Reports that Adam Hammill has been told he can leave is further evidence that Ståle Solbakken plans a drastic overhaul in the team’s style of play.
With Matt Jarvis still hotly tipped for a move and the uncertainty surrounding Michael Kightly’s contractual situation, it seemed (from the outside) that Hammill would at the very least be an important member of the squad if not the starting eleven.
But that was assuming our manager had any intention of basing his tactics on the use of wingers, which it seems increasingly evident that he does not.
Reports from pre-season friendlies suggest a much more compact midfield, with the full-backs pushing on to offer width.
We’ve even seen Michael Kightly pushed inside to play off a front man, abandoning his usual stomping ground down the right flank.
I think this narrower approach is something Wolves fans are going to need some time to get used to and it’s easy to understand why.
Really, it’s all we’ve ever known.
Going back to my earliest days at Molineux I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have a Robbie Dennison, a Steve Froggatt or a Mark Kennedy marauding down the wing.
In this respect, Mick McCarthy was an ideal fit, bringing back the the good times at his peak with fast, pacey, direct attacking football that the old gold faithful could easily relate to.
Our new manager it seems is foreign in every respect, but we should embrace this, surely?
This is the direction football is undoubtedly heading. Shrewd tactical football, based on keeping possession, maintaining a shape and working patiently to create opportunities.
It’s about time we got on board isn’t it?
Naturally, as a supporter you’re always loathe to lose a player with Hammill’s raw credentials. A pacey attacker that’s willing to drop the shoulder, throw a stepover or take aim from distance.
But perhaps in this new dawn, we shouldn’t panic about the impending loss of such an individual.
After all, wingers are so passe.
Can’t say I’m that bothered about him. It doesn’t seem that he had a very good attitude and while he was very skilfull, he didn’t have a brain.
What I’m wondering is how on earth we will get rid of Hunt, is there anyone that would take him?
Nonsense. He was fast, nimble and deadly accurate with crosses… his only mistake was not being one of muppet mick’s favourites … hence he was farmed out, and never got another chance.
More worrying is the names alongside him who are also being touted – Jarvis and Kights namely.. Our3 star midfielders are up for the chop and donkeys Edwards Hunt and OHara all sticking around….
not good at all.
Good crosser of the ball, from dead balls yes. His mistake was thinking he was a world beater, could have been a decent player but as I said he doesn’t have a brain.
Hunt and Edwards I agree we should move on, but O’Hara? If we can get him fit he is way too good for this league.
“His only mistake was not being one of muppet mick’s favourites”
Um, Stale obviously doesn’t rate him either… yes, it could be ‘cos Hammill can’t fit into his overall vision but still, he seems to be low in the pecking order – seems as though youngster Forde is ahead of him as well!
Mind you, I’m always excited to see youth players break through!
Totally agree, thought he was light weight , rarely took his man on , good crosser of the ball though. Might do a job in the championship,not preimership and not a patch on Jarvis or Kights.
Dave H
No, he’s not a patch on Jarvo or Kights. But we’ll lose at least one of them (although I do think Kights will stay).
I just get frustrated by the number of players that we see come in and out without ever getting a proper chance. I don’t think he ever did really get a proper chance. He was always stuck, for some reason, behind Hunt – and now we’re stuck with Hunt. I enjoyed his recent press comments which essentially said “I’m staying because I feel like owe Wolves”…read into that “I’m staying because I won’t get paid this amount of money anywhere else and no Premiership team will have me”.
I don’t disagree that this signals a shift of intent, and on that basis, it’s time to let Fletcher and Jarvis go, imo. Jarvis is an out and out winger and Fletcher thrives off crosses; if we’re not playing wingers, let them both go – £20m and that’s a done deal (£12m Fletcher and £8m Jarvis).
Anyway, goodbye Adam Hammill. Thanks for everything and you leave, I’m sure, with the best wishes of the vast majority of Wolves fans.
Never really rated Hammill myself but there are others that do – I remember a blog post on here early on in our last season which talked about Adlene, Hammill and Milijas and how they ought to get more gametime – one has left us, one is set to leave us and Milijas I’m not sure on – I wouldn’t mind him in a Wolves team though!
We have a huge squad with the addition of two strikers and a midfielder already so players will have to go!
Well MM didnt play Hammill that often and he bought him.At least its beginning to look like the new man knows what he wants.
