It was appropriate that such erratic weather surrouned Molineux yesterday, as we were instantly reminded of how quickly things can change in a Premier League game of football.

A downpour of biblical proportions engulfed Wolverhampton as we all went about our respective pre-match rituals and the news filtered through that Kevin Doyle wasn’t playing.

Yet the clouds soon parted, the sun shone and Wolves went about taking Stoke to the cleaners.

Kenwyne Jones threatened to spoil the party with a fierce strike that rebounded off the bar, but when he hobbled off just a few moments later, the boys in gold took full control.

David Jones strolled around the park, twisted and turned their midfield into submission and sprayed the ball around like a man who’d been bossing the Premiership for years. Anyone who thinks selling this guy to bring in Mancienne would be a good move, needs to take a look at yesterday’s game. It was the complete performance from a central midfielder as he tackled, headed and competed for everything, always using the ball intelligently and capping it all off with a stunning goal to set Wolves on their way.

He was ably supported by the superb Karl Henry who did, well, what Karl Henry does. Tony Pulis must wonder why he ever let this guy go as he swept up everything and kept Wolves ticking over with simple passes that retained possession and strangled the life out of the visitors. Stoke could have done with a player like Karl Henry yesterday and dare I even suggest it, England could do with a player like Karl Henry. There, I’ve said it.

Matt Jarvis switched to the right-wing and effortlessly went about his business. Although I’d still prefer to see him operating down the left flank, it’s impossible to deny that his link up play with Kevin Foley was anything other than a complete joy to behold. As usual, he also weaved his way into dangerous positions and was a thorn in Stoke’s side for the entire 90 minutes.

van Damme was handed the job of taking over the attacking duties down the left and his combination play with Stephen Ward was really quite brilliant. But when he didn’t have the ball, boy did this guy impress me. He might not be blessed with too many natural gifts, but he’s a scrapper in the Mick McCarthy mould and to use one of his manager’s favourite phrases ‘I’m pleased with him. He put a real shift in.’ Enough said.

However, it was another new signing who stole the show in the first half. Steven Fletcher bobbed and weaved his way into our hearts with more than a few touches of the very highest quality. His ability to emerge with the ball from the tightest of spaces and pick out intelligent passes will be a real asset. He also brought out the best in SEB, as well as showing his own goalscoring instincts by getting on the end of Christophe Berra’s looping cross to head home the second crucial goal. We’ll all hope and pray his injury doesn’t turn out to be serious. Mick McCarthy seems to think both he and Doyle will be ok for the trip to Everton next week. What a prospect that is.

But to simply cast aside SEB after his exertions yesterday would be disrespectful and foolish. As previously mentioned, he linked up cleverly with Fletcher and seemed to share a good understanding with the Scotsman. That can only bode well for the season ahead.

We’re short a striker though, of that there can be no doubt. I’ve always been one of Andy Keogh’s biggest supporters but he isn’t the required standard and is surely destined for the exit door in the not too distant future. Despite one or two neat touches after coming on, he was all too often guilty of picking the wrong option or being a yard off the pace. The fact that he, the substitute, was eventually substituted himself says everything about his role within the squad and his contribution to yesterday’s result.

And as much as the first half was about our attacking players basking in the sunshine, the second 45 was more a testament to our defence who stood firm during the thunderstorms to see off an aerial bombardment.

Sure, there was a momentary lapse as Faye headed Stoke back into the contest, but other than that the back four held strong with Craddock and Berra once again showing what they’re all about. You know what you’ll get from those two and it was brilliant to see them continue where they left off from last season. It was clear to see though that they struggled a bit more to cope with the pace and intelligence of Tuncay when he eventually entered the fray, so it will be intriguing to see how Mouyokolo is used this season and who will be sacrificed when he’s eventually given a chance.

