofing it up to Van Persie, blights that slightly) but my point was about personal conduct rather than football
McCarthy carries himself, sorry to have to say it, like someone who drinks too much.
Wenger has a brain……
Also – anyone who defines “class” in reference to football needs to realise there is an awful lot more to life
“I am utterly dispirited, downhearted, disillusioned and downright angry with the three M’s.
Remember when McCarthy arrived at the club he said, and I quote “I am not Merlin”. I now dispute that to a degree. He may not, in fact be Merlin, but he is a Merlin type. He has proved that he is a first class illusionist by giving everyone the impression he could transform a Championship team into a Premiership team with a few leprechauns as his helpers. He has also put blindfolds on Morgan and Moxey, mesmerised them with a load of spiel making them believe that he was in fact Merlin and what is more
THEY STILL THINK HE IS!!!!!
I wish that either Morgan or Moxey could reverse that illusion and in fact become Merlin and make McCarthy disappear
Flash Bang and a wave of the wand and there he goes……..
If only”
The above was stolen from an Express and Star blog contributor, coz I thought it was worth stealing and sharing!
I have spent a lot of time these past couple of days reading the ever growing lists of blogs on the aforementioned E & S blog sites, and I would say 95% are united in the FOMM mentality.
Why is it then, if the vast majority of true Wolves fans, who have suffered appalingly in the past, through other dark day eras, are being totally ignored by our owner?
Surely his friends, associates, yes men and sychophants must be telling him the same thing?
Surely he must read the non biased newspapers?
And surely he can read a league table?
My only answer is that this was all planned long ago, when he paid a tenner for the club.
He never has put any of his own money into the club, as promised, just taken over the purse strings.
All his complaining about spending 40 odd million on new signings is just a smokescreen.
Did the club not get substantial funds for a) getting into the Prem and then b) staying in the Prem?
And didn’t those funds more than cover the cost of transfers?
And where is the rest? In the company bank account owned by……Morgan/Moxey.
So, nice fat profits already, and more to come from conning the council and building stuff at Compton.
Meanwhile the goings on of the actual football side of the club, an afterthought really for Morgan, get worse and worse.
He reminds me of Sauron, Lord of the Rings, who has his Eye elsewhere at a time when it should be focused close to home.
Beware of Frodo the Fans, Sauron, little by little, your empire is falling apart, and we will not stop until you and Orc Moxey are gone……………..along with McGollum!!
FOMM
Continuing the LOTR theme, Berra’s speed of movement in conceding the penalty on Saturday reminded me of an ent
Although if Moxey and Morgan tried to build the Two Towers – they’d probably only manage to complete half a tower, before trying to convince everyone this was the plan in the first space. They’d then use the money designated for the towers to buy up some really lovely land in The Shire and redevelop it to sell on at a tidy profit
“Berra’s speed of movement in conceding the penalty on Saturday reminded me of an ent”
LOL
“Why is it then, if the vast majority of true Wolves fans, who have suffered appallingly in the past, through other dark day eras, are being totally ignored by our owner?”
As far as I’m aware, the fans at Molineux haven’t called for McCarthy’s head or shown their displeasure during matches (apart from a few during the Swansea debacle). Moxey and Morgan will only take notice once attendances start dropping, and that surely can’t be far off the way things are going.
I am glad that the contributors above have made my points for me because I am too depressed to write anything. It comes to something when the health of a nineteen year old loanee is the difference between a glimmer of hope and the inevitable plunge into the dark recesses of the Championship.
Hear hear! Rarely agreed with a post more!
Hear hear, Southbank. I could not agree more. Some cracking replies/contributions here to what was a very good blog to kick off with. And, yes, the fact that 19-year-old Frimpong (a bench-warmer at his parent club) stands out like dog’s balls as our best-post Alex Rae Premier League midfielder after just two appearances is sobering, to put it mildly.
How about convincing Steve Bull to come to our rescue yet again? surely he would fill Molineux to the rafters and…….am sure score a lot of goals again ! Those were the days…..Bull and Mutch….oh, yes, those were the days.
Oooh, dunno about that one… I take it you didn’t see Bully’s testimonial? He played about 15 minutes, and at one point he almost won a header, before almost crawling off exhausted.
Leave him to doing the interviews with Adrian Chiles – much more entertaining!
