Wolves 0 Birmingham 1

January 19, 2012 By

You could probably just about tolerate 180 minutes of turgid, one-paced cup football if your team at least emerged victorious from the tie.

With that in mind, Blues fans will probably feel satisfied with their night’s work. Good luck to them I say. I don’t begrudge them the win.

For Wolves and Mick McCarthy there’s no such consolation.

Terrible goal wins terrible match

We were awful, both individually and as a team.

But lets start with the former.

Elokobi was a liability throughout. Yes, he made a vital goal-saving lunge in the first half (which I thought was a foul by the way) but his total lack of awareness and incompetence on the ball make me shudder everytime he has possession.

Sadly though George, you narrowly miss out on the numpty of the match champagne.

No, that’s most definitely reserved for another deserving culprit.

Step forward Stephen Hunt.

We all know he’s been woefully anonymous in recent times, but his performance last night was taking the flippin’ Michael.

He sauntered around, half a yard off the pace and quite obviously just couldn’t be arsed.

You can normally tell within the first 10-15 minutes of any match whether he’s up for it or not. If he is, ala Blues at home last season, you’ve got a real player on your hands.

80% of the time though, he doesn’t show anywhere near those levels of interest and isn’t the type of player who can operate effectively in cruise control.

He was easily the worst of a very poor bunch.

Still, however bad individuals were, the manager must shoulder much of the blame for the team performance.

Anyone who comes out two days before the game has even kicked off and proclaims ‘It’ll be Doyler and Sylvan up top’ as if that’s some sort of declaration of attacking intent is living in cloud cuckoo land.

That says to me, that in his head it doesn’t matter who else he plays because two out of form forwards, both dining off past accomplishments as opposed to anything they’ve done recently, will get the job done.

That was never, ever going to be the case.

I said in my preview I’d play 451 because we needed to make better use of the ball in the middle of the pitch and not just hoof it long to the forwards.

Well low and behold what did we do?

The same thing we always do in a 442 of course, pass it around the back four, run out of ideas and shell it long.

Nice one Mick.

He got two bites of the cherry in this tie and patently didn’t learn his lesson from the first taster.

I despair.

You can only imagine what the millions who tuned into ITV made of it.

Like them, I’d rather have watched Coronation Street.

Wolves Vs Birmingham FA Cup Preview

January 17, 2012 By

So, 11 days after cancelling each other out at St. Andrew’s (you’ll yawn just thinking about it), Wolves and Birmingham lock horns once again – and on prime time television no less.

No way through

Perhaps ITV’s logic is that the first game was so painfully awful, the replay is destined to be a cracker.

Probably a shade optimistic but I certainly don’t think it could be any worse.

Blues have collected back-to-back wins since the first encounter, including a 6-0 bashing of Millwall to temporarily elevate them into the play-off places.

I think you’ve got to tip your hat to Chris Hughton – he’s done an excellent job there.

Even if his side don’t make it back to the Premiership this season, surely one of the top flight clubs will eventually take a punt on a manager who obviously knows what he’s doing?

The Team

Both managers will probably ring the changes once again, but as it’s a night game, on a decent pitch it should really be a better spectacle regardless.

This is the team I would field:

de Vries, Foley, Johnson, Stearman, Elokobi, Jonnson, Milijas, Guedioura, Hunt, Hammill, Doyle

So that’s wholesale changes to the team that started at Spurs, but the same shape.

I see Villa as a massive opportunity to get 3 points on Saturday, so don’t want to risk many of the definite starters for that one.

451 because I’d like to see us pass it around a bit more and with a 442, we tend to hoof. Milijas will give us the necessary craft and giving Guedioura (remember him?) a more advanced role behind the striker should suit his game.

In reality though, I think Mick will likely play 442 with both Doyle and SEB up front, as he did in the first game.

Prediction

Remember, no points on offer here for the league. Just for a larf.

I think we’ll just about scrape through this one, but I’m not expecting it to be easy, especially with the incentive of an away trip to Sheffiled United in the next round up for grabs (sarcasm).

Another tight game, but with a few goals shared – 2-1 Wolves.

If you’re making the trip to Molineux, have a great time and get behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

Birmingham City 0 Wolves 0

January 7, 2012 By

Well, all I can say is ESPN must be kicking themselves for selecting such a turgid, horrible game of football as their third round showpiece.

