Two from five

May 16, 2011 By

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

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

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

Wigan

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

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

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

Blackpool

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

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

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

Birmingham

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

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

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

Blackburn

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

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

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

Wolves

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

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

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

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

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

Final standings

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

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

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

So Blackpool and Birmingham are my two from five.

Who are yours?

Wolves 1 Wigan 2

December 27, 2010 By

If ever there was a performance worthy of lumping a football team bottom of the league, then this Boxing Day effort was probably it. Ok, we didn’t leak goals left right and centre – but given the consequences of West Ham’s three points at Fulham in the midday kick off, it was painful to see Wolves so slow out of the blocks yet again.

Unfortunately, ‘embarrassing’ quite aptly sums it all, which is concerning and disappointing – it’s rare to leave a Wolves game feeling betrayed by the endeavours of our team.

Bar a glimmer of light from a fit again Jarvis, when eventually called upon, and SEB’s efforts to galvanise the men tasked to supply him, most other performances from the home team sent the Christmas spirit plummeting to Bah Humbug by 20 minutes.

Mick made these lot look sane

Lining up as we did for Birmingham, we’d not got started before Wigan got their first on ten minutes, a well finished twisting effort from Rodallega inside the 6 yard box after we failed to deal with a corner.

Slick passing from the Columbian on 20 then saw our pedestrian defence sliced open after Stearman was guilty of being lured in to a challenge, leaving a gap for the spritely Cleverley to take advantage of and finish well through Hennessey’s legs.

Both goals were well taken in fairness and Wigan defended resolutely when we finally started to pepper their area with more searching crosses. In Ben Watson, they had a niggling player who broke down play throughout, keeping our playmaker Milijas from being effective, as the Serbian’s radar went astray until Jarvis’ arrival and offered him an outlet.

Wolves had to endure being booed off at half-time before the winger appeared later in the second though, and he tormented the Wigan defence from both right and left flanks.

But we were guilty of being second to the ball all over the pitch, misplacing simple passes, and being pulled out of position. Across the back four in particular, there looked a frailty; a lack unity in the middle, and nervousness from both fullbacks when under any sort of pressure.

Fletcher, on with twenty to go, prodded home with five minutes left to make for a tasty finale, but the bluntness of our resolve at that point would have made it a travesty for Wigan if we had scored.

Perhaps the stinging cold has exacerbated this negative view of the game. Or that losing on Boxing Day always feels like Father Christmas has failed you. But there were at least five bewildering instances that led to me using the word ‘embarassing’ at the start;

1) The downright lack of impetus given the significance of the result on the league table from the very first minute

2) The rather pathetic sight of Stephen Ward despondently trudging back to left back, after record signing Stephen Fletcher comes on to replace George Elokobi. It just looks weird.

3) Said signing declining to rise for an unchallenged header in the opposition area, opting instead to wait for the ball to bounce and then attempt an overhear kick that goes wide, by a number of yards. Cue SEB kicking the post in frustration

4) After our equaliser, and attempting to get forward in the final throes of the game to rescue a point, Ronald Zubar managing to slice the ball from one side of the pitch in his own third perpendicularly to the other – a knock that rather summed up a clumsy game for the Frenchman

5) The Molineux faithful being outsung by fourteen Wigan fans wearing banana outfits (in fairness, we’d not a lot to shout about)

Perhaps there were stonewall penalties to take issue with, and perhaps the injury table is still too busy for us to complain too much; but for me, this performance saw us look like we deserve to be in the position we’re in.

Roll on the return of Karl Henry and Jody Craddock. Didn’t think we’d be needing to say that this season.

Wolves Vs Wigan Athletic Preview

December 22, 2010 By

Wolves head into their Boxing Day clash with fellow strugglers Wigan looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season.

And if you believe in the idea of a ‘six-pointer’ this is definitely one of those. Victory would see Wolves leapfrog their opponents and possibly escape the relegation zone. By contrast, defeat would be a huge blow and potentially see us slip to the foot of the table.

Hopefully this match will be remember for the football

But let’s be positive. Our home form has been pretty good this season, with four wins already in the bag. And when you consider Wolves only managed five in the whole of the last campaign, Molineux is definitely a more formidable place to visit these days.

Wigan have just one away win to their name so far, but that was a morale-boosting 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane, showing they have what it takes to pull off a big result on their travels.

In N’Zogbia and Rodallega, they’ve got two very capable matchwinners in their ranks and keeping those players quiet will be key for Wolves. N’Zogbia killed us at Molineux last season and we can’t afford to stand off him in the manner we did in that game. Fingers crossed we’ve learned our lesson.

According to Mick, David Jones, Christophe Berra and Matt Jarvis are all back in contention. Craddock, Mouyokolo, Henry, Mancienne and Doyle are longer term absentees, with none expected back in training until at least January.

It’s difficult to predict the team, but my guess is:

Hennessy

Zubar
Berra
Stearman
Elokobi

Hunt
Edwards
Foley
Milijas
Ward

SEB

So, the same eleven that saw off Blues a few weeks back, which would mean Jones and Jarvis sitting on the bench. It’s impossible to second-guess Mick though and it wouldn’t surprise me if he threw both of those players back in. Fletcher will also be waiting in the wings for an opportunity.

Prediction League

With the Albion game being called off, there was no Prediction League action last week. Those cheeky enough to suggest a pools coupon result is enough to claim points should hang their heads in shame.

Just to be clear, all predictions from the West Brom preview are void and we’ll do another preview when the rearranged game comes along.

This weekend, I’m going for a Wolves win. I think if we can replicate the work rate and endeavour that went into the win against Birmingham, we should have enough to come out on top.

Both defences are dodgy and both sides have players capable of finding the net, so I’ll go for a 3-1 Wolves win.

