With so much talk before kick-off about breaking a 135 year club record of consecutive away clean sheet victories, a 2-1 defeat and 10 minute deadlock breaker was as irritating as it was inevitable.
Equally significant this week perhaps, was the news that Karl Henry was missing through suspension.
When Henry is missing, Wolves simply don’t win. And when Kevin Doyle starts, he is never in the right place at the right time.
Both goals featured diagonal balls and Ward out of position upfield. But without Henry on the field to cover for an advancing full back on either occasion (which he does every game with little credit), we were breached by two dangerous strikers.
In a first half pattern of play predicted by many on this blog, we were overrun playing two up front with David Davis in the middle.
For possibly the first time this season, we can say that Solbakken got it wrong, wasting 45 minutes to get to the conclusion that a few of us foresaw before a ball was kicked.
With the ineffective Davis replaced by Edwards and a rocket shoved up our arses, we were on the offensive for most of the second half, Ebanks-Blake steering home from close range to set-up a grandstand finish.
The scrambles, corners and possession duly followed, but the 2-2 final scoreline sadly didn’t and the home side will feel they got the result they deserved, seeing as they were so utterly dominant in the first half.
Had David Edwards’ header been inches the other side of a near post things could have been different.
But alas things were not and it’s on to the next game!
Player ratings
Dave Warrington, our intrepid Wolves voyager, gives his marks out of 10.
Ikeme 6: Made a couple of good saves and can’t blame him for the goals.
Foley 4: Awful game from Foles. Not convincing defensively today. Both goals featured non-existant right back.
Ward 5: Came forward with menace and better than Foley
Johnson 5: Shocking first half but better in the second. Misjudging headers and not like him at all.
Berra 5: Same as Johnson. Unusually off colour and with this partnership not working like before, the problems kept coming.
Davis 4: He tried but he’s no Karl Henry. Anonymous and subbed.
Doumbia 6: Is he carrying an injury? Redeemed himself with second half performance but doesn’t look 100 per cent. Missed Henry’s presence.
Pennant 6: Encouraging debut, but impeded by referee as much as the Terriers defence. Kicked lumps out of all game.
Sako 5: Skinned a defender, found himself in the box, three players in open space and hit a god awful shot. Summed up his game in one second half move. Hit bar first half.
SEB 5: Took his goal well, ran around a lot but didn’t offer much else. No partnership with Doyle at all.
Doyle 5: Just doesn’t play well with SEB and vice-versa. He is better off in midfield if he’s going to play, as he doesn’t look like scoring. Only near post flicks from corners offer any remote threat.
SUBS
Edwards 7: Man-of-the-match. A Championship quality player so a lot more eye-catching at this level as a result. Changed the game when coming on and unlucky not to score from a headed goal from corner, which he won.
Disappointing result but not altogether surprising.
Agreed Henry remains a huge loss. He’s still the glue.
Would have been nice to see the back four keeping things tight in the skipper’s absence. Disappointing to hear they bombed out.
Onwards and upwards.
Bolton will be a tough game on Tuesday.
To be fair to the back four, their front two and come to that their midfield too in the first half were very good. Our whole team was over run in the first half.
It just shows how big a influence “The Karl Henry Effect” has on our game.
Perhaps Ward does need to stop galavanting up the wing. Sure it gets him goals but as you say, without the holding midfielders dropping back in the cover him it leaves a huge, easily exploitable, gap. Against blackburn we played foley and Stearman at the back and kept a clean sheet. Something in that?
I’ve always been a huge supporter of ward because of his presence going forward. But if he was to fault for both of the goals? I’m sure Stale may be thinking of a reshuffle.
Disappointing to hear Foley had a bad game too. Always thought he was a pretty consistent full back
Ward goals – What goals?
You leave our Stephen alone, he’s got his goal for this season, what more do you want?
Sorry to keep whipping a deceased equine, but Ward is, was and always will be a liability whenever he is within 100 miles of the first team.
Everyone and his dog can see our left back deficiencies, including obviously every other manager and right winger in the league, so why not our manager?
Makes me convinced he has been told Ward must be in tthe eam always, even if both legs and one arm are bust.