Yes i was surprised Hammill was an unused sub on Tuesday, Thomas, when neither Kites or Jarvis were available. There were men out on the flanks but i presume they are expected to play differently to an orthodox winger. I don’t think we should worry about it too much because there was plenty of good football AND goals in the second half.
I do think there is some sort of issue with Hammill though, which seemed the case last year as well. Maybe STS just doesn’t think he’s able to adapt. Pity because he’s a useful player and Hunt on Tuesday looked pretty hopeless to me. Will he be going too?
I think the uncertainty of other Wolves players is the reason we are all a bit jittery. We could go from an abundance of wingers to Steven Hunt. But the additions to the squad give me hope
I am slightly worried that we maybe losing all of our accomplished wingers. We’ve shown over the past three years that it still can be an effective route to goal even at the top level (although we were way too over reliant on it) and it’s surely worth while as an effective plan B.
That said Hammil was such a hot and cold player that I’d be a lot less sad to see him go than Kights or Jarvis. He was another of the trio who’s reputation benefited hugely from being out of the team. But as you said he is young and could yet turn out to be an effective player, seems a shame to let him go without giving him the chance to fight for a place in the new set up.
Facts are that playing down the wings is a very inefficient way of attacking. We must have been in the top 5 for crosses into the box for the last 3 seasons, didn’t really help us. Would be sad to see Jarivs go, but i’m looking forward to seeing a more compact team.
More compact midfield utilising the “talents” of aging has-beens Hunt and OHara ?? I disagree wholeheartedly, we need to keep your young talented players and farm thos old donkeys out.
Not sure I mentioned Hunt and O’Hara. I think we’ve proven that wingers will only get you so far. It could certainly get us out of the Championship, but what then? Solbakken is trying to introduce something different and I’m all for it
O’Hara isn’t yet 26. Wouldn’t call him an ageing has-been quite yet. If he can stay fit, maybe we’ll see what he can do again.
People questioning whether Hunt and/or O’Hara will be next out of the door. Unfortunately not due to the fact that they’re both earning £25k+ per week and no other soft sod is going to match that!
I realise that Hammill is a bit of a Marmite player who many think has real potential (me for one) others think he’s a bit wayward. There is clearly an issue with him as he still seemed to be on the fringe since training recommenced, attitude maybe?
Suggest those who dont think much of him look at the Barnsley video clips of him on Youtube, here’s a guy who can take the game to the opposition and score. We were pretty lucky at the Shrews and it was a shame that he didn’t get 45 mins. The worry is that we do lose Kights and Jarvo and end up keeping Hunt, Edwards and to lesser degree Henry and O’hara. While last season was a one trick pony irrespective of the opposition simply chucking out all wing play and adopting another one size fits all approach seems a bit narrow thinking especially as a ball is yet to be kicked against credible opposition.
I welcome the more radical approach but this year we are in the Chmapionship not the PL so wing play may be an important weapon against weaker defences-I guess this means that Solbakken has already conceded that Fletcher is going so we won’t have a target man and consequently wont need crosses in 🙁
Exciting times and I am more than happy with the signs so far but very sorry to see Hammill go (especially as Guedi’s gone too) as I really don’t think he ever got a real chance.
Up the Wolves!!
Let’s face it, Stale’s probably sat through all the DVDs ad nauseum, and wondered: “Yes, thery’re fast, they’re tricky, but why can’t any of these wingers actually cross the ball?”
So, narrower we go. Can’t say that I am too upset about it, but we’ll surely need more creative boots than Henry, Jonnson and Edwards if we’re going to go with a tippy-tappy style midfield.
I for one was shocked we didnt see more of Hammil last year. Those who are smarter than me obviously have a problem with him. I wonder how they would have handled Doog.
For me he was a potential game changer and teams need those, always tried to make something happen instead of knocking it backwards.
Playing without wingers is not new I seem to remember some guy called Alf Ramsey doing it a while back with some moderate success. Mind you, you need some speedy defenders and creative mid field. Also at least one non stop guy who is always available (Alan Ball 1966). Are they coming?
Other point is if Jarvo has a weakness it is that last ball, he is honestly not the greatest crosser of the ball yet, but was improving. If I remember correctly many of the goals he created came when he carried the ball inside himself. Good wigers can also do the business playing inside and running at defenders Kightly and Hammill seemed good at this as well as Jarvis.
