Wolves must be the most difficult team in the league to evaluate.
Excellent but ultimately pointless in the first three games, we have since been a puzzling halfway house between brilliance and Pulis-esque s**thousery.
Tonight’s game summed that position up perfectly.
The first half was poor from both sides, with Wolves understandably disjointed after being unexpectedly deprived of the services of both Ait-Nouri and Hwang.
Adama’s introduction for the latter certainly gave us a greater attacking impetus, with the Spaniard leading the line well throughout.
In a game of slim margins, you always suspected that it would take a moment of inspiration to break the deadlock.
Step forward Ruben Neves, whose sumptuous through ball teed Romain Saiss up for a finish befitting of a premium centre forward.
Ironically, a player befitting of that description would have seen us home much more comfortably in the second half, with Podence, in particular, squandering a number of gilt-edged chances.
The Portuguese’s profligacy made for a difficult end to the game, with a combination of Brighton’s own wastefulness and more excellent defending from our rearguard ultimately ensuring we exited with all three points.
Bruno’s charges ought to be commended for seeing the game out at a ground where we have so often been short-changed in recent history. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the boys in old gold got the job done.
And while, given the players at our disposal, I might think we are capable of playing better football, it’s obvious that we are a work in progress and, with us sitting 8th in the league, hard to argue against the work of Lage and his backroom team.
Scrappy game, take the points , come on fosun spend some money in jan, wolves aie we.
I saw a ball across the area hit a Brighton player on the arm. Even more obviously than the f**k up by Moss/VIlla on Saturday. But no penalty. No VAR. OBVIOUSLY. So to get a massive victory was very good. Actually the new Ref who I believe was in his first game wasn’t too bad. Like the bloke on the Burnley game. Seems way to go as they are not unduly infuenced by the ‘big club’ bullshit. Hope so. So. A very Wolves like win. Brilliantly organised. Occasional forays. Got the goal. Job done. Looking back at Norwich Burnley Liverpool Citeh Brighton. I would hsve taken 5 points from those. We got 5 points. Wolves ay we.
5 points from a possible 15? Two of those teams are in the bottom 3 and one of them haven’t won a match since Sept. Your bar is too low Cheeseburger!
As long as there’a bar, and it serves proper ale, Cheeseburger doesn’t mind how low it is.
PMSL. Brilliant.
Well looking at those games I would have said Norwich away = 1 point. Burnley home = 3 points. Liverpool and Man City = 0 points. Brighton away = 1 point. That was my thinking. Granted my brain is half bonkers. But there you go !
No no Cheesey….
Your brain is all bonkers..
Your bar is too high Balsall.
Eighth in the PL and very, very hard to score against? Just ask Liverpool and Citeh!
The time to judge Bruno is this time next season but in the meantime he is exceeding my expectations.
I would have said 7 or 8 points. We are mid table. Nowt to shout about and nowt to cry about either. Im not having a go at Bruno or judging him at this point. Drawing at Norwich and at home to Burnley aint where we want to be though and 5 points from 15 is mid table mediocrity. I think we have the foundations of a very good team IF Fosun keep Lage on and we can keep our players but if we play the rest of the season out in similar fashion is that likely?
Bollocksed up completely by Hesgoal, only saw 15 mins of the game…..the last 15 of the first half!!
Goal worthy of three points by any team, anywhere.
We needed that.
Another albatross/seagull off our backs.
Bring on the Chelsea pensioners on Sunday.
Try jokerlivesteam next time… you’re welcome ?
Aaargh.. jokerliveSTREAM!
Thanks, again!!
Thanks
I watched it on hesgoal. Not buffered at all. In fact probably the best stream from them to date.
Saiss finished well from Neves clever ball. I thought Marcel and Podence had a great game too.
One day I am sure they will play well for 90 mins though.
Yep , perfect Hesgoal stream here too
“One day I am sure they will play well for 90 mins”?
They changed the “Two halves of 45mins” rule ages ago . . . you need to play for at least 100mins these days. What was last night? 110mins?
I was half expecting them still to be playing this morning!
But ten minutes of that was watching Trincao and Podence playing keepy uppy near the corner flag while the referee got rewired.
I thought it was business-as-usual wherethe game goes on for as long as it takes the opposition to score, as they often do when we’re hanging on to a goal-less draw or a one goal lead.
It eventually dawned on the referee that, in this instance, Brighton were never going to score.
Neither was it included in the possession stats… disgusting…!
Likewise buddy.
Everyone had a good game and I have to admit it specially Traore.
Great result from an awkward fixture.
