If Wolves needed bringing back down to earth after a sensational victory at Villa Park, the loss of Kevin Doyle certainly did the trick.
To be without our heroic lone frontman, potentially for the rest of the season, might well have a cataclysmic effect on our survival ambitions.
But as we head to St. James’ Park looking to extend the unbeaten run to five games, Mick McCarthy will be confident, as he always is, that the squad can cope.
Newcastle themselves are still adjusting to life without a top striker, following the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool back in January and you sense they’re a team very much limping to the finish line rather than sprinting home.
Of even more encouragement is their poor record on their own ground, with only four wins all season against six draws and five defeats. Hardly a fortress, even though they’ve plundered 32 goals at home, which is only bettered by Manchester United.
With all this considered surely there’s never been a better opportunity to return from the Tyne with a positive result?
The Wolves XI should pick itself, save the one enforced change up front, which I strongly believe will signal a return for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who scored a superb goal in the feisty game between the two sides back in August. That means a team of:
Hennessy
Foley
Berra
Stearman
Elokobi
Hammill
Henry
Milijas
O’Hara
Jarvis
SEB
That’s definitely the team I’d pick too, although I’ll certainly have no objections if Steven Fletcher got the nod up front. Both he and SEB deserve the chance to shine in Doyle’s absence.
I do hope that Mick doesn’t adjust the shape as there’s a lovely balance to the midfield at present and I’d hate to see that compromised.
Prediction League
12 of you wise gentlemen correctly predicted victory at Villa Park last time out but only one person got the score too, so well done to Casper. Three points are yours my friend.
I’m jumping on the positivity bandwagon this weekend too and plumping for another barnstorming away win.
This is a good time to be playing Newcastle and I think we’ll get the job done.
Let the good times roll. 3-1 Wolves.
If you’re heading up to the land of Toon this weekend, have a great time and get right behind the lads. If it’s anything like the first fixture at Molineux earlier in the season, it should be interesting to say the very least.
Up The Wolves.
Dare we say, since we have a current England International, as we did all those years ago, 4 – 1 to Me Babbies, with one of our players getting all 4????
Remember it well clive….Our favourite Son S G BULL..Wish we could
have him in his prime playing on saturday up front for us on his own.
If that dream could come true, I would gladly lick Wards boots clean!!!!
There’s still nothing like celebrating a Bully goal!
Yep those were the days,BULLY With his aeroplane Celebratition.
Really got the fans going, Happy days.
I was there 01/01/90 and Bully even now could put Ward in his place……………the next plane to Dublin !!!!
You must stop picking on poor Stevie Ward……………that’s my job!!!
and the rest of Wolverhampton !!!
Predicting Villa to beat last game worked a treat so now as not to tempt fate Newcastle 2-1 Wolves
beat should say win – doh!
I think Sylvan will get the nod but Fletcher will net us the winner late in the game. Wolves 1-0!! I had a laugh when the Newcastle fans were saying that they were going to buy Jarvis off of us in the summer and make a push for Europe next year.
I honestly expect a draw at the very least and probably think we will win!! That taken into consideration i’ll say Newcastle 3-1 Wolves and back down to Earth and bottom of the league.
Please let me be wrong!!!!!!!
A 1-1 draw, I reckon …
0 – 0 draw for me, I think.
We just started looking a very decent team with all eleven, decent players and forming a nice balance and now we lose Doyle. Mick may decide to bring in Ward in a forward position to maintain balance but imo that means we’re down to ten decent players. Personally i hope he chooses SEB but can he play the loan striker role? And really, where’s the logic in two wingers and lots of crosses to a small CF not great in the air? I’m hoping SEB plays and the system works. If it does, we might just prove a real handful and with an extra goal scoring treat up front, i’m going 3-1 to the Wolves.
He did alright with the cross that came in to him last time we played Newcastle, and I seem to remember him netting once or twice in the Championship when we played with two wingers.
It doesn’t matter how tall you are if you stand in the right place, and I love the fact that SEB knows where to stand.
In the championship i seem to remember too we played two up front with big Chris the main target arially. I agree some small blokes are brilliant in the air,for instance Cahill at Everton. SEB does score some good goals with his head but his strength is definitely on the deck. As i say, i’m hoping he starts but i’m also hoping it works.
