Conflicting views of Friday’s game suggest the Dean Saunders approach will divide opinion throughout his Molineux tenure.
A preference for high-tempo, hassle and harry, percentage football has failed to universally endear the new gaffer.
Accusations of “hoofball” and “regression” are the chosen weapons of those who feel that club and manager are leading us down the wrong path.
Others of a different persuasion noted an improved work rate against Blackburn and openly preferred the no-nonsense mantra.
My question is: does it really matter?
Winning football is good football as far as I’m concerned and any manager with successful tactics is welcome.
Style is just a stick used to beat a losing side with and anything ‘over the top’ is the proverbial baseball bat.
The truth is, we haven’t regressed back to McCarthy, we’ve regressed since McCarthy.
Wolves are a worse team now than we ever were during his time.
Besides, I never had a problem with Mick’s style.
If he wanted to play direct, get the ball out wide and put crosses in from deep, that was a-okay with me. My criticism was that he never brought in the players to make it work.
Throughout our Premier League stay we craved a physical presence up front, a player that could convert record numbers of crosses into chances and goals. That player never arrived.
There were similar cases in other positions too. Hence why Mick’s top flight team never played with any consistent sense of identity, spending half the time passing the ball ineffectively and the other as a sort of diet-Stoke.
The same criticism applies to Solbakken. Nice idea but confused tactics.
He wanted to play the possession game, yet was content to fill the team with cloggers. The select few that were actually comfortable in possession, such as Milijas and Guedioura, were bizarrely moved on. His first choice center backs could only head and hoof.
Don’t get it.
For longer than I care to remember, I’ve craved a manager with the ability to marry players with a system.
Style is a bonus, not a minimum requirement and there’s more than one route to success.
For every Swansea, there’s a Stoke City. For every Arsene, there’s an Allardyce.
No correct answer, only correct logic.
The important thing for me is that the team functions as a unit again, and that the system helps players like Sako to fulfil their potential. Saunders approach is direct, but not mindless – and that is also important. One cannot compare it to Stokes longball game, when they are playing it at the most extreme, for instance.
… and maybe we’ll sign Lumu, if the board splash out the necessary cash. What a signing that would have been. One of netherlands biggest talents, playing for us, together with Sako. This is what dreams are made of :=)
I think that this is a good provocative piece Thomas given the diversity of blogger’s views on Deano’s first match.
I thought Wolves looked much better Friday, I was more confident in them defensively. He got them to press more & they played higher up the pitch.
O’Hara, while still looking under par, has that extra bit of quality that can produce key goals, him at full fitness will add style & goal threat to the team.
But we need the Henry’s & his midfield partner Davis as well. I thought they both had good games Friday. But one would have to lose out to O’Hara to add more style! Davis would be very unlucky not to start the next game as he was excellent on Friday.
Deano will call it & I have every confidence in him. I think he’s a good pick as gaffer.
Results are very important and hopefully Wolves don’t have to sacrifice style completely to get some posistive results, but from where I’m sitting, Billy Wright, at the moment its wins that we need.
Wolves winning 3-0 at home will allow them to play with more confidence & the style will develop. I look forward to Saturday’s game at Hillsborough, but they’ve just come into form right on cue with a 3-1 win against Hull away. I just hope the team can play with the commitment & confidence of Friday night on Saturday. Then I think the win will come.
Lets take swansea. They had martinez, rodgers who had a vision for the style of football and type of footballer the employed. Rodgers left, and they recruited a manager that shared the vision and wanted to play the type of football that suited the footballers they had. Hence why they have continuef to be much more successful than wolves. Wolves however, employed a manager whose style if play was so different to the players he gad, he was on a hiding to nothing. If laudrup, wenger, rodgers had come to wolves they would gave had the same results. A change in playing style and culture takes time and needs strong directors and deep pockets. Something wolves do not have. If we had had a football person on the board of directors, instead of womens cricket captain, then this would have been obvious. There is only one way to point the finger of blame and that is to the board. If swansea had hired sam allardyce, he would have been the wrong manager for that squad. Swansea board would not have been that stupid.
That’s a good retort mate. Can’t argue with much of that.
But did Solbakken for instance make the most of what he was given? As I say he dispensed with Milijas and Gued. Why do that if you want to pass?
Consistency is the key to success. I think we agree on that.
I think gued did not want to come back to wolves and who would have blamed him. He went from a bit of shit on everyones shoe to king dick at forest, and all the forest fans love him. I agree about milias. I love quality cultured players rather than the workhorse type although both have their place. The board have made so many mistakes in hindsight. But directors get paid a fortune to minimise the possibility of mistakes. Unless the man at the top is a dictator and only wants yes men around him. Maybe this is why we havent got a director of footballer as he would stand up to morgan. Believe me, if morgan wanted a director of football, we would have one.
I have a feeling those decisions to get rid of AG & NM were Moxey-made b4 SS could take a proper look at them. Apparently Moxey signed Pennant too. Great.
Don’t know if I was a fan of Stale or not. The football was dire but I think that was down to the players being unable to play the way he wanted them to play. We knew it would take time but that was something he wasn’t given, along with the chance to bring in some of the players he wanted. Due to injuries I feel he was left with little choice but to pick the same players on a regular basis.
