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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Opinion is divided it seems.

Mick McCarthy, whilst conceding it was a missed opportunity, suggested in his post match analysis that this could well be the point that keeps us in the Premier League.

Sadly though, I’m inclined to disagree.

If we do, somehow, survive by a single point it doesn’t alter the fact that this should have been a victory.

Off you go son

We were gifted the opening goal by two sloppy misjudgements from Ben Foster and without doubt, benefitted from the rub of the green when it came to the big decisions from the man in black.

Yet somehow, despite being given a one goal headstart and playing for an hour against ten men, we couldn’t get the job done.

That’s a worrying sign.

Sloppy errors, such as Mancienne’s clownish back header are the unmistakable signature of a team plummeting irreversibly towards disaster.

The same can be said of our clumsy second half tactics as we sluggishly attempted to regain the lead.

McCarthy openly admitted we didn’t have anyone capable of cracking the safe with a ‘moment of magic’.

He’s right about that.

But then again, he had Milijas picking splinters out of his backside for the whole 90 minutes.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but if you’re trying to breakthrough against a team camped out inside their penalty area, isn’t it a good idea to have your best passer on the pitch? Someone with that bit of craft and vision, who has also proved himself capable of shooting accurately from distance?

I would go as far as to say Milijas was the ideal player to turn this game in our favour. A similar statement could also be made about Guedioura, another unused sub.

Yet there they sat, watching on as Sam Vokes, a player whose hardly kicked a ball all season, was sent on to stand alongside Roger Johnson as he effortlessly gobbled up every aimless ball into the box.

A lot of fans seem to be accusing our manager of not signing any decent players. I disagree, I think he’s signed many excellent ones. The problem is, he chooses not to play them.

A midfield trio of O’Hara, Guedioura and Milijas would have won us that game yesterday. If that means taking off the skipper, so be it.

If you’re chasing a game or going in search of a goal, Henry becomes completely redundant. At half time, those two players should have been on in place of Henry and Ward.

Bringing Hammill on at least showed some intent on our manager’s part, but I just feel we didn’t do everything we possibly could to turn the tide in our favour. That’s disappointing and frustrating in equal measures.

We might still only be a single point from safety, but this Black Country stalemate was yet another damning sign that the trapdoor is slowly creaking open.

It seems like a matter of time before we drop through it.

We just can’t afford missed opportunities.

Wolves are aiming for a league double over Blues

It’s sad to contemplate but despite there being four games to go and all very much still to play for mathematically, the meek surrender under the Britannia floodlights just felt like the end of the road for Wolves in the Premier League.

As horrific as the negative team selection and lack of tactics were, the most disappointing aspect of the performance, for me at least, was the absence of any fight or pride in the shirt. Stoke wanted it from the get-go, Wolves didn’t and given our plight, that’s entirely unacceptable.

So we now kick-off back-to-back derbies on the verge of total collapse, with both Blues and Albion licking their lips at the prospect of administering the knockout blow. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.

To talk about form, statistics and tactical insights seems trivial. I have little to no idea what side Mick McCarthy will field at St. Andrew’s, but whoever starts, we need to find a massive performance from somewhere.

Here is the team I would pick.

Hennessy

Foley
Stearman
Craddock
Mancienne

Hammill
Henry
O’Hara
Milijas
Jarvis

Fletcher

If Fletch isn’t fit enough to start, hopefully SEB will return, as I’m not overly enamoured by the thought of Ward or Vokes leading the line.

Hunt and Guedioura might also come into the reckoning as they at least showed some pluck in their short cameos at Stoke.

Prediction League

Myself, Jed, Bagsy, Rob in Dubai and Stourbridge Wolf all correctly predicted defeat at Stoke but only Bazza got the correct score too. We all pick up a single point and he collects the full three. Well done Bazza.

I’m saying a draw for this one. Tuesday was so bad that I’ve got to believe we’ll see an improvement.

Blues home form is respectable and they’ll be tough to breakdown but I think we’re due some luck on their ground.

1-1.

If you’re making the short trip down the M6 on Sunday have a great time and get behind the lads. The support at Stoke, despite the catastrophe on the pitch, was exceptional.

Up The Wolves.

Why?

Because having completely outwitted, outmuscled and outplayed Blues from start to finish with what was effectively a reserve side, Wolves should have won by a significantly larger margin.

Hunt has already scored two important goals

However, it would be completely unjust of me to label any player in a gold shirt a ‘reserve’ following such a Herculean performance.

Deputising for the injured Kevin Doyle, SEB produced a masterclass in forward play to shake off the attentions of Dann and Johnson throughout, culminating in a sharp turn and cross to supply Stephen Hunt with a tap in for the only goal of the game.

It was a man of the match display from our number 9 who seems to have found a yard of pace as as well as an admirable determination to defend from the front. I actually lost count of the number of times he sprinted 20 yards to win possession and setup another attack.

He’ll deservedly keep his place for next weekend’s showdown at the Hawthorns.

And what about Stephen Ward? Deployed in a free role between midfield and attack, he was fantastic, slipping into useful positions all afternoon and linking up play with simple passes. He was a real asset today, combining his usual enthusiasm and work ethic with some touches of real quality.

Foley was quietly effective too, sitting deep and picking his moments to nip in and win the ball. The importance of his versatility should not be overlooked. Alongside Nenad Milijas he kept things ticking over nicely.

Edwards is of course the master of the lung bursting run and showcased his considerable sprinting talents to bomb forward throughout. He could have scored a hat-trick today and will be disappointed not to have buried at least one of the two headed chances that came his way.