Back 3/5 turning into the meanest defence I’ve ever seen at Wolves.
Neves and Moutinho worked like Trojans. Neves brilliant again and how does Moutinho do it twice a week at 35 .
Just have to solve the goals issue and top 6 (even 4) would be a possibility with a bigger squad.
Will keep repeating it, over to you Jeff – give the man the tools.
Great result against a bogey team. But we made things unnecessarily difficult by failing to put the game away when we has so many chances to finish it.
Trincao appears to me to be completely out of his depth. Surely we cannot seriously be contemplating chucking away twenty seven million by signing him on permanent basis ? Or. will we have another Silva on our hands ?
A word about Silva. With Raul absent, Hwang injured early on, and both Trincao and Podens showing zero aptitude in the box, the fact that Silva was not called upon gives an adequate pointer to the fact that Bruno simply doesn`t rate him. Thus, his immediate future with us must be bleak. It`s not his fault that Mr. Shi grossly overpaid to sign him, but the fact remains that he`s no where near Premiership standard. Surely, in fairness to him, the right way forward at this point must be to loan him out so that he can get the playing time he desperately needs, to try to sharpen his game and to get back some semblance of confidence.
Love your clever pun on gilt edged, Ben.
Definitely intentional : P
I know Traore is a frustrating conundrum but I thought he played very well for us last night, his lay offs were excellent and his passing and running off the ball was intelligent. Also, a word for Saiss. I know there are some wolves fans who don’t rate him but I think he has been, and still is, an excellent servant of the club. He has played his part in our defensive resilience and he contributes vital goals. Well done Bruno and the team. I hope Jeff and his management team show equal commitment to the cause in the transfer window as this group of players are in need of support
That was a well deserved win against one of the dreadful B’s (Burnley, Bolton, Bournemouth and these lot, hate B’s). I must firstly hold my hand up here as I am a regular Saiss knocker but last night I thought he was immense but even better was Adama’s excellent distribution and all round play. Just wish he’d have taken a punt on one of those layoffs to Podence. Was really hoping Podence would give his manager something to think about on the selection sheet but his gifts to the Brighton keeper with tame shots right down his throat did himself no favours, Across the goal on those chances and it’s a goal or a tap in. Could it be that Bruno is now taking some of our weaker members and evolving them into better all round players, hopefully. Faulty equipment aside I thought the ref had a good game. This must be the way forward bringing in younger refs and sending cart horses like Moss (he is not fit enough to keep up with athlete’s, hence guessing where the ball strikes a person) in the other direction or just putting them out to grass. Passing a couple of gym tests is not good enough for the speeds and intensity of an hour and a half of phys that requires a much higher level of endurance and overall conditioning that a lot of these refs simply don’t have. It’s akin to putting a family car at the head of an F1 race and expecting a fair result, oops let’s not go there. One final note, immense support there from our fans I doth my cap to all you guys and gals that made that long journey to support the ‘babbies ’ never fail to impress me great effort, UTW
Slightly off tack but I’ve just read the most ridiculous piece of “news” of 2021. Must be fake news. Raheem Sterling is on the shortlist of nominees for sports personality of the year!!! What??
Tom Daley is also on the list. What is it with diving? Thought it was a minority sport.
I hope Emma gets it to ram that one down McEnroe’s throat after his harsh criticism of a young girl who was obviously overwhelmed by the moment at Wimbledon. To come back and then win on his patch so soon after her exit at Wimbledon will have shut his annoying gob up
For me there is only one worthy winner, Tyson Fury.
Either or but don’t think the rest should get a look in.
Didn’t Steve ‘Interesting’ Davis win the ‘personality’ of the year once ?
Sorry but it was not a good watch.
Has Neves lost all his confidence. The 1 time he made a forward pass we scored. He constantly picks the ball up deep and then turns round and lays off Coady or Kilman. Its so negative. This gives the opposition time to close us down and we look like we just defending the whole game.
Semedo is getting better and better but he does the same thing. Players run behind the defence and he still turns round to play “safe” hopefully we gain some confidence over the break to actually play our football.
We keep hearing about the potential. I want to see it. I want to see us break a team. I want to see us dominate the match. It is all but a dream!
A game where some of our more criticised players came to the forest,which is just as well with the treatment room bench beginning to sag under the strain.
Adama was terrific and repeatedly laid the ball off with aplomb. Pity his teammates couldn’t show the same dexterity in finishing.
Romaine’s finish from a fabulous pass by our Ruben was pure class, and not for the first time.
Overall, a very handy three points and we await with bated breath news on Rayan and Hee-Chan.