Marcus Hahnemann was again brilliant. In fact, I’m quite sure if you look up the dictionary definition of ‘a safe pair of hands’ you’ll see his grinning, bald, Amercian head staring back at you. How nice was it see him hurtling out to smother the ball with his body as Tuncay went in hard with his studs? A lesser man would have rolled around in agony to make more of the incident, but as usual, he simply dusted himself off and gave the back four a dressing down for their lapse in concentration. I cannot for the life of me, injuries aside, see anyone usurping him from between the sticks.

This was Wolves’ day though, summed up perfectly by Rory Delap winding up for a long throw in the dying seconds only for the ball to cruelly slip through his fingers and roll about 30cm from his feet. Not so big without your towel are ya?

Far greater challenges will of course lie ahead but I think yesterday demonstrated that we have nothing to fear.

Walking home in the sunshine surrounded by glowing smiles in gold shirts, that seemed to be a shared opinion.

Wolves finally kick-off their second consecutive season of Premiership football tomorrow, as Stoke make the short trip down the M6 for an opening day dust-up at the Molineux.

Optimism is never in short supply in game one and both sets of fans will feel this fixture offers a realistic opportunity to stick three points on the board early doors.

Last season's 0-0 will live long in the memory (for being boring)

Most predictions thus far seem to point towards a close contest, which isn’t surprising given the two draws between the sides last year. I think everyone can agree that whatever the result, we hope to enjoy a far better spectacle than the paint-dryingly boring nil nil played out at Molineux towards the end of the last campaign. That was possibly the worst game of football I’ve ever been subjected to.

By contrast, the match up at the Britannia was a heart-pumping, action-packed game of two halves, so we know the teams have what it takes to put on a show and with Wolves almost certain to go 4-4-2, it should make for a more open affair.

Interestingly, Stoke had failed to make any significant additions to their squad prior to Wednesday, but the club record £8 million signing of Sunderland striker Kenywe Jones has given the Potters a massive boost ahead of tomorrow’s opener. Wolves know better than anyone how much of a threat the Trinidad and Tobago international can be after his goals in both matches against us last season.

Wolves will also have to guard against the Delap throw of course, which they did admirably in both fixtures last season. Disappointingly, it doesn’t seem like Ronald Zubar will make it back in time to play, which is a huge loss considering the power and pace he injects into our back four. In what’s likely to be a highly physical encounter, I suspect Kevin Foley won’t able to contribute as much.

It also seems that we’ll be without our talisman and shining light from last season, Kevin Doyle. If this proves to be the case it’s a massive loss but we’ll all hope that record signing Steven Fletcher and an improved SEB can plug the hole.

The other quandry is who Mick chooses to play on the opposite flank to Jarvis. Last week I was lauding Greg Halford for a recall, but judging by last week’s team selection against Bilbao, it seems far likelier to be Stephen Ward.

So, here’s my predicted line-up:

Hahnemann

Foley
Berra
Craddock
van Damme

Ward
Henry
Jones
Jarvis

SEB
Fletcher

Prediction League

We kick-off the all-new prediction league this weekend and if you want to join-in, all you have to do is enter your predicted score in the comment section below.

I’ll record and publish a table for you all to see.

I realise that there’s been some confusion this week, with people posting their predictions in the Interview with a Stoke Fan, so for this week only, I’ll take all the predictions from there. So it’s up to you whether you want to update your prediction and post it below or just leave the one you’ve added to that previous post.

In future weeks, please only leave predictions in the preview. It will always be titled ‘Wolves Vs Whoever Preview’ (The whoever corresponds to the team we’re playing. No jokes please.)

Seeing as it’s the first game of the season and I’m feeling optimistic, I’ll go for a 2-1 Wolves win, despite my better judgment telling me that momentum might have swung back towards Stoke with their new signing and our injury problems.

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

Up the Wolves.

Ahead of this weekend’s opening game of the season with Stoke, I’ve been chatting with Potters fan Topher Knowles about the summer goings on at the Britannia, his thoughts on the coming season for both clubs and of course his predictions for Saturday.

Hi Topher. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. What have been the big developments at Stoke over the summer? Have there been any major comings or goings in the squad?

