Nottingham Forest

It looked like another defeat so I’ll pocket the point and try to forget the performance.

Podence’s finish was the only good thing Wolves mustered in a game they spent knocking the ball side to side in that all too familiar horse shoe of misery.

Forest tried their best to give us a goal by heading against their own crossbar and Traore probably should have had a penalty after being bundled over in the box but those flash points punctuated another desperate outing.

Julen Lopetegui clearly had something in mind bringing Toti in from the cold and shoehorning Nunes into the left of midfield but it’s hard to call the experiment a success. The former is powerful but erratic and the latter is weak and ineffective. I think there were better players for both roles.

We also had three central midfielders but Forest still marched right through the middle of the pitch time and again, culminating in the opening goal.

That Wolves avoided going under in the period before half time and then after the break when Forest were piling forward on the counter is a minor miracle.

The head coach had played all his cards by the time the equaliser arrived with Costa (who was one of few to emerge in credit), Neto and Podence all involved.

A great finish but from a chance created almost by accident with all other meagre attempts to do anything in the second half swatted away with ease.

Coming away with a draw is massive under these circumstances but Wolves have got to do much better if they’re to collect the 10 or so points required for survival.

Lopetegui keeps moving the pieces around (which he’ll have to do again next week with Neves suspended for the next two) and I’m disappointed he can’t get more out of this group.

There are still no patterns of play in the final third, no interchange between the midfield and no clear identify.

What are we actually trying to do when we have the ball?

Beyond knocking it around between the defence and Ruben, it’s all so painfully static. When we’re pressured we give it away and when opponents stand off we can’t break lines. It’s excruciating to watch.

At this stage of the season all we can do is cherish every point and hope the next one comes along soon.

Based on this woeful effort, I’m not holding my breath.

Hold onto something. This one is big.

If we win, it doesn’t guarantee safety and if we lose, we’ll probably still end the weekend outside of the bottom three.

But I suspect one way or the other we’ll look back at this game in a month and realise it was seminal.

We edged them out in the league and they put us out of the cup and both matches were chockablock with animosity.

It’s going to be another hot atmosphere at the City Ground tomorrow and I just hope our lads are ready for the challenge.

Forest

Their gung-ho transfer strategy will either be viewed as necessary or foolish depending on what happens between now and the end of May.

If they’re relegated, I do wonder what the future looks like with a bloated squad full of high earners. Has it really been one giant punt? Those closer to the club may have a different view.

One high-profile January acquisition was Chris Wood but he’s now out for the season. I thought that was a big signing for them but it didn’t seem like he performed even before this injury took him out.

Keylor Navas, Jonjo Shelvey and Felipe bring experience and bite to the spine of their side. They’ll be leaning heavily on those players to get them over the line.

And then of course there’s Gibbs-White, who seems destined to have a big say in this game and Forest’s survival. He hasn’t set the world on fire there but has established himself as a good Premier League player.

Wolves

Over to you Julen. Good luck trying to find the most suitable XI out of the multitude of configurations. I’ve agonised over it and landed on this, which I’m still not sure is right.

The headlines are an experienced midfield three that I think will cope with the pressure, retain the ball and fight to the death. I just don’t trust Nunes in any of those respects.

I’d play Bueno at left-back over Ait-Nouri. Again, it’s about aggression and playing with the right intensity.

Up front, it could end up being none of the three I’ve chosen but I think Pedro is looking sharper and got plenty of minutes for the Portugal u21s. Traore gives us the out ball from a more static-looking midfield and Cunha over Raul, just because the latter has had a run of games and still not scored. If I was a Forest fan, I think that would be the three I wouldn’t want to face.

If we go with the likes of Nunes, Ait-Nouri, Podence, Sarabia and Raul, we’re going to struggle in a dogfight, which I can see this becoming. All can have a say from the bench.

Predictions

Nobody thought we’d lose 4-2 to Leeds last time out unsurprisingly, so that makes it nice and easy.

Rich remains four-points clear at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 28.

As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.

You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.

Up The Wolves!

As one out-of-work manager succinctly put it back in the day: “Our performance today would not have been the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi.”

Beggars can’t be choosers in other words, even if this was revolting to look at for large parts against a side we really should be much prettier against.

Or should we? With a misfiring front line once again firing blanks in open play and a quite hopeless attempt at game management after going a goal up, it’ll take a lot more than Ian Holloway to steer this lot away from the threat of relegation.

There were positives in the three points we pulled and the fact this group are clearly committed to the cause, as seen in when Podence collapsed to the floor upon hearing the referee blow up as the clock struck 5pm. Diego Costa’s role as mischief maker was also galvanising, and might just be as critical as the goals he will or won’t score in future. (Oh, and Morgan Gibbs-White did little to suggest we’re missing much and didn’t score against us, thank the lord!)