Guess my idea won’t work out then lol….but, hands on heart Bully knows that when we REALLY needed him….he almost single handedly lifted us up ! He had one thing few players do have nowadays….the love for the shirt….the love for the team! Completely missing nowadays.
The blues winner, for example, or the one against notlob when we thought we were going up…
Do u think Frimpong and Kites can pick up from the Villa game and perform similar feats?
My only concern for the rest of the season is that we haven’t brought in any quality forwards yet. Since our promotion we’ve only bought one striker to bolster our attack – the rest of the investments have been wildcards like Maierhofer or young and promising players like Griffiths and Vokes. And as someone of you mention, other teams in the bottom do strengthen. If we have less quality than the other teams we are competing with we will go down – that’s reality. It’s time to face reality and take action, bring a QUALITY forward in.
Maynard would be an excellent choice, but I guess 2 millions is too expensive. We need to have several options. We’ve seen it happen before, and it nearly happened again (Frimpong’s injury), star player gets injured – Wolves struggle. And if we get relegated we will lose all of our best players.
Yes, the situation is critical. The minimum action needed to stay up is: 1) bring in a coach to work on our creative play; 2) bring in a centre half and midfield playmaker (on loan, because no-one will sign for Wolves at the moment).
Yes Steve Morgan has been slow to take suitable action, but please stop the moaning about him trying to fleece the club. He has invested his £30m in players fees & wages and the stadium. The stadium and academy developments will benefit the club (the money from the houses will help finance the building of the Catholic school and the academy). He will not take anything from the club, even in the unlikely event that he sells it.
Why do we need a new stadium?
The existing one is less than 20 years old.
What is all this about a Catholic school?
When did we become a charity…apart from giving matches away………….and doesn’t the friggin’ catholic church have enough money as it is, without us financing anything?
I would like some sensible replies, coz once religion rears it’s ugly head, then someone has opened a huge can of worms with me, and I have the highest of horses when debating religion, in all it’s brainwashing forms!!!
FOMM
Catholi Church??? Only at the Wolves……!
Clive, you need to go on the website: “http://www.molineuxpride.co.uk/wt/compton_park/home”, to get the answers about the school (it’s all part of the Academy development programme).
The new Stan Cullis stand will bring in extra income from its facilities, outside of matchdays. The next phase (Steve Bull stand) has been rightly postponed due to attendances and not much money in peoples’ pockets.
I actually went to St Peter’s School, over the road from St Edmund’s School and the training ground, and therefore I can add slightly more insight than most into the ownership of the training ground. The training ground was bought by Wolves from St Peter’s, and for years (until Rick Hayward used his own money to build a new one) was two pitches, with Portakabins for changing rooms and a dirt track (no exaggeration) leading up to it; at this time they had to use the gym at neighbouring Newbridge Tennis Club.
St Peter’s retained all of the fields around the training ground and still use them; St Edmund’s is directly adjacent to the Training Ground. Therefore you have the training ground totally enclosed with land belonging to St Peter’s, St Edmund’s and the Tennis Club, with the canal behind.
Wolves have said, and I believe them, that to achieve the grade 1 Premier League standard that they are talking about, they need to expand and therefore need more land. The plan is, therefore, to move St Edmund’s into the buildings which have been vacated recently by University of Wolverhampton…Wolves are refurbishing the existing buildings and also building some new ones. In return, they get the land upon which St Edmund’s is built (the current building is totally inadequate for St Edmund’s purposes – the school is much bigger than when first built and not in a great state of repair inside).
This is all being funded by the building of a number of Executive Homes by Redrow (I know that people will say it’s just lining Morgan’s pockets further, but it appears to me to be a very prudent way to fund the project).
That is my understanding, there may be a few minor details which I’ve missed, but in terms of the actual arrangement and where St Eddie’s comes into it, that’s why. I totally agree that we are being fobbed off in terms of using this as an excuse for not continuing with the stadium…they would have known about this when they pushed the button to redevelop the Stan Cullis. The fact of the matter is that we can’t fill the bigger ground with ticket prices this high…they were charging £40 in the Steve Bull for the Newcastle game because they see it as a Band A game…it was Newcastle!! Band A should be reserved for the likes of United, City and the local derbies, not middle of the road teams like Newcastle. I think we could fill it, but they are in an area among the hardest hit in the country by the economic climate where £40 is hard to come by for many people. However, this is all wasted energy because I can’t ever see them lowering the prices.