I am a fan of the style of football he said he wanted to play. I have marvelled at some of the “smaller” international sides like Holland, Columbia of the mid 90s and Croatia of the late 90s, Chile in South Africa in 2010. Closer to home you can see something similar at Swansea and Arsenal. I really feel this is the way to go, with fast, athletic players who are comfortable on the ball. Football is basically a simple game. If you haven’t got the ball you can’t score and if the opposition don’t have possession they can’t score. Possession is 90% of it all. Mick’s style gave it away too much and I worry that we are going down that road again.
I applauded Morgan when he said he wanted a complete change of style, something that would stand us in good stead in the premiership and appointed Stale to carry out his wishes. To sack him after 6 months seems crazy but it was easier than sacking close on a complete squad of players. Would Guardiola have done any better with the players he inherited, the few he was allowed to bring in and the injuries that accompanied them? It was obvious from his time at Copenhagen that Stales style did work in Europe against the very best. What if the two centre backs Stale targeted had joined us? What if we hadn’t suffered the injuries to the likes of Pzesko, Boukari and Siggy? I can’t help wondering if Morgan’s reaction was a tad short sighted, a bit knee jerk. Players were coming back from injury and the january window was here . . . . . . . . . . who knows what would have happened?
While the “Charge of the Light brigade” type of football may be exciting to watch against mediocre opposition I don’t think it is effective against sides that are comfortable in possession. Give it away and you can have problems getting it back. Can’t help feeling we are just marking time at the moment. . . . . .
January window half way gone and no players in. The cynic in me can’t help feeling that the timing of the decision to sack Staale has created a situation whereby we may not have to spend much while DS assess the players he already has. Now why am I not surprised?
Tut, Tut Steppenwolfe after the events of the past 10 months and you feel cynical. I don’t believe it..!!!!
couldn’t agree more, I believe that even a blind man could see that if a new manager comes into “any” club then he has to assess the playing staff, it would be a complete waste of money going out and buying say a striker for instance when you already have one on your books, but it takes time and by the time DS has assessed the squad the transfer window will be shut.
Right or wrong I still believe we have the squad of players at the club to get us higher up the league.
As far has Stale was concerned it was a knee jerk reaction, ok we lost to Luton, but this was always on the cards, remember we lost to Chorley under Turner when a certain Stave Bull and Andy Thompson were in the stands, did the club sack him? no – they stuck by him and look were he took us.
I for one was excited by the type of football Stale wanted for us, but with injuries (was it 12 players out?) and some stupid decisions by officials that cost us around ten points + the time needed we will never find out, those injuries are clearing up and DS will benefit -then watch us go.
I suppose the main thing is/was to stop us losing, get us points to move up the league and then the style can come, must admit DS wasn’t my first choice (niether was O’Driscol) but I am warming to him as every day passes.
I think Ståle was a potentially good manager, and his legacy will be the players he brought in.
However, his communication was not the best and he hardly inspired enthusiasm.
He reminded me of a school master everyone took the piss out of, because they knew they would get away with it.
He has gone and Saunders is a bubbly effervescent character who won’t stand any crap.
Also he might be able to adapt his style of play in the Premiership.
Isn’t it a pity DS couldn’t have come in as SS’s assistant?
Great response to a very good article
I think this is why we have gone with Saunders, to work with the ‘abilities’ within the squad.
IMO his appointment is an admission by the board that ‘project Solbakken’ was a huge mistake.
And for our own sanity I think we need to forget about the timing of MM’s sacking & the mayhem that followed in the weeks after.
I also think we need to try & use this transfer window to full effect & I’d change both fullbacks both Stephen Warnock & Luke Young are available, probably on Free’s & I would also keep Doherty, Cassidy & Hammil here & give them a chance in the team.
If Frimpong is still available we should do everything we can to get him in for the east of the season, he’s a winner.
A lot has been said about having too many players that have been here too long, I’d take the opportunity to move Ward & Foley on, I’d send young Forde & Tank out on loan, as well as he’s played this season, if Berra won’t sign a new deal he should also go & also see if we can get rid of the likes of Moyokolo & Hunt neither of which have kicked a ball for us for over a season, I don’t think Moyokolo ever had!!!
I think,that little lot will do the job of really freshening things up on the playing side, which is desperately needed, hopefully we can then start to move forward on the pitch after what been a truly dreadful, error ridden 18 months for this great club.
Go along with most of that Grace.
Is lumu a bit of a Zaha ? I”ve only read that he’s been on trial with Wolves . Money has been offered but declined as too little – so far at least . Also , is he a Stale target ? Seems too soon for Saunders to have organised that . What other targets did he have l wonder ? . I wish Saunders well – of course – but do hope we give our manager , whoever that may be , time to sort ‘his’ team out .
Stale was not given the time , very few of his signings were available at the same time .
Agree with Thomas , winning football is the first priority . This league requires a different type of style compared to the Prem , if we can first achieve that , then adapt the style -tactics . First and foremost though , get rid of the losing mentality , that means the serial losers in our team ! I think Saunders way is just right at this time . Suspect a further improvement on Saturday .. UTW .
