The thrill of staying up late to watch Sportsnight with Dad and the giddy excitement at the spectacle thereafter convinced me that the Beautiful Game was the one for me.

Thank God I wasn’t born a few years ago instead.

Because the team Dad diverted me towards in 1987 created its customary brand of wretched anti-football that does more to drive neutrals away from the game and take up tiddlywinks instead.

Savour it folks. Our ONLY shot on target

No shots on target (bar the penalty), no possession, no pace, no aspiration, no progression and no player within 40 yards of Kevin Doyle at any time.

And all this at the home of the club that first got me hooked.

We are the complete antithesis of those Canon League conquerors of yesteryear, let alone Graham Turner’s heroes of division three.

It was no wonder my two mates were spending more time checking their fantasy football teams than grimace at our pre-planned attempt to pervert the course of football.

Partly because they were bored out of their skulls and partly because all of their chosen players would never ever be playing at Goodison Park on November 19.

Not in a Wolves shirt at least.

It’s no wonder our (wonderfully voiced) fans can lay claim to the most self deprecating song in the whole of football, heard only two or three times a season when we actually take the lead away from home.

“We’re winning away, we’re winning away. How s**t must you be, we’re winning away.”

Doubtless they will be called numpties and mindless idiots by Mick McCarthy in the greatest irony of all.

If this is football Mick, you can have it.

If I wasn’t so desperately sad right now, I’d summon up some bile to throw at you.

It wasn’t the wasted £35 that has saddened me. It wasn’t even the defeat itself or the subsequent baiting by my Everton supporting mate thereafter.

It was the unashamed creation of a spectacle that bears no relation to the game I first fell in love with that really hurt, featuring none of its bewitching, spellbinding characteristics.

Where the good teams have skill, we have sweat. Where Norwich and Swansea have aspiration, we have pragmatism.

And where every other side have a chain of passes, we have a kick-off to Hennessey and a lump downfield to a striker who can’t win headers.

The game itself featured 11 Wolves players giving their absolute all to the cause, looking committed and hungry from the off.

For that, they will not receive any criticism from me. Certainly not Ward for his phenomenal block on the line, or Berra for an amazing last gasp tackle on Drenthe in the first half.

We took the lead through a needless Fellaini trip on Edwards and proceeded to squander possession with the reckless abandon of a pub team.

So what happened next? We work even harder to try to get the ball back and our tiring bodies give way to weary minds.

The agonising inevitability is bad enough. The reputation we have now garnered with yet another set of disbelieving fans just rubs the salt in.

“Thank God we only play these lot once at home this season,” said one pained Everton fan.

The pleasure was all ours.

SEB bagged us a point last season

Not so sure about that myself.

Sure, they need investment if they’re to progress beyond the upper echelons of midtable, but a quick peak down their squad list reveals a Premier League side packed with quality.

Jagielka, Baines, Rodwell, Fellaini, Cahill, Osman – these are all proven performers and players most clubs would welcome with open arms.

The first three names on the above list all performed admirably for England too during the break, further emphasising the point that it’s a folly to suggest the Toffees are anything but a responsibly governed and well managed club.

Rant over.

Suffice to say, I won’t be taking them lightly then despite the fact they’ve already been turned over 3 times at Goodison Park this season and sit a point below us in the table, albeit having played a game less.

The 3-0 tonking they dished out to us at Molineux back in April still smarts though, so it would be nice to gain a measure of revenge for that humiliating afternoon of football.

The Team

There will almost certainly be at least one change to the side that started against Wigan a fortnight back. Adlene Guedioura struggled badly in his 45 minutes, so I think there’s a place up for grabs. It’s just a quesiton of who gets it. This is the eleven I think we’ll see:

Hennessey, Stearman, Berra, Johnson, Ward, Henry, Milijas, O'Hara, Edwards, Hunt, Doyle

So that’s Milijas in for Guedioura as the only change, with Edwards reverting to the right-side of midfield. The reason I think Mick will do this is to keep us more compact and difficult to breakdown.

There is of course the option of playing Edwards through the middle and bringing Jarvis in to play out wide, but I don’t think we’ll see that tomorrow. Fletch is also fit again thankfully but I’d expect Doyle to keep his place as the lone striker.

Prediction League

The majority correctly predicted a win against Wigan.

34 in total got the outcome spot-on but only 6 said 3-1 and picked up the maximum 3 points on offer.

So congratulations to Carl, Kowloon Wolf, Hamlet, Liam, wolverine and (cough) me!

