It’s quite fitting that scientists have found a cure for migraines when we’re all suffering severe head pains.

The past three results – and sickening manner of them – are enough to bring on a bad headache for every gold and black fan, although there’s another contributing factor at Molineux that really has me screaming for mercy.

Losing always hurts. But when there’s a self inflicted edge to our misery, the suffering becomes all the more unbearable.

Thomas: You can't see me!

In previous seasons, the dull, throbbing ache would give rise to agony whenever I saw footage of Stan Collymore, Chris Marsden, Jason Roberts or even Dougie Freedman.

In recent times, the same symptoms would engulf my poor temples at the mere sight of Dan Fox or Scott Dann.

Scientists call it a migraine. Those without the medicinal know-how might describe it as ‘the one that got away.’

If ever there’s a club to lament a premature departure or extreme short sightedness in the transfer market,  then it’s surely us.

And now, as we all scurry and scamper to avoid any reference to the Premier League table, two more players’ faces are everywhere we turn. The fact they play for the Albion quadruples the pain.

1. Jerome Thomas. A player with Sportingbet on his shirt and the bookmakers taking no more bets on him joining Wolves last summer for free.
2. Nicky Shorey: The outstanding candidate to fill the aching left back chasm that has been ‘filled’ by Mulgrew, Neill Collins, Stephen Ward, Matt Hill and George Elokobi in recent years.

Can someone, somewhere, tell me why we didn’t pursue these two players with a modicum of effort and urgency?

Thomas, who masterminded Albion’s excruciating win at Arsenal, was at times unplayable and unanimous in the red tops’ team of the day picks. Never mind shoehorning in Dave Edwards and swapping over Jarvis, we’d have had two flying machines and moreover, a round peg for a round hole.

That we told him he needed to spend longer proving himself at Compton adds insult to injury.

Then there’s Nicky Shorey, who dovetails so well with the ex-Charlton man and is widely regarded as the Baggies’ unsung hero.

Meanwhile, we persist with the limited, if not stoic, Steven Ward until the point of a far fetched injury to get him off the pitch. (hmm, no mention of his symptoms on the club’s injury board BTW)

With every passing point our arch rivals accumulate, the pain gets worse as two players who could so easily have been ours mastermind a season of real promise.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, and there maybe be stories to tell that an ignorant, unwashed fan like I will never be entitled to hear.

One thing’s for sure, it is infuriating as hell to witness, just like the rumours of McGhee opting for Corica over Solskjaer.

The doctor has told me to drink plenty of water and take 2 paracetamol every four hours…

…A sight of Van Damme, Mouyokolo and Hunt might help first.

Following back-to-back defeats in the league, the usual ‘Mick-out’ brigade have been making their voices heard. In response, Martin takes a more pragmatic look at how long our manger might remain with the club.

Could anyone have done better than Mick has?

Having asked the question, let me say straight away, I think the bloke’s top drawer. If I was appointing a manager in any business, many of the qualities I would be looking for, McCarthy holds in spades- honesty, fairness, hard work etc. And his achievement in getting us into, and staying in, the Premiership in just a few years has been remarkable.

I was pleased when he got the job over Ince. I remember thinking, this guy will connect with the club and the supporters – no nonsense, straight talking and to the point. Just what we needed after the Hoddle experience.

And he came with a pretty impressive CV as well; promotions to the Premiership, as well as international experience. He was a pretty decent player as well, for those who can remember him. Whether you wanted him or not, it would be hard to criticise his achievements so far. Statistically, as I write, we are the fifteenth best team in the country rather than languishing in the depths of the Championship as we were when he arrived.

But no manager stays forever. There are only two constants at a football club – the shirt and the fans to whom it means so much. I’m not suggesting anyone at the club is, or should be, thinking of replacing him either now or in the immediate future. As I say, we lie fifteenth in the table and have had a fairly solid start. None of his new signings have been injury free and, of course, Hunt hasn’t played at all yet. I’m expecting him to make a big difference. I think he will suit Mick’s style perfectly and will add tempo and a continued attacking threat we dearly need. Who knows, he may transform us into a fairly high scoring team. That would be nice!