But our kamikaze attempts at ball-retention from the hour-mark – from players who should know better – was so inept it bordered on the laughable. Befitting of a side unable to win games of football, we looked like rabbits in the headlights with Jonny, Neves, Nunes and Moutinho squandering possession in increasingly maddening ways. And Hwang’s late cameo lacked even more energy than the three fans having a kick through the hole at half time.

Against better opponents, there’d be no Status Quo at the full time whistle, but more league table irregularities and more questions posed than answers.

But as it is, we thank Jose Sa for saving our bacon and can finally tune into Match of the Day for only the second time this season, safe to come out from behind the sofa at long last.

Whether this proves to be a turning point remains to be seen, but I’d suggest we have to play a heck of a lot better. We kept a clean sheet by the grace of god and a litany of errors by Toti, Jonny and Ait Nouri ensured we were on the edge of our seat until we were finally put out of our misery.

The good news is that Collins should now be back and the players will surely be buoyed by the win, however ugly it was.

The bad news is we play Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, so bungling another 3pts into the back of a cab will be a much taller order on bitter experience – even more so if we keep giving the ball away like this.

Given how bad our start to the season has been, it’s hard to believe there are teams that have done worse.

But all four of the Midlands sides have suffered with Forest and Leicester below Wolves in the bottom three and Villa only two positions better off.

The table is still taking shape and with only a four-point gap between ourselves and the top half, the picture can change very quickly for a team that rustles up a couple of wins.

In that respect, this game and the other three October fixtures feel seismic, making it all the more disappointing we’re heading into them without a head coach.

With each passing day, Nuno coming home becomes more enticing and whatever your thoughts on such an appointment, there is no denying it would energise the fan base and that alone could make a world of difference.

Forest

After their draw with Villa on Monday night, I saw a lot of Forest supporters criticising Steve Cooper for being overly cautious.

But I suppose that response was to be expected after being taken apart by Leicester the previous week leading to speculation about his position.

They’ve conceded 22 goals already – 10 more than Wolves with only Leicester (24) being more generous – so it’s not the worst idea to try and build from a stronger foundation.

Of the two players they signed from Wolves in the summer, it seems unlikely we’ll see Willy Boly but almost certain we’ll see Morgan Gibbs-White.

He’s got a couple of assists to his name since joining and seems to be getting positive feedback. He never really got into a groove at Molineux, so hopefully, that doesn’t change tomorrow.

Wolves

I would expect a similar team to last weekend but with Neves restored, probably at the expense of Guedes.

We looked decent in possession at Stamford Bridge but all over the place without the ball. Adding Ruben back into the midfield should give us more control.

Now is the time for our nearly men to provide some returns and I’ve got to believe between Podence, Traore, Costa and Nunes, someone can end the drought.

Much probably rests on the shoulders of Costa who operated on the periphery of the game last weekend but should see more of the action this time. Boy, could we do with him firing.

Assuming we haven’t been felled by any further injuries Steve Davis should have a few options to call on from the bench with Guedes, Hwang, Boubacar Traore and Jonny all senior pros at least.

Joe Hodge and Chem Campball have both looked capable in their minutes too, but you wouldn’t want to bet the house on inexperienced players right now.

Predictions

Well done to Steve, vicsmith, PeteRobbo, Silverwolf, MILDENHALL WOLF, Prawny, Aussiewolf and Lord Twix for all correctly predicting a 3-0 loss against Chelsea.

PeteRobbo joins Rich at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 9.

As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.

You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.

Up The Wolves!

Having doubled down on the team’s inability to score goals at the weekend, I’m happy to have egg on my face this morning.

Yes, it was only a poor Forest side and yes, they deployed the kids but the performance and result still offer a lot of encouragement.

You need only cast your mind back to Chorley in January to remember that the opposition is only as good or as bad as you make them look.

And with 74% possession and 28 shots on goal, we punished a woeful Forest side in a way it’s hard to envisage we would have done last season.

There were 7 changes to the Wolves XI but we still saw the same high energy, attack-minded approach we’ve enjoyed in the opening two league games.

Impressive when you consider everyone is in agreement that we lack squad depth.

No doubt Daniel Podence’s return was timely and it was good to see him looking sharp and at the centre of everything Wolves were doing.

He hit the post, forced saves from the Forest keeper and was finally rewarded with a well-taken goal to cap a fine first outing of the season. If he can stay fit and on form, he’ll be an asset.

As bad as he was in the final run of games last season, we can’t forget he also won us games against Chelsea and Arsenal so the quality is there.

Morgan Gibbs White hasn’t struggled with fitness, so is unfortunate to have had only limited minutes, but a full 90 and a brilliant goal last night won’t have done him any harm.

Fabio didn’t find the net, but laid on two of the goals and managed a couple of good efforts in a strong showing from the deputising front three.

With Trincao then coming off the bench to finish a classy move for his first Wolves goal and Bruno confirming afterwards that Willy Boly is back training with the group, it was a night packed with positives.

And of course, we’re through to the next round in a competition that represents a good opportunity to pursue silverware. Bring on the next round.