We’ve had a summer clearout, Peter Reid has gone along with some older squad members, but perhaps the most surprising thing is the players that have stayed. Despite a season of fallouts with the boss and public tantrums Dave Kitson and James Beattie are still with us. Time will tell if they will actually feature this season. Unfortunately there are no big signings to speak of despite plenty of links which suggest we are being ambitious. Pulis tends to leave things late and he has come good in the last few windows bringing in Abdoulaye Faye, Matty Etherington, James Beattie, Tuncay and Robert Huth… so for now we are keeping the faith.

How do you think Stoke will do this season? I think it could be tricky for you if you don’t get a good start. Do you think there’s a chance you could be dragged into a relegation scrap?

After two mid-table finishes it’s tempting to think we are safe from the relegation struggle, we’ve barely spent a week in the bottom three since getting back into the Premier League. We know it could also easily change though and avoiding 18th place is still good enough for most fans. Realistically the best anybody is hoping for is a top-half finish.

What about Wolves? We finished 15th last season and have spent a bit of cash over the summer. What do you think we should be aiming for this season?

Wolves seemed to do well last season and like us never really looked like going back down. It would be nice to see Stoke conduct their transfer affairs in the same prompt fashion McCarthy has and the signings you have brought in look solid. At the same time you haven’t got carried away and I think you will be looking to consolidate your Premier League status more than anything else this season. You found a formation that worked well for you with Doyle as the lone striker and I seem to remember that your results towards the end of the season were good, I would expect Wolves to pick up where they left off.

Both games between the two clubs finished in draws last season. What did you make of those two matches?

The less said about the second game the better. In the first game we threw away a lead against you after looking like the better side in the first half (in my humble opinion), we then went onto do the same thing against Hull in what turned out to be a bad patch for us.

I have to ask you about the Rory Delap throw-in. If he was out injured for an extended period of time, do you think Stoke would still get a similar amount of points? I suspect you’re a better footballing side than most people make out, but his throw does seem to contribute to a lot of the goals you score.

It was a blunted weapon last season, teams are too wise to it (with the exception of Arsenal!) and the towel-drying ritual was even beginning to grate on Stoke fans. People don’t seem to notice that Delap is also one of the most reliable central midfielders in the Premier League who will run box-to-box for ninety minutes. If he were to be injured we would miss his workrate more than his throws. On the other hand, his deployment on the right side of midfield for most of the season left us terribly unbalanced in a lot of games and most people would rather see Etherington supported by another true winger. After our low goal tally last season its obvious that we need to find more routes to market.

Onto Saturday’s match. Who should we be looking out for in the Stoke side?

Tuncay. By all accounts he has been in scintillating form in pre-season and has picked up 5 goals in 5 games. We all wanted to see more from the Turkish captain last season and with a full Tony Pulis pre-season under his belt the gaffer might even go crazy and select him to start. Also expect to see a rejuvenated Ryan Shawcross back in the form we saw in the first half of the season and pushing for an England spot for all his worth.

Finally, of course, what’s your prediction for the game?

A cagey 1-0 to Stoke with Fuller conjuring some Jamaican magic for the goal. I think this game could go either way but with the fixtures we have coming up in the first six weeks a bad start at Molineux could prove disastrous and I hope that will spur us on to get the result.

Best of luck to Wolves for the rest of the season, despite our rivalry it’s good to see you back in the Premier League and I very much doubt you will be the team in orange getting relegated at the end of the season.

Orange?! You mean old gold matey.

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us.

But something far more ghastly, far more abhorrent and far more petrifying now tops the lot…Watching Stoke City play football on a regular basis.

Eurghh! Sitting through this suicide inducing 0-0 draw at Molineux was more painful than those three nightmare scenarios put together.

Was this the worst game of the season?

In the biggest non-event since the 1993 Grand National, 28,000 fans were induced into a state of morbid depression as we all sat comatose through a spectacle of pseudo-football.

In a game where density of forehead outweighed deftness of touch; where the strength of two arms meant more than the subtlety of thought; where brawn defied brilliance, Wolves earned another welcome point as Stoke daubed another indelible stain on the ‘Beautiful Game.’

