Since the referee blew his whistle to bring a memorable – if not tortuous – season to a close, we’ve all been banding about the names of players we’d like to sign, as well as some we’d like to see shown the door.
More names have been thrown around than we can probably remember, partly due to boredom and the magnitude of the season that awaits.
But today, after hearing a salacious piece of gossip that is most definitely unsubstantiated, a name raced back into the forefront of my mind, making me feel slightly guilty for not discussing him sooner.
Sylvan Ebanks Blake, our Wanderers number nine!
The juicy bit of gossip, for what it’s worth, is that Roger Johnson is on his way to Molineux in a swap deal with our Sylv, plus a wad of cash on top.
Forget the validity of the claim as it is most probably garbage and not something I’d like to hang our blog’s reputation on.
But the bigger discussion is quite what to do with SEB next season and how he will fit in with our plans?
When hearing the gossip, I was genuinely excited within seconds before telling myself to remember who we’re talking about here.
Not since Bully can I remember a player that gives me so much pleasure when seeing him score. He’s our double championship golden boot winner and a vastly improved version of his old self after notching seven goals from a total of 11 starts last season.
His finishing impudent, his celebrations nonchalant and his name sacrosanct with virtually every Wolves fan you’ll ever speak to.
So why was my head telling me this bit of Small Heath tittle-tattle would actually be a good thing for us next season, when it also recalled the many memories and goosebumps that our 25 year-old has given us? (Charlton away anyone?!)
My heart has long said that Sylvan’s name should be the first on the teamsheet for others to be worked around, such are his predatory instincts.
But the reality is that a marquee defender is the priority for the new season, while we also need to start seeing more of Doyle and Fletcher as a striking partnership don’t we? They’re our best two forwards, right?
At the moment Sylvan slammed home the goal that sealed our promotion in 2009 at home to QPR, the very thought of ever selling him would have made me sick.
In many ways, it still does.
So the simple question has to be: What would you do with Sylvan next season?
NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA, SYLVAN EBANKS-BLAKE, EBANKS-BLAKE, SYLVAN EBANKS-BLAKE!!
I rest my case
Keep him as an excellent third choice strikers, we’ve seen that at times we have need him (and ward) and he has produced.
He has vastly improved over the last season, and I can’t see there being anyway that mick would let him go now.
Would hate to see him leave, particularly if the destination was St. Andrews.
In fact, nothing would depress me more than seeing him getting 20+ goals and helping Blues get back to the Prem.
Yuk!
I think there’s still very much a role for him at Wolves, particularly if 442 becomes the norm.
He proved last season he can score goals against the very best and decent strikers are hard to come by.
But I’m greedy, I want Johnson too. I think he’s worth the dosh personally, so lets just pay the hard cash and get him.
Johnson, Mills and Ridgwell (a player we’ve been linked with today in the rag) would do nicely for me.
Johnson, Mills & Ridgewell, they would do me!
If I had to choose between to sell SEB and that wolves to be relegated, i would choose wolves to be relegated. Sylvan is “THE WOLVES”. He is my man and every young wolves supporters look up to him. He is my hero. If Sylvan goes to the blues, I will go to the blues
Cant be much of a supporter if you would rather see the team relegated just for the sake of a player, who yes, was brilliant in the championship but still yet to prove himself in the premiership.
No player or fan is bigger than the club…………..see ya!!!!
I’d be sad to see SEB leave even if he was 5th choice and we were in the Champions League.
I’ve not had this borderline irrational love for a player since the days of you know who.
But. For what it’s worth, I agree with the posters above – there’s still a role for the guy. If McCarthy goes 4-4-2 I’d actually expect SEB to feature in about 30 games just as he did last season. Even if we start 4-5-1 he’ll still see action from the bench.
I actually think, on a national level, SEB is underrated. This guy was the top scorer in the Championship two years running. He then missed a hatful of chances in his first season in Prem and all the buzz about him died. And yet, 7 goals (11 starts, 19 subs) last season was a very decent effort – and he’s still only 25!
Ebank-Blake is the Wanderers No.9.
Tell the fat git to lose a bit of weight 1st up and then to take his bloody chance when he gets them, otherwise move him on and buy someone much better so that if Doyle gets injured again we don`t go into freefall and end up in an almighty relegation scrap.