Bar my little moan at the end, which I hope won’t be taken the wrong way because it’s not my style, I hope this has been constructive as intended. I also don’t think we should be taking issue with the fact that Wolves are taking part in a community initiative which can improve the standard of education in the City.
An excellent article which accurately sums up our situation.
The reality is that since promotion to the Premiership we have simply stagnated. Clearly, mere survival is the only ambition of those at the top, and the achievement of this modest goal has been delegated to a manager who mistakenly believes that effort [ the putting in of the proverbial shift] and team spirit by the bucket load will alone combine to ensure success. How can we possibly progress with this combination ?
If we look at recently promoted teams, such as Norwich and Swansea we see coaches in place who despite having significantly less resources available to them than we do, nevertheless are achieving success by adopting positive tactics which give their sides the opportunities to win games. Credit to them — but it puts our failed philosophies into stark contrast.
The bottom line is that in a business where results are all that matters, two wins in twenty games speaks volumes, being just nowhere near good enough. We can go on making excuses for ever, but our only real chance of progress can only be to change coaching direction immediately.
Yesterday was the most excited I’ve been about Wolves for months, and why… because I really believed McCarthy had been sacked – and that says it all.
FOMM
Haha great! I agree. In fact in my prediction (of a 1-2 loss), I predicted MM to lose his job. unfortunately I was only half right. I have been calling for MM to roll ever since we scraped last season with a pathetic final day match with Blackburn (we still lost that too). We have not progressed and I am not ashamed in admitting that I have wanted MM gone for a long time. I offered O’Neil, Hughes, Curbs and Alladyce and viable alternatives and now it seems we are too far gone. Watching my beloved Wolves is torture; it’s always a piss and vinegar performance with the same spiel from our hierarchy. Postponement of the stand due to falling attendances? Go figure the ridiculous prices and shocking ‘entertainment’ on offer may have something to do with it. I also called for the stadium development to be dropped in favour of team investment. An absolute shambles of what is (and still is) a large club – in name and history at least.
I’m with you, Jed. I scoured Twitter, Sky Football, BBC football, Teamtalk and various other sources for news that McCarthy had been given the boot. Alas, my excitement quickly turned to despair when I realised Merlin “I wouldn’t change a thing” the magician was still Wolves manager.
Which means that Hennessey will continue to be the busiest player on the pitch for a few more games!
“I wouldn’t change a thing” can’t help but laugh can you. God help us!
First up, I’m no expert. I love my football and love the Wolves, but I’ll never claim to be a tactical expert or tell people how a club should be run. In saying that, it doesn’t take a genius to look at us at the moment and realise something isn’t right.
We’ve got some quality players at the club, for sure. But they’re not doing the business. Doyle looks like a broken man, SEB has never stepped up to the plate considering he set the Championship alight, and you could even argue that O’Hara hasn’t quite blossomed into the player we all know he could be. Whether that is down to Mick, I’m not sure, but he does seem to be a consistent factor.
I don’t think Mick should be knocked for what he did at the club when he came in, taking a threadbare squad and getting us into the Prem in the space of a couple of years, and then keeping us there for a third season.
However, look what Martinez did at Albion, yet they didn’t hang around when things started going slightly pear-shaped and progress wasn’t being made. Now Hodgson has turned them into a fairly solid outfit that you wouldn’t say was a cert for survival, but who look more likely to stay up than us right now (and it pains me to say that).
Watching Football Focus on Saturday brought a tear to the eye, watching the montage that showed how we went from being such an illustrious club back in the Billy Wright era, through to the days of the League Cup win (both long before my time I admit) to the dark days of Division 4 (when my Dad first took me onto the old South Bank terraces). I’m not even going to compare our situation now to that or those times, but it gives you food for thought. We want to be a club that is moving forward, not a club that starts going backwards. How long do we leave it before a change has to be made?
We know better than most clubs that The Championship is not an easy place to get out of, and we don’t want to end up back there.
Martinez? I told you I wasn’t an expert. Clearly, I meant Di Matteo.
Some have improved, others have not.
