Huddersfield Town

If the home fixture against Huddersfield was the worst performance of the season, this must come a close second.

Not a single shot on target in the whole match against the league’s bottom club is woeful by any standards.

Credit to them of course. They played with a spirit and determination that belied their whipping boy status and confirmed them as our premier bogey team.

You could see that late goal was coming in the closing stages, as they continued to pour forward and gold shirts time and time again failed to retain the ball.

They squashed the midfield, pressed high at times and made life just as difficult as they did at Molineux in December.

From a Wolves perspective, it was all just too passive from the get-go from a jaded looking team that would – in hindsight – have benefitted from fresh legs.

That said, those that came on did little to change things with Gibbs-White and Costa in particular offering practially zilch.

Cav was slightly better but once Jimenez was withdrawn, we were far too lightweight in attack and that – as much as anything else – encouraged them to push forward.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Traore is under utilised. I completely fail to see how he could do less than those who are introduced ahead of him from the bench.

Against Bournemouth he drove the team forward and looked menacing, so should really have been given some sort of chance to follow-up on that cameo.

We can happily forgive and forget an off day at present, so hopefully it’s better at the weekend.

It probably can’t be worse.

It would probably be fair to say that Huddersfield’s victory at Molineux in November was the high point of a disastrous season.

David Wagner got his tactics right that day with his men deservedly emerging comfortable winners.

The Wolves performance was so bad, it convinced Nuno we needed an extra body in midfield – a move which has taken his team to a whole new level.

I suppose we can thank the Terriers for that in some perverse way, but that shouldn’t be at the expense of what will hopefully be another strong showing tomorrow.

Huddersfield

They haven’t won a single game since leaving Molineux, with 13 defeats and a draw all but ensuring they’ll be back in the Championship next season.

A conscious uncoupling with David Wagner in the middle of January felt like the decisive nail in the coffin and new man Jan Siewert hasn’t been able to halt the slide.

Like Wagner he was recruited from Borussia Dortmund and the hopes will be he can rebuild a squad capable of making an immediate return next season.

This season, there’s really only pride left to play for and avoiding unwanted records. Fortunately, Derby’s all-time low points tally of 11 isn’t under threat.

It was a typical hard luck story at Newcastle on Saturday, with captain Tommy Smith sent off (he’s suspended tomorrow) and two second half goals further adding to their pain.

The head coach is demanding a response for what he felt was a lack of effort in the game, so it will be interesting to see how they apply themselves in this one.

The home end

Some comments lifted from the match thread (humorously titled: ‘Our next home defeat’) on a popular Huddersfield town forum.

Have we managed just one point since we played Wolves away? Didn’t expect that leaving Wolverhampton, we looked like a premier league team that day.Unrecognisable 3 months later.

Have we ever lost 8 home games in a row before? Could be another record to go for.

I wonder how many will bother turning up. The way I feel this weekend I might not bother, after all what’s the point? I can’t face another 90 minutes watching depoitre lumbering around up front let alone the rest of the sub standard shyte.

Not sure if you were at St James Pk on Saturday but we were rank, you could actually smell the stench up in the clouds where we were. Was in 2 minds after that whether to bother as clearly the players weren’t on Saturday but we’ll be there. We will need a superhuman performance from the team to get anything from the Wolves game though. We play like we did on Saturday & I would not be surprised at some disquiet on the terraces.

Wolves

It gets a bit boring talking about the lineup as the system feels almost set in stone, all the players slot in perfectly and it’s really just about them producing.

With a relatively quick turnaround from Saturday though there might be some rotation. Maybe Saiss for Moutinho with the maestro recovering from that smack around the chops?

Credit to Cav and Traore at Bournemouth who I felt gave us some proper impetus in the attack. One of them could be in line for a start should Jota – who himself had a fine first half at Dean Court – not be risked.

Predictions

There’s a new leader at the top of the Prediction League table with Wolvo Dave edging into a narrow lead after collecting a maximum at Bournemouth.

Well done also to Sea Pigeon, Woodend Wolf, Teddy Eley, Marin Wolf, Mildenhall Wolf and PeteRobbo for scooping all three points by correctly forecasting the 1-1 draw.

As always, if you’d like to join in the fun, simply leave your prediction in the comment section below, which is where you’ll find my best guess.

Up The Wolves!

It’s nearly that time of year again.

And if there was any doubt about what needs to be at the top of Nuno’s letter to Santa before this game, there isn’t now.

The need for a goalscorer is clear, and is starting to become a major problem.

No disrespect to Huddersfield, they did their job well today.

But it’s a pretty damning indictment of your attack when you manage to muster only one meaningful chance against a team that had shipped 22 goals heading into this fixture.

Opposition manager David Wagner must be thinking Christmas had come early, given the meek nature of our performance.

So many good players were off colour, and our play was so predictable.

Quite frankly, it was painful to watch at times.

What’s concerning is that Nuno made no effort to tweak the system, despite it being all too clear that Town had us sussed from the off.

Changing players will do nothing unless they’re giving the opposition something different to think about.