If you’d said this last year I could’ve almost understood.
Since the signing of Fletcher, he has been a new player. He’s quicker, stronger and his ruthless side came back.
Ebanks is a good player, and that makes it plausible. If we were to trade a player+money for Johnson it would have to be a player they really would like to sign, and a golden boot award is something a club like B’ham really appreciates.
I don’t blame him for wanting to leave. All players want to play and B’ham is a serious club with ambitions playing for promotion. I hope he choses to play in gold this season, that he chose to wait, as Doyle do, until a big club like Arsenal comes into the picture.
If he leaves I’m sure MM has some decent replacements in mind.
Scoring wasn’t the issue this past season, defending was. If you have the opportunity to swap a sub for a premier defender, I think you have to pull the trigger, no matter the nostalgia factor. Sylvan may have got the Wolves into the EPL, but his departure could assure a mid table finish if it brought along Roger Johnson.
Put him at left back, he couldn’t do any worse than the idiots we’ve had there, and especially as Ward was put up front in his spot last season!!!!
Seriously, a good deal for the team if he goes to Blues for Johnson, as was said above, our defense needs fixing first and foremost.
We have players in the squad who can score goals, and if they get an injection of confidence from a solid back four, then goalscoring will increase.
Still, FOMM.
I think you need to look at this video to see how foolish you have been in suggesting that SEB should leave, as should anyone else who has doubted him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VragTypHlyw
Now say sorry and I’ll let this slide
I’m sorry 🙁 lol
Such is the need to fix our broken dam of a defence that i was considering the Johnson for SEB swap but i wanna say thanks for putting that video up to remind me of what a good predator SEB is. I think he’s just had a few unlucky/dodgy seasons but we all not that he is class and I’m sure will bang in the goals when it clicks for him.
I also noticed as well that during most of the clicks, SEB seemed to have a really good partnership with Kightly. Kightly fed our number 9 for alot of his goals and they seemed to know where the other would be and would do. Could the lack of Kightly being a regular over the last 2 seasons also be a factor in SEB’s dip in form?
I’ve just noticed how bad my spelling and writing is on my post. Apologies for that. I think you get the jist. I’ve not had a few beers. Honest 😛
Very good point about Kightly there as I hadn’t noticed that. And I think you could have spotted a very good reason about lack of goals, along with the fact that he got a lot more service from hunt/hammill/jarvis than the first year in the premier league
As for the spelling that is another matter, I shall take your word for it but be warned such inaccurate use of words will result in a good ol’fashioned beating ;).
Would be a more suited swap: a 3rd place striker for a 1st place defender as it stands we are in need of some class being installed to our back 4. Although I would miss seeing the goal hunter blake score a hat-trick in next years premier league campaign.
Suddenly Roger Johnson is Franco Baresi and Ebanks is a lump of lard.
Do me a favour.
Even suggesting selling him is making me angry. Stop please.
Spot on. Saved my typing finger.
Keep SEB, he is a quality goalscorer and he will show it more this season
I’ve only just stumbled across this site, where have you been?!?
I love Ebanks and would hate to see him leave, he is a genuine Wolves hero of recent times. Even when he is running up and down the touchline as a sub the fans break into song singing his name. Not many players can get the crowd going when they aren’t even on the pitch.
We need three quality strikers. No point shoring up the defence if we stop scoring at the other end.
Welcome to the madhouse!!!
We have a lot of opinions here, but no trash talking about each other, except whe I’ve had a few, and we are all fanatical Wufflers fans, so glad you stumbled across us, come and join the fun.
FOMM
the more pertinent question is where have *you* been?!?
try to avoid slating kightly or praising ward and you won’t go too far wrong…
Ward does put a good shift in through doesn’t he 🙂
Why can’t we swap ward for Johnson he’s good allrounder plays anywhere
not very good mind ya but ideal for blouses me thinks..Keep him we need
a third striker,don’t mean third choice…But what will the mcIdiot do who
knows…
Or the Hof – blues love a lanky striker – Zigic, Kevin Francis et al!!!!
How about they take Keogh in part exchange and the ‘Hoff’ whilst they are about it?
We’ll keep SEB and we’ll have Johnson.