I smell the strong stink of underhand greasel in all of this.
Lovely to see the shit snatching defeat from the jaws of victory today. Let’s hope it is the first of many!
It is good to see that every team in our division can beat, or be beaten by every other team. It’s gonna make for an exciting rest of term!
I’m with you on Ward and until we have a regime that can work out that hes a liabilty then we will make no progress. Also not buying into the Henry ‘love in’. If all we can do is wax lyrical about an extremely limited footballer then we really have lost the plot. I really do want to give SS time however the familar warning signs are already flashing.
I too am with Clive on Ward, but only defensively. Going forward Wardie sometimes does useful work. Is he good enough to be in the midfield? Probably not.
I completely share Clive’s feeling of incomprehension on Ward as a defender. Between matches, I sometimes think McCarthy, Connor, Trappatoni and, now, Solbakken keep playing him, so we must be wrong. But I’ve only got to watch a game to be appalled again by Ward’s defensive work, or, rather, his failure to get tackles and blocks in.
On Karl Henry, I agree with Shadowfax on the Mick version, but this season I think there are signs that Stale is developing Henry into a better all-round midfielder. And I can’t forget that great winning goal of Henry’s at Charlton four years ago, nor the pass that set SEB on his way to that super goal earlier in the same match! The potential is there!
Every team in our situation (particularly with a defence like ours) needs a player like Karl Henry – it’s not losing the plot it’s just the way it is.
Results prove how important he is to us.
When we are back in the prem and challenging for Europe (?!) we can look for the ideal player but until that happens we should be grateful we have him.
Agree we need a player ‘like’ Karl Henry…our problem is that all we have is Karl Henry. I’d prefer one that could pass consistently to his own team mates, looks to move the ball offensively more often than defensively ( and yes it is his job to do this) and also has a little pace.
The fact that we’re talking about being ‘grateful’ for Karl Henry is in my view an unacceptable position given the clubs stated ambition.
It’s going to be a long season. UTW FOJM
Karl Henry is one of the quickest players in our squad?! A point underlined in sprint tests SS organized when taking pre-season. Who would you ‘like’ instead of Henry, if you could dump him or any other central mid in the CCC? I’m intrigued.
Shadowfax, if he is extremely limited, then Solbakken really is a twat for rating him, no?
Ben who am I to argue with someone who is armed with ‘the stats’ – however I’m not so sure how useful being the ‘tallest dwarf’ is?
As for my hand picked replacement from the CCC, well that really wasn’t my point. My real point was that whislt Henry may make a difference, that difference will not get us promoted as our main weakness has not been addressed.
As for SS being a twat – well I guess if he proves unable to coach 2 of the 3 flaws I mentioned out of KH’s game then I guess he will earn the right to be called one – no?
Foley started RM against Blackburn not at the back.
Worrying how much of a cornerstone Henry is for the team…if he gets a long-term injury then we’re in trouble! The game reminded me of our game vs Leicester – 2-0 up then unlucky not to equalise after pulling one back.
Just as well other teams in our area had a bad day as well – we’re still in the mix! Onto Bolton!
Karl’s does the job he does well. Much of our defensive security comes from him covering our back four and it’s not just the fullbacks; he covers the fact that our two centre backs can’t run or turn. I think this back line will be good enough to see us in the promotion mix this year but we”ll need a complete new defence if were to have a hope in hell of survival in the premier league.
Doesn’t bare thinking about if captain Karl gets injured or god forbid sold.
On another note Davies is looking poor this season, could do with a spell on loan to a lower championship club to toughen him up and get his confidence back. Would like to see Batth given a chance at the back he’s got a bit more pace about him than Berra and Johnson. Also where’s Margiereta?
Yeah very disappointed with formation . Just don’t see why ss didn’t go with Edwards energy from start. Hes a box to box player, whatever position he starts. We all know the importance of Henry , so maybe we should get tongo
Completely right, with Henry or Doumbia out we have no option but to go 5 in midfield. I completely disagree with those who do not see the value of what Karl Henry adds to the team. Yes he makes the odd poor pass, but he covers every blade of grass on the park.