I’m hoping for a solid performance tomorrow and if we can produce that, I don’t see a reason we can’t get a result.

I’ll go for 1-1 for the third consecutive season.

if you’re heading up north, have a great time and get right behind the lads.

Up The Wolves!

At the moment George Elokobi took leave of his responsibilities and allowed Osman to cross for Jermaine Beckford to score, I glanced to check those hands of time I’ve checked 10,000 times before.

Ha ha! 1st goal in 3 years.

It had gone. Not so much time running out for Wolves, but disappeared completely.

No need to stop the clocks when they don’t even exist.

And like the vacant, sad empty space on top of the North Bank roof our defence looked likewise, in a pathetic indictment of a faded championship trophy.

Whoever utters that we were even remotely unlucky to concede the opener is missing the point completely.

Yes we had bossed the game for the first 20 minutes and looked by far the better team, but when your hapless, sub standard left back goes AWOL for yet another week it ceases to be unlucky. It is just bloody stupid.

No wonder they took the clock away. When you’ve had four years to find a competent left back from somewhere, then there’s hardly any point in telling the time anymore.

From the first goal on, Everton showed why they are a team on the cusp of a top 6 place with a clinical, measured display which stank of Premiership efficiency.

We just stank, resorting to the bizarre tactic of hoofing long balls to Sylvan Distin’s head, after emphatically proving for 20 minutes that we could give him headaches when we got the ball on the floor.

Like a quality opening batsman fending off the new ball, Everton eventually opened up, scoring a ridiculously good goal through Neville, the like of which he will never manage again.

And all of a sudden our 4-4-2 formation looked hopelessly exposed, Bilyanatdinov racing into open space to leather another goal of the month contender, as if saved especially for us.

So what has changed?

Yes, Doyle got injured in that damned Ireland friendly, but does that justify an entire formation change and subsequent home battering?

Does the manager not remember when he tried 4-4-2 at home to Bolton? Or Liverpool?

Eight points from 4 games had us all looking at our clocks for this very home game.

But Mick – at his infuriatingly stubborn worst – reaches for a deadly, doomed concoction like a drunkard at the last chance saloon.

What on earth has Adam Hammill done wrong, apart from play a starring role in our recent revival? Would any other manager treat a player this way?

Everton lose Fellaini, Arteta and Cahill before today’s game and keep exactly the same formation in place, using the exact same script from the Goodison Park dressing room.

We lose one player and we lose the bloody lot…

…The formation, the personnel, the game of football, and even the clock that told us how long we had left.

First and foremost, we lost and both Blues and Albion picked up home wins; distancing themselves from the bottom three in the process. Wigan and Blackburn also added valuable points to their tallies, so not a great Saturday by any stretch of the imagination.

SEB bagged a late equaliser at Goodison Park back in August

Added to that, the momentum we’ve been building up of late was abruptly brought to a standstill. Starting another run is always a difficult task.

For many, it also confirmed our worst fears; that a Wolves team without Kevin Doyle is not adequately equipped to get the job done.

However, I’d disagree with that final point. I personally feel SEB did a superb job, both as the lone frontman in the opening 20 minutes and then partnering Steven Fletcher in the 442 from there on out.

We lost at St. James’ Park because of our shortcomings defensively. We allowed Newcastle to bully us, press the ball high up the pitch and force us into mistakes. For the 20 minute spell in the second half that we actually showed some composure, we came within a whisker of getting back into the game.

But having left Tyneside with nothing, we now have the chance to put some points on the board with back-to-back home games. On paper at least, Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Everton looks the harder of the two fixtures.

It was only a few weeks ago that their season was supposedly in crisis, but if you look at the Premiership table today, you’ll see they’re up in 7th place. The fact that they’ve only won 9 games this season, which is the same number as Wolves, demonstrates just how compact the league is this year.

The Toffees have had to make do without the likes of Mikel Arteta, Louis Saha, Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell and Victor Anichebe of late. That’s a hefty list of injuries and it’s entirely plausible none will return against Wolves. That should give us a boost, but they’ve still got some wonderful players and picked up a useful point at home to Villa last time out.

So make no mistake about it, this will be a tough match. They’ve only won three away games all season, but they’ve dug-in and picked up seven draws on their travels too. They very rarely lie down for anyone, as you’d probably expect with David Moyes in the dugout.