Improved: Hennesey, Stearman, R.Johnson, Ward, Berra, Fletcher, O’Hara (was one of premier leagues best sharp shooters before his injury), Jarvis, Henry (marginally), Edwards (marginally, injury plagued)
Stagnated: Zubar (maybe he has progressed a little since he arrived, but injuries have prevented him from reaching his potential), Kightly (because of injuries, is now back and has again the chance of developing into a star player)
Taken a step or two back: Doyle (some injuries might have influenced his negative development, and his role as a work horse), Ebanks Blake (looked strong and had a good period last season. Injuries sat him back)
You only have to look at Kevin Doyle to see how far behind the other squads we are. An unused sub-who doesn’t know any more where to play and how to contribute-this is damning in itself-and sums up the awful predicament we are in. There will be no action-I will be amazed if anyone who is of any use wants to join us. Its sad so sad-and …..FRO3M’S.
some excellent contributions here; but principally saying one thing clearly. we are in shit street. where the writing was on the wall early on, we now have a Banksy-sized mural with 50ft psychedelic lettering.
we played well for long periods on Sat but still came away with nothing. second from bottom at this stage of our third season in the premiership its worse than depressing.
the nagging issue for me is the number of players that MM has brought to the club in the last 3 years that have rarely figured, and have subseqently disappeared. Surman, Halford, Maierhoffer, Vokes, Mouyokolo, Griffiths- to name a few. so many ordinary players , when the team was crying out for quality. serious questions about MMs ability to spot class and to develop it. does anyone feel the same way?
The team that played against Aston Villa was premier league quality. The bench isn’t much bragging about. You can’t compare players like Jarvis and Kightly (in form) with Hunt (work horse). We have Hammill though. You can’t compare Fletcher with Kevin Doyle and Ebanks. In defence I feel we have some depth in Stearman, Craddock and Zubar, but no real competition to challenge Berra and Johnson. Also in midfield we have depth with Frimpongs arrival.
We can’t play 4-4-2 because we haven’t the player material required. If we had one star forward added we could change to 4-4-2 in matches we are under with one goal or two.
Dave Edwards isn’t Premier League quality in my view.
Morgan agreed to invest £30m in the team when he paid Sir jack £10 for the club. If the overall spend is £49m, then only £19m has been spent on top of the original deal. Thats peanuts.
Why spend any money upgrading the academy when MM won`t play any of the graduates, unless they are Irish. Complete and utter shambles from the top, why should I be arsed to drive over from Nottingham for every game to watch shite football, crap tactics and inept management. Very despondent after Saturday, I`m sure under Sir Jack MM would have been on his bike by now.
You’re not counting wages.
So what about the £100m or so from 3 years in Prem?
£20,000 a week = £1,040,000 a year @ 25 players in a squad, over 3 seasons.
Adds up doesn’t it? let’s put a stop ‘fleecing the club’ conspiracy theories.
No money coming in from turnstiles, meat pies etc, then????
Don’t forget sponsorship while you’re at it!
You need to consider all the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ to make a strong case, e.g: other staff wages/salaries (including the manager & CEO), the running costs of Molineux and Compton.
Whatever else you may think about him, Steve Morgan is not trying to make/take money from the club.
Agree Hersham.
It’s in the same league as the wasted transfer fee myth: Fletcher, Doyle, O’Hara, Johnson, Hammill, Milijas, Hunt… all of whom have made significant contributions to the club on the pitch over the past 2.5 seasons.
And yes I agree that Hunt and to a lesser extent Doyle are playing poorly right now and that Milijas’s form has been variable of late, but that happens to many much more expensive players (Torres, Carroll, Downing, Adam, De Gea, N’Zogbia… need I go on). How bad are the managers that signed these players?
I love sir jack but his timing with sackings was poor. I personally believe we would hav been premier league earlier if we hadn’t have sacked managers so quickly.
Interesting comments and it appears to be on the nose for most of the comments made.
However, I can’t agree with this comment –
“Most managers would give their right arm to have the privilege of managing our great club.”
I am in no way thinking most managers would give their right arm to have the privilege of managing our great club are you, really?
Of course most managers would come, but it’s all about the money – offer fantastic wages, big war chest for players and long contract and you would get whatever manager you wanted. Offer a standaard Moxey package and you end up with a puppet on a string.
FOJM
You have to be an optimist to support wolves and you have to have strength of character when taking the stick from all those ‘top 4′ fans; though these are excellent traits, they act against us as we always put up with more before speaking out. Some posts above talk of ‘falling attendances’ but most Wolves fans are also genuine football fans and want to watch football on a Saturday afternoon; therefore we continue spend our money at Molineux and continue to attend. Whilst this happens the three Ms think ‘all is well’. The sanitised articles on the official website only serve to reinforce their opinions and mislead the ill informed supporter. What can be done that will make a difference.