Adama Traore and Morgan Gibbs-White were both improvements on what they replaced, but were ultimately shoehorned into the same formation.

That meant the former had to spend most his time chasing lost causes, and the latter trying to win headers against a guy twice his size.

I’m not for one minute suggesting I know better than the gaffer, but our problems were glaringly obvious today.

And with it now being five games since we tasted victory, you’d suspect we’re going to have to try something different to break the slump.

Whether Nuno is inclined to do that remains to be seen, but belligerent devotion to one style of play is beginning to look naive in a division that doesn’t leave a lot of margin for error.

That being said, it’s important we don’t lose perspective. We’ve come a long way in a short space of time, and a bump in the road should be expected.

Let’s hope the Sky cameras are kinder to us on Friday.

This fixture served up one of the darker days in recent Wolves history back in 2013.

The Terriers won 3-1 courtesy of two late Jermaine Beckford goals and Jamie O’Hara was sent off as we limped towards League One.

Huddersfield themselves were down at the bottom and defeat on that dull Saturday afternoon was one of the low points in a miserable season.

It wasn’t a one-off either. Much like Brighton, they’re a bogey team for Wolves and have won 12 of the last 15 matches between the two sides.

They’ll be hoping to keep up that formidable record, but I don’t think a trip to Molineux is quite as appetising these days.

Huddersfield

Although they’re still in the relegation zone things have been looking up for David Wagner of late with 5 points from the last 3 matches.

Fulham were put away to give them a first victory of the campaign, sandwiching hard fought draws against Burnley and West Ham – a game they were leading until late on.

Scoring goals has been a major problem for them and the 6 they’ve mustered thus far is the lowest tally in the top flight.

They’re a wildcard team with a wildcard manager and have turned over a lot of players in the last two or three years. It’s tough to know what to expect from them in any given game.

I think they’re definitely in for a relegation slog, but I don’t think they’re any worse than the other seven teams around them at the wrong end of the table.

The away end

I lifted the following comments from the match thread on a popular Huddersfield town forum.

Just popped into their forum Molineux Mix and they are very, very confident. Comments mainly fall in to the category of ‘We should be beating the likes of Huddersfield’. I think the Wolves fans fall into the category of misplaced arrogance, on a par with Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday. On one thread a poster said we’re not a Premier League club. Oh well! Personally I’m going for 1-1.

We look to have turned the corner in the last couple of games which should give us confidence. They’re an average premier league club as the table proves so we should go there with no fear. They’ve picked up 4 points in their last 5 games which is the same as us. Wolves fans are an arrogant bunch so I wouldn’t pay much attention to them. They have been really lucky with injuries so far with only one player out for a match or more, whereas we’ve been pretty unlucky with 13 injuries so far. Don’t get me wrong they are a decent side with a quality manager, after spending £100m in the summer & a huge wage budget they should be, but we’ve picked up points against better sides in the last couple of seasons so I see no reason we can’t come away with something providing we’re at it. 1-1.

A month ago I’d have had this down as a home banker, but they are starting to struggle after a very impressive start to the season. In contrast, we’ve started to get the results our general level of performance this season has merited. Make no mistake, this is a tough game against a good side, but we are more than capable of getting a result at Molineaux – if we play well. We can’t repeat the poor defensive performance we produced at Watford, but if we press from the front and put them under pressure in possession we can get at them and get a result. Don’t we have a decent recent record against them too? I’m going so I’m hopeful of a good result to back up our good results last week. I reckon the most likely result will be a low-scoring draw. And I’d be happy with that, although I see no reason why, if we replicate our performances from the first halves against Fulham and West Ham, we can’t get a first away win. I just don’t want to see us sitting back like we did at the start of the second half of both those games.

They are better than us and will have this down as a 3 point banker. We are without Zanka and probably the player of the year (so far) on Chris Lowe. I’d take a point.

I can’t believe what some Town fans are saying on here. I’d take a point but I also wouldn’t be surprised if we were comfortably beaten 3 or 4 nil.

We’ve had some good results at Molineux last few seasons we were in same league (I recall watching Beckford getting a couple for us there in a game). They have spent big and I like their manager (if they hadnt got promoted and Wagner had moved on he’d have been on my wish list as a replacement) but we should not fear them, an away point or better is quite achievable if we play like we have recently.

Wolves

The second half against Spurs and the first half against Arsenal reminded us that this group of players are capable of playing on the front foot against the best sides in the league.

Injuries to Jonny and Doherty are a major setback. The latter will probably still play I suspect, but either way I’m fully expecting Vinagre to get a run in the side.

If Doc doesn’t make it, I would throw caution to the wind and play Traore with a view to getting at Huddersfield and overwhelming them with numbers in attack.

The alternative would probably be to play Bennett out there and bring Dendoncker into the middle, but I think we need more thrust out wide, particularly at home.

The poll

Predictions

vicsmith still leads the Prediction League Table at the end of Gameweek 12 with 19 points from 12 predictions. Paddy Day, Wolvo Dave, johnok, Brizzie, LukeW and Teddy Eley are all within striking distance so well done to one and all.