If you’re going to Molineux on Boxing Day, have a great time and get behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

And of course…

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Wigan 2 Wolves 0

October 2, 2010 By

Let me start by immediately addressing Karl Henry’s sending off, as I know we’ll inevitably be flooded with opposition supporters baying for our skipper’s head on a stick.

I think we can all be in agreement that it was a horrid, mistimed challenge that was rightly punished with a red card. In my opinion, he had the time to pull his leg away but instead went straight through Gomez and at that speed it’s fortunate the midfielder wasn’t seriously injured.

Henry - a terrible tackle

If you read the blog regularly,  you’ll know I’ve been Henry’s biggest supporter throughout this ridiculous media-circus.

In my opinion he was criticised unfairly by Fulham supporters and if he did bully Joey Barton, he certainly got as much as he gave. But this is a totally different kettle of fish I’m afraid and he just has to do much, much better.

Our normally reliable captain let himself down and more importantly, he let Wolves down. Nobody can defend that tackle.

He’ll serve his three match ban and then hopefully, we can all move on. In some ways it might actually be a blessing for Wolves that Henry’s taken out of the firing line for a few games, as he’s certainly made himself a marked man with officials.

And regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with Mick’s tactics, that early sending off shaped the pattern of the game and was unquestionably the decisive factor. Wigan like to get it down and pass and with a man advantage they had all the time in the world to stroke the ball around under very little pressure.

Still, when the goal eventually came, I can’t help but feel we were a little hard done by. N’Zogbia was barely touched on the edge of the box, yet down he went and the ref duly obliged. From there, it was a cracking strike from Gomez and I don’t blame Hahnemann at all for getting beaten. It was after all, right in the top corner.

The second was a weak one to giveaway and certainly Berra will be disappointed not to have dealt with it better. It was a sad way to finish the match for the Scot who I thought had a solid enough game in the back four. Craddock, Mancienne, Foley and Doyle also performed admirably in what ultimately proved a lost cause.

But with Henry now suspended, Guedioura crocked and a run of horrendous fixtures looming on the horizon, the time has now come for Mick to make changes and put more faith in the multimillion pounds-worth of talent he’s got picking splinters out of their backsides.

I’m talking about the likes of Milijas, Mouyokolo, van Damme and if fit Zubar and Hunt. Jones and Ebanks-Blake must also be pushing for a return having featured prominently in our stronger performances thus far. That’s potentially seven players who could come in and make a serious impact.

Who should get the chop? Well, Edwards and Ward for a kick-off. For all their huff and puff, there’s a definite shortage of quality and if we have to sacrifice some of that effort to get the requisite amount of footballing-ability in the side, then so be it.

This is the Premier League after all.

There’s two weeks until the West Ham match and to call that game a must-win is an understatement of cataclysmic proportions.

Get it right Mick or things really are going to turn nasty.

Wigan Vs Wolves preview

September 30, 2010 By

To describe Saturday’s game at the DW Stadium as our most important in the last 12 months might be stretching things a bit far.

With only six league games gone and so many points to play for, it simply can’t be measured as such.

Another win at the DW would be brilliant

But every so often, maybe three or four times a season, a fixture gathers so much momentum in the minds of us fans that it assumes the tag of ‘must win’ or at worst, ‘daren’t lose.’

Our game at Wigan feels like one of those occasions, where it will either end up being a cathartic experience for the good, or a miserable memory to shape a season.

There just seems to be a collective angst simmering beneath WV1 that could do with shifting before it turns to anger.

Some of the pressure goes with the territory of a poor run of form. It just feels that a larger part is the fact that this is one of those ‘must win games.’

Maybe it’s because some fans have played down our last three losses to a pair of Europa League sides and a Champions League outfit, that the expectation cranks up for this more ‘winnable’ one.

Add our 2009 victory at Wigan to the mix and the game assumes even more importance. A loss would be far more symbolic than the other ones put together.

Sprinkle in Albion’s fine run of form, starring players they bought in the summer and choose to play, and the recipe is potentially quite disastrous, should we lose.

Let’s hope not.

Whenever one of these games come up – where we worry beforehand that little bit more – Mick and his men deliver.

Just last season, we rose to the occasion in style at Upton Park, when defeat seemed unthinkable at the time, and the game assumed gargantuan proportions.

Our wins against Spurs were also massive in the context of our league position, not to mention horrid defeat to Blues so soon before.

Going back further, a few fixtures in the promotion winning season felt just like this one.

Most notably, the brilliant back to back wins at Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday when every ounce of my being dreaded the games after our sudden loss of form.

And who could forget Derby County away, when at 2-1 down, we could all be forgiven for a 2002 flashback.

For good measure, how about Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium? 1-0 down in a game we had to win to make the play-offs in 1997, against a side I’d never seen us beat in their home town ever.

Whenever a ‘must win’ arises (in our minds or otherwise), Mick finds the winning formula from somewhere, and makes you feel slightly dirty and unfaithful for every questioning him in the first place.

This is why I’m backing the boys to win on Saturday, by hook or by crook.

Prediction League

Thomas: Ben handled the preview as I’ve been away for a few days, so thought I’d tag the Prediction League update on the end.

Nobody correctly guessed a 2-1 to Villa last weekend, but Dazza in Brisbane, Ben, Yoda, Ezz and Hallam all correctly predicted we’d lose so well done to them for picking up a point each.

You’ll all be glad to know that I remain on top of the overall table.

As always, if you want to join in with the Prediction League, simply leave your prediction for each game in the comment section of the official preview (such as this one).

This weekend, I’m going for a 3-1 Wolves win. Call it blind faith if you will.

If you’re heading up to the DW, have a great time and roar the lads on.

Up The Wolves.

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