Seriously will we get anyone?
Or be left with Berra and the boys?
Apparently leicester have offered higher wages to Mills than we have!
I do not think Johnson will be a Wolves player.
Hope I am wrong though…
If you were a professional footballer and had any pride in your work and ability to do your job as often as you could to the best of your talent, how would you feel if you didn`t play many games and was a substitute on far more occasions.
On top of that your manager prefers to play a prolific – not, Irish striker not fit to lace your boots for reasons only the manager knew. How would you feel if someone offered you to play every week in a blue shirt, must be a temptation for SEB to relaunch himself somewhere where he gets to play.
Sadly SEB can`t play the sole striker role, he needs to play in a 442 system. If the club don`t get the defenders which they say Morgan has given the green light for, and the club needs to move forward to play a 442 then what does SEB do? I`d hate him to go, but if that is the only way we can get the centre half we need, then maybe its inevitable.
Anything that will avoid a repeat of the ‘last day dramas’ of last season has to be worth at least considering. Our need for a quality centre half is our number one priority and although this is not the ideal solution it is still worth considering. In truth of course there is unlikely to be any substance to the rumour, so we are all getting excited by nothing. Just look at the daily dose of bilge coming from the Express & Star for proof of this, read between the lines of the articles and notice the complete lack of any direct quotes from the club, it is very simple, if there is no club confirmation then it is ‘chip paper’, pure and simple. This story fits neatly into the same category.
I understand Jorgen’s comment, to me Ebanks Blake is Wolves and by far and away my favourite player. To say I would rather him stay and Wolves get relegated though is a step too far for me, but I certainly would’nt swap him for Johnson either!
In his first season he was hampered by injuries and was always playing catch up, last season he proved himself in my opinion and took his chances! 7 goals does not tell the full story as he did not play too many games. And although Doyle is the all round best “forward” we have, he is by no means a striker meaning SEB and Fletcher must not go anywhere.
Will probably get a stream of comments to this but I believe Fletcher and SEB can build a better partnership than Doyle and SEB or Doyle and Fletcher. Doyle is very creative, but should we need that now with the creativity we have in O’ Hara, Jarvis and Hunt?
Fingers crossed thought we do sign a centre back and a left back (but not at the expense of a required player), or else this year I fear the worst.
What about the Fletcher and Ward partnership that actually kept us up?
If Doyle had not got injured MM would have never stumbled upon that partnership!
Fully agree that the Doyle, Fletcher partnership still has a lot to prove. Granted, they only played a handful of games together last season, but it never really took off.
SEB played very well with Fletcher at times and Ward’s contribution as part of a two man attack shouldn’t be overlooked either.
It was a real bonus that Fletcher came in and occupied the lone frontman role so effectively too before we went back to a 442 for the final few fixtures.
Here’s a cat among the pigeons: cash in on Doyle for £15m-£20m, buy Johnson and a 3rd striker, play Fletch and SEB up top?
That had once crossed my mind. Was going to write a blog about it late last season. I eventually concluded it was a bad idea, after about 500 words of waffle!
I heard this SEB swap rumour a couple of weeks ago – so in the words of Victor Meldrew “I dont believe it!”
But… Would I let our third choice striker go to oil the wheels of a good central defender arriving? Take out the sentiment and ask yourself what we need more for the coming season?
In the cruel world of football, much as I love SEB and the goals he has given to the club, I would pack him off to Blues in a heart beat! (and throw in Andy Keogh as his driver too!)
Nice to see David Jones about to sign for Nottingham Forest – I bet you wish you’d have signed that contract offer now! F**k off to the championship!
I don’t mourn Jones’ passing either. he scored a lovely goal against the pot heads and threatened moments of genius, but he also tended to disappear and become anonymous in games. the fact he’s had to drop a tier to find a club speaks volumes. we can and should definitely do better.
Interesting to see we’ve got £1m for halford. a pompey mate at work is chuffed to get him in (he’s a converted centre back for them and doing pretty well by all accounts) but a little disgruntled at having to pay so much. I know we paid double that, and it was daft, but what’s done is done and I think we’ve done well to get so much for a player who could easily have gone for a third of that money. So well done to the 3Ms for getting a million back, but not so well done for paying £2m to start off with.