His chief problem is the ability to get booked at will & hence miss games where we need him badly as more or less every time he is out or substituted we either get beat or lose a goal.
My other point would be how much longer can Kevin Doyle’s goal famine continue?
Continued…….To play more of that style if Karl is out ,but anyway we will regroup and move on. Bolton tuesday, let’s bounce back…..again
I agree that there was a big hole left when Ward went forward but to be fair to him someone should have filled in for him as we needed that kind of forward thrust in a miserable first half. Beyond that he wasn’t the player who wasted possession on either occasion was he? Sako wasted possession a lot and shot wastefully on a number of occasions when teammates waited in much better positions. That said his free kick that clipped the bar and post was very good. Pennant, I thought he could be a really good signing but looked lost on occasions today – I particularly liked it when he ran in field in the first half and played a short cross field ball to the ref, think he thought we played in pink for a minute as he looked down at the ball and noticed his pink boots!
I agree Doyle still doesn’t look like scoring but he did win a lot of 50/50s for us today. We never once got in behind them and never really tried to and its not like they’ve got fast centre backs either. Their midfield constantly probed our defence trying to slide Beckford in behind and looked dangerous in doing so. Johnson made some excellent last ditch tackles on him in the second half following that kind of ball.
Would be nice to see Frimpong back on loan, he gives excellent cover for the back four and can also find the killer ball that we appear to be missing to crack the defences open. Beyond all that he surges forward and looks like he’s got a goal in him too. I was a bit disappointed with Tongo, he seemed to get bullied today and look to go down if he was under pressure on a couple of occasions it put us in trouble.
By the way, I had to sit on my hands all game as I was in the end opposite the away fans. My son’s school were offered tickets cheap to encourage people to support Huddersfield a ticket for me, one for him and one for my other son cost just over half of what a ticket in the away end would have cost just for me – couldn’t justify the extra cost 🙁
Huh, a real fan would have screamed for the lads no matter what.
In fact, coming from Yorkshire I would expect you to run on the pitch and thump their keeper!!
Hope that leeds tosser get thrown in jail, and ends up with a new “wife”
Can’t really comment on the match today only heard how they played from my son who traveled up there.
His words defence abysmal in the first half ,we should have been 4 down in the first 45 even though we had a lot of possession.
The second half we were more positive without scoring,that brings me to my point as i have said we need another striker a big robust bastard who will put himself about because Doyler’s not cutting it at the mo.
Defensively we are what we are and we all know what our frailties are but we need to do better.
perhaps under this new coach the defence will improve,time will tell.
Bolton up next so lets get back to winning ways.UTW..
Just makes me wonder how much the midfield had to do with that as well – as others had said we missed Henry and we got better when Edwards came on for Davis! Was surprised Stale never made another substitution though but I guess we were on top after the SEB goal!
Disappointing result given the 2 week break.
We were slow starters today.
Move on..
The next 2 home games are massive now to keep the momentum going.
Bolton will be on a high after their win today.
Atmosphere was good today.
Both their goals came from right wing crosses, more ammo for Clive I’m afraid.
Oh dear. I knew this would happen. Karl Henry is not the answer. We’ve been getting away with playing two combative central midfielders. The mistake was starting with ‘Henry lite’ and sticking with it. Doumbia and Edwards worked.
Followed this one on the radio commentary sounded a very disappointing first half. We dominated the second half but couldnt quite pull it back.Not too downhearted other results went our way.
I said at the outset it would be a slow burn under Stale and i think we will keep improving.He has got the intelligence that can eventually have a big impact.
I am in total agreement with that Colin, I hope that my other comments haven’t been too down, I am quite convinced that we are going in the right direction and that Stale will get us back up but not only up, ready to play our own game when we get there. Its an interesting time to be a Wolves fan, I reckon that we are due a bit of interest after the last couple of seasons though.
As i said i followed this one on the radio would just like to mention the Wolves fans who were there you could hear them singing loudly throughout the whole match – terrific support.
that wasn’t me, but I was proud of those at the other end aswell 🙂
Wussy.
