Old flames

April 17, 2011 By

“He’s a complete f***ing embarrassment and I can’t wait to see the back of him … absolute piece of sh*t of the highest order … a complete joke … I was gutted when we signed him as every club he’s played for thinks he’s a clown … the worst player to ever play for the club.”

These are just a sample of quotes that can be discovered within a couple of minutes of trying to find out how Neill Collins is faring at Sheffield United. The Blades currently lie bottom of the Championship and are set to drop into the third tier for the first time since the days when Brian Deane and Tony Agana were trading goals with Steve Bull and Andy Mutch all those years ago.

And yes, our Neill has certainly made an impression.

I'll be back

It’s also proving to be a difficult time for another darling of the Molineux terraces, Andy Keogh. The somewhat meek Irish forward has endured a torrid time this season lurching from one disaster to the next. If things had gone to plan he’d still be at Cardiff – the club arranged a season-long loan move with a view to a permanent deal – but a string of insipid displays saw Dave Jones bring the curtain down on his time there.

Next came Bristol City but, after just a solitary goal in his time at Ashton Gate, the club has now decided they don’t fancy going ahead with the arrangement either. Maybe the deal-breaker was this horrendous miss for the Republic of Ireland in a rare international start last month.

So what’s the point of all this? Surely there’s no need to put the boot in on players who tried their best for the club and have now moved on? Well you’re right. But something still jars at the back of the throat. It’s all the times Mick McCarthy made me feel like an idiot for questioning these players. There’s no need to go down the road of ‘Numptygate’ but why not just check out these comments from McCarthy after our opening away win of last season:

“Keogh has been the stand-out player in pre-season and as soon as the season started he has been terrific. From coming back on day one he has been great. I’m thrilled for him. It is all right playing well in the Premier League but as a striker the key is scoring goals in it and Keogh has done that. He is perfect for that role. He has just got the lungs of a racehorse and just keeps going and going. But his football and his set-up play was good as well. Andy has proved he can score in the Premier League.”

Needless to say, that goal will almost certainly remain the only goal Andrew Keogh ever scores in the Premier League.

This is not a rant about Mick McCarthy. One of the most important factors in the club’s success over the past five years has been the manager’s ability to get everyone at Molineux pulling in the same direction with a fantastic work ethic. Sticking up for your players is a big part of that.

But, as we see the careers of Neill Collins and Andy Keogh slide inexorably towards League One, all those words of praise take on air of foreboding. Those two men played over 200 games for Wolves. Keogh may yet reappear in the old gold and black. So next time you hear about how amazing it is that George Elokobi has made the step up; How wonderful it is that Stephen Ward can play anywhere; Or we are told how Karl Henry has taken the Premier League by storm; Maybe it’s worth taking a step back and remembering that we’ve been here before.

Mick no doubt has faith in his boys. The £40m question right now is – should we?

Make sure you check out Adam’s rather brilliant football blog at Ghostgoal.co.uk.

Three steps to heaven

April 11, 2011 By

The panic and sheer bewilderment at our heavy home defeat by Everton has been predictable and completely understandable, but now should not be the time for recriminations. We can still get out of this!

While there was nobody more perplexed at Saturdays showing than I, a quick glance at the league table (with hands covering eyes!) tells us that all is far from lost.

Used to be shite but now he's indispensable

It will be if Mick McCarthy makes any more bone-headed decisions during these last 6 games, but three simple steps will ensure that we at least finish above Blackpool, and quite possibly West Ham and Blackburn too.

1. Bring back Craddock

While Mick McCarthy appears to have forgotten who our current player of the year is, the rest of us haven’t. The man that dragged us into the Premiership kicking and screaming, while marshalling our relegation defying campaign last season simply has to play.

At a recent Sportingbet.com fans’ forum, Craddock revealed he modelled his game on Tony Adams, admiring the Gunner for his physical prowess and leadership more than his ability on the deck.

Without any visible sign of leadership in our last two outings, Jody must be trusted with the shirt, preferably at the expense of Berra.

2. Play Mancienne left back

If our miserable return to the Championship is confirmed, then the fated left back position will be discussed ‘til the cows come home. Until that time arrives, we have to finally dispense with the mercurial Elokobi forthwith. Admirable though Big George is, we simply can’t afford the lapses in concentration that has plagued the ex-Colchester man. Mancienne is a schooled left back, honing his skills through Chelsea’s academy for years, with help from some of the world’s finest coaches. The only time he played for us in this left back position was covering for Ward in 2008/09, when Nathan Dyer ripped the Irishman a new arsehole at home to Sheffield United. Quietly effective, quick and more importantly, schooled in the art of defending.