I think we should also remember that this success on the field has been achieved whilst adhering to the chairman’s long-term strategy. Which has meant:-

1) Only buying players who are young enough to develop and become a greater asset, not a liability, on the pitch and financially. Prior to Morgan taking over, I can hardly remember us buying a player and selling him later for a profit. It was all quick fix over-the-hill has-beens (usually £1million a go) who eventually succumbed to injury and left on free transfers. Even when we had assets to sell, like Keane and Lescott, we sold ourselves short with no sell-on clause etc.

2) Only buying players within an affordable price range and, even more importantly, within a wage structure which is sensible and fair throughout the team. Any idiot can spend £5m on Jimmy Bullard (that reminds me, we’re having chicken legs tonight), put him on £40,000 a week and pray you’re not in the Championship next season.

3) Whilst spending fairly heavily on the team, at the same time keeping financial reserves for an exciting stadium redevelopment, spread over a number of years, depending on results. If things go to plan initially, we will have a revamped 37,000 seat stadium to be proud of. It will mean we have maintained our Premiership status and it will be then that we can start planning for the next stage. With the extra income from the new stadium, we will be able to spend more on players and their wages. In fact, filling the stadium will depend on providing better players and an exciting winning team.

But all that is some way off at the moment. Mick has had to cut his cloth accordingly. Sure, he’s spent fairly heavily on young emerging talent, such as Fletcher, plus a wonderful bit of business with Doyle. But attracting the more established players to our club with our wage structure is pretty much a non-starter at the moment. Personally, I think this is almost a strength rather than a weakness.

For the first time in my 50 years of following Wolves, I can see the club has a clear long-term plan and no business can be successful without one. I honestly think Morgan has a dream of establishing Wolves as one of the powerhouses of the game and such dreams don’t happen in the blink of an eye. What is happening at Wolves is very much evolution, not revolution. It is being built from the bottom up on very firm foundations.

The training complex, the fitness laboratory, the re-laid pitches, the extended scouting system and, of course, the stadium redevelopment – all this isn’t happening by chance. A lot of intelligent planning has gone into this and I think we should all be excited and proud of what’s going on. You think of how many other teams got into the Premiership, spent wildly on so-called stars and their wages, and are now trawling the lower echelons of the football league.

So, given the parameters within which Mick has been asked to operate, I’d say he’s done a pretty decent job so far. He’s transformed us into a Premiership club, with a young team just about holding their own at this level. But there are definite areas for concern. For one, any results are achieved largely through Mick’s old favourite, ‘putting a shift in’. I would say that, as far as creative, flowing football is concerned, we’re right down there at the bottom. This even includes teams like Blackpool, who have spent far less than us, and McCarthy and Connor have got to take some responsibility for this. Whilst the team is filled with runners and tacklers, a player like Milijas sits on the bench and watches. All teams have to have balance and, at this level, you have to keep the ball. Instead, we spend most of the game trying to get it back (and in the process gain a reputation for being over-physical). It’s up to the manager to find a way to fit the class players into the team.

For all his strengths, McCarthy is no master tactician and I also wonder if the coaching is up to Premiership level. Everyone likes Terry Connor but we often look so totally devoid of attacking ideas, I wonder what they do learn on the training pitch. We all desperately want us to stay in the Premiership but, ultimately, we watch football for entertainment. There’s a limit to how long you can endure watching your team being outplayed and outclassed. If we are going to stay in this division, we need to start playing Premiership football. His prime responsibility this season is to keep us up, but there have to be signs that we are starting to belong here through ability and not just graft, not least so we can actually enjoy the games.

McCarthy will always be remembered fondly by most Wolves supporters for what he has already achieved. Whether he can take us on from here to another level, we will have to wait and see. I think the man at least deserves the chance to try. The question is, for how long.