Credit where credit is due, step forward Romain Saiss, often maligned rarely appreciated but totally nailed it at both ends last night. I have suggested a back three of Boly, Coady Kilman would be better equipped but while he has the shirt, Saiss can’t be dropped.
Take a bow Adama Traore, you should have started and did a good job for the team , much better with your turns and getting your head up to set others up.
Also mentioned in dispatches, Jose Sa – faultless, Neves & Moutinho – energy and ball retention , Coady – a proper leader & organiser, Glenn Hoddle – made more sense than most other pundits .
Must do better:
Marcal, come on man, are you made of glass, toughen up!
Podence , some nice tricks and flicks, but your job is to hit the net not pass to the keeper.
Trincao, If you beat a man to gain a yard, that’s great but then use that to our advantage, don’t check back inside and lose the ball.
(Note to Headteacher- he’s not ready for the Prem, he’s like Fabio last year, lightweight and naive, do not waste £25m of the transfer kitty on him)
Jeff Shi – Just please talk to us, this team could go places and we’d get to go too.
I think that if you were smashed in the balls by a fiercely hit cross you’d be made of glass too. Now that’s what I call taking one for the team. He also had the good sense to roll back onto the pitch so that he’d be available to defend the corner.
One nil to the Wanderers
One nil to the Wanderers
One nil to the Wanderers
One nil to the Wanderers
Our back line is gradually morphing into the legendary Arsenal defence of years gone by.
The main difference being that it is a fluid system. If one player gets pulled out of position, Ruben Neves, Mr Moutinho or another gold shirt will slot into the back line.
Arsenal’s system under George Graham was more simple.
One step forward, raise your arm and shout “Offside ref!”.
All we want now is to emulate the attacking style and skills of Bully, Richards, Dougan, Hancocks, Hartill et al and we’ve got the makings of a side to challenge the top six.
Another good team effort yesterday. Defence impeccable. Neves and Moutinho worked their socks off. Adama looked good and linked play well. Trincao still looks too lightweight and really should have scored. That might have raised his confidence.
Saiss netted a great goal with his wrong foot and almost scored an even better one with his right. (That’s his left of course).
Happy with three points, happy with the incredible away support again.
The one thing that wasn’t so edifying was the amount of spitting and nose emptying going on.
And that was just from Bruno on the touch line.
We’ll have to club together to buy him a Wolf’s head embroidered hankie for Christmas.
And maybe Fosun and Jeff Shi will club together and buy him a couple of players to add to the squad.
We’re going to be losing a few to the African Cup of Nations.
And Daniel Podence will be off to The North Pole soon to become one of Santa’s little helpers.
Bless him!
Very happy to get that win. Given our run of fixtures in December it was vital we put those three points on the board, especially with Brighton missing some key players. The Premier League is ruthless and you’ve got to go in for the kill when the opportunity presents itself.
Some other thoughts…
Marcel was excellent. Lamptey will have been identified as a major threat down the right but he was nullified and that was key to limiting Brighton. There are shortcomings in the Brazilian’s game, but he always looks up for the scrap and is calm in possession – a more than capable player at this level.
I’m eating my words on Semedo too. In fact, I’m growing to love Nelson. I’d like to see him doing more in the final third, but his defensive work and ball-carrying between the boxes is excellent. There’s more aggression to his game this season. I don’t know whether that’s the Lage effect or just experience in the competition – possibly both – but he’s done very well lately.
As others have correctly observed, Saiss is criminally underrated. Erratic at times no doubt but he’s been an outstanding servant to the club. That’s two goals that have contributed to six valuable points this season, as well as being a key component in an excellent defensive unit. Give that man a contract extension. With Boly looking done in and the jury still out on Mosquera, I don’t think we can allow him to walk for nothing in the summer unless we’re bringing in a couple of top drawer replacements.
The front three were mixed. Anonymous in the first half, which isn’t entirely their fault given how Brighton pressed and stopped us playing out. Better in the second, but ultimately, again, wasteful in the key moments. When Traore burst through and we had a three on one it summed us up perfectly as an attacking unit. We killed them on the counter, occupied a dream position, but the release from Traore didn’t completely take the defender out of the picture and made it tougher for Podence who didn’t get any sort of angle on his shot. In another example, Traore did play the pass at the perfect moment but Trincao hit it straight at the keeper. Yes, it’s a bit unlucky but it keeps happening. You could make a 10-minute compilation of those three players missing gilt-edged chances this season and that more than anything is why we’re still averaging less than a goal a game. We need more goal scorers in the team, a more adventurous midfielder who can play with or instead of Moutinho and Neves and another striker. Get them in January and we could go places.