Just thinking out loud. I am trusting STS for now.
Well Thomas, I think you have really pinpointed what will be a major change with Ståle Solbakken. As a head coach of FC Copenhagen, Ståle put Swedish international Oscar Wendt on the left wing and Czech Zdenek Pospech on the right. They definately could not defend but they were deadly going forward. And both ran back and forth for 90 minutes – like Cafu if anyone remember him.
That is why I also fear that Stephen Ward has a future under Ståle and maybe also why Zubar is still at the club. Both can run forward for 90 minutes and are pretty good at it too. Then maybe their lack of defensive capabilities means less – at least for the time being.
However, Ståle still managed to fit in Jesper Grønkjær (anyone remember him?) in his team and he set the Danish Premier League alight for several seasons, so to say out-and-out wingers don’t have a future in the club may be taking it too far, but I definately think that Ståle can live without Hammill and Jarvis. In his time in Copenhagen, Ståle often opted to play Grønkjær up front while fielding a midfield with 4 natural central midfielders where the right and left tucked in to provide space for the full backs. So a formation agains Leeds looking like this would not surprise me
De Vries
Zubar Johnson Stearman Ward
Edwards Henry Doumbia O’Hara
Kightly
Doyle
Set up as a 4-4-1-1 but more resembling a 2-6-1-1. Even Milijas could easily start.
I am of course assuming that Jarvis and Fletcher are sold. However, Fletcher would fit into Ståle’s system perfectly and then Kightly may find it harder to get into the team.
Interesting stuff mate.
That eleven was exactly the side I had in my head for the opening game of the season too. I’m hoping we’ll see one or two new faces at the back though, just to give us something different.
Kightly, to me, is pivotal to this sort of shape. You talk about Jesper Grønkjær and Kites is without question the player to fill this role in the Wolves side. If we lost him, I think that would hurt us.
That’s why (perhaps controversially) I’d rather see Fletch and Jarvis leave for good money than see Kightly leave for peanuts.
Well, I share the thoughts on Jarvis actually. For good money I think Ståle will sell straight away. Fletcher I would be more reluctant to let go off. He is such a good fit for the way Ståle plays that I think it will be a massive blow for us should he leave.
Just because Ståle doesn’t necessarily play wingers it doesn’t mean that there won’t be any crosses. They will just more often than not be provided by the full backs.
I will be sad to see Kightly go as well since I definately think he has a role to play. But if Fletcher stays, Doyle may still get the nod ahead of him in an injury free squad. But with the massive number of games, I think there will be more than enough games for Kites to show that he is back to his old self.
In fairness Ward is capable of providing crosses
I totally agree. And this is why I think he has a future at the club. But I am not impressed with his defending and he will be a liability at times. The question is how costly this will be in the upcoming season. It is a cost benefit analysis that I guess Ståle has made already and opted to stick with Ward with Elokobi as back up.
To my knowledge we have at least not been linked with a left back so far. But I may be wrong.
Just realised I put Wendt and Pospech on the wings in my post. Obviously it should be on the full backs or my post wouldn’t make a lot of sense….
That’s interesting stuff Clemens! Personally, I would be absolutely mortified if your XI started the first game of the season though…
(And I’m not criticising as you were predicting how the team will look and not picking it!)
The same failed defence that was one of the worst in Premiership history.
A one paced midfield.
And a striker who has offered virtually zero goal threat in the last 18 months.
I have no problem with the formation and I unconditionally support it. I just think that if Jarvis and Fletch go, then we HAVE to have replacements by the Leeds game who offer more, particularly at the back. All 4 of those in the team above are either bereft of pace / positional sense or consistency.
Using the
In Fletcher we do have Bjorn/Nouble as a replacement – one an exciting prospect and the other potentially a surprise, and with Jarvis we could use Forde instead who I believe can do well in the Championship at least!
I don’t think either striker/Forde will be as good as Fletch and Jarvis though, and I don’t think we can get in as good a replacement ‘cos players of that calibre wouldn’t want to join a Championship side! As for the back 4, if Batth proves to not be good enough (the Shrews game was poor from him but it could be that the team doing tactics wrong) then we definitely need another player there! Perhaps we do even if he is, but Batth/in-form Johnson ought to handle the Championship well enough!
Yep, fair point with Sigurdason and Nouble. Definitely options there and the former is clearly bought as a replacement for Fletch IMO, so we’ve already planned for his exit.
