Crushing defeats don’t have to be five goal routs.

Watching this entirely winnable game crumble into dust and slip through our fingers was no less soul destroying than anything else we’ve experienced of late.

Blocked out again

It started so promisingly. Moving ahead midway through the first half was just the boon everyone had desperately hoped for. Finally something to cling onto.

So to see that good work tossed away only a matter of seconds later with a simple ball over the top was a monumental body blow and yet another tell-tale sign of impending doom.

Speaking of signs, luck is another commodity that tends to go AWOL at times of struggle.

Indeed Wolves and Eggert Jonnson were unfortunate to see the referee pointing to the spot after a goal-bound shot cannoned off the Icelandic midfielder’s hand just prior to half time, gifting Norwich the lead.

You can’t deny the contact but it’s one we could so easily have got away with. The fact we didn’t says a lot about our fortunes at present.

Back in the familiar position of chasing the game, it was once again the balancing act of trying to force an equaliser without allowing the opposition to pick us off on the break.

And whilst we kept the back door shut for a change, our one dimensional attacking again meant we failed to test their goalkeeper, which is unforgivable in the situation we find ourselves in.

Jarvis was our only realistic hope and easily the best player on the pitch. Had we taken anything from the game, it would have been because the diminutive winger dragged the other 10 over the line. Nothing else.

A midfield of Dave Edwards and Egert Jonnson was about as creative as you’d imagine it was. Neither did much wrong but service to our forwards was in painfully limited supply.

And when you can’t create chances and you can’t hold onto a lead even when you do score, it’s a tried and tested recipe for relegation soup.

In a week when the four sides above us all secured crucial victories, it seems inevitable we’re all going to be sipping it sooner rather than later.

Call me pessimistic but it’s surely a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ now.

Carrow Road has provided the scene for many a famous Wolves moment throughout the last 20 years.

From Bully’s audacious lob over Brian Gunn, to Robbie Keane’s sensational league debut, with a sickening play-off defeat thrown in for good measure.

End to end at the Molineux earlier in the season

So what does Norwich City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers have in store for us in 2012?

Paul Lambert’s side are already safe for another top flight season, barring the biggest meltdown in Premier League history, but they’d probably like one more win to make their survival certain.

They’ll be banking on getting it this weekend against a Wolves side that have shipped 19 goals in their last 5 matches and deservedly slumped to the bottom of the table.

For us, midweek wins for QPR and Blackburn have only served to heap on the misery in a season that shows no signs of picking up.

Being realistic, TC needs to deliver a minimum 4 points from the next two matches, probably 6 to give us even a fighting chance of staying up.

Norwich and Bolton aren’t unbeatable by any means, even for our struggling group of players, but I’ve seen nothing to suggest they have the desire and belief to go and get the big results.

The Team

If there’s one thing that compounds the misery of our results, it’s the depleted numbers TC has to choose from. Guedioura, Hammill and Elokobi should all be here for selection but they’re not. Coupled with injuries to Henry, Davies and O’Hara as well as Ronald’s suspension, we’ve barely got eleven to choose from. It really is a shambles.

From what we have, this is the team I would send out:

Hennessey, Ward, Bassong, Johnson, Stearman, Edwards, Foley, Milijas, Jarvis, Doyle, Fletcher

We need to go back to basics i.e. working hard, cutting out the mistakes and using our one and only attacking outlet, funneling the ball to Jarvis in decent areas.

Johnson must start. We need someone with presence to get the team going. There has been no leadership since Henry limped off against Fulham and I think we paid for this big time against Blackburn and Man Utd.

I don’t like Stearman at right-back but hopefully he can make us a bit more solid. First and foremost we need to plug the holes at the back. If we’re going to concede three, four or five every game, we won’t take another point all season.

Milijas and Foley have done a job for us before, most notably in the 1-0 win at Anfield last season. They can both both find feet with passes and we’re desperately overdue a big performance from Nenad right now.

Please TC, stop farting around with Doyle out on the wing. Lets just play him up front with Fletch and hope that one or both of them can make something happen.

Prediction League

30 pundits predicted defeat against United last weekend, but only alf white, d3anb, Hudds Wolf & t’OM said 5-0. They take 3 points and the other 26 take a single.