This was the period last season where we went south compared to the two years we finished seventh. Ultimately it was the lack of options at Nuno’s disposal and the number of players dropping out with injury. I don’t think we’re going down, but we might have to limp home again if we don’t recruit in Jan. I’d like to see some marquee signings to really elevate the team, but even a few short term loans to flesh out the squad with battled-hardened senior pros that bring attributes we don’t have (e.g. mobility in midfield, physical presence up front, etc) would be handy.
Spot on Thomas.
Big improvement from Traore, but he still stands still when he loses possession compared to little Dan who ran his heart out last night.
3 vital points towards the magic 40.
UTW!
But one of the concerns is that it is alleged that Jeff S was reported to have said that we must operate as a self financing entity! If that is true we are doomed as far as growth and improvement is concerned, as we will be a feeder club for the top six and others. It appears that the projected revenue streams are not meeting Forsun’s initial expectations from China, sponsorship, commercial sales etc. They don’t operate their businesses at a loss so if revenue streams cannot be increased, investment is curtailed— unless they are priming to sell the club— for a profit of course.
Having said that, Wolves are about 3 or 4 quality players from being a really good club, but also 3-4 players from being sold to be relegation candidates.
Which way will Forsun go, invest in players, sale of players, or sell the club?
Thomas
Would like to endorse your comments, particularly on Semedo and Saiss.
As you said Saiss has been a terrific servant to the club and I think barring Coady is the logiest serving player now. He was a stalwart in the promotion season and is now blooming under Bruno having cut down on the card count.
And for some time I have thought that as an option Semedo
could bu used as a box to box midfielder. After all when, hopefully Jonny returns, both he and Hoever are right back contenders in that scenario. And I think he’s done the job for Portugal.
Sez it all.
Very interesting Clive. Frankly anyone that doesn’t think the PL is corrupt is naive. FIFA and uefa have been proven to be corrupt so why wouldn’t the most lucrative league in the world also not be tainted? The whole concept of VAR is absolutely open to manipulation to influence game outcomes. The fact that there is no live audio of conversations between stockley park and match officials and no transparent and standard process around use of on pitch monitors, real time playback of incidents to everyone in the stadium is for a reason I.e to avoid transparency and scrutiny. The lack of sanction against the breakaway ESL teams is also a damning indictment of the inability of the game to regulate itself. An independent regulator with proper teeth cannot come soon enough.
You can’t argue with 3 points or Neves’ tasty chip for Saiss to volley home. In fact an early 6 pointer given Brighton were poised to jump us in the table.
Traore must have been gutted to see his assists going astray, but given the flak he gets for taking on, and missing, the shots himself, its no wonder he’s passing these days.
Lets hope it all comes together for shaky Chelski and we roast them up for Xmas.
1 lv & COYW.
Managed to watch most of the game after struggles getting BT Sport to load properly so missed the first 20 minutes. Obviously I waasn’t the only one struggling with technology and made me think how much better time-keeping is done in Rugby Union with the clock stopped for incidents so everyone knows how long before teh 80 minutes are up. But then that would eliminate the chance of refs to add extra time until Manure or ‘Pool have scored!
Like many, I am pleasantly surprised by the organisation of our defence, especially when it comes to corners – a real turnaround from previous seasons. It was only when Adam Lallana came on that it seemed Brighton might pose a serious goal threat with his ability to pick passes but still we held firm, despite that late plethora of free kicks.
At some point I hope we get our shots into the corners of the goal and not straight at the goalkeeper though credit to Sanchez for being well-placed and limiting options. I have been impressed with the improvements under Lage’s coaching regime and hope that soon we can bury more of the chances created. Confidence is crucial for strikers so hopefully Trincao and Traore will score some spectaculars on Sunday
just looked up the dictionary definition of an over used word
clinical = efficient and unemotional; coldly detached
that is really the difference between our team and the top 3 ….they see a sight of goal and the ball hits the net,,,,simple, Our players don’t hit the target , either from free kicks or when put through on goal. The Saiss goal WAS ‘clinical’. Just a very rare species.
Meantime our defence is as good as any…but one goal a game is not going to cut it.
Concerned about Hwang and Ait Nouri ….possibly losing them for 4-6 weeks is going to be a problem (unless we get the gift of a Covid league suspension)
I’ve given up on Young Prince…like someone said, let him go play on loan.
2022 New Year resolutions? Semedo in midfield and Jonny at the back plus Neto up front? That might see a breakthrough in being clinical.
OODCL