They might have been expecting a fast-paced, blood and thunder derby, but what they were served instead was a low-key scrapfest on a bobbling pitch inside a half empty stadium.

Behold the magic of the FA Cup.

I blame the managers personally.

Come to daddy

Hughton packed the Blues midfield and selected former Stoke clogger Adam Rooney as the lone forward.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, they offered very little as an attacking threat, aside from livewire winger Nathan Redmond, who does look a real prospect.

So the emphasis was very much on Wolves, as the Premier League side, to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make our mark.

Sadly, Mick had other ideas.

For starters, the midfield duo of Henry and Jonnson must be the least creative pairing in the history of the FA Cup.

The latter looked OK on his debut, but nothing more. He was happy to sit, tackle and make simple passes but certainly didn’t appear intent on exiting his own half.

That’s fine of course, but if Jonnson is a holding midfielder and nothing more, why not give Edwards or even Guedioura a game alongside him? Show some intent to go out and enforce ourselves on a midtable Championship side.

Or even play Frimpong so we can see more of what this guy is about.

What was there to be gained by playing Henry? I’m lost on that one.

Hunt was appalling. As purely an attacking outlet he offered absolutely nothing to the game. Hammill, a winger who actually attacks wasn’t even on the bench.

Mick claimed in his post-match interview that he set his team up to win because he played two forwards and two wingers. I’d personally argue he played 7 defensive players (8 if you include the keeper) and relied on the other 3 to feed off scraps.

On his return, that’s exactly what Michael Kightly got too – scraps. But if there was one shining beacon of light on an otherwise dull afternoon of football, it was his return to the fold.

He looked interested, incisive and generally half a yard quicker than he has done for a very long time indeed. He also produced one of the only two moments of quality all game when he picked out SEB with an inch-perfect cross, only to see the striker blaze over the only decent chance either side created.

It’s still early days, but I certainly took encouragement from his performance.

Sadly it was another game Kevin Doyle will probably want to forget. He flitted round and tried to get involved with the play, but never looked much of a threat. I don’t know whether it’s confidence, tiredness or an injury he’s perhaps carrying, but he’s a shadow of his former self right now. It’s painful to see.

The back four can at least feel satisfied for keeping a cleansheet.

It must be said that after Roger Johnson limped off midway through the first half, we did actually improve, which I don’t see as a slight on the defender.

I think we looked better because Stearman was thankfully moved inside, where he should be playing and Foley was restored to full-back, giving us proper shape.

Stearman is not a right-back. I’m sorry to break that to anyone who thinks otherwise. His distribution is abysmal at times and it nullifies any chance we might have of getting forward down the right.

If this match showed us anything, it’s the reliance we have on Jarvis and Fletcher. Both only had a short run out but came closer than anyone to scoring.

Lovely to see Jarvis actually cut inside and leather one for a change. So often he drags those wide, but he forced a fine save from their keeper and then Fletch was unlucky with his follow up header.

If Mick had truly wanted to get the job done today he would have played one, if not both of them from the start. Given the fact they were both inexplicably rested against Chelsea last weekend, they should have been fresh as a daisy.

I shall stop now because this report is beginning to resemble the very match it describes.

Long, negative and ultimately very depressing.

Anyone fancy the replay?

It’s only 15 quid.

Birmingham City Vs Wolves FA Cup Preview

January 6, 2012 By

Back in May, this was a Premier League fixture and after a disappointing 1-1 draw, Birmingham ended that match 5 points ahead of us with only 3 games remaining.

Wolves went on to win 2 of their 3, while Blues failed to pick up a single point and were relegated by the narrowest of margins.

This picture amuses me

That predictably led to financial woes, a fire-sale of players and even a manager jumping ship to bitter rivals.

While all this was happening, I could only muster one thought – it could have been us.

It could have been us waving goodbye to our best players as the vultures circled.

It could have been us heading directly back to square one and joining the scrum to get out of the Championship.

It could, very easily, have been us.

So it many ways it’s apt that the two sides once again come together just 6 months down the line.

Credit to Blues, they seem to have kept things together remarkably well considering their plight and under Chris Hughton, they’re a decent outfit.

Their home form is particularly impressive and they’re yet to lose at St. Andrew’s in 11 league matches, boasting 7 wins and 4 draws.

Anyone else smell a banana skin?