From what I’ve youtubed (ca 3 minutes) Lumu reminds me about a young Zaha or Walcott. Sources on the internett describes him as a fast forward with dribbling skills.
I’ve said it before, I’m saying it now and I will most certainly say it again, to bore the pants off you…I don’t care how we win, pretty, ugly, luckily, cheating, even goals off the ref’s arse, as long as we win.
Style is for the fairies, pretty pretty but no substance.
We need solidity at the back, vision in the middle and pace, pace and more pace up front.
If Saunders gets us in the Prem, by whatever means then it will be despite greasel, not because of him, and to me that would mean Saunders has got his way.
If that is the case, then there is no reason why he cannot go further, and get his way when in The Prem.
We all know we have a bunch of underachievers, and never willachievers.
Saunders has to get rid of a lot of them, and work to the strengths of the rest, while bringing in new blood to suit his methods, and keep us winning.
He’s had 1 week and 1 match.
Get off his back and let him run with it.
He cannot do any worse than the previous 4 managers.
Right on the mark as usual Clive.
I can’t see how he’s going to unload the under and never will achievers though. After Ips***h gave us a pasting not even MMc is interested in taking them off for a new challenge now.
Personally I’d favour a quick bout of the Roman concept of ” decimation. ” It would relieve us of 5 players at minimal cost asap.
As ever UTW..!!!!! ( only joking about the decimation idea, just in case I’ve offended anyone )
off the refs? arse – yeh and they would dissallow that as well.
Good article Thomas.
Saunders spoke about this difference in style and what was needed to get out the championship. He also stressed that in the Premiership it is very different.
The problem with McCarthy was he was one dimensional and that doesn’t get you safety in the Premiership.
I think Saunders wants a chance to adapt to being a Premiership manager, but first he has to get us up there.
Like to see Cassidy and Ziggy upfront together this weekend.
We must lose the losers in the team…
I think that could work, yes. In Tranmere he was used as a target man, with a pacey striker beside him.
After the ” putting in a good shift ” era of MMc and TC we were thrust into the high expectations of Ståle’s brief but eventually disastrous visit. Now we are blessed with the presence of our potential saviour, DS and maybe, possibly or even perhaps, he will sow the seeds for future growth and eventual success leading to our return to “you know where. ” Unfortunately without naming specific candidates, simply because we will never agree on who, there are insufficient quality players at the club at this moment in time to justify attempting to play an expansive, stylish, all singing all dancing type of play. The requirement now is to stop the rot which is entrenched within certain players and then hopefully this will bring about higher levels of commitment and responsibility to the team ethic and maybe we could just squeeze into the play-offs, like teams occasionally do, last minute but when the team is on a high. As ever UTW..!!!!!
A very realistic view on current Mol affairs. I too was a little bit miffed at the negativity running alongside Saunders first match and revamp of style. Me personally don’t care how we win as long as we do. Football is a results only driven sport. Clive I agree with you. With Solbakken I got to the point of “can I be bothered to carry on going” (season ticket and corporate member stretching the last 30plus years)
I’ m keen for Saunders to turn it around especially with early bird, whatever form it takes, looming. I’ ‘ll always be a diehard so long as I can retain my interest and hope for the future.
Mr. Twixfix, I understand you sit in the Billy Quiet next to Big Mark and a certain baldheaded slaphead.
Would you please do me a favor next home game and give them both a big hug from me.
Thanks
Hiya Clive .. The S.H (not shit head) sits next to me and Big Mark sits in front of me. I will give them a big hug from you .. but I’m a bit worried coz every time I see big JS he wants to go and give Mrs Twixfix the full ticket as well. .. lovely bloke tho’ and we ave a great laugh too. He told me about the Huddersfield saga… pissed myself.
Frankly, stale was in the wrong place at the wrong time for me.
Especially when he decided to look at DVD’s of all the games we played in the prem and then said i can work with these’s player’s how wrong was he, but what else could he do,he didn’t have a pre season for that reason i think he struggled.
The style of play he wanted to instill into our team was never gonna work with a team who hadn’t played well for three years and who where suffering from a lack of confidence and belief in them selves.
With Deano i feel he could be the one who takes us up back to the prem,don’t know when but
think he has what it takes to be a good manager given the funds at his disposal,but there lies the
problem.THE TWO M’s UTW.
I know Deano’s not everyones choice of manager,but its about time we had one
so i for one say lets ALL get behind him and give him a real chance.
It’s all about timing. Solbakken was at Molineux at the wrong time to instil his style on players who have lost confidence and were incapable or unwilling to adapt. Who knows how Saunders will do, but if he has to use McCarthy’s players through necessity, he needs to cut out the fannying around passing sideways and encourage the direct route. This approach will pay dividends in the short term, but long term if we go up, it could be as disappointing as Mick’s much maligned adventures in the greed league. A robust style can work but a team like Stoke are bloody good at what they do and they need to be well equipped with quality throughout the team, and they are.