Opta Stats revealed there were 189 long throws by Rory Delap in a game which featured 3 minutes of football on the pitch and the remaining 87 minutes around the perimeter of it.

An average child labour felt like a quicker passage of time than this excruciating sight, which prompted the bloke in front to exclaim: “Has there really only been five minutes played so far? It feels like I’ve been watching a 5-day test match. In Faisalabad.”

That we didn’t concede from one of Delap’s 189 throws was testament to our character and strength, typified by Captain Craddock, who was scarred physically as we were all scarred mentally.

Pulis’ team killed the game as a spectacle within minutes of the start, as they bombarded our penalty area with ridiculous long throw after ridiculous long throw.

Good advert for the ‘world’s greatest league?’ Hell no. It inadvertently acted as a better advert for tiddlywinks, as any other pastime looked a million times more alluring than this.

Marcus Hahnemann and his troops were up to everything Delap threw at them, as chances throughout the game remained at a premium.

Let’s face it. We’re no Mozart of the footballing world ourselves, with our 5 man midfield setting out to contain on our infamously small pitch.

Because of this, Stoke’s unapologetic ‘style’ of play and two teams that leave every ounce of energy on the pitch, it was always a game for the purist.

And even the purist was reaching for the Prozac at half time.

At least Mick went for the 3 points, sending on Iwelumo and Milijas as we reverted to a 4-4-2 system in the second half.

It almost worked too, with the Serb rifling in a late free kick which Sorensen almost spilled into the net.

But as it was, the spoils were shared in one of the most gut-wrenchingly turgid games of football of all time.

It was so numbing that Stoke’s famous Delilah anthem was only sang once, as it their fans’ sense of being was drained away.

Man-of-the-match contenders were Craddock and Berra, while every other player on the pitch deserved credit for rising to a unique – and hopefully one-off – challenge. Even the much maligned Elokobi.

Watching the Molineux masses stream down Waterloo Road at the final whistle was like a scene from Night of the Living Dead, as a sea of vacuous, lifeless faces contemplated what they had just seen.

Mick won’t mind though. Our tenacious side are still well and truly alive in the Premier League and this point may prove to be one of our most important yet.

Wolves will once again pack the midfield on our wafer-thin home pitch and with Stoke attempting to enforce their usual physical game, I don’t expect this encounter to be particularly easy on the eye.

Who cares.

Jody Craddock was the hero at the Britannia

It will actually be nice to see an old fashioned dust-up between two honest sides trying to get one over on their near-neighbours, particularly after the goings-on at the Emirates last Saturday.

Unquestionably, Wolves need a favourable result, as we still hover precariously above immediate danger and with a tricky visit to Craven Cottage next week, we could easily find ourselves back in the brown stuff.

By contrast, Stoke’s season is all but over having surpassed the 40 point mark to secure their Premiership status for a third consecutive year. They’ll play with no pressure on Sunday, but it’s always debatable as to whether that’s a good or bad thing for the opposition. We know they won’t make it easy for us either way.

As always, ‘Rory’s Rockets’ will be under the microscope and I’ve been having nightmares about just how far Delap can actually fling the ball on our laughably narrow pitch. Expect anything in our half to be given the treatment, so big performances from our back four and goalkeeper are imperative. We did a pretty good job of defending them at the Britannia earlier in the season, but one clearance did pop out to the edge of the box for Etherington to volley home, which shows the second clearance is often as important as the first.

For Wolves, the big decision will be who slots into the midfield with our skipper ruled out. There’s a decent chance it could be Edwards and Milijas is long overdue an appearance, but I think the more like for like replacement is Adlene Guedioura. That should really be the only change, which would mean a team of:

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Foley
Guedioura
Mancienne
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle

Up at Stoke earlier in the season, Mick surprised everyone by bringing Iwelumo into the side and whilst I wouldn’t expect the big Scot to start on Sunday, there’s every chance he’ll be introduced from the bench, particularly if we’re not coping with the physical bombardment. Milijas performed the role of super-sub in that game, so perhaps he could be our ace in the hole should we need to turn things around.