3. Play 4-5-1

For crying out loud, how many more times is Mick going to be bitten on the backside before he realizes that we can’t play the 4-4-2 system? Almost a week to the day that Jamie O’Hara revealed he can’t get enough of playing in a 4-5-1, Mick decides to tear up the script and throw it in the bin. If there is one player we should be building the team around, it is O’Hara.

Not Mick, who shunts him right of a 4-4-2 and tells him to do all the things he told the Express & Star he loved not having to do. Hence, anonymous O’Hara for the last two games.

Hammill back on the right of midfield too, as a matter of urgency.

Yes, I am advocating more changes at a time when we need as much stability as possible, but necessary changes, for the good of our future.

All this talk of teams going down with a record points total might be wide of the mark, looking at this table.

Blackpool can’t buy a win and look stuck on 33 points, while the sight of Rob Green and Mark Noble scrapping at the Reebok suggests that the first nails are being hammered into West Ham’s coffin.

If the pair of them muster up five more points each then they’d be on 38 and 37 points respectively. They don’t suggest they are capable of too many more.

Within this squad of players is a team good enough to stay in this league. It is just up to Mick McCarthy to start picking it.

Wolves 0 Everton 3

April 9, 2011 By

Whoever decided to take down the famous old North Bank clock would have been blissfully unaware of the poignancy.

At the moment George Elokobi took leave of his responsibilities and allowed Osman to cross for Jermaine Beckford to score, I glanced to check those hands of time I’ve checked 10,000 times before.

Ha ha! 1st goal in 3 years.

It had gone. Not so much time running out for Wolves, but disappeared completely.

No need to stop the clocks when they don’t even exist.

And like the vacant, sad empty space on top of the North Bank roof our defence looked likewise, in a pathetic indictment of a faded championship trophy.

Whoever utters that we were even remotely unlucky to concede the opener is missing the point completely.

Yes we had bossed the game for the first 20 minutes and looked by far the better team, but when your hapless, sub standard left back goes AWOL for yet another week it ceases to be unlucky. It is just bloody stupid.

No wonder they took the clock away. When you’ve had four years to find a competent left back from somewhere, then there’s hardly any point in telling the time anymore.

From the first goal on, Everton showed why they are a team on the cusp of a top 6 place with a clinical, measured display which stank of Premiership efficiency.

We just stank, resorting to the bizarre tactic of hoofing long balls to Sylvan Distin’s head, after emphatically proving for 20 minutes that we could give him headaches when we got the ball on the floor.

Like a quality opening batsman fending off the new ball, Everton eventually opened up, scoring a ridiculously good goal through Neville, the like of which he will never manage again.

And all of a sudden our 4-4-2 formation looked hopelessly exposed, Bilyanatdinov racing into open space to leather another goal of the month contender, as if saved especially for us.

So what has changed?

Yes, Doyle got injured in that damned Ireland friendly, but does that justify an entire formation change and subsequent home battering?

Does the manager not remember when he tried 4-4-2 at home to Bolton? Or Liverpool?

Eight points from 4 games had us all looking at our clocks for this very home game.

But Mick – at his infuriatingly stubborn worst – reaches for a deadly, doomed concoction like a drunkard at the last chance saloon.

What on earth has Adam Hammill done wrong, apart from play a starring role in our recent revival? Would any other manager treat a player this way?

Everton lose Fellaini, Arteta and Cahill before today’s game and keep exactly the same formation in place, using the exact same script from the Goodison Park dressing room.

We lose one player and we lose the bloody lot…

…The formation, the personnel, the game of football, and even the clock that told us how long we had left.

Wolves Vs Everton Preview

April 7, 2011 By

Last weekend’s performance and result at Newcastle was disappointing for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, we lost and both Blues and Albion picked up home wins; distancing themselves from the bottom three in the process. Wigan and Blackburn also added valuable points to their tallies, so not a great Saturday by any stretch of the imagination.

SEB bagged a late equaliser at Goodison Park back in August

Added to that, the momentum we’ve been building up of late was abruptly brought to a standstill. Starting another run is always a difficult task.

For many, it also confirmed our worst fears; that a Wolves team without Kevin Doyle is not adequately equipped to get the job done.

However, I’d disagree with that final point. I personally feel SEB did a superb job, both as the lone frontman in the opening 20 minutes and then partnering Steven Fletcher in the 442 from there on out.

We lost at St. James’ Park because of our shortcomings defensively. We allowed Newcastle to bully us, press the ball high up the pitch and force us into mistakes. For the 20 minute spell in the second half that we actually showed some composure, we came within a whisker of getting back into the game.

But having left Tyneside with nothing, we now have the chance to put some points on the board with back-to-back home games. On paper at least, Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Everton looks the harder of the two fixtures.