Last time I was in Huddersfield was at the beginning of a season when Leeds had their ground shut for a few games, and played a couple of “home” games at Huddersfield.
Me and Scooped were in the pub until late, and went into the ground at the Leeds end.
Just as we were walking along the bottom of the stand, near the pitch, that whole end erupted in “Leeds Leeds Leeds” chants.
Scooped, slightly more inebriated than me, turned towards them, stuck up two, two fingered gestures and screamed fuck off you Yorkshire pricks, or something like that.
I looked at him, then the mass of Leeds fans running down to get us, and thought, “fuck this, I’m off, and smartly found the nearest exit.
The representative from the local constabulary didnt want to let us go out, until we told him we were Wolves fans.
A happy day as we drew, and also avoided a major bust up at the station later.
Happy Days.
FOwb
Come on Clive, you can’t expect us to believe that……..you were the one going quietly about your business and someone else dishing out abuse got you in bother!!
I’ve been in that situation at B’ham too, but with a friend who supports that rabble. I was getting no end of abuse for the first half as he let everyone around us know that I was a Wolves fan (we were 2 up at their ground by half-time). Second half ended up being much worse, the abuse was replaced by ridicule as they got back into the game and grabbed a point.
No, it didnt get me in bother, quite the opposite.
We scarpered to the side stand, watched the first half in relative comfort, and at half time a huge bunch of Leeds fans came looking for trouble, started a massive scrap with the Wolves fans…except us….and this massive, ugly mofo of a skinheaded Leeds fan, tattoos and all, back when they were not popular, stood by Scooped and me, and started chatting to us!
He spent all the second half with us, had a good crack, and at the end, off he went “for a good punch up at the station”
We got to the station early, police escorted, and stood on the platform, right above the stairs coming from the under track tunnel, waiting for the rest of our mates to join us.
There was a huge roar, and ten million Leeds fans came storming up the stairs, led by our friendly skin headed tattooed friend!!
He came running straight up to us, we thought we were dead, and he said, “hallo chaps”, or something like that, smiled and ran up the platform looking for victims.
I think that was the day Scooped found religion!
Can’t comment on this game as i haven’t seen any of it yet. I did see the last game when we played 4-4-2, however, and it ended in another 2-1 defeat, this time at home to Palace.
I thought we were outplayed in midfield on that occasion too and Henry was playing in that game anyway.
Having two up front looked a luxury we couldn’t afford, especially as Doyle does not score anywhere near enough goals.
No, if you’re going to have full backs bombing forward and you have a real goal threat from left midfield anyway, the extra man in midfield is much the better option.
Just a pity we haven’t got a certain Stephen Fletcher to play the lone role up front!
I agree that would make more sense, but the reality of that 1st half was that there was no goal threat from either wing for the 1st 30 minutes and we needed someone to show a bit of intent to get the team going. We were harshly punished by very clinical play from the moment the play broke down and yes they got crosses in from the right wing but they also had free men in the centre to score the goals.
They bossed our midfield for the first half and a little of the second yesterday. Whenever we’ve played teams who’ve been in form this season, we’ve come up short. This will happen on occasions, but it’ll happen less when the new style of play has become second nature later on in the season. You’re right, there isn’t a Fletcher style player to play up there on his own to allow for 5 in the middle, or at least not one that shown that they’re capable of it yet. I’ve not seen much of Siggy or Nouble yet, do either show signs of power, pace and finishing skills? What ever we do I think we need to find a way to get teams turned around chasing back a bit more, beyond just down the wings. Their strikers were buzzing around all over the place giving our defence nightmares ours were static waiting for the ball.
But we’ve got the money from his sale sitting in our “war chest” ready to be spent!!!
On what, is the question.
I think that I am correct but Henry went off in the Palce game at 1-0 to us, the 2 goals came when he was off the pitch.
Good point Allen, he did come off then and we may well have hung on for a win had he’d stayed on. I wish he had!
Even before then though, Palace were carving through us with nice precise passing as we did our usual back-pedalling to the penalty box. Losing Karl just exacerbated the problem. (whatever that means!!)
Sako also had one assist when Blake scored.