Anyway, this is the Wolves XI I expect to see on Saturday:

Hennessy

Foley
Berra
Stearman
Elokobi

Hammill
Henry
O’Hara
Jarvis

SEB
Fletcher

So it’s a return for the 442 with Fletcher coming in for Milijas. If we do play this formation, it’s possible Mick could consider dropping Hammill in favour of someone who can tuck in from the right. Guedioura is ideal in this position, but it might be too soon for him.

Personally, I’d keep the 451 shape with SEB the lone frontman and Milijas retaining his starting role. I know that’s probably an unpopular choice amongst the majority of fans after last weekend, but I’m not sure we’ll keep possession well enough with only two players in the middle of the park.

Prediction League

A low scoring weekend in the Prediction League last time out with most people (including me) thinking we’d get a result at Newcastle. However, four pundits correctly predicted doom, so well done to Ben, Jed, Rob and Putney Wolf who all get a point for saying defeat but not getting the score quite right.

I’m saying defeat in this one. I don’t know why but I just get a bad feeling. It probably has something to do with our last early kick-off experience (a 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool).

I’ll go for 2-1 Everton and hope that I’m wide of the mark.

If you’re at Molineux Saturday, get behind the lads. Our home form has been excellent this season and the crowd have a lot to do with that. We can make a difference.

Up The Wolves.

SEB - in the right place

If there is such a thing as ‘Second Season Syndrome’ Wolves are so far showing no signs of contracting the condition.

In fact, on the evidence of yesterday’s stirring second-half fightback, it seems entirely plausible that Mick McCarthy’s young side could very easily eclipse the achievements of last year.

To an outsider, yesterday’s scrappy one-all at Goodison Park will inevitably be attributed to an under-par Everton performance and consigned to the scrapheap of immediately forgettable Premier League stalemates.

Fortunately though, we’re not ‘outsiders’ and we didn’t just watch the ten seconds of footage crow-barred onto the end of Match of the Day, followed by Hansen and Lawrenson talking about the important issue of ‘Arteta for England’. Thanks for that, glad I stayed up til midnight.

No, this wasn’t just a score draw to tick off the coupon. Not to us. It was yet another clear example of just how good this Wolves side actually is.

We were battered in the first half. Everton enjoyed almost complete dominance of the football and spent the lion share of the 45 minutes camped out on the edge of our box. But the fact they only had one slightly controversial goal to show for their authority outlined the determination and character we have in abundance. Whenever danger loomed, there was always the boot of Berra, the head of Craddock or the hand of Hahnemann to rescue the situation.

But a goal down, Wolves needed more than defensive guile to leave Merseyside with anything other than a respectable defeat and having failed to string more than two passes together in the first hour of this contest, things looked decidedly grim on that front.

Enter Adlene Guedioura.

The tenacious Algerian changed the game, not just because of his individual contribution, but because his arrival signaled an important change in shape. Elokobi lumbered off, Ward slotted in at left-back and Matt Jarvis began prowling down his favoured left flank.

Suddenly we looked a threat and it wasn’t long before Guedioura mowed down two blue shirts, shifted the ball out to Doyle and made a lovely run into the box that freed a grateful SEB to fire home a deserved equaliser.

And just how pleasing was it to see our number 9 in there, exactly where we needed him, to gobble up the scraps and complete the comeback? OK, it was a tap-in, but everyone has to start somewhere and if this is the beginning of a long-overdue resurgence, I think we’ll all be delighted for the formerly prolific hitman.

A mention too for Kevin Doyle, for a lovely ball across the face of the penalty area which allowed his strike-partner to cash-in. It wasn’t his best game in a Wolves shirt, but nevertheless it was great to see him back out there.

It seems likely that Steven Fletcher will be fit and ready for the visit of Newcastle next week, so Mick better get his thinking cap on quick-smart and come up with a plan to make the most of his joint record signings and a forward who might just be getting into his Premiership stride.

Other conundrums lie ahead too. Think about the side we put out yesterday, how well they played and then consider the fact that £20 million worth of summer signings didn’t figure, as well as a clutch of other talents who could certainly aid our cause. No Fletcher, no van Damme, Mouyokolo, Hunt, Kightly, Edwards.

Two good results prove nothing of course, but don’t pretend you haven’t enjoyed a cheeky wry smile and an extra skip in your step at how things are shaping up at Molineux.

You can’t fool me.

* Just another shameless plug for my mate’s site as he’s promoting Birthday gifts for her on his excellent gift shop.