I have absolutely no idea what result to go for this weekend.

Norwich have won 5, drawn 5 and lost 4 of their home games to date. It would be nice to even that up, but I think it might be a stretch too far.

I’ll go for 2-2.

If you’re making the long trip to East Anglia this weekend, have a great time and get right behind the lads. They certainly need it.

Up The Wolves.

If only we could have swapped the first 30 minutes of the Stoke game with this one, then we’d probably be sat in 14^th place looking forward to Christmas.

Unfortunately for us all, we can’t get the opening stages of this fixture back, just like we can’t rewind the clock to rectify the wretched second half showing on Saturday.

 In an often pulsating game with 23 shots on target, the one big paradox is that there’s nothing much to talk about on the pitch.

Not quite poor enough for the ‘Mick Out’ brigade to shout too loudly, and not quite good enough to get the three points.

Gercha! Thumping header from Zubar

Just stuck in 17^th place for what feels like a lifetime and a tasteless crumb of comfort through that little word called ‘if.’

Despite the woeful Adam Hammill late header, the Fletcher offside decision and the hopeless performance of Roger Johnson, there is nothing much left to see here folks.

Everything that happens from now on is largely immaterial in comparison to the moving and shaking that simply has to happen in January.

We all know that the players are a stoic, committed bunch and we all know they will sweat blood for the cause.

What I know on last night’s showing is that with three quality additions in January, we will become a decent Premier League team.

Our second half performance was as progressive as I can remember and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute – until Norwich scored a thoroughly preventable goal that no other team in this league would ever get caught out with.

It was naive, soft, weak and it underlines why we will get relegated unless something is done in January.

If Nedem Onoura comes in to partner the quite brilliant Christophe Berra (and that was an understatement) we will shore up our defence immeasurably.

If Kenwyne Jones is signed to partner Steven Fletcher, then the goals will be scored far more freely.

And if the speed of Lewis McGugan replaces the one-paced Hunt and offsets the near-unplayable Matt Jarvis, then we will mount more attacks than ever.

The big if now is whether Steve Morgan will make these deals – or similar signings of this ilk – a reality come January 1.

If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t need me to tell him where we’ll end up.

If our back-to-back pre-Christmas home games were indeed supposed to be an indicator of what the second half of the season has in store, then this match certainly falls under the category of ‘must-win’.

SEB got a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw the last time Norwich were in town

Losing to Stoke, particularly having lead, was a difficult pill to swallow, but should Wolves not register the three points in this one it will mean they’ve failed to overcome any of the three promoted teams at Molineux.

Now that’s galling.

Norwich represent an altogether different challenge to Stoke.

They won’t be as tight at the back, but equally they aren’t afraid to get it down and pass, which means the battle could be won and lost in midfield.

Nenad Milijas was superb for an hour on Saturday (in my opinion at least), but as his influence waned, so did the performance of the team.

For some reason we stopped looking for the simple passes and started surrendering possession cheaply, which ultimately played into Stoke’s hands.

The Team

We know that Edwards and O’Hara remain sidelined, so the question is will Mick shuffle the pack with the limited options he has available?

I would strongly consider dropping Doyle and playing an extra midfielder, but I don’t think he’ll do that. I reckon we’ll see the same eleven from Saturday:

Hennessey, Zubar, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Henry, Milijas, Hunt, Jarvis, Doyle, Fletcher

Even if we stick with 442, I think it would be worth giving SEB a run-out to see if he can get a couple of goals. I’m one of Doyle’s biggest fans but I think it would do him good to be taken out for a game or two.

Hammill and Guedioura would be the only other two players really knocking on the door for a start, but neither did much in their cameos on Saturday to enhance their chances.

Prediction League

Not many went for a Stoke win at the weekend, with only 7 people correctly guessing the outcome.

Ventura Highway was the only 1 of those 7 to get the 2-1 scoreline. Well done to him for getting the maximum 3 points. Everyone else takes a single point.

We need the win tomorrow and I think we’ll get it.

I’m expecting a fairly open game with both teams getting chances and scoring goals.

Lets go for a bold 3-2 to Wolves.

If you’re at Molineux tomorrow night, have a great time and get right behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.