As Thomas said, the money needs to be found for Saunders to get the right players to win matches whatever style we play. Winning is the best style, coz it never goes out of fashion.
lets be honest? it doesn’t matter which way we play, sideways, backwards,hoof it, etc,etc, you will still get the fans moaning, by me I have them that want us to hoof it up and then their are those that want to play football, there are even those?????? who are not bothered if we lose as long has we play well! me I want to win,like clive, I don’t care if it is a last minute penalty that goes in off the goalies arse.
Sam Allardyce has been judged to play direct football. I for one would love the success hes had with clubs. If Dean Saunders can plight a similar path then we should support him 100%
I cry myself to sleep quite often. We struggle to penetrate defences, defend against mediocre strikers and the truth is I don’t give a toss about what happens in between. Please spend some quality money on QUALITY.
It’s an interesting point, but my answer is yes.
I want to be that team who wins in style, who everyone wants to be like and replicate our set up. Winning isn’t everything to me anyway, so if it took three years for it to happen I simply wouldn’t care as I’v learnt to lose as a Wolves fan very well!
I am with Clive on this one. Lets start winning with what we got and worry about style later. It may be a luxury we can not afford.
What I do want to see from the team though is effort and team work. I am not looking for Ronaldo type tricks just a higher level of the basics please.
I think it was Shankly who simplistically desribed Football as being a game that is played on a big field, but most everything that matters happens in the penalty area.
We can say all we want about SS but he should have got more out of what he had. He could have bought some time that way.
UTW
Here is what the man himself had to say about his style:
“I have three different ways of playing,” says the boss. “Three systems we can play and I drill the team to play them all.
“If I feel the two centre-backs of the team we’re playing against are slow, we’ll give the strikers something to chase.
“If I feel the opposition are pressing us, we’ll go over the top of them.
“If I feel we can play through them with the ball, we’ll play like Liverpool play,” he continues.
“So I set the players up to play in three different ways so they all know what to do if I decide to change it, or if the opposition do something different, so that tactically, we’ve got an idea of how to get the ball into their net.”
So it looks to me like he wants to play a combination of direct and possession football and switch it up depending on the opposition, just as long as we win.
Which, if true, would answer this whole debate and we’d be champions.
That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?
If Saunders turned out to be that type of manager I’d be thrilled! We’lll have to wait and see!
Sounds great on paper but the first option requires strikers with pace,so forget Doyle and Blake, and the last option requires players who can get the ball down and pass and move, which precludes just about everybody. I’m not sure what he means by the second option but it sounds like long ball kick and rush with your fingers crossed. So number two it is then.
If this style was successful and we won the league i’d be as happy as anyone. But i doubt it would and we’d be back to where we were 3 years ago, a poor team woefully out of their depth and only going in one direction.
If we had good players with skill and pace we could adapt to any of those styles of play but that means shelling out a lot more money on transfers and particularly wages. We have an owner and a CEO who profess high ambition for the club but the reality is they are not prepared to pay the going rate; they try to do it on the cheap. Meanwhile Moxey happily carries on raking in the money, Morgan happily carries on building his empire and opposition fans carry on going home happy.
There’s 2 weeks left in the transfer window and i still hope and prey for that real left back, that midfield general and that pacy striker. Three additions that could start the building of a team worthy at last of the old gold shirt and could adapt to any style.
I’m hoping for something top drawer but expecting more from the bargain basement.
I can’t stand tippy tappy football anyway. With the exception of the invicibles at Arsenal and Barca that football bores me. Lets face it we will never be either – the best we could hope for is a watered down version with £3m players.
At the moment winning games is more important. Lets not forget we are not far off the relegation places.
A lost season already!
If you want to completely reinvent the footballing style and ethos at your club, the time to do that is when you are in the bottom tier of the football league. The time NOT to do that us when you’ve just spent longer in the top flight than you have in a generation.
The long term plan is presumably to spend enough time in the top flight to accumulate the wealth required to actually compete. Mick was stubborn, too loyal to his favourites and, when all’s said and done, not tactically astute enough to handle the top flight. That does not mean everything about McCarthy’s Wolves was bad.
These were supposed to be the yo-yo years. Now is not the time to reinvent the wheel. Any Wolves manager at this point in time has these players. They can maybe ship out half a dozen each window and bring a couple of new faces in. We should have been looking to bounce straight back. Saunders might not be the answer but is more suited to the job than Solbakken. Anyone who thinks we’ve gone backwards in the week or so since Deano arrived has clearly not been watching Wolves this season. If Terry Connor and Ståle Solbakken equals progress, you can keep it thanks very much. If I’m paying over my hard earned cash to help turn people into millionaires, then win or lose, I expect to be entertained.
wwwebs .. You’re a real fan with your head screwed on. .. You have summed it up in a nutshell. I too am sick to death of the treatment of fans and the way in which the bullshit and broken promises are drivelled out from M & M before you commit to a ST and then sell you down the river by selling our best players without any corresponding re-investment.
Well said wwweb.
Against Blackburn, there was a lot of long balls and head tennis, but it was entertaining.
This is the least, as a fan, one can expect – Entertainment.