Strengthen,strengthen,strengthen.
I’d just like to say that the present lady wife, her entire retinue and myself are progressing from the wilds of Wiltshire to the metropolis of the Midlands next weekend to see the men in old gold play football in the flesh for the first time in many years. (Call yourself a fan?).
I hope there will be a suitable improvement in performance and that the WV1 bar and grill will come up to scratch after the game.
Even though she’s a Bath City supporter even the better half is getting quite excited.
Can’t wait!!! UTW!!!!
I have a sister who lives right near Bath, Norton St Philip to be exact.
She owns a B & B called The Plaine, and charges exorbitant rates, but it’s very nice!
She will give you a Wufflers discount if you ask nicely.
How many Lady DOOGooder wives have there been, I wonder?
My current is number 4, can you better that???
It’s a bloody small world isn’t it!
I know Norton St Philip very well, and The Plaine (although I’ve never stayed there) and The George (where I’ve sunk many a pint of 6X).
Also played a fair few games of cricket at The Mead.
Your sister must be worth a bob or two, The Plaine is a lovely old house.
As far as wives are concerned you’ve got me beat – just the two, but as I keep telling the incumbent, she had better keep on her toes or I could well be looking for a trade in.
Please God don’t let her read this!!
Any of them have a decent left peg. ?
My two were equally adept with both feet.
I’ve still got the bruises to prove it.
Fascinated to know what happened to the previous three Clive.
I’m on the third myself. My first died from eating poisoned mushrooms and my second from a broken neck. She wouldn’t eat the mushrooms, she wouldn’t!!
Talking of Jethro, drink killed his last wife, apparently. He came home pissed one night and shot ‘er.
I don’t give a shit what happened to them!!
All probably still staring, glassy eyed, at pictures of me and my Brad Pittesque warrior type bod, bemoaning their loss!!!!
My brother’s a total snob and he reckons the WV1 set up is excellent Mr DOOgooder.
Enjoy.
Thanks KWolf
As a fellow total snob – that’s good enough for me.
B will certainly be up for a scrap on Tues, as will C on Sat. Even with 2 wins for WW, we will be on 25 points from 13 games and that is one short of our running total of 26 to remain as one of the forerunners in the CH. Make no mistake we’re in for a right old scrap this season to get one of those top two places. We need another hard tackling midfielder to supplement the existing players and to put pressure on KH to be more disciplined in his style of play and stop getting booked.
This fault is down to him and him alone and I would have thought by now at this point in his career he would have realised the responsibility that he has been given as captain far outways his personal response when provoked on the pitch. Come on Ståle make sure he knows that the collective cause is more important then any personal issues he may have. If he can’t meet these basic expectations of professional behaviour then he should be sidelined until he does.
Sorry to go on a bit, but check the records HE IS booked far too often and sometimes for trivial reasons such as his own bravado. This behaviour does not and never will benefit the team as a whole. He must be made to accept this fact.
As ever UTW !!!!
That’s his style, you gotta take the rough with the smooth. If he tames it a bit he will cease to be the player he is and therefore will always be missing! He’s a battling midfielder.
But I do agree we need serious cover for his position ,so that when he is out we don’t have to change our style/ shape.
Disagree entirely Cwmbran. It’s not entirely down to him and him alone. It’s down to the referees!!! Henry got booked at Peterborough for mistaken identity when Doumbia scythed down an opponent! I saw it with my own eyes. Then i saw Crystal Palace incite and kick Henry (williams?) Into the notebook. Thats just 2 ridiculous yellows.
I love the way some fans (not you BTW) have spent years slagging off KH for being gash, only to be proved catagorically wrong, to then look stupid…
…instead of admitting they were wrong, they then go on some fair play crusade as if they’re the Corinthians and our own skipper the Satan.
The fact is: Karl Henry is (easily) our best player.
The reaction is: Ill educated fans who should know better refuse to accept it (due in part to pig headedness and part ignorance)
The same fans who will unconditionally wank off over Rae and Ince and blame Henry for interupting their vinegar strokes.