One player who did find the net, as mentioned, was Stephen Hunt, timing his run to perfection to slot home at the near post. His knack of scoring important goals has already come to the fore and hopefully there’s even more to come from the plucky Irishman.

But perhaps the most telling contribution today came at the other end of the pitch, where the defence held firm to leave Wayne Hennessy untroubled throughout, bagging Wolves their first clean sheet of the season.

All four defenders were superb and comprehensively won the aerial battle with Cameron Jerome and the ineffective beanpole Zigic. It was important they did too, as all Blues could muster were hopeful long balls from deep, which very rarely landed in dangerous areas.

Mick will likely have one or two selection dilemmas next weekend when hopefully one or two of the walking wounded will return to bolster the ranks.

Whoever plays though, this performance shows we can at the very least dare to dream of a famous derby-double.

And who felt confident of that this morning?

Ouch.

Can Doyle make it two in two against Blues?

Still, what better way to kick-start a climb up the table than with a much-needed and long overdue win against one of our bitter rivals?

It won’t be easy though, with Mick McCarthy officially having to cope with more injuries (8) than any other manager in the Premiership. Throw Greg Halford and Jelle van Damme into the mixer too, on loan and sold, and you begin to realise the extent of the crisis.

At the time of writing this, we still don’t know whether one or both of David Jones and Michael Mancienne will recover from their respective injuries. Should both fail to make it back in time, our options in the center of midfield are embarrassingly limited, with only Nenad Milijas and the returning Dave Edwards available for selection.

Perhaps this lack of personnel will force Mick’s hand to revert to a 4-4-2? Or maybe we’ll see a 4-5-1 but with players shifted around to fill the gaps? If I was a betting man, I’d expect the latter. Here’s my guess for Sunday’s starting XI:

Hennessy

Zubar
Berra
Mouyokolo
Elokobi

Hunt
Foley
Edwards
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle

So that would mean Foley slipping into the holding midfield role and Hunt returning to the right wing. Milijas would perhaps play slightly deeper too, with Edwards given the freedom to roam and get up alongside Doyle.

Birmingham will keep things tight defensively, so we’ll be looking for our most incisive players, Jarvis and Milijas, to open them up. Even with restricted numbers, I feel we’ve still got more than enough to cause them problems going forward.

At the other end of the pitch, we simply can’t afford to give away anymore goals. Our defence owes us a strong performance and a cleansheet, so lets hope they finally deliver. I’m skeptical that they will.

Blues have failed to win any of their eight away games to date, so make no mistake about it, we’ve got a great chance in this one.

Prediction League

Well done to Dazza in Brisbane for hitting the nail on the head with a 3-0 defeat for Wolves at Blackburn. Our Aussie-based friend was the only person to pick up all three points.

Jed, Stourbridge Wolf, Rob, Philly Pete, t’OM, These are the days, Mark Davies, Hallam and Clive all added to their totals by a single point for guessing the outcome without the score.

This weekend, I’m going with my head and plumping for a draw.

I think both sides will score so I’ll go for 1-1.

If you’re going to Molineux on Sunday, really lift the roof off for the lads. I don’t know about you but I’m absolutely desperate for a local-derby win.

Up The Wolves.

I mean, what is there to say?

Does it really matter that Kevin Doyle was once again the best player on the pitch? He was, and by some distance. Tireless running, superhuman hold-up play and a wonderful poachers goal to give us the lead. I imagine he was sitting in the changing room at half three wondering what he has to do to finish on the winning side. I would be if I were him.

Kevin Doyle was once again superb

It probably doesn’t matter either that Adlène Guedioura offered some promising signs in his short cameo. In twenty or so minutes he did enough to show that he might at the very least give us another option in midfield. Had his rasping drive been just a few inches lower, it could have been even better for the young Belgian.

In fact, we had a few good chances to extend our lead in the second half but were largely wasteful in the final third, with players too often dawdling on the ball or picking the wrong option. I’ve got to believe a better side would have killed the game off long before Kevin Phillips turned it on it’s head.

And what about those late goals? Yet again we had numerous chances to clear our lines in the build-up to their equaliser. But for some reason, the ball never seems to end up down field or even in the stands. You could see Blues feeding off this, so it was no surprise they were queuing up at the back post to put it on a plate ‘Super Kev’ (I hate that weasel. There, I said it).

The winner was even worse.

Before you’ve even read it, you know what’s coming. How far was Stephen Carr allowed to bring the ball before Ward even bothered to face him up? I’d say he should be dropped for that, but sadly we’ve got nobody decent to plug the gap. Even when the ball was played across though, why is Berra not all over Phillips like a rash? He’d already reacted slowest for the equaliser, so to let him drift away a second time is criminal.

The pathetic ‘tactical changes’ from our manager was the final slap in the face for Wolves supporters to endure. Why the hell did he take Jarvis off? We’re desperate to try and get back into the game, so he removes the only player that’s capable of making a yard to send in a cross. Where’s the logic in that one? What was Surman ever going to do?

If I’m being ultra-critical, why SEB instead of Vokes? We’d already got to the stage where we were shelling balls in from deep so what was Blakey supposed to do? Am I the only one having trouble envisaging our number 9 rising like a Salmon above Roger Johnson to head an equaliser? Didn’t think so.

Once again, not good enough Mick.

All this and I haven’t even said anything about the 4-5-1 formation, the players being played out of position and Ronald Zubar’s propensity for pushing people in the back inside his own box.

Troubling times indeed.

Far too many questions and only one conclusion. Wolves fans deserve better.