The tippy-tappy, zonal marking, play on the ground style football, is for clubs with billions.
Michael Laudrup plays both systems very successfully, but a billionaire will take him from Swansea. Look at all the teams outside the top four, other than Liverpool, and they all have to rely on the long ball at times. If you try to compete with Barcelona, by playing their style you will lose. At least, you get a chance if you hoof it.
Do we want, style, entertainment or either, as long as there is victory ?
I will take what Saunders offers….
Great blog, Thomas. Really thought provoking. Also, loved your “diet Stoke”…made me laugh out loud.
I think what we need is a halfway house. Deano needs to be come Ståle McCarthy, if you will.
What I mean is, there’s nothing wrong with the odd hoof ball and some fast attacking football, but it would be nice to see us also be able to control the possession side of a game as well.
The “hoofball” complaints probably came from the long balls to Doyle. It wasn’t good in that sense because they clearly weren’t working yet we persisted anyway and they should have been aimed at Cassidy.
However, it was his first game. Let’s hope this was the start of something great.
Is the Halfway House pub still down there on the Tettenhall Road?
I used to stop in there on me way to evening college at The Wulfrun, back in the seventies…..unless we had a European match. In that case I was in the Tiger, with Pat Banks, Big Mark, Scooped and Ada, and bollocks to college!!!
The building is still there, Clive. But the pub isn’t open and has been boarded up for a good few years now.
Style – Does it matter?
Firstly – if football fans across the length and breadth of the country were asked the question; how would you like your team to play? The majority would reply with words to the effect of, “good attractive football.”
However, what does “good attractive football” actually mean?
The phrase ‘good football’ generally refers to the game being played at a high standard – sometimes, though not always, irrespective of the style of play employed to achieve this.
The phrase ‘attractive football’ on the other hand, is often more contentious, as the term is often more subjective depending on a supporter’s ideal of how they like to see the game played: Whilst thoughtful possession-based football with an emphasis on patience, guile and skill may be ‘attractive’ to some; equally, others (particularly those in this country, where our football culture and tradition is for the game to be based on spirit, speed, power, aggression and getting the ball forward as quickly as possibly) may see it as boring, ponderous and lacking in passion/excitement. Furthermore, whilst constant all-action football with an emphasis on speed, aggression, excitement and getting the ball forward as quickly as possible may be ‘attractive’ to some; to others, it is seen as lacking in technique, often senseless and ugly to watch.
So, does it really matter WHICH camp our style of football largely falls within?
Well, when all is said and done; football is essentially about creating chances to score goals, and preventing them from going in at the other end. Achieve this, and any team – regardless of the country or league they play in – will win more games than they lose and generally do well. So does it matter? Well, that ultimately depends on our ambitions…
…For if our 3 seasons of constant struggle in the premier league, coupled with the national team’s failure, decade after decade, to progress beyond the quarter final stage in major competitions, has showed us anything, it’s that: Spirit, aggression, energy, hard word and getting the ball forward at the earliest opportunity can only take you so far – to create chances and stop conceding them against the better teams, or in other words, to be a “winning team” against better teams, you need much more than the huff and puff basics Saunders had his Doncaster teams playing, and that we appeared – albeit at very very early days – to demonstrate last Friday.
I don’t think possession football has to be slow and ponderous. Ours was, granted, but that’s because we were as bad at possession football as a Boeing Dreamliner is at flying and I think we probably had more malfunctions.
I heard a lot of fans, during Solbakken’s reign, say “Fans need to be more patient and accept that possession football is slower”. I do not agree in any way, shape or form. If we take Barcelona (I’m not comparing us to Barcelona, I’m just saying Barcelona are the blue print for possession football) they aren’t a slow team. Sometimes, they’ll take 40 odd passes and then pass the ball into the net, but other times they’ll rip through you in 3 passes and have scored before you even know what’s happened.
Possession football does not mean slow build ups, ponderous football, passing the ball around the back 4 and only mustering 3 attempts on goal per game. At least it doesn’t when you do it properly.
P.S. I’m not saying you said this, I just liked your post and thought it was a good one to put these thoughts after.
Also true of Barcelona is that when they don’t have the ball, they harry and harass the opposition ceaselessly. As well as playing amazing possession football, their players certainly ‘put a shift in’, to coin a phrase.
Absolutely agree Tettenhall Wolf – good point; possession-based football does not have to be slow, ponderous and lacking in passion/excitement. I know you recognise this anyway, but my point was that, to some fans, particularly those in this country who have been brought up on a diet of fast-paced, aggressive, getting the ball forward early-football; more possession-based football can be perceived as being slow and lacking in passion etc.
To be honest, my main point was that if what we are gonna see under Saunders is us playing ”winning football” first, and style second – that’s fine. HOWEVER, as our disastrous 3 seasons in the PL painfully demonstrated; to be a ”winning team” against the better teams, we will need to develop our game beyond what we saw under McCarthy (and I suspect, what will be the case under Saunders – certainly whilst we remain in the Championship) and strike the appropriate balance between high energy ‘hassle and harry’ football AND ensuring that we are equipped with higher quality players when we do have the ball, along with these higher quality players being trained to play the game with greater tactical nous.