Disagree with you on this one Cwmbran completely; pretty much with Ben on this. (Not sure he’s easily our best player though mate. Maybe most vital for the team, so same thing really i suppose).
I watched the Huddersfield goals yesterday and on both occasions Doumbia was in the perfect position to make a solid tackle and he just fannied about and allowed the guy to cross. Successful teams don’t allow that to happen. You have to win the ball and stop the opposition playing. The great Barcelona are superb at it!
I think the stats show we make less tackles than anyone else so Karl really is vital. Football’s pretty much a non contact sport these days so it’s very easy to get booked or sent off. Karl is not a deliberately dirty player at all. He’s a hard, honest player and we could do with a couple more like him in my opinion.
Ok, I concede he is not easily our best player Martin! Definitely one of the best and certainly my favourite player!! Vitally important and I’ll be chuffed to have him back tomorrow, as will Stale I’d imagine.
For what’ it’s worth he should’ve been sent off against Blackburn imo.
In a 60/40 challenge in his favour he chose for no good reason to go over the top on Colin Kazim-Richards.
Bizzarely I think his ill discipline is actually a recent thing. In the first 2 PL seasons when he got stick I thought it was massively unjustified, but the last 18 months he’s been legitimately called out for it.
Ben I quite like Henry but he’s not even our best midfielder, never mind our best player!
Martin I think you’re getting mixed up re Doumbia.
The first goal it was Davis and Sako that didn’t stop Jack Hunt’s cross.
I think Davis was more to blame as he was on the cover and Sako was starting 5 yards behind.
The second one I don’t remember as clearly but I’m not sure Doumbia was at fault either.
Must admit i wasn’t sure if the first one was Doumbia, KWolf. Agree Sako was chasing him but the other one( Ok Davis) had plenty of time to make a tackle. The second definitely looked like Doumbia to me( great big lad) and this surprised me because he can put his foot in.
I think what this shows is the Championship is a typically physical English league and you have to fight fire with fire.
I love this new management set up but it may take them time to adapt to this physicality. Ståle has already recognised we’ve been bullied out of games a couple of times, so i think he’s already on the case.
I think he will work on this aspect and, hey, King Karl will be back tomorrow!
I think what we’ve seen in regard to not changing formation and putting in Davis in stead of Edwards is pretty much the normal way of doing it for Ståle. Sometimes you have to let players get time to adjust to playing positions that normal are not vacant and they need real game time to do so. I’m pretty sure he could’ve done it in a different matter, but fact is – you would normally not want to change formation in a team still adjusting for the said formation and normally you would not need it – needing it means you either got shit backups or you just got very regular regulars. Most players grow as they get time, same applies here. In a year you’ll be glad we have two or more decent players that can fill in if needed – if they never get the chance, everytime someone is off the team for whatever reason games will be lost. If a player – lets use KH as the example – wasnt out and all was sunshine and rainbows – what would be the reaction when Ståle subs him for someone that really need match training in that position and a game was lost? I’d be pissed off because of it, but I’d also know that if the said player for one time only where to rise above expactations and shine it’d not only make him grow, but also the regular that he had to step in for.
Then, back to formation again – main reasoning though for not changing the formation is because the team is still adjusting for 4-5-1, however a semi-qualified guess is that its not where it will end. 4-5-1 will probably become the defensive edition of a regular and offensive 4-2-3-1. The loan of Pennant may be an indication that we’ll be seeing it soon, probably with the return of KH. I must admit I wouldn’t be surprised to see Davis paired with KH and Doyle in the middle then, Doyle seems very lost offensively at the moment.
Predictions against Bolton: 4-1.
There are things which, I am afraid, are becoming plainly obvious:
1. No matter what people say about him, we can’t win without Karl Henry. He is integral to the squad.
2. David Davis isn’t going to make the grade.
3. We can only score one goal a game and can’t keep going with only one striker who can score, unfortunately our only other options are a permanently injured Icelander and an Albion reject who is complete and utter CL4CK.
My Christmas wishlist:
1. A striker.
2. A left back.
3. A centre back.
Unfortunately, I’m afraid my Christmas wishlist is probably the same as every other team in the country.