By the time this game kicks off on Sunday we will of course know how Burnley, Hull and West Ham have fared, which will undoubtedly have a baring on what constitutes a decent result for Wolves.

A win would probably keep us up, but a draw wouldn’t be a terrible result.

That’s what I think we’ll get.

My prediction: 2-2

As always, if you’re going to the game, have a great time and get right behind the boys in old gold.

Up The Wolves.

At half-time I think most fans in the away end were thankful it was only 2-0. Wolves had been battered all over the pitch by a Stoke side that looked sharper, more organised and hungrier for the fight. And had it not been for some assured handling and one particularly fine save by our impressive keeper, the game would have been completely out of sight.

View from the away end (click to expand)

The swift counter-attack that gave the home side the lead was impressive, but easily preventable from a Wolves perspective. Edwards was caught out (as he far too often is) after marauding forward and Zubar was too easily blown away by the pacy Etherington. George tracked his man well, but the less said about his attempted clearance the better I think.

Their second goal was a fine strike, but again, preventable. Berra’s clearance under pressure wasn’t bad, but somebody left Etherington to his own devices on the edge of the area. He can’t be given the time to chest the ball and get a strike away. Bad defending and game over it seemed.

And as bad as it was defensively, it was worse going forward. I can see why McCarthy picked Iwelumo and he offered good nuisance value throughout, but nobody else really seemed to show any kind of spark or creativity. As a result, we created absolutely nothing in the first 45, so how we were going to claw our way back from two down was anyone’s guess.

All eyes were firmly fixated on the bench at half-time. Somebody was coming on and I would have put my house on it being Jarvis or SEB. So when Milijas emerged stripped off, I don’t think I was the only one a little surprised. In a physical game, where none of our players were getting time on the ball, it seemed strange to introduce the Serbian.

But of course I was forgetting one important thing; quality players make time for themselves. And there’s no doubting that this lad is quality.

When we give him the ball and a chance to operate, he opens doors like nobody else in our side can. And from dead-ball situations, his delivery is better than anything I’ve ever seen from a Wolves player. The fizzing balls he sent in for both of Craddock’s goals were sublime and everytime we got a corner or a free-kick, you could see that Stoke were uneasy. He completely changed the game, so Mick must take a large chunk of credit for such a shrewd decision, when it would have been far easier to send on a forward.

What a day it was for Jody as well. He stood up big and strong in defence and to twice get on the end of something to drag us back into the match was just incredible. That second header was magic and timed to utter perfection. He was the hero of the day for me and the fact that he barely even stayed on the pitch at the final whistle to soak up the acclaim, shows what a professional he is.

It was another impressive performance from Henry as well. Even in the difficult first half scrap, he looked a cut above anything they had in the middle of the park and after the break, he really came into his own. Castillo also did well in the first 45 but his place must surely be under threat now from the resurgent Milijas. That’s an interesting one for next week.

Others weren’t so good. Elokobi had another torrid time and I’m afraid to say, does look a real weak link at the moment. Perhaps it could be time to introduce Mancienne or even Stearman at left-back. Yesterday was definitely one to forget for the beefy defender.

Final Whistle (click to expand)

Michael Kightly was also poor. There was certainly no lack of effort on the wide man’s part but when he got into good positions in the final third, his final ball was consistently poor. I think we can still put it down to a lack of matches, but he needs to step up his game. He’s got all the tools to do very well, but he’s not firing at the moment.

So all over, a mixed bag for Wolves. That second half gives me a great deal of hope and demonstrated that we won’t go down without a fight against anyone. But if we keep giving teams a head start, then it will certainly be a long, unforgiving season.

I said before this match, that I thought we needed a win to stay out of the bottom three in November and I stick by that. Arsenal next week is going to present our biggest challenge yet, but out of the two games (the other being Chelsea away), I think we’ve got more chance of getting something against the Gunners. It’s about time Molineux saw a win against one of the big boys.