Another great McCarthy signing – think we are lucky to get £1m as he only has a year left on his contract and was never a £2m player in the first place.
As for “big time” Jones the links with Blackburn and Bolton in the papers were about as true as our links with Keane and Lescott!
Great, looks like we can’t financially compete with NPower giants Leicester City judging by this story
http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2011/07/07/wolves-losing-out-in-matt-mills-bid/
Mind you, still only early July folks!!
Absolutely incredible if true! Wonder how much less than £600 a season ticket is at Leicester??? Wonder how much less than ours is the tv revenue at Leicester???
To be fair, £4.5 mill (rising to £5.5) is a hell of a lot to shell out on a bloke that’s never kicked a ball in the Prem.
As much as I’d like him, I think that price is a bit steep.
I don’t think it’s a case of Leicester out-muscling us financially, more that they’re willing to pay what Reading want and Wolves don’t think he’s worth it.
Personally, if those quoted figures are right, I’d be looking elsewhere. Of course, he could prove my wrong by doing the business at Leicester of wherever, but at this moment £4.5 mill is over the odds.
You never know though, this could force our hand and he might yet arrive at Compton.
Agree with both sides of this one – I don’t see Mills being worth £5.5m but find it unacceptable that Leicester can outbid us on a player?
you’ve saved my typing fingers this time (i use more than one)
You taking the piss out my finger Sleach?!!
Its a move on from me. Not proven at this level. Let Leicester out bid us or put it another way…..why aren’t we being outbid by one of our rivals in the Prem? Tarrar a bit Matty – go and get your money in the Championship. Another sign of the times – money wins!
oh yeah, it was you I was taking the piss out of. whoops, thought it was Stourbridge with the typing handicap for some reason.
good point on the lack of other premiership suitors.
what’s the betting Jez confounds us all by stumping up £6m, and Mills turns out to be worse than Collins?
What irks me more is the fact we deal exclusively in about 5 centre backs (as far as we know). It is one of:
Johnson
Dunne
Mills
Bassong
Evans
At the same time, the club says it won’t be going in for foreigners as it likes a UK policy. It’s like Sir Jack has never been gone!!!!!
So we say we’ll deal in UK players only…They are vastly overhyped and as a result, overpaid.
We won’t play lads like Batth as a matter of principle.
So we’ve made our bed. Bloody lie in it and pay the cash!
Alternatively, have a look where Vidic, Hangerlaand, Skrytl, Pantsil, Agger, Samba, Heitinga, Mensah, Collacini etc etc etc etc etc all came from and buy someone decent from the continent.
Whoops, forgot…We don’t do ‘foreign.’
We are stupid.
I’ve made my mind up – £4.5m is too much for some bloke who has never faced a Premier League striker. Let him go and move on!
Bassong please.
Bassong is the one. Him or Johnson, and Ridgewell LB please (although if we get him he’ll end up centre half with Ward at full back)
This not doing foreign for me is another example of MM’s lack of imagination. The players have to conform with his one dimensional type of management. The players have to adapt to what he is comfortable with rather than the other way round. That’s why a natural predator like SEB has to sit on the bench and watch the likes of Ward ‘put shift in’. If you only want to sign proven British players, you have to pay top whack or, as in our case, you don’t get them.
And as for sorting our perrenial left back problem…..can’t see anything happening there, can you?
I really hope this isn’t true. I’ve heard so many rumours this summer I don’t believe anything now.
I’d hate to see SEB go and seeing as we probably won’t be buying any new strikers I don’t think it would be a good idea to get rid of our 3rd choice. And when Doyle signs for Arsenal he’ll be 2nd choice……………
There’s nothing like a Blakey goal to get the Molineux rocking and the thought of never seeing him score again almosy brings a tear to my eye.
I get the argument about oiling a deal to get a CH or LB by throwing in SEB, but I think we need him. Question is does he think he needs us? He came off the bench last season on numerous occasions and did really well, scored 7 goals even though he wasn’t a team regular – it’s getting towards super-sub status! Keep him for at least one more season.