UTW
I disagree with all 3 points made. Losing because the team lacks Karl Henry? Seriously – we lose because the rest of the team have their heads set like yours: “Karl Henry is out, we’re gonna lose” and thus another loss is a fact.
Regarding Davis. He’s 21, already got a decent physique, got decent ball control but totally lacks the brains and toughness of an established player. Only problem I see is he’s in the wrong place, he was never the player to replace KH. He needs to be offensive, have the least amount possible of defensive chores and be up there right behind SEB. He’ll be there to score goals – you can see it in quite a few of the moves that the kiddo got it in him, but he’s not a defensive, tough guy with his – what is it – 5ft6(?) and a mere 75kgs.
On to the striker situation – the “icelander”. He’s normally not the one to complain and defining him as “injury prone” is just wrong – as long as he can walk he’ll probably tell the boss he’s fit – boss again will call bullshit on that cause he knows Sigurdarsson came from a rough season in Norway. Offcourse he’ll get injured when he pushes far beyond what he’s used to, but that just a matter of better training and adjustment. He’s in the opposite state of Davis at the moment. Lacks the physique, but got a great head and tough enough to even push himself to injury if needed. I am pretty sure he will be a great player for the team before the january transfer window opens…
Sorry, mate, but I don’t see it.
We are hopelessly exposed without Henry. We’ve seen this year on year yet the anti-Henry brigade still seems to have some problem with him despite how many times he has proved how key he is to our team.
As for Davis only being 21, my opinion is that if you’re going to make the grade, you start shining through at 17, not 21. I remember Lewis Gobern coming in a few seasons back and thinking “Wow, this kid’s really got something!” The guy sitting next to me then told me Gobern was 21 and I was then much less impressed – if he’d been 17 I’d have said he was a wonderkid. I hope I’m wrong with Davis. I really do. But I’m beginning to worry that the promise we saw last season was nothing more than a purple patch.
As for Sigurdarson, I’m just calling it as I see it. He arrived injured and has had a constant stream of niggling injuries ever since. Don’t get me wrong, if you look back through the archives you’ll see a number of times where I have said that Sigurdarson has a touch of class and that he could really be a great player. However, he needs to get fit and I haven’t seen him 100% fit in any game he has played for Wolves yet. In the meantime, however, we have a one striker and one winger that can score goals for us and that’s simply not enough. You can’t rely on one or two players for your goals – you need a few people chipping in.
I should also point out that I am a monger of neither doom nor gloom (because I can see that it sounds like I’m just moaning). I’m actually quite positive about how the season is going. All I was trying to do was point out a couple of areas for potential improvement.
I see your point, but I’m not so sure about Henry being key in the longer run. He’s been and still is valuable, but I am certain alot of his value comes from having been made irreplaceable. Compare him to the best in the division – would he stand out as a top 5 pick? I dont think so, I think there are players around that could fill his position any day of the week – I am still sure that the team would “suffer” so much from him being out that even if his replacement was someone from top 5 premiership – say Frank Lampard as an example – the team would still lose 3 games in a row before adjusting to the fact that as long as a position on the field is filled it shouldn’t matter who fills it. They all have chores on the field that they must fulfill depending on the flow of the game, the current lineup and who they are playing together with – It might be someone less defensive, more defensive, better stamina, slower feet, whatever … The lads need to start thinking as a team, not as individual roles – if they do, the loss of Henry won’t be so painful.
You can call it on Davis for ‘already’ being 21, but there are players on the team that are older than that whom are playing better games today than in a very long time. Think of it – if Davis have been stuck in a form of training that didnt suit him he might skyrocket before we know it, it doesnt have to be more than that. All of a sudden they may find a role that suits Davis’ type perfectly which we havent even thought of. I am however sure Ståle wouldnt have put him on there if he didnt see something in the kid – finding what that is will probably stay a mystery until something happens…
Sigurdarson is a fighter and a natural goalgetter, we’ll probably see him fit and scoring goals very soon. Until then I think we need to make it with what we have. With the money being in sticky hands I think Ståle cant afford trying to sign players for the long term just because of a lengthy short term injury list. Loans break up continuity and january is quite a few games away. Free transfers and sacked players doesnt seem to be the lists to scavage for strikers…
Don`t do many away matches but went on Saturday. Thought our lads had the same sleeping tablets that England had the other week, totally outplayed and a yard off the pace in the first half. Shame as the numbers of travelling fans was remarkable, all of them let down I`m afraid.