I’ve never been one to call for a managers head at the first sign of trouble, however it’s time for McCarthy to go.
He can go on about being unlucky, blind refs and individual mistakes until the cows come home, but the majority of the team are his players.
I’ve defended Henry a number of times, but what the fuck was he thinking, yes Albrighton had hold of his leg and may have got a yellow card for it, so why give him a backheel to the chest. Henry would have walked even if Albrighton hadn’t rolled around. This and the Frimpong injury changed the game.
Regardless of the merits of a change of manager who would be available to save us? For example, would Steve Morgan go for Souness?
I understand a lot of the frustration here and i suppose being a fan often involves a lack of realism of one type or another.
We need to win more matches and i wish we had at least another half dozen points but i am still comfortable in my skin as a Wolves fan.I dont like the big clubs and there overpaid stars who are often loathsome in there behaviour.I think the Premier league is as currupt as its ever been and if we are relegated this season it will be worse for it not better.
I reckon we put Bully in charge for the rest of the season, he couldn’t do any worse and imagine the atmosphere for his first game in charge.
Failing that, what about Incey or Rae. We desperately need a lift and an ex player who actually cares about the club and the fans could be the answer.
I know some people may think these are ridiculous suggestions, but gotta be worth a go. I don’t see us going anywhere but down without some kind of shot in the arm.
What I find most depressing of all is that if by a modern miracle we escape the drop again we know we will be in the same deep shit this time next year. The same manager,the same championship players,the same failings and the same excuses. The only difference will be Stephen Fletcher will be scoring his goals elsewhere .
I vehemently disagree with this statement:
“a winning team which is good to watch, is not necessarily the priority of the three men who decide our fate.”
Do you really believe this?
We have a manager whose only priority is 3 points from each game. He isn’t delivering the results, but I for one wouldn’t ever question where Mick’s priorities are – you do him a disservice on many levels. I also believe the owner shares his desire and passion, just not at any price, which is what some fans want.
Keep going Mick, you’ve got the support of many of the fans.
Forever, we are Wolves.
Although many Wolves fans call for more positive attacking football most of the clubs above us in mid table actually just ride there luck with a narrower defensive shape and counter attacking football.
I don’t agree with the idea that Morgan and Moxey are content to hang around in 17th place. And I don’t agree with the unfair comments about Steve Morgan – I think he has ambition for the club. Some of these conspiracy theories about it being an excuse for building houses are worse than crackpot.
I think that the 3Ms expected to make a push this season towards the middle third of the table. Mick has underperformed so far this season – that is obvious to all. For what it’s worth I think we’ll stay up this season again – we’ve got some good quality and really we would have won that villa game were it not for moments of genius from Keane.
A poor start to next season will see Mick sacked in November, and that wouldn’t surprise me.
“Were it not for moments of genius from Keane”
And were it not for many moments of madness/lack of concentration/slowness/tactical blunders/lack of skill/bad passes, etc, etc, etc we would not have lost so many games.
To quote the famous call in from years ago, ” He hit the ball so well, if it had gone in the net it would have been a goal”
If my Auntie had balls she would be my Uncle.
If, if, if,………
If don’t matter, it is what happened that matters, and what happened is we lost, again, and that’s all the stats will show, not how well we supposedly played in the first half, or the amount of unluck we had, or poor little Henry got petulant, or any other pathetic excuse. We fuckin’ lost, and deservedly so.
We are NOT good enough under the present managerial regime, and will get relegated.
And why would a poor start next season get him sacked? It hasn’t for the past 3 seasons so why think it will next year?
FOMM
You can’t argue with where we are in the league – we haven’t been good enough this season. The manager carries the responsibility for this.
My point is that Mick’s deserved backing this season as he has been categorically the most successful manager we’ve had since the 70s. He hasn’t yet achieved his remit this season – i.e. progress on the 2 previous seasons. He’s going nowhere this season but I think a change will be justified if we aren’t doing better next season. You may not like it but that’s where we are, Clive.
Surprising – a poor start in the Championship would indeed get MM relegated! That must mean that you secretly think that we’ll stay up!
In all seriousness though, you’re right – we can’t keep making excuses when dropping points and even less so by saying ‘well, they had a good striker!’
I mean sacked, of course!