And another thing, whats with all the training camp photo’s of our boys running around in the sunshine! I live in Ireland and I can tell you it’s rained here every day for the last 8 weeks (except for last Sat and Sun when I managed to get sunburned!) so they clearly can’t be in Ireland! I tell you, dark forces are at play – Moxey’s probably got them training in a warehouse in Bilston so as not to dip into his precious £9M!
FOJM
I’d be gutted if SEB went, but not as gutted as if we start the season with no new defenders, especially if this is a genuine deal that we eschew rather than mere paper talk.
that said, if SEB does go, are we seriously considering a season with Vokes and Ward as our 2nd choice strikers? we could have the old Arsenal back 4 (George Graham era not the squirrel faced paedo) and still get relegated if we’re relying on them for premier league goals….
Why can’t we get the likes of Carlos Vela or Daniel Sturridge on loan rather than Mancienne? (O’Hara exempt as is was more of a 6 month probation than a loan!) Then we could easily use SEB as a makeweight.
As has been said a few times above, the closest we’ve got to a Bully goal for over a decade is the nanananananananana of SEB hitting the onion bag, and it would be a big shame to draw a line under that. There’s a whole generation of kids to whom he is a proper hero…
I thinkl one point not made above is simply that we would need to replace Ebanks! So why not keep him and forget Johnson and buy another defender. This Mills scenario reminds me of Dann, even if he is over the odds we are desperate for a centre half so should bite the bullet.
Definitely shouldn’t flog SEB. One for the hero status and the fact he can still score goals and two because flogging him would leave Ward as third choice with Doyle injury prone and possibly Arsenal bound. Needing a better defence doesn’t mean we should decimate the strike force to get it.
Leicester have money to chuck around under Mandaric, meaning they’ll probably go the same way as Pompey. While it would be galling to be beaten to a player by a Championship club, we shouldn’t throw money at someone who could just be another Stearman.
If we got another stearman to go next to Stearman, I’d be happy Mills however, isn’t as quick or good on the ball.
Personally, I think it’s a bullet dodged if Mills signs for Leiceser and gives us the chance to go for Johnson or bassong. Sunderland have just signed two centre backs, so are probably no longer interested in Johnson. i reckon £8m would get him.
Also, Leicester are no longer owned by Mandaric I think.
Berra and Craddock it is next season then folks!!
http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2011/07/07/christophe-berra-gets-up-to-speed/
We’ve all been hoodwinked. Berra is in fact quick! Couldn’t make it up. Or could you?!
The club couldn’t possibly have leant on the paper to put this one out could they?!
‘Berra in pace shock.’!!!!
come off it mate, they’ve put it in the express and star – it must be true.
next thing you’ll be telling us the news of the world is, sorry, was corrupt!
It is almost as laughable as the paper claiming Keogh is our version of Wayne Rooney, which they did after his Wigan goal!!!!!!!! Couldn’t make it up.
While they’re there, they should write a piece about Ward actually scoring 16 goals last season, and George Elokobi being the most positionally aware player on our books.
I am beginning to wonder if I was dreaming all 60 of Berra’s Premier League performances and lulled myself into thinking he had the turning circle of an arctic truck. Damn my eyes!!!
for me its a stupid rumour with no substance, should we get rid of blake we then need a striker and they are hard to find, what i wouldnt mind is a swap deal involving our defenders for theirs, Ridgwell and Johnson for stearman and berra + 5-6 mill. this should leave us with enough to then get bassong. i would also prefer a 5 mill plus hennesy for Foster while we are raiding them if the money is there, that would take our spend to about 23 mill with o hara but we could raise a few mill from sales starting with the 1 mill for Halford. Hopefully spending 20 mill in total to improve our back 5 whilst adding a quality central midfielder
Problem then is we’ll have their defense from last season, and look where they went!!!!
Changing the subject, is there any interest at all over there in the women’s World Cup?
i think bassong an johnson with ridgwell left back would be a huge improvement on berra stearman and big george, add foster whos a better keeper and its happy days, i am desperate for football but not that desperate id watch womens footie
It would be a big improvement, but obviously a tad fantastical.
I’m aware of the women’s world cup and even read a match report once. It’s hardly the Wolves is it?
Looks like the Mills option has gone according to the vehicle of veritas that isn’t the E&S.
Maybe we should start considering the back 4 from the England Women’s team!