That back 4 though…It shits me up just looking at it.
You can’t teach pace, and Ward and Johnson in particular will not be any quicker than they were last season.
You can gain consistency though, so I’m hoping Stears and Zoobs can have good seasons.
Pace…yes, that’s the thing – pace! I wonder if Stale is scouting for pacy CB’s – wouldn’t surprise me!
I tried to pick the team with neutral eyes from what we’ve got while keeping in mind how Ståle set up his team in his Copenhagen days – so I am certainly not offended in any way, Ben.
But I also hope that a few new faces will be in there before the start but I don’t think it is realistic that Ståle will bring in a new defender.
Oops, and just as I wrote that, I saw on E&S that Berra wants to leave. If he leaves, Ståle must bring in a replacement so we might see a more athletic defender arriving. At least I hope so. I am worried by the lack of pace as well.
Clem,
I seem to recall that Stale has actually said somewhere that the defence must be improved and will be. So we can live in hopes. I wrote elsewhere I am nervous it has not happened yet. I hope we dont think last years defence will be Ok in the Champ. That will be a big mistake. I am just old fashioned and beleive success is always based on a solid defence. Chasing the game relegated us last year. I would be happy with a fit younger Jody but time caught up with him.
I think we agree here. Would love to see one or two new players in defence. Fingers crossed! What happened to Mouyokolo?
I guess we do have to consider it will be a different scenario, I hope.
If we are creatively attacking and keeping the ball this coming season then I guess, I could consider Ward at L Back for another season, just dont expect to much when teams run at us down that flank. If we do go back up we will need a better defender in that role.
Something seems a bit strange to me wanting to get rid of our wingers,
I would like to keep Hammill and get rid of Hunt that seems more logical to me but what do i know he must have a plan so we have to respect stale for that…
I agree Thomas, this should be interesting. But I can’t help feeling it could go awry – last time we played this sort of ‘patient’, ‘intelligent’ football was with Hoddle. I remember that being absolutely dire to watch (with the exception of super Mo Camara), but strangely the fans were pretty patient while he was around. McGhee also used wingers sparingly, and that didn’t get us very far either. But maybe it’ll work this time.
I searched for this blog today expecting to hear about Ben throwing his toys out the pram, but was pleasantly surprised!
Ha ha, Mo Camara!
My favourite memory of him was when he took a shot and it was SO wide it went out by the corner flag!
Sorry, just realised Mo left before Hoddle came on board. It was actually totally dire, no exceptions!
Naylor was very impressive under Hoddle if memory serves, like a new player.
And as for throwing toys out…there’s a subtle difference here, namely that the manager has actually seen Hammill play in the flesh as opposed to DVD! If he doesn’t rate Hammill then I trust him.
Also, Hammill was distinctly average at Boro on loan (Pompey away aside) whereas AG was player of the season!
Anyway, I am over this now and the toys are now firmly back in the pram!
I am, again, unconcerned with this news.
Hammill, like Guedioura, has never really played that much for us and is in my opinion far from being a key player.
If Staale thinks that the squad would be better off with a different kind of player, then why not get some money for him and reinvest it?
I’d like to keep Hammill; I think if Kightly can play off the front man then why can’t AH? They both have good technique and pace, with a decent shot if they get the space, which with their pace and trickey they shouldn’t find too hard in the Fizzy Pop League… If we end up selling Fletcher (Jez; hold out for £15m+ please!) then three wingers-cum-forwards (Jarvo, AH, Kights) could prove invaluable and we could save the cash for our (inevitable – let’s be optimistic) promotion.
Also I’d much rather see Stale ship out Hunt, although I never wanted us to sign him in the first place – he cost us too much when you consider his age and he’s probably one of the higher earners in the squad.
Christ this is all very worrying.
Part of me would love to know we’d be playing 4-4-2 with wingers because –
A) It’s what we do, it’s what we’ve always done
B) We know it works in this division
However back to point A it’s what we’ve always done but with very limited success!!!
So I guess I’m going to have to make a leap of faith with Stale and hope he’s got it sussed.
Fingers and toes crossed.
Chelsea have played without wings, in traditional sense, and succeeded, so it’s doable. Avoiding conceeding goals becomes very important, especially in premiership, against high quality teams difficult to score against.