Dave, I’m with you, Moxey is in this for the winning. We just need to do it more often.
In terms of the manager, in fact I think that it’s the best option to let Mick steer this ship to the seasons end – that’s the only way we’ll get out of this now. 16 games for a new man who doesn’t know the players isn’t enough….
Do you mean out of the prem then, thats the only place we’ll be,and in the championshite,
and for McIdiot knowing the player’s he only knows the one’s who put a shift in, not the one’s who can play football.,
Another brilliant blog Clive. You should get a prize,maybe presented by Mick Mcmuppet. Wouldn’t that be fun!
He would probably bring the wrong prize, get my name mixed up with Ward, and be late for the presentation.
But I would be able to tell him to fuck off to his face, he would then assault me and he would go to jail and some one else would manage the team, and I would have done all Wolves fans everywhere a huge service, would be knighted and preserved for ever in a statue outside the North Bank toilets.
“Sir Clive of Houston, Saviour of The Wolves”
Got a nice ring to it, don’t it, like my bog bowl!!!
FOMM
Then the new manager uses his influence to Ward the best player at Wolves, and one of the best players in the league as Wolves rises up to a mid-table side…
Hmm, tempting! If someone else can do that then bring them on!
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11699/7452086/
Holy shit, are you kidding me? Now THAT’S ambition. Way to break the bank guys.
I might give Mick and call and see if I can get a trial!
I wouldn’t bother calling, just turn up for training in the morning wearing a Bohemians shirt and you’d be starting 11 come Saturday. I hope you’re a good defender, cos we need a new striker.
IMO Morgan is culpable for the following:
1) Lack of foresight and preparation
We escaped relegation last year by the skin of our teeth and that was helped by gaining a number of points off the so called top 5 teams – a feat which is unlikely to be repeated in the near future. To that team we add one player (not taking into account O’Hara and Dorian for obvious reasons). Not enough was done in the summer which was plain to anyone who followed the team last season. SM has pretty much admitted as much but far too late. If MM went to the Board and said he was happy with what he has then they should have sacked him then.
2) Lack of oversight and challenge.
MM rules unchallenged on the football side. There is no football expertise on the Board challenging signings, asking why we still have the majority of the promotion winning team in the first XI, asking what value have we got for 50% of the £40m outlay, pushing for MM to bolster his backroom team with an emphasis on playing style, cutting out repeated errors, defensive solidity and attacking creativity. We can also add scouting network, team selections and tactics to this. The football side of the Club is a one man band listening to his own voice and believing his own excuses
3) Lack of decision making. Loyalty is one thing, letting things drag on hoping for the best with no indication that they are about to change is negligence in my book. He has had a number of opportunities to change things for the better over the last two seasons and decided to sit on his hands (and continues to do so)
4) Repeatedly letting MM slag off his customer base reconfirming the perception that the Club couldn’t give a monkeys about its supporters.
For balance, I must add that I agree with the decision not to press the button on the SB redevelopment. For me it’s a no brainer, you don’t apply for a large loan if you’re job (Prem Status) is in danger. I also don’t buy into the argument that his sole interest lies in the 50 or so Exec houses at Compton – relatively it amounts to chicken feed. I am also in agreement with his policy of running a financially sound ship.
Now is the time for the owner to show his metal and stand up for what is right for WWFC and its supporters. Sadly I think it may already be too late.
Agree with most of that Matt.
In fact i think i agree with all of it, especially ‘ The football side of the Club is a one man band listening to his own voice and believing his own excuses’.
Another excellent comment piece. So good it could have been written by that guy who lives in Dallas or wherever. Albeit with a few naughty words thrown in.
Agree with so much of this Matt but if it makes sense not to proceed with stadium redevelopment while our Prem status ‘is in danger’ how on earth was it prudent to sign the contract on phase 1 three days before Survival Sunday last year???
Its a complete shambles I’m afraid and its no surprise that so many fans are cynical about the bunch of amateurs who are ‘running’ our great club.
Scooped – I can only assume that because phase 1 was being paid for by cash in the bank the Club took to the decision to proceed as it wasn’t that greater risk.
Phase 2 is a different beast because it is being financed through bank loans. But as I say its only my assumption.
However, it is difficult to oppose the view that what has transpired is on the amateurish side to say the least! The PR on the development of the stadium has been appalling.