The Team

It will be very interesting to see what sort of team Mick puts out for this one, but I hope he takes it seriously as a repeat of the 3-1 thumping we got against Crystal Palace two years back wouldn’t be greeted kindly, especially in a derby.

This is something like the team I expect to see:

de Vries, Foley, Johnson, Elokobi, Jonnson, Frimpong, Edwards, Guedioura, Kightly, Doyle, SEB

Man, that was difficult.

I tip my hat to anyone who can correctly predict the lineup for this one as Mick has a considerable number of options to choose from. I changed my team 2 or 3 times.

Here’s my rationale for each player’s selection.

de Vries – given a run out
Foley – needs minutes after injury
Johnson – desperate to play against former club
Elokobi – given a run out
Jonnson – debut
Frimpong – needs game time and to assess in a 442
Edwards – needs minutes after injury
Guedioura – given a run out
Kightly – assessed after loan period
Doyle – needs a goal
SEB – Mick won’t want to play 451 so second striker needed

Prediction

There’s no Prediction League points up for grabs this weekend, so purely for fun.

Cup matches are difficult to guess as you never know what sort of team either manager will put out, but I’m expecting this to be close.

Blues will be up for it so it’s up to Wolves to match them.

We’ve got more quality, even with our second string so I reckon we’ll just come out on top.

2-1.

If you’re at St. Andrew’s for this one, have a great time and roar the lads on.

Up The Wolves.

Two from five

May 16, 2011 By

This is it. Here we are. Two from five.

A topsy-turvy, bonkers Premier League season that threatened to go right to the wire has done precisely that. Well, at one end of the table at least.

And with the permutations seemingly infinite, here’s my take on each side’s survival prospects.

Wigan

Roberto Martinez’s team will kick-off Sunday at the bottom of the pile, but arguably have one of the more favourable fixtures away at Stoke.

A draw could feasibly keep them up should Blackpool and Birmingham both lose, which isn’t unlikely, so they’ll fancy their chances.

My gut instinct tells me they’ll get a result and survive by the skin of their teeth.

Blackpool

No team has characterised this whacky season more so than Ian Holloway’s Blackpool and they’ll be the side that the overwhelming majority of neutrals are rooting for.

Despite a massive victory over Bolton, they remain south of the dotted line with Wigan breathing down their necks. Surely they can’t win at Old Trafford? Only Albion have come away with anything other than a defeat and even a weakened Man Utd side should be too much for the Seasiders.

I think a draw might be enough to keep them up, but I suspect they won’t get it.

Birmingham

Out of nowhere, Birmingham are suddenly knee-deep in the brown stuff. Losing at home to Fulham was disastrous, particularly with all four of the other sides picking up points.

They now find themselves needing a huge result at White Hart Lane or a huge favour from both Stoke and Man Utd.

I believe they’ll lose against Spurs, which means they’ll be relying heavily on others.

Blackburn

Blackburn start the day in the strongest position after picking up valuable draws against West Ham and, most recently, Man Utd. Every point is precious and those two results were huge for Steve Kean’s side.

A draw will almost certainly get the job done against Wolves, because only wins for Wigan, Blackpool and Birmingham would see them relegated in that scenario, which is highly unlikely.

They’ve shown some great resolve in recent weeks and I think they’ll get the point they need at Molineux.

Wolves

Buried and seemingly gone for good less than a fortnight ago, back-to-back wins have put Wolves in a strong position. We could only dream about having 40 points on the board prior to kick-off against West Brom but that’s exactly what Mick and the boys have achieved.

The only disappointment of course, is that despite our epic comeback the old gold are far from safe.

We might have done enough already but a big performance in front of our home crowd will get us over the line without the need for help from elsewhere.

Sadly, I fear we’re in for a long anxious afternoon because I don’t think we’ll beat Blackburn. I think it’ll end in a draw, which means our attentions will turn to White Hart Lane, the Britannia Stadium and Old Trafford.

Ultimately though, I think a draw will be enough for us. I would even go as far as to say we could lose and as long as it’s by no more than one goal, we’ll retain our Premier League status.

Final standings

I did the BBC Premier League Predictor and entered the following scores:

Man Utd 3 Blackpool 1
Stoke 1 Wigan 1
Tottenham 3 Birmingham 1
Wolves 2 Blackburn 2

If those predictions came to fruition, it would mean the final table looked like this:

So Blackpool and Birmingham are my two from five.

Who are yours?

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