3-2 to the Wanderers. Jarvis to continue current scoring form, O’Hara and SEB with the other two. Joey Barton to get himself sent off in the first half hour.
Speaking of Jarvis – what a delight to see him run out in an England shirt. When I was a kid and Bully was in the England team, I assumed all teams had an England player. All my glory hunting mates had England players in their teams and we had Bully – how wrong I was!
The ensuing 20 years were often a struggle, but as my step-dad promised me all those years ago, we are once again at the top table of English football and closer than ever in my lifetime to winning trophies and competing in Europe. Jarvo’s call up is symptomatic of our progress. Here’s to the next 20 years!
I cannot believe , what I am reading to be honest. You’s have scored 11 goals away all season and then you’s are going to score three against us!. As for Jamie O’ Hara , was this same player got relegated with Pompey last season, bad omen me thinks .
I don’t make predictions about the outcome of games, because 9 out 10 times they don’t happen! But if you’s think you are going to get an easy game up here , your in for the shock of your life!
How many have Man City conceded at home all season? cos we scored 3 there. How many of your current players got relegated the season before last? there’s a bad omen for you. Not as bad as sacking your manager halfway through the season, bringing in a div1 manager to replace him, then selling your best player. £35m will be very useful in the championship next season mate.
Look forward to reading your comments about O’Hara after he has you weeping on Saturday.
COME ON ME BABBIES
Ha,ha,ha – great point Sleachy, Newcastle had a squad of players “too good” to get relegated.
They come back up, win a few games, sell some Gypo to Liverpool for £20m over his true value and now the fans are giving it large again.
How long before they start crying for a return of Keegan or maybe superhero Shearer to take them down again.
Tony, nobody has suggested we’re in for an easy game.
But this is Wolves Blog after all, what did you expect to read?
Jamie O’Hara has been superb of late and hopefully you’ll see that first hand on Saturday.
As for the predictions, they’re just for fun. Lighten up a bit.
Wanna buy a left back/forward/right sided midfielder???
Sell ya Ward…….cheap.
In fact, us on this blog, except Louie who loves him, will have a whip round and pay you to take him away.
PLeezzzzzz!!!!!
Oh yeah Clive I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while! Who is your favourite player? (assuming you have one, do you like any of our players?)
Oh and we’ll take £25 million for Ward tonyb. He’s a great alround player, fits in any position and is a real match winner. 😉
Oh Louie, you got me all excited and red faced!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who do I like?????????
Well, Henry has nice legs, Jarvis has a manly 5 oclock shadow, Berra is really butch, and Hennessey has a lovely pretty boy look, but my favorite is still Stevie W, with that tremendous nasal department, which he uses to great effect when brown nosing the management.
What a plonker question!
I don’t give a shit about individuals, it’s the team. the club and the results that are important.
FOMM
comment of the week.
Really, I thought that was terrible.
You are losing it old man.
And this:
“I don’t give a shit about individuals,”
you so clearly do, with your constant slagging off of Ward.
Oh Louie, you poor young lad, how many times, check back in the archives, have I stated that I have no opinion either way about Ward as a person, and he might well be the nicest bloke in the world, but that is irrelevant when it comes to the good of the team.
As a footballer he is crap, blah blah blah ad infinitum.
Fuck it, I’m fed up of spouting the same stuff to a closed mind.
Have a nice weekend, and don’t forget to dry behind your ears as they are still wet.
FOMM
Who asked you what you thought of him as a person? Going on about how someone is crap is talking about an individual, and as you do that in every single post about Ward it shows you do give a shit about individuals.
It’s funny, how in a place where you are supposed to give opinions, you do not give any at all except your weird anti Ward campaign. Come on Old man, get off the fence and tell us who you actually rate as a footballer in this team and give me a serious answer instead of patronising me. Or are you afraid to be wrong and make a fool of yourself?
How could I, the great Clive O, ever be wrong?
And as for making a fool of myself, no problem, do it all the time, life is far too fuckin’ short to be serious all day.
OK, a serious answer.