Kevin Doyle scored at Goodison Park last season

Following last weekend’s opening day victory over Stoke, Wolves will head to Goodison Park high on confidence and feeling they have every chance of picking up another positive result.

By contrast, the Toffees lost their first game to Blackburn thanks to a massive clanger from Tim Howard. They’ll be keen to turn things around quickly and put in a solid performance in front of their own fans.

Wolves came within a whisker of winning this fixture last season, so David Moyes won’t be underestimating the boys in old gold. That being said, there’s a lot of quality in the Everton side so they’ll rightly feel they’re favourites to edge this one.

Tim Cahill is one player we’ll need to guard against, particularly from set pieces, and he knows his side are in for a scrap if they’re to emerge with anything come Saturday. “All Mick McCarthy’s teams are well drilled and fight very hard and they have a bit of flair as well. We have to make sure we are firing on all cylinders and ensure that as a squad we are ready for a good Wolves outfit.”

It will be interesting to see how Mick sets his stall out and whether or not key players such as Kevin Doyle and Steven Fletcher are fit enough to feature from the start.

Assuming everyone is fit, I believe Wolves will field the same side as last weekend, with Fletcher and SEB once again leading the line, but with the possibility that one of those players can be shifted out wide to adopt more of a 4-5-1 shape.

So that’s a team of:

Hahnemann

Foley
Craddock
Berra
Ward

van Damme
Henry
Jones
Jarvis

Fletcher
SEB

I also hope to see Kevin Doyle feature at some point. He of course scored in this fixture last season and was a thorn in their side in both matches. When he returns to full fitness, he’s an automatic first choice in my book.

Prediction League

For those of you who haven’t noticed yet, I’ve added the prediction league table to a brand new page, which you can access via the menu at the top of the page or by clicking here.

It’s not too late to join in, so if you’d like to make a prediction, simply do so by leaving a comment below.

Not that I’m showing off or anything, but I correctly predicted a 2-1 victory for Wolves last weekend. Well done also to Ben, Sam 2.0, New kid on the blog, Jub, Ezz and Rich for getting it spot on.

This week, I fancy a score draw so I’ll go for the same result as last season – 1-1.

If you’re going to the game, have a great time and roar the lads on.

Up The Wolves.

Although we didn’t win the game, the roar that greeted the full time whistle demonstrated perfectly, just how important this result was to our survival cause. We’ve now gone unbeaten this season against Everton, Spurs and Villa, which is a superb achievement, given the quality of those sides.

Wolves had to defend well to earn the point

I thought it might be our day, particularly when the news filtered through that Mikel Arteta wasn’t playing. Everton have some outstanding players, but the Spanish midfielder is just that little bit classier and has the ability to unlock a defence in the blink of an eye. In fact, had he played, I’m almost certain the final scoreline would have been different.

Still, Wolves were made to work hard for this point and front to back, everyone put in a shift, to use a McCarthyism.

The back four were very good.

Jody Craddock won practically everything. Berra was shaky to begin with, but grew in confidence as the game progressed. Big George Elokobi gave his all and even delivered a couple of teasing balls into the Everton box on the rare occasion he ventured forward. I think he’s successfully wrestled that left-back slot away from Stephen Ward, at least in the short term.

Zubar was probably the best of the lot though, using his power and pace to defend flawlessly and bomb forward when the opportunity presented himself. Our two brightest moments in the game came when the Frenchman exchanged clever passes and surged into the Everton box, only to come up agonisingly short with his final ball. His improvement has been a big factor in our recent upturn in form.

In midfield, Henry and Mancienne were neat and tidy, constantly grappling for the ball and winning enough mini-battles to ensure Everton couldn’t break us down. Jones wasn’t as effective as he has been in recent matches, but still got into some good positions. His second half booking for taking a quick free kick was ridiculous, particularly when identical situations involving players in blue shirts went unpunished.

Doyle was good, but not quite up to the usual high standards he sets. He looked a little jaded to me, so it’s just as well he’s got a full week until we next play. The rest will probably do him good.

All in all though, pretty good stuff from the boys in old gold. We’ve definitely built up some momentum, so you could look at it as a shame that we have to visit the Emirates next Saturday, where defeat is a very strong possibility. However, as we are in such good shape and as Arsenal have the small matter of a Champions League tie against Barcelona in the back of their minds, what better chance will we have to cause a massive upset and in doing so, enjoy our greatest day yet?

You never know.

