Wolves Vs Blackburn Preview

April 23, 2010 By

I’ll be completely honest, I think Wolves are safe.

Even if the worst should happen and we lost the remaining three games, I don’t think Hull or Burnley have what it takes to overhaul us. Aston Villa’s comfortable midweek victory at the KC Stadium extinguished any doubt in my mind that we might not achieve what we set out to do at the start of the season – survive.

Wolves played poorly at Ewood Park in the 3-1 defeat

That being said, we shouldn’t take our foot off the gas and a home fixture against a Blackburn side who aren’t particularly good away from home, represents an excellent opportunity to secure the victory we need to make it a mathematical certainty.

To achieve that, Wolves will have to score at least one goal, which is something we can all agree is long overdue. I just hope we come out of the blocks quickly and get on the front foot, as we have done in the four home wins we’ve managed thus far.

Team selection will also play a part and I’d personally like to Milijas given a start alongside Jones and Mancienne in the center of the park. The Serbian just gives us that little bit of menace in the final third, as well as outstanding delivery from dead balls. He’s obviously in a three way tussle with Edwards and Guedioura to secure that slot, but I think this weekend he might just get the nod.

That would mean a team of:

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Foley
Mancienne
Jones
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle

I know we’ve all been bored to tears with some of the performances of late, even though the results have been reasonable. An early Wolves goal in this one should see the game open up a bit, which would make it a more entertaining spectacle. Let’s hope we get it.

This won’t be the first time I’ve made my way to Molineux, half expecting Wolves to get the job done against a side most people feel we can beat on our own turf. However, victory is not a foregone conclusion and if we don’t play well, Blackburn certainly have enough to put us to the sword convincingly. We only have to look back at the battering they handed out to us at Ewood Park earlier in the season.

Still, I’m going for a home win, simply because we still need it and Blackburn don’t, so hopefully that little bit extra desire will see us through.

2-1 to Wolves.

As always, if you’re going to the game have a great time and get behind the lads. Don’t forget to put your vote in for the Player of the Season award either. According to the Wolves Blog poll, Kevin Doyle is likely to take home the trophy with just under half of the overall votes. Jody Craddock with 26% and Marcus Hahnemann 16% are closest behind. That seems about right to me. Will be interesting to see how our poll reflects the official count.

Up The Wolves.

Home Comforts

April 20, 2010 By

Wolves supporters have something unexpected to fear ahead of this weekend’s game against Blackburn – symmetry.

The 2-0 win over Burnley back in December was the most comfortable of our four home wins

Currently, our away form reads:

Won 4
Drawn 5
Lost 9

And having played a game less at home, we have:

Won 4
Drawn 5
Lost 8

I certainly wouldn’t like to see those figures aligned come Saturday at 5pm, but wouldn’t be entirely bowled over with shock if they were.

After all, performances at Molineux this season have been a bit shabby to say the very least.

A point from three home games against Pompey, West Ham and Hull tells it’s own story, although the timing of those early fixtures definitely hurt us, as we were still very much getting our act together as a Premiership outfit.

Turgid displays against Blues and Wigan were even harder to digest and probably the real low points of the season to date. I know I certainly feared the worst in the aftermath of both those games.

Of course, we’ve turned it on occasionally at home, beating Burnley semi-convincingly and looking strong for long periods against Fulham and Bolton.

And since tightening things up with the 4-5-1, no team has had an easy ride at Molineux and we’ve beaten Spurs, taken a point of Liverpool and been desperately unlucky to get nothing from our games against the top two.

That being said, the goals have certainly dried up and we weren’t exactly scoring a shed-load anyway.

So, I put it to you, should we adopt a more attacking lineup for our remaining two home fixtures? On paper, they both look winnable games against sides that have struggled to get anything on their travels.

There’s definitely good reason to bring in another striker and go all out to try and get the one win we need. Blackburn and Sunderland can both be got at, so we’d probably be stupid to sit back and let them dictate the pattern of the game wouldn’t we?

Equally though, there’s a decent argument to say we’re doing fine with the 4-5-1 and those two sides will give us chances whatever formation we play, so it’s imperative we just keep it tight at the back and don’t give anything away ourselves.

My heart says go all out for the win. Even if we fall flat on our faces, we’ll at least have gone out with a bang and not a whimper. Unfortunately, the cold, methodical head that sits on my shoulders knows that Wolves need to carry on grinding out solid performances as it’s unlikely we’ll be caught if we continue as we are.

And who knows, we might get a few goals anyway.

Edging Closer: Fulham 0 Wolves 0

April 18, 2010 By

Should Wolves, as expected now, clinch Premiership survival I wonder which results will have pleased Mick McCarthy most come the end of the season?

Whilst supporters will fondly look back on champagne victories at White Hart Lane and Upton Park, I suspect our manager will be equally satisfied with the clutch of dour nil nil draws we’ve ground out to add vital points to our tally.

View from the away end (click to expand)

Yesterday was another exercise in restraint from Wolves, containing Fulham comfortably for the most part but struggling to piece together any real attacks of note themselves. It’s certainly wasn’t easy on the eye, but as we close in on our ultimate goal for the campaign, none of the old gold contingent gathered in the Putney End gave two hoots.