I agree with Tettenhall Wolf, having seen Davis play a few games when he was on loan at Chesterfield – he lacks a yard or two of pace to play in the Championship, going out on loan is not the answer, he`s done that and been there – sadly not up to it.
Both goals were great crosses from the right, over to the far post where Foley`s lack of height was exposed by one good header, and lack of physical presence by one great finish. But we have seen all this before, whatever little Ward does going forward of any value is completely overshadowed by his inept defensive work.
We did n`t get any better in the second half, they just sat back on a 2 goal lead, and our lightweight attack wern`t good enough. Its so clear we lack physical presence in attack, both full backs are`nt good enough, but we remain close to the top. What an opportunity – this divison is wide open.
In Ward we have a decent attacking winger, but until Solbakken pulls finger and recruits at the back, that is where he is gonna have to play im afraid.
Think we were on the winning side of a couple of close games, so I guess the law of odds evens things out in the end.
Still think we are lacking in depth, still think we need 2 or 3 quality ready-to-go players in the Januray (unlikely) and I think when Doyle starts to score he will go on a serious run. SEB is no slouch at this level too, but I would still like someone more deadly up front – January anyone ?
Roll on a resurgent Bolton … should be a good game
UTW !
There’ll probably be a statto who can confirm this, but don’t we ALWAYS lose after an international break??
It’s a little sad to see the comments concerning David Davis, as it’s always nice when a homegrown player comes through the ranks. However, it’s not uncommon for a player to have firmly established himself by the age of 21 nowadays. I thought he showed some promise last season, but maybe he was just the pick of a very bad bunch.
I think we can easily play well without Henry in the team, just as long as we don’t use Davis as a like for like replacement. After Stale put out a very compact, defensive formation away at Blackburn (granted, he had little choice) I was surprised he didn’t keep to it in the absence of Henry. I didn’t see the game so I could be wrong but I feel the sako and pennant probably offered very little defensive cover compared to foley and davis against Blackburn. I also feel this extra width would have isolated the two centre mids more than at the blackburn game, making Davis’ job even harder.
Yow gorra loff, ay ya?
All the comments above about how good and bad every player we have on the books is, or isnt.
Fatty Blake can score in this division, or he’s too slow and past it.
Doyle couldn’t score in a brothel, or he’s one game away from breaking out.
Ward is brilliant at going forward, and shit at defending.
Henry is the best thing since sliced bread, or the most vicious player ever to don the Wolves kit.
Our back 3/4/5 are better than last year, and they are worse and slower than ever.
Foley is a brilliant right back, and also lightweight and useless.
The bottom line is we lost to Huddersfield, we still have a lot of the crap from last season and before, and we are NOT as good as a lot of us want to think we are.
What worries me is the only person with a smile on his fat face is greasel, who is quietly rubbing his sticky hands together, while counting all the money raked in by summer sales, etc, etc and working out ways to fleece more out of us fans, while not spending a penny on anything but his bonus.
Mark my words, come January, he will have produced the final edition of his latest book, “101 reasons not to spend any money in the January transfer window”
and the manager, the coaches and we fans will be right royally shafted once more.
And we’ll still have fuckin’ Ward on the books.
FOwb
Yes I think that covers it.
I am afraid Ward must have something on someone and will clealry soon be player manager which will save Moxey even more. I dont see him ever being dropped I mean what maore can he do.
I do think we lost to a good team and feel with some massaging in Jan we will be going up.
I think that about sums it up clive.UTW.
I see our promising U-21 side have now beaten Chelsea, the only team they had lost to previously.
According to reports, our left back Cranston was excellent. Just a matter of time before we flog him to some Divi one side then, like we did with Malone.
Don’t want anyone too good in that position do we? Especially, a natural left back.