In short, as we all unfortunately experienced under MM; the kind of ”winning football” that can be played in the Championship and in the leagues below – with exception of one or two exceptions – can only take you so far!
To play high quality winning football you need good players who can control the middle of the park and are comfortable on the ball. Whilst some people on here decry our lack of strikers, others criticise the defence. Where we have been weakest in the past three seasons has been in the middle of the park. We’ve had a bunch of honest journeymen (Edwards, Jones, Henry etc) who got steamrollered in the Premier League. The result was the defence was constantly under pressure (and leaking goals), and the strikers weren’t getting the ball in the areas that matter. It was revealing how Wolves fans reacted to Frimpong for the few games he managed. They recognised a class player who could take on the opposition.
And the midfield has been awful this season. Whilst Doumbia looks as if he may be top notch if he gets his fitness sorted out what we’ve really missed is a ballplayer who can open up opposition defences with the right perceptive pass. The service to our front players has been bog standard awful and our biggest threat has been from Sako at free kicks or corners.
Whilst I agree that the defence needs reinforcements urgently it’s the middle of the park where the quality is needed. Sort it and we can look forward to the team moving forward – bring in the humdrum and I can see us condemned to mediocrity for some time to come.
Spot on MW. Keep the posts coming.
The National team would have got to the World Cup Final in 1990 if Booby Robson had had some balls and played Bully, who was in his prime, in the semi final, instead of bowing to pressure from fuckin’ Big Ears Lineker, who threw his toys out of the pram when Bully decked him.
( Or so the rumour goes, as Clive from Houston seeks to avoid a libel lawsuit!!! )
this is england, we aren’t as litigious over here…
I am a fan of possession football so I was initially enthusiastic about Solbakken. Then I saw how he had Wolves playing and I honestly thought he must be an imposter and the real Solbakken was locked in a cabin in Norway. I really think he was quite clueless.
Like Thomas i was puzzled by Solbakken. He stopped them pressing, chasing and competiting man to man but didnt actually put anything in its place . The result was we just looked like a Mccarthy team that wasnt trying.
Colin-they were not trying full stop
Just look at a video of the first goal we scored against Brighton. That’s what Solbakken was trying to do. The problem was the players didn’t get it/didn’t have the requisite skill levels to play that way. Shame – but we’ll never know now.
Totally agree with Clive. Get off his back. I like a winning style. Other than that, don’t want to be like Barcelona. Just want a wave of old gold sweeping the opposition away-like it used to be.
Get rid of Moxey and bring in a CEO WITH SOME IMAGINATION MIGHT HELP.
Think it is worrying that all the SS targets and Deanos targets are not on the agenda.
My take on Saunders is that he will have assessed the squad and quickly decided that there’s only one way of playing that suits their footballing pea brains. I.E. Uncouth and unapologetically direct.
Where’s the problem in this? Stale tried another way and he got the push.
This shouldn’t be translated as meaning Saunders loves the big boot. (After his playing experience, he surely hates it)
It just means he is working with what he has got.
Once he can ship some players out and bring some in, we’ll probably see a different mantra.
It’s like David Cameron coming into number 10 with Nick Clegg scurrying around his ankles. He can only work with the bunch of numpties to his left until he can shake them off and impose a style more befitting of his manifesto.
I’m sure Thomas wouldn’t have this blog looking like it is right now if he was having to work on an Amstrad! He’d still create something to get by and it would doubtless serve a purpose. I wouldn’t read into his deeper psyche for it though. Not until I’d seen him behind his swanky new Apple Mac!
Look at David Moyes for example. He oversaw some of the most dour football at Everton a couple of years ago and now he has a team that is getting near universal praise for breaking with purpose and pace.
All it took was for the Beatties and Bents to go, Mereiles, Pienaar and Jelavic to come in…and time!!
Well said Ben!
I apologise that I have just made virtually the same point a little further down the page.
Yours appeared after I had posted it.
Still, if it’s a point worth making it’s worth making twice!
Very pertinent points Ben.
In the E & S it says Saunders is looking for cover at left back….
Does that mean, he has quickly seen what many of us have seen for a long time, that we need a new left back.
Great blog. Much more thought provoking & intelligent comments on here (instead of the negative crap you see on the E&S site). First of all, I think we should dispel the myth that Mad Mick’s team were route one as suggested in the media (Radio WM for one). Mick’s team did pass the ball and at times very well (remember that David Jones goal against Spurs at Molineux ?). Just because he liked to play with wingers, doesn’t mean he advocated route one. The difference between MM & SS was that Mick’s philosophy was to get his teams defending from the front and running their nuts off. That ethos will generally get you out of the Championship, particularly if you have a natural goalscorer as we did in the promotion season with SEB). Trouble is – you need more than that when you get into the Premier. The hard work ethos has to remain though – you just need to work as hard but with better players, that’s all and we have fundamentally failed to recruit those better players each time we got promoted (just ask Dave Jones). Nobody works harder than Man Utd do they ? Their work ethic means they can afford to carry one or two average players (the likes of Johnny Evans & Carrick spring to mind). Our biggest isue for me over the past couple of years is our inability to create chances – Deano’s focus on forward-running should help to turn that around, but I do think we need more prescence up front – not sure anymore about the Doyle-SEB route – Doyle for one never seems to be prepared to put himself into the box anywhere near enough – we need someone like Ricky Lambert or Grant Holt in order to make Deano’s plan work effectively.