What the Papers Say

Mick McCarthy is ever the realist. He has seen his Wolves team – for so long struggling in intensive care – emerge with a run of eight points from four matches. But he knows they are still a long way from Premier League safety.

Absolutely brilliant Wolves.

That electrifying performance at Upton Park was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the season to date, as we picked West Ham apart and ruthlessly dispatched another of our relegation rivals.

Kevin Doyle gave Wolves the lead at Goodison Park

My old man even cracked a smile, pumped his fist jubilantly and proclaimed a word I never thought I would hear him say in connection with Wolverhampton Wanderers – Europe.

That was of course in jest, but it demonstrates perfectly the energising effect the last three games have had on the old goal faithful.

And so our heroes return to a buoyant Molineux, with a united crowd hoping to witness another courageous performance from our rapidly improving side. Confidence should be sky high in the home dressing room, but across the hall, the opposition are in pretty good shape too.

Having seen off Man City last night to continue their excellent from and cement their place just below the clutch of teams challenging for the Champions League, Everton are rampant at present.

The return from injury of key players such as Phil Jagielka and the classy Mikel Arteta has taken them to a new level and they now look capable of handing out a beating to anyone. It is not a good time to be playing them.

However, seven defeats on the road for the Toffees should encourage Wolves and a decent home win is certainly long overdue.

There’s a few selection dilemmas for Mick McCarthy with Guedioura and Mancienne both pressing for a place in our three man midfield and Big George looking determined to hang onto his slot at left-back ahead of Stephen Ward.

After such a strong showing at West Ham, I would imagine the same eleven will take to the field on Saturday, so that’s:

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Foley
Henry
Mancienne
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle

I wonder if Dave Edwards will make the bench? I’d love to see the Welsh international back in action, even if it’s only a small cameo. I suppose with the team doing so well, the temptation will be to hold him back.

I was pleased to see Halford on the bench on Tuesday. I know he’s not exactly a fans favourite but if you’re chasing a game or looking to see out a few minutes, it can’t do any harm to have a bloke who can throw the ball half the length of the pitch knocking about.

You might call me an optimistic fool for getting sucked in by our good form, but I’m going for a Wolves win – 2-1.

If we do get it, I believe we’ll be on the verge of crossing the line, which would be a fantastic achievement with six games still remaining after Saturday.

If you’re going to the match, give the lads the reception they deserve, get behind them and have a great time.

Up The Wolves

As a little bonus, Richard Knowles, lifelong Toffee, has taken the time to give us his thoughts ahead of the big game at the weekend. He spoke to us earlier in the season before the match at Goodison Park, so we’re delighted to welcome him back. Here’s what he had to say:

This weekend’s fixture between our clubs should be a classic, well judging by our respective midweek results. Typically it will probably end in similar fashion to your home game with our lovely neighbours – a 0-0 bore draw with possibly one shot on target.

Fair play to Wolves for the results in the last ten days, 7 points out of 9 from three tricky away games is something the players, fans and club should be rightly proud of.

I said in a rambling before the game at Goodison that I hoped and thought you would stay up this season; I see no reason to change my mind now.

The club needed to find a different way of playing to the previous season in the Championship. A solid, defensive set-up with the option of good counter attacking play. In Kevin Doyle you have a great head to the front line.

As for the game I hope to see Wolves being a little more attack-minded, especially given the recent results, although I expect our great win at City might make you think a point is a good result.

For Everton I expect a win, but know the game will be tough and, with the greatest of respect, think a point or less will be a bad haul for us.

The keeper Hahnemann is on good form and Doyle is leading the line well, but just like Everton, Wolves have found the team spirit that can get performances and points from teams who individually may have better players.

Would I want any Wolves players in Everton’s squad? Doyle is probably the only one, although the team spirit is something many teams would like; see West Ham!

I’m going to go for a 1-1 draw on Saturday, but if Pienaar, Arteta, Osman and Cahill put on a show, I think it’ll be three points for us.

Good luck for the last few games, after 5pm on Saturday of course, I reckon I’ll be back to Molineux to cheer on Everton in the Premiership next season.

The vast majority of us went into this match thinking a draw would be an excellent result, but by the end we were all licking our wounds and cursing our luck having only picked up a point.

Kevin Doyle - 3 goals in 4 league games

Kevin Doyle’s cool finish had us all dreaming of another crucial away win, but it wasn’t to be. A bad decision and a lapse in our otherwise solid rearguard cost us the result.

As disappointing as that is, we must take the positives out of the match and move on to the Villa next weekend.