The players were cheered off as heroes, shirts were tossed into the crowd and all round there seemed a shared consensus that this season will now have a happy ending. Just as well any complacency that might be setting in, has been confined solely to the stands.

All eleven players contributed to this gritty, dogged performance, which demonstrated this team won’t rest until the maths tell them they can.

The brightest star undoubtedly shone from an unexpected place – left back. Big George was quite simply superb from start to the finish, staying rock-solid and saving our bacon with a last ditch tackle to deny Damian Duff and almost certain goal. The Hulk looked anything but a weak link on this evidence and it was pleasing to see the highly criticised defender show the levels he’s capable of reaching.

Another player with a question mark hanging over his head also upped his game. Christophe Berra was at his best, repelling everything that came near him, shackling Bobby Zamora and most crucially, throwing his body in front of a Damian Duff shot midway through the first half. When you’re defending your penalty area and the game isn’t stretched, the Scottish international is in his element and a major asset to the cause. Nobody can deny that.

Zubar and Craddock continued to meet the standards they’ve set for a long time now and were both exceptional. The midfield trio were more effective than impressive with Mancienne perhaps most prominent, sitting in front of the back four and showing great discipline throughout to hold his position.

Jones got on the ball when he could and pulled the strings, but struggled to really get into areas where he could cause damage. The same could be said of Dave Edwards, the man who literally never stops running. Despite one foray into the Fulham area that saw him smash a right foot volley narrowly over the bar, he was largely ineffective despite bags of effort and enthusiasm. I’d still prefer to see a more cultured, measured midfielder in that slot, so perhaps Guedioura or Milijas will be given the nod against Blackburn, as both looked lively when they were introduced from the bench.

Foley and Jarvis did what they always do, with the latter always a great outlet. A couple of times in the second half he sprinted forward dangerously but was never given a good enough pass to get in behind. As a result, Doyle was starved of any decent service and despite a clever snapshot just before half-time, he never threatened the Fulham goal. His overall play was still impressive, although he wasn’t at his devastating best, as he hasn’t been for a few weeks. If he’s tired, I’m certainly not surprised.

With Burnley losing and Hull only able to manage a draw, the point Wolves took back to Molineux was certainly an important one and it sets up the prospect of finishing the job against Blackburn next Saturday.

And after so much talk this season about Wolves doing the minimum to stay up, wouldn’t it be nice to take care of business with two games to spare?

Fulham Vs Wolves Preview

April 15, 2010 By

London has been a happy hunting ground for Wolves this season. Crucial wins at West Ham and Tottenham provided us with our two brightest moments to date, so it would certainly be fitting if we were to all but secure our Premier League status in our nation’s capital on Saturday.

Sounds lovely doesn’t it? What could possibly go wrong?

Wolves beat Fulham 2-1 at Molineux earlier this season

Well, there’s been some horrors shows there too, most recently that gut-wrenching last minute defeat to Arsenal. We also suffered our most humiliating moment of the campaign at Crystal Palace in that fourth round replay, as well as a 4-0 battering at the hands of Chelsea.

It’s also worth noting that Fulham have won 10 of their 16 home games to date, drawing four and losing just two. Quite remarkable really and just as well seeing as they’ve mustered only one win on the road all season.

Still feeling confident?

Well, maybe you should be. After all, Wolves have the best away form of anyone in the bottom half, so if anyone can go to fortress Craven Cottage and leave with a positive result, it’s us.

Fulham also have the small matter of a Europa Cup semi-final first leg against Hamburg the following Thursday, so it would be no great surprise to see them rest one or two of their better players. Roy Hodgson did exactly that at Hull a few weeks ago, losing the game but escaping punishment from the Premier League (don’t worry, I’m not going there).

Wolves should still be full of confidence after recent performances and happy to play their natural game. Fulham are ‘get it down and pass it’ kind of side, so I expect the match to be played out in stark contrast to the volleyball session we shared with Rory Delap last Sunday.

The starting XI will probably be exactly the same as the team that took to the field against Stoke, which is:

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Foley
Edwards
Mancienne
Jones
Jarvis

Doyle

I still feel Guedioura can count himself incredibly unlucky to find himself sitting on the sidelines, after largely impressive performances in his first few months with the club. Maybe he’ll get the nod ahead of Edwards this weekend? I suspect not.

Could there also be a return to the 4-4-2? We played most of the second half against Stoke with that formation and as we really only need one win to keep us up, a more attack-minded approach could be in the pipeline. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Iwelumo given a chance to bounce a few defenders around and give Doyle some much needed support.

I genuinely believe Wolves have got a chance in this one, despite Fulham’s intimidating home record and if we play as well as we can do, there’s no reason we can’t get a result.

I’m going for it: 2-1 to Wolves.

If you’re making the journey down south, have a great time and get behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

* A quick apology for the lack of posts this week. Time has been at a premium. It does give me a good opportunity though to invite anyone who might be interested in contributing to Wolves Blog to email me. Whether it’s a one-off article or a more regular spot, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Snore: Wolves 0 Stoke City 0

April 11, 2010 By

A bout of syphilis, a swig of cyanide and an anal fisting off Vanessa Feltz are up there on the list of experiences that you never want to go through.

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.

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