Once again Thomas you have hit a very large nail very firmly on it’s very fat head!
I also agree with the sentiments expressed by Mancunian Wolf.
With a few caveats.
At the very highest level – i.e. International football – more than huff and puff is needed to succeed.
However, in my opinion, the test of a good manager is to get the best out of the players he has.
Ståle tried to change the ethos of our football club and failed miserably because he was trying to teach HIS way to the WRONG footballers.
Unless Deån is given unlimited funds to completely change the squad – in our dreams!!!!! – he is going to have to work with what he has got. If he finds success and is allowed to build on it, he can develop Wolves into an attractive passing football team.
Until then, we have to play pragmatic football suited to our team and their position in the pecking order of the English game.
In other words – Do whatever it takes!
Bloody hell Doog…That was a good post! What’s the plural of genius?!
Clive From Houston and Wolverhampton?????
Very good. Did you see the Houston Texans against New England?! I actually watched a bit of it. Good game, good game!
I dont watch throwball, its even worse than watching the shit!! Very boring.
BREAKING NEWS
Mrs DOOGooder has officially announced that TheDOOGooder is back to full fitness and the ‘Ann Summers’ Nurses outfit is going back in the naughty drawer. (It never fitted him anyway).
This is just as well because we are off on a Nile Cruise at the weekend and will be trying to teach the natives the basics of 4-3-3 and the offside rule. As well as necking as much local hooch as possible.
It will make a nice change to walk round a load of ancient relics instead of reading their opinions on the Blog. (Har Har!!).
I would like to thank all those who sent messages of sympathy, flowers and strong drink during his illness.
UTW!!!
Have fun.
Remember how the Sphinx got its inscrutable smile!!
Ta!
I don’t know how the Sphinx got his inscrutable smile – I just assume it’s not a Wolves supporter or it would be having a good old cry now.
“The sexual life of the camel,
Is stranger than anyone thinks.
For in the mating season,
He tries to bugger The Sphinx.
The Sphinx’s back passage is narrow,
And darker than the waters of The Nile,
Which accounts for the hump on the camel,
And The Sphinx’s inscrutable smile”
Rugby Songs 101
Enjoy mate, see if you can find a left back and striker over there. never been to Egypt, dodnt they have nasty crocs in the Nile?
Cheers my man!
I think there are some old crocs in the Nile but maybe not as many as in our defence.
The answer is in the points discussed; a team with good players plays good football and is good to watch. Solbakken had a very very ordinary squad to work with, hence their struggle with the passing game (although I do like some of his signings).
Answer: get some quality in Dean!
I think style is important, but adaptability and quality of player is the key, not every opposing team is the same. See griffiths is gone back to hubs, why would he try to impress when here? Doesn’t benefit him. Sell for as much as possible .
About confused tactics. Then I reckon the zonal defence will not be played anymore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtIAhX5xhLs
Can some one tell me Mr Moxey what is going on with Griffiths.
Is the SPL so dire that its tops scorere is not good enough for a run out with us?
I hate what he did and clearly he has attitude but he is no good to us up there. Another example of collecting players and not being able to get rid.
We have an auction house nearby and sometimes stuff will not make a reasonable bid, every month they have a box lot clear out sale. they can not store it all like we do with players. Cut your losses Jez admit defeat.
I certainly hope that Dean does well, but it worries me a bit that after Stale signed players from Rennes, St Etienne and Cologne, Dean is now toiling round Norwich and Carlisle. I wonder if the board can tell us if any long-term ambition is now officially out of the window?
By the way, someone implicitly had a go at Rachel Heyhoe earlier. She’s not on the board but just has an honorary position, like Planty, and has been a great supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers over the years.
Whether or not you like Saunders style or not is immaterial, we have seen after 3 years of trying that graft and kick and rush in the premier league it doesn’t work unless you through money at it like Stoke or West Ham.
I personally don’t see how allowing Saunders to spend funds to bring yet more of the same types of player that McCarthy had is going to improve us as a football club in the long term.
Best case scenario we eventually win promotion in the next couple of seasons, swift relegation follows when we find out our tactics are even further out of date.
Worst case scenario we flounder about in this league or worse for a couple of seasons at which point Saunders is sacked and the new manager is left with an even bigger squad of technically inept, tactically naive and generally crap players.
We were told after the sacking of Connor and the relegation farce that lessons had been learned that the club needed to go in the direction of possession football, that we were building for the future. M and M have shown exactly how much crap was in that statement first in failing to back Stale to get the players he wanted and selling players and loaning players in without his knowledge. Failing to give him the time that they promised was his. And the cherry on the crap cake is appointing Saunders someone with no experience, who plays kick and rush football but is an ex Liverpool player.
I worry for the club with this bunch of Moron’s in charge.