And there were plenty of things to be positive about.

The return of Michael Kightly and SEB to the starting eleven can only be seen as a good thing. Neither look razor sharp, but with more minutes under their respective belts, we can expect better in the coming weeks.

On another day, SEB might have been celebrating his first Premiership goals, having failed to convert two presentable chances for a striker of his calibre. Undoubtedly though, we got a glimpe of what the Doyle Ebanks-Blake partnership is all about, namely, genuine goal threat. For all the effort, endeavour and link-up play that Keogh brings to the side, having two strikers that know where the goal is has a very obvious appeal. And both players probed and asked questions of the Everton defence throughout, eventually getting their reward with the opener.

At the other end of the pitch, Ronald Zubar was finally (FINALLY) given his chance and he performed admirably in a much stronger back four. Looking at that defensive quartet, there’s a bit of everything; pace, postional sense and most importantly, experience. Having Craddock in the side seems to sure things up, so it was a good decision by Mick to bring him back in. With Michael Mancienne recovering from illness, I wonder whether he’ll find his way back in anytime soon.

Praise to for the continued improvement of our goalkeeper. He made a few good saves and again looked assured between the sticks. The quality of his kicking is superb, so it was no surprise to see him lend an assist with a giant hoof up the pitch. He was left exposed for the equaliser and could do very little, despite his best efforts to scramble across.

I’m not going to say too much about refereeing decisions, but it was a foul on Doyle in the lead up their goal and The Hoff’s sending off was a little bit soft. That being said, the big Austrian certainly seemed keen to get stuck-in and we know he has a reputation for getting into trouble. I suspect it won’t be the last time we see him taking an early bath in his Wolves career. Quite a character.

So definite disappointment we didn’t get the win, but I certainly feel better today than I did following the Portsmouth defeat. The Villa match will be another great test for our young stars, but I now have faith that we can once again compete and maybe even get the result.

With this Wolves team, nothing surprises me.

Anyway, over to Richard:

So Wolves are back in the ‘big-time’ and ready for another shot at staying where the money men dictate who wins what.

I welcome the return of a traditional and well supported club back to England’s top tier, but doubt whether the stay will be long.

Mick McCarthy needs to learn from two of the promoted clubs last year to keep his job and keep Wolves in the Premiership.

Stoke City showed how to do it, while West Brom simply let themselves get relegated, resigned to their fate before Christmas.

That thought leads on to this weekend’s clash at Goodison Park and the probably return of Segundo Castillo, the Ecuador midfielder ‘enforcer’, to the ground where he was used primarily as a bench warmer.

Castillo was an enigma last season, while he scored a brilliant goal in the UEFA Cup and producing a solid performance in one of the FA Cup games against Liverpool, his main role was to make other players look better.

If Wolves want to remain in the Premiership they can’t rely on the likes of Castillo to play an integral part.

Apart from Karl Henry, Michael Kightly and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, I can’t think of another Wolves’ player I would want in our squad; though I’m not sure any would get in the starting XI.

Home form is vital so any points you can nick away from home will only boost the chances of avoiding relegation.

This season has seen contrasting form for both sides. We started off poorly again, though without our best striker, midfielder and defender, and the Lescott saga, it wasn’t such a shock.

Imagine Liverpool without Torres, Gerrard and Carragher? Exactly, and that’s what we’ve had to cope with – no Yakubu, Arteta or Jagielka. All Evertonians will savour the moment we see the three of them in the starting XI.

The trio will again be absent again this weekend, with Yakubu probably appearing from the bench.

I’m only mentioning Lescott now because I feel he doesn’t deserve more than a quick line. As Pat Nevin said: “Lescott wasn’t even Everton’s best defender last season.”

To get £24m for him, pay £5m for Distin and also get Heitinga and Bilyaletdinov with money left over, now looks like a piece of genius from David Moyes.

Wolves have had a rollercoaster start to the season but need to settle down and concentrate on solid defending and nicking 1-0 wins, mainly at home.

Form suggests a 2-0 home win and I can’t think of anything other than that score. That said I hate predicting us for a ‘simple’ home win and may well live to regret it.

Finally, can someone explain why you insist on singing the Hi Ho Wolverhampton just before kick-off?

It doesn’t do the club or the fans justice, and is quite frankly one of the most cringeworthy things I’ve ever heard or seen at a football ground in 30 years of watching.

See you on Saturday. I’ll be the one with the Fellaini wig…