It was only a few weeks ago that their season was supposedly in crisis, but if you look at the Premiership table today, you’ll see they’re up in 7th place. The fact that they’ve only won 9 games this season, which is the same number as Wolves, demonstrates just how compact the league is this year.

The Toffees have had to make do without the likes of Mikel Arteta, Louis Saha, Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell and Victor Anichebe of late. That’s a hefty list of injuries and it’s entirely plausible none will return against Wolves. That should give us a boost, but they’ve still got some wonderful players and picked up a useful point at home to Villa last time out.

So make no mistake about it, this will be a tough match. They’ve only won three away games all season, but they’ve dug-in and picked up seven draws on their travels too. They very rarely lie down for anyone, as you’d probably expect with David Moyes in the dugout.

Anyway, this is the Wolves XI I expect to see on Saturday:

Hennessy

Foley
Berra
Stearman
Elokobi

Hammill
Henry
O’Hara
Jarvis

SEB
Fletcher

So it’s a return for the 442 with Fletcher coming in for Milijas. If we do play this formation, it’s possible Mick could consider dropping Hammill in favour of someone who can tuck in from the right. Guedioura is ideal in this position, but it might be too soon for him.

Personally, I’d keep the 451 shape with SEB the lone frontman and Milijas retaining his starting role. I know that’s probably an unpopular choice amongst the majority of fans after last weekend, but I’m not sure we’ll keep possession well enough with only two players in the middle of the park.

Prediction League

A low scoring weekend in the Prediction League last time out with most people (including me) thinking we’d get a result at Newcastle. However, four pundits correctly predicted doom, so well done to Ben, Jed, Rob and Putney Wolf who all get a point for saying defeat but not getting the score quite right.

I’m saying defeat in this one. I don’t know why but I just get a bad feeling. It probably has something to do with our last early kick-off experience (a 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool).

I’ll go for 2-1 Everton and hope that I’m wide of the mark.

If you’re at Molineux Saturday, get behind the lads. Our home form has been excellent this season and the crowd have a lot to do with that. We can make a difference.

Up The Wolves.

Newcastle 4 Wolves 1

April 2, 2011 By

If you’re feeling charitable, you might put this meek, disappointing performance down to ‘a bad day at the office’.

And given Wolves recent good form, it’s tempting to call this a blip and move on.

The mask makes it 2


But the ease with which an average Newcastle outfit brushed us aside is of significant concern.

Nothing highlighted our shortcomings more than their embarrassingly soft first goal. A long punt up the field, a flick on and eventually a tap-in for Kevin Nolan. Awful defending but why oh why did Hennessy just stand there like a rabbit in the headlights? He’s been exceptional of late but should have been off his line to gobble that ball up before Nolan prodded it home.

Still, the lead was nothing more than they deserved. They’d pressed us high up the pitch, showed a greater appetite for the battle and generally bullied us into submission.

Minutes before half time though a crucial decision went against us that would have certainly altered the course of the game. Adam Hammill sprinted clear from the halfway line and Nolan cynically took his legs from under him. The nature of the trip, combined with the fact that Hammill would certainly have had a clear goalscoring opportunity surely warranted a straight red? I don’t care if he was 40 yards from goal, I think Nolan was incredibly fortunate to remain on the pitch.

And as if to rub our noses in it, they only went straight up the other end and scored a valuable second moments before the whistle. Again it was slack defending as we twice gifted them possession prior to Ameobi powering home a header at the far post.

Not good enough.

It got worse before it got better too, as Coloccini strolled out of defence, nutmegged hapless Elokobi and set Barton free to cross for Lovenkrands. 3-0 and game effectively over.

It was at this point, Wolves decided to turn up. Some decent passing saw the ball worked out to Jarvis and his cross was swept home by Ebanks-Blake. It was the least our number 9 deserved having already seen a header smartly saved by Harper in the first half.

He almost got a second too when another header, this time from a corner, was cleared off the line. By this time though, Steven Fletcher, who’d entered the fray after just 20 minutes, had squandered a glorious opportunity to reduce the deficit, heading wide at the back post when it seemed easier to score.

You sensed it wasn’t going to be our day after that and so it proved, when Gutierrez scored a fine individual fourth on the break, adding some gloss to the final scoreline. I think 4-1 slightly flattered the magpies but without question, they deserved the win.

Wolves can take a few positives from the game, namely the performance and goal from Blake as well as the return of Michael Kightly, who enjoyed an extended cameo and will only improve over time.

Questions have to be asked of the defence and goalkeeper today. None of them were at it and worryingly, the type of mistakes we’ve ironed out of late started to creep back in.

We’ve got two home games to come now and with results going against us today, our good form at Molineux must continue, or all the good work of late could quickly prove pointless.

Still, it’d be boring if it was easy though wouldn’t it?

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