I can not argue with you. We are all making the best of a bad job. For the life of me I can not beleive some of the recent ins and outs had anything to do with our Football staff. Pennat was apparently all Moxeys doing.
One thing that occurs to me is what our Academy and youngsters make of it all. What style is being taught to them, what is the criteria for offering contracts, what do they need to do to breakthrough. They must be totally confused. Still if Ward is the best LB in the club it doesnt really say much does it.
What I found disturbing about the removal of Stolbakken is that it is a return to short-termism. What is even more worrying is that without knowing it we may have seen ‘the day the music died’ – I desperately hope not, but I’m getting this uneasy feeling that the senior management of the club is leading us into a spiral of meddlesome mediocrity, and it will take a miracle worker to get us out of it.
By my count today is the 16th of jan, looking like there’ll be huffing and puffing bout potential transfers again , with very little end product. How predictable , hopefully I’m wrong and jumping the gun, history isn’t good to go on
Ray absoluley bang on mate. I think we could all write Moxeys statement. New manager, new team no time to make good deals. Got to shift some before we bring them in etc etc etc.
If Stalle had managed to create a winning team, none of this would have happened. He didn`t however and after Luton (it was WBA for MM) he probably lost his last vestage of credibility.
Create a winning team from what you have, somehow, get the players enjoying and used to winning, and develop from there. Winning players have more value in the transfer market – maybe even ours !!
Sell a few as you go along (or donate to charity a la Wardy) and get in better players, quality over quality, everyone knows its the wrong way round at the minute.
We need players with pace who instinctively pass and move into space, ala Swansea. Don`t cost a lot if the scouts are doing their job properly, all those players out of contract over the next few months – fringe premiership squad players. Go get them. Please.
I wondered who was on the board of directors at wolves and just found out. http://www.wolves.co.uk/club/about_us/directorsprofiles.aspx
If i wanted something built this would be a great board of directors. Herein lies our problems and explains the thoughts that come out of our club and what our transfer budget is being spent on building shit.
There’s this far out idea/dream I have, all season ticket loyals halt on the purchase of the 2013/2014 ticket. Everybody blow the lot on lottery and scratch card tickets as you are likely to see more wins that way. Also, there has to be a degree of probability of some lottery scores high enough to maybe buy a number of stakes in the club giving simple Simon a bigger nudge to the exit door, his ‘brilliant business mind’ will have already figured out that there could be a struggle ahead to pay for life in the fat lane as we simply won’t keep him afloat any longer…..and the bubble burst. Damn.
Just read the E&S report on the FA’s snub to our own Sir Billy Wright on the commemorative plaque.
The FIRST Footballer in the world to win 100 caps for England.also captained the England team
a record 90 times in 105 appearances what a joke the FA is.
Also who was the first club to bring European Football to the masses WOLVES in the floodlit games did we get a mention not one.
Not even a mention of the great Sir Bobby Robson,what a load of pricks,disgrace.
same old f— a–! its just a posh boys club with everyone patting themselves on the back telling each other how wonderfull they are. and as we the fans know..what the bloodwhy help do the know about football anyway. we are wolves and billy wright was the greatest!! WTID
You got it, not fit to wipe billy Wrights ass.
I just saw we are putzing around trying to buy a $1 million striker and a 500,000 guy.
What the hell have they done to my club. $24 Mill in sales last summer, we are fighting to look even decent in the Chump and we are looking at this level.
This is what got us here in the first place.
backwards and fast come to mind ….although it will be interesting to see how deano does
Reported that MM playing hardball over signing Drearman and Zubar.
NO it’s Greaseball wanting more pies up front that’s the problem. 16th time is slipping away.
Interesting article:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/scouting-report-why-michael-mancienne-deserves-1537445
Mancienne completed 88.5% of 719 passes in the opening half of the campaign! I can see why we let him go now…too busy passing to put in a shift! lol!
Hope we dont get snowed off Deano needs to see what he has got and what he hasnt. Wanted to post a studied comment with a careful build up but its such a mess going direct – Foley out Peszko in.
” A campaign to allow football fans to drink alcohol in their seats at matches for the first time since the mid-1980s has been launched by leading Championship club Ipswich Town.”
Headline in Electronic Telegraph.
Firstly, I take issue with the “leading Championship club” part of the above headline. They are below us, and we are crap.
Secondly, and to my point. Would it not have behoved greasel to think of this over the past few years not only to get extra money in his fat coffers, but also to deaden our pain at watching the shit McDickwadhead served up?
How very fitting that the powers that be at Ipswich have already come to the same conclusion.
Fair point young man.
Except MM & TC seem to be waving their magic wand at Ipswich at the moment.
One of the form teams of the division.
Perhaps we’ll end up meeting them in the play-off final at Wembley in the Spring.
I wonder what odds I’d get on that happening?
The only way we are going to meet anyone in the playoffs is if they get us tickets in the front row behind one of the goals!
Anyway, I thought you were off buggering the sphinx, or something?
Yes, weather permitting, I and the memsahib will be putting the Egyptian political problems to rights next week.
Shouldn’t take more than a few days.