As always if you’d like to take part, simply leave your prediction for the game in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Maintain a consistent email address to see your cumulative score in the overall table.

My prediction, for what little it’s worth based on performance, is down below.

Since their jubilant arrival in sunny Wolverhampton last summer, our Chinese owners have often spoke about the size and potential of the club and the importance of returning it to the Premier League sooner rather than later.

And yet a glance up the Championship table sees Barnsley, Cardiff, Brentford, Reading, Huddersfield and Brighton sitting comfortably above us.

All due respect to these clubs – they’ve more than earned their respective standings – but none bare anything resembling our history.

This isn’t delusions of grandeur on my part, it’s fact.

But under the bumbling premiership of Fosun, Kevin Thelwell and to a lesser extent Laurie Dalrymple – because, contrary to popular opinion, we can’t blame Morgan and Moxey for everything – we’re now in a position where opposition as modest in stature as tonight’s can turn up at Molineux and claim three points without breaking sweat.

Paul Lambert made six tactical changes to his team but on recent evidence it’s apparent that there’s no winning formula to be found in the current side.

Truthfully, the blame for this can be afforded to every outfield department but having watched the ease with which two of this season’s success stories, Brighton and Huddersfield, passed circles around us it’s hard to argue against the notion that the midfield is our Achilles heel.

Sure, our strikers are laughably impotent but they might have mustered a few more goals if we had some vision in the middle of the park.

Be honest, who doesn’t see the sale of Kevin McDonald as anything other than scandalous?

God may love a trier but as professional as Dave Edwards may be I’d be thankful if I never had to endure another 90 minutes of him hiding behind opposition midfielders whilst we’re in possession.

No manager can legislate selecting any midfielder at this level that is not comfortable with the ball at his feet – the ever increasing standard of the league won’t allow it.

Though it’s a deficiency that is symptomatic of all our midfielders (except perhaps Saiss) the fact that Edwards is picked week in, week out regardless of form means he deservingly bears the brunt of most fans’ criticism.

Don’t let 10 goals fool you, we’ll never get promoted playing this guy every week.

Of course, ‘Deadly’ wasn’t alone when underperforming tonight. His bearded counterpart churned out one of his worst performances in a Wolves shirt and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson continued his excellent impression of Tomasz Frankowski with aplomb.

Crumbs of comfort could be found in Silvio’s solidity, Morgan Gibbs-White’s youthful endeavour and the long awaited return of Jordan Graham but, truth be told, this was a damp squib not dissimilar to the dross served up on Saturday.

I’m yet to be convinced that Lambert possesses the ruthless streak that is needed to arrest this malaise but the efficiency of Andi Weimann and Ben Marshall since their arrival in January, coupled with his feats at Norwich in years gone by, suggest he knows enough about the Championship to at least engineer some improvement on this term.

Whether that faith is misguided is a question that won’t be answered for some time so perhaps it’s wise that for the time being we relish the prospect of a Molineux free summer.

The good news is this can’t possibly be any worse than Saturday.

Even if we get well and truly roasted the entertainment value alone will make it a marked improvement on the weekend’s atrocities.

The bad news is it could be pretty unpleasant if Wolves don’t find their mojo.

Huddersfield still need one more victory to be mathematically certain of a play-off position and after getting blasted by fellow promotion chasers Fulham they’ll want to get that monkey off their back sooner rather than later.

Perversely though, their eagerness could play into our hands.

Huddersfield

I’m looking forward to seeing David Wagner’s team up close and personal. I didn’t go to the reverse fixture earlier in the season but I’ve seen them a few times on the TV and been impressed.

They’ve got good energy, bundles of creativity and that all important explosive pace in the final third.

Wagner has made folly of the idea you need experience to be successful in the Championship. Both he and most of his players are learning on the job and going along nicely.

The German has coaxed something like consistency out of Rajiv van La Parra, which itself is commendable. How he acquits himself tomorrow will be very interesting. I always thought he was useful despite blowing hot and cold.

Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy has also been getting rave reviews and he’s another I’ll be keeping a watchful eye on. He’s currently on loan from Manchester City and a host of clubs will be sniffing around in the summer.

Wolves

Paul Lambert has already declared his intention to ring the changes so who knows what that might mean for the starting lineup?

The above is just one idea based on the assumption that Costa and Doherty are out injured and Enobakhare is back in contention.

Now Dominic Iorfa has had a stretch on the sidelines, maybe he can come back in and show some of the form that made him a standout in his early appearances for the club?

I’d play him and Marshall as the full-backs to give us some proper width and allow Weimann and Cavaleiro to drift inside. Price and Coady holding.

I don’t remember reading about an injury to Bright but I think he’s the exact type of player we missed on Saturday. Someone who can introduce fluidity to an otherwise pedestrian performance.

Prediction

I predict defeat, but hopefully one that offers glimpses of individual potential for next season.

Like it or not, we will still have this nucleus of players to work with, so Paul Lambert has to find winning combinations and players who can step up and perform consistently next time.

2-1 Huddersfield.

Up The Wolves!

* For the latest odds and football betting information visit online-betting.org today.

Save