Here’s a lovey line from an article by Sky Sports – when talking to McMuppet
“McCarthy has defended his record and insists he could not do anything more to make his side play any better.”
So he admits he can do no more than play shit football and lose games – hallelujah!
Surely if he can’t do anything more to make his side play better he should let someone else have a go!
Mark Fotheringham-impact player?
Is this the best we can do-this is woefully pathetic. We are doomed.
What amazes me is how the owner/chairman has so little respect for the fans, (those horrible little Hobbits in the Shire), that though, (if ‘blogs’ and not just this one are to be believed), 95% want a new manager, he refuses to answer them.
It is incredibly arrogant.
Why delay the inevitable?
Listen to erudite Clive from Houston and FOMM
Was so pissed off last night i could’nt bring myself to make a post,after the pisspoor statement by our spineless board giving a business as usual to our so called manager a real vote of confidence to keep playing at being a manager.it just goes to show no matter what the
results are they don’t give a flying f..k for the fans.so the only thing to do now is to make some sort of protest if we win or lose against liverpool,don’t think steve the meek morgan will
like any sort of protest.so we need to stand up and say this is our club we will always be here,
but the three m’s can walk away anytime and i think they will when they have sucked it dry like
the bhatti’s did..FOMM.who’s this Mark fotheringham never heard of him where’s he from barcelona or bilston, nothing wrong with bilston but got to be on the cheap or a free for us to
be looking at him.PATHETIC.INEPT.What ever .
agree with you Mark (Notts). Just remember to check that of the £49 m spent on players how much can be attributed to the current team on the pitch on Sat. Also this money is over a 3 year period so it’s hardly true to say that we the 5th NET Spenders in the Premier league. Quite what NET SPENDERS means I dont know but be assured … it’s UTTER SPIN .. I for one am not fooled. Ask yourself .. if we are cash rich to invest this sort of money can someone challenge McCarthy as to how well it’s been spent! It’s the COSY relationship scenario.
Moving on to Morgan , he’s no fool. 55 executive houses at Compton represents a very nice earner for Redrow.(Morgan) … this man is a developer of property (assets ) and unfortunately he is using his wealth on the back of our beloved WOLVES to capitalise on the opportunity that is there for the taking.
Agree with every word Mr Twixfix.
Now onto the important business…
…Any chance of a Crunchie on Tuesday night?!
Not sure I can make Tues .. Mrs Twixfix and myself are off to the Nestle annual Dinner dance for prats!
Get Demis Roussos to sing us all to sleep and when we wake up we’ll find it was all just a bad dream and everything will be ok.
Bout time Ben got the coffees in but its your turn for the twix!
Showing yer age baldy.
Is that Rene Rousso’s grandad???
Bad news from Houston.
They are showing the Liverpool match live, so I gotta watch.
Please don’t make me, mamma!!!
I don’t wanna see that little man with the tatooed arms make a fool of our big nosed left back.
I don’t wanna see that twat with the pony tail start scoring again.
I don’t wanna see the shortest goalie in the league sitting in an armchair drinking coffee for 95 minutes.
Please, mamma, please, make me go to work!!!!
So to some it all up for us the players can all f*** off,the management can f*** off, the owner and his staff can f*** off and the new stand can f*** off.
up the wolves
FOWW
Great blog Martin!
I am amazed that it’s taken ’til now for us to be in the bottom 3. This doesn’t mean I want us to be there, on the contrary, but I suspected we would.
I said ages ago I expected Blackburn to start turning the corner and other teams are strengthening which leaves us.
I laugh in dismay when I see players we’re linked with.
At least we will be in good shape if (when?) we get relegated and not do a Portsmouth, but then at least Pompey won the FA cup.
The only cup we’re liable to win is “shittest football of the season award.”
Cheers Mick.
Thanks Ade and a very happy New Year. Hope your dragon’s better than mine!
Yes, gongxi ni Martin! Actually my CNY was disastrous, was supposed to be going on holiday to Vietnam – had to cancel it at the last minute as the wife came down with a nasty flu and then spent the whole of it in hospital. This + Wolves getting worse and worse and freezing my jedwards off at her folks home (no heating and 8 degrees) made for a very unhappy Ade.
Oh well, back to work tomorrow…
The lack of desire and progress is just depressingly sad. Fotheringham…out of contract…’nuff said.
Wow, another ‘big’ name…I’m salivating at the thought of him in gold and black.