During Chelsea’s most successful period they played with wingers, (ie under Mourinho)
Christophe Berra……anyone? Any offers….One Christophe Berra? Anybody……….?
Regardless of the speculation up front with our big three, I am getting a little concerned about lack of strengthening the defence. This is an area where players need time to settle and the sooner the better. I really doubt we will get a blockbuster signing so would expect the kind of guys for us will be available now. Stale as already said it needs doing. For me it so important we sign first ship others out later. All success has to be built on a solid defence always has been always will. Thinking last years D will be OK in the Champ would really scare me. We shipped early goals against lesser teams regularly. Whatever the tactics another golden rule in footy that rarely changes is if you have to go chase the game after giving up early goals tactics often go out the window.
So MM turned the Forest job down as his preference was to wait for a managers job in the prem. Could be a very long wait Mick, your premiership cv is pretty shite. As are the some of the players he bought, not fit for purpose in the prem. Apparently Berra wants a new challenge, and despite being touted around for a while – no-ones interested apparently.
Well no great surprise, I stll remember his debut at Coventry, and we paid £2.3m !?!.
Berra, Hunt, Mijas, O`Hara as well, all MM`s follies.
Wolves need a winning system first and foremost, lets hops Stalle brings it to us.
I agree with you on all those players, they need to go!
New blood new direction? That’s what Wolves have always been about!
When Mick McC bought Hamill and I saw the Youtube footage of him I was convinced that he would rip up quite a few Premiership defences. But I don’t think he was ever given a fair suck of the sauce bottle. What was the point of all that? Why spend £(an undisclosed sum) on someone and then keep him on the bench? I thought that he would get a chance under Ståle but there is obviously something he knows that I don’t. Come to think of it there’s a lot he knows and I don’t which is one of the reasons why he’s manager and not me.
I’m going away now I think it’s time for my injection.
He’s shown glimpses of his quality, but is it enough? I’m sure the manager has his reason. I don’t rate Hammill highly in european measures. Two of Solbakkens aquisitions may hint to what kind of players he’s after. He rather scout the continent for players than the lower divisions. It reminds me about Wengers approach. Are we witnessing a revolution equvalent to the one Wenger started at his arrival?
Doog,
I thought the same and also thought he had potentiol when he did get on. But he obvioulsy upset someone. Then it becomes self fulfilling. Guys go on and have to prove themselves in 20 mins so it all goes ugly. I do recall Mick openly implying he was selfish and did not share the ball.
Mind you dont forget Mick almost did the same with Fletcher for the first few months. I remember think why did we buy him and what the hell must he have done to uoset Mick. He really only got a run when MM ran out of ideas.
If Hammill was really that good then surely other clubs would be queuing up to buy him. They’re not. The same goes for some of our other players.
Hi NY Wolf.
How’s the Big Apple?
Yes I can see why MM didn’t like Hammill not sharing the ball, he seemed to prefer the players booting it straight to the opposition!
Quite simply… Berra you can f**k right off in my book! You want another club? Only too happy to help sir.
Let’s talk about budding stars who we should be looking at, to make the grade in the premier for US!
Davies, can, Forde needs time, Batth needs time, I heard people saying the same about Stearman????
So come on Ben/Thomas let’s have a chat about who should we look at?
Interesting feature on talksport website putting Wolves top of the Premier crossing league with more ‘successful’ crosses executed than any other team.
I am now prepared to wait and see how the players perform under a new manager and under a different system.Will all the fans be happy ? Of course not but as always it will come down to results.
Hammill is yet another of those ” marmite ” players who flit from one club or loan to the next. The type of player that numerous managers turn to in a moment of crisis to try and bring something new or different to a squad, unfortunately they rarely do deliver, just look back to similar players whom WW have bought over the last 10 – 15 years, it brings tears to your eyes, what a shocking waste of money if you’re honest. Whether we think that he’s been given a fair crack of the whip or not is irrelevant, he’s a pro and it’s up to him to make himself seen amongst a crowd. He hasn’t done this so time to move on !!!
MM surrounded himself with these fringe players and this is SS’s challenge to clear the dross from the club and start anew on HIS vision, within the financial restrictions which will always be in place, especially in a club recently relegated to the Championship.
SS needs our support, not petty criticism for unloading this type of player who will no doubt join the growing band of ex-players only too eager to sabotage our plans for next season.
Good riddance I say and as ever UTW !!!!