The final mention must go to the fans yesterday. They were absolutely incredible, particularly in the second half.

Say what you like about the atmosphere at the Britannia (overrated), but there was only one section belting out a racket and that was the one decked out in gold and black.

I can’t put my finger on exactly why that is, but they’re just one of those clubs that rub me up the wrong way.

There’s a chance that my bitterness stems from plain old sour grapes.

The last time Wolves met Stoke, the Potters won 4-2 at Molineux on their way to promotion

I remember going to the Victoria Ground and seeing Wolves get well and truly stuffed, back when McGhee was in charge. Then of course there was the more recent 4-2 defeat they inflicted on us at Molineux, on the way to automatic promotion a few seasons back. The latter was a particularly hard pill to swallow.

Or maybe my dislike for the Potters is down to jealousy.

After all, they enjoyed a tremendous first outing in the Premiership, finishing comfortably in midtable, far, far away from the perils of the bottom three. And the way in which they set about ruffling the feathers of the big boys and stamping their authority on the top tier, was something I’d hoped to see Wolves achieve. But it wasn’t Wolves, it was Stoke.

I suspect though, that like most petty football-related grudges, I just decided one day that I wasn’t going to like Stoke City and that was that. Consigned to the scrapheap along with the likes of Coventry, Bristol City and a few others I had no good reason to judge.

But like them or not, you’ve got to respect what Stoke have achieved.

Nobody wants to play them, they’re home ground has fast become a fortress and all over they just have the look of a club that’s moving onwards and upwards.

So as we prepare to make the short trip up the M6 to take on the club we’re trying desperately to emulate, can we really expect to get a result?

I think if you’re a neutral, you’d probably say we’re cannon fodder for Stoke at the Britannia. After all, we’re a young team, who like to get the ball down and play, who are likely to get bullied all over the pitch and eventually battered into submission. A home banker on the Pools coupon if ever there was one.

But I think anyone who knows this Wolves team, knows that one thing they’re not afraid of is a scrap. And it’s for that reason I’m quietly confident we can sneak a result on Saturday and push ourselves up a few places in the league, ahead of a daunting November.

We’ll need another giant performance from our back four, but you’d say that this should be a match perfectly tailored for the likes of Craddock and Berra to shine. Both are more than capable in the air and supported by Zubar and Elokobi, should have enough to cope with the bombardment we’re likely to receive.

Maybe I shouldn’t be concerned about Hennessy after recent performances, but I am. I thought he was well protected against Villa, but claimed the odd cross confidently that came near him. We’ll need the same again, but I can’t help but feel if there’s a team perfectly designed to expose his frailties, it’s got to be Stoke.

If we can deal with whatever they throw at us, I think there’s a good chance we can knick the win. With the attacking options we have, I’d always back us to create chances and get goals so a 1-0 or a 2-1 in our favour certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

I wonder whether Mick will change the starting XI in order to cope with the very specific type of threat that Stoke pose? This time, barring injuries, I think he’ll probably keep faith with the side that lined up against Villa. Namely:

Hennessy

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Kightly
Henry
Castillo
Edwards

Ebanks-Blake
Doyle

I wonder if he might drop Keogh from the squad all-together and have both Iwelumo and The Hoff on the bench? It must surely be a good idea to have two giants at your disposal for a match of this nature. Probably won’t happen.

In terms of the result, I’m praying Wolves get the first goal (just for a change), as I think that could prove particularly crucial in this match. Should we fall behind, I worry that their steely resolve might just be too difficult to overcome.

I’m feeling confident ahead of this one I must say. With Sylvan getting off the mark last week, I’m hoping for a little run of goals. So with that in mind, I’m predicting 2-1 to Wolves and SEB to score twice.

As always, if you’re one of the 3,000 heading up to Stoke, get behind the lads. It’s a bit of a cauldron inside the Britannia, so they’ll need our support more than ever.

Up The Wolves.