Not one of the present team would get in some of our previous good teams, like the early seventies, or back in the wonder years of the fifties, with the possible exception of Stearman.
Jarvis is a good present day winger, but Waggy was the best I’ve seen in a Wolves shirt.
Not one of the current crop of forwards could compare to Bully, or The Doog, or Peter Broadbent.
No one in our defence is as good as Skipper Mike Bailey, Frankie Munro, and of course William Ambrose Wright.
Having said that, we are close to being a reasonable team, in today’s Premiership, with our current squad.
If Hammill and O’Hara continue to progress as they have, if Adelene gets back to where he was at the beginning of the season, and the tactics improve, we could be sucessful.
But we gotta stay up to do that, and therein lies the rub.
Go to bed, Louie, or you will never get up in time to catch the train to Newcastle!!
I really enjoyed that bit of banter chaps, for what its worth! I love the pair of you! (Seriously, I love you both)
Gizza kiss, gorjus!!!!
Hi ben,
I have some tickets for you. I sent you an email, check your junk mail maybe?
Reply asap if your interested. An evening with Jody Craddock and Matt Jarvis tomorrow night up!
(don’t know how else to contact you????)
Newcastle Fan:
Hoping for a win but I think 2-1 wolves. We have too many injuries at the minute and our small squad cannot cope.
Anyone heading up on Saturday have a good time. Stay out the Bigg market
I’m feeling confident. Plus, it’d be nice to get one over my mate who is a Newcastle fan. I’m going 2-0 to the Wolves. Berra and Stearman have looked good recently, and with Newcastle’s firepower not what it was earlier in the season, I reckon we could keep a clean sheet here.
completely unrelated but just been sent this link by a yid mate. poor old gary mabbutt, times must be tough!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBB5dx0yjP0
I love that he’s wearing an England tracksuit, as if he could still make a come-back should Fabio give him the call.
I have a feeling this is going to be a 1-1 scoreline.
2-1 to Wolves. Newcastle’s strength lies in the middle of the park, and thankfully so does our’s these days. On current form I’d back our midfield to create a few good chances against any bottom half team. Here’s hoping Sylvan starts as I’d say he’s our squad’s best finisher.
Newcastle 1 Wolves 2 (SEB 2)
I think we can win this game. I hope SEB starts and gets a goal.
Wolves 1 – 0 Newcastle
Newcastle to win a tight one 3-2.
This weekend has a strange feel to it, after another fortnight of inactivity. Jarvis should have had a penalty in the game at Molyneux, and Carroll scored from the only chance they created. If we play a 5 man midfield there won`t be many goals so I`ll go 2-1 to Wolves and be happy with a squeaky bum one nil.
Newcastle 0-2 Wolves. SEB to bang in a couple
Draw for me guys.
Some lads are going to have to work harder up top with Kev out. SEB can do a job and I’m pleased (if) he’s the replacement, just not as well.
1 – 1.
There’s going to be goals – Newcastle 3 Wolves 2. I haven’t been right yet!
I fancy for us to get something up there,a draw will do but why can’t we
get a win.So i’m going for a 2-0 to Wolves..
Fletch off the bench to net the winner, 2-1. Berra with the first, because i’ve had a quid on him first goal every game this season at about 50/1 (and i wont be saturday) and hes getting closer!
Newcastle 0:0 Wolves.
Only 5 mins of the game shown at 11.55pm on MOTD.
Fletcher to start (not SEB) for me given the system we play.
3-0 win to the Wolves! And why not? We’re in pretty good form at the mo and I just fancy our chances.
I hope SEB gets the nod ahead of Fletch, but I won’t be complaining if Fletch starts and does the business for us. I fancy a couple of goals from our midfield/wingers anyway so shouldn’t really matter who starts up front!
2-2 draw for me, Jarvis and Ebanks for Wolves!
You couldn’t script a worse Saturday afternoon if you tried. Apart from WHU losing, that was the most painful, miserable, excruciating Saturday afternoon in months. Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh OH SHUT UP SPIKE.
Agreed Ben. Story of the game: Ameobi gets monster ugly in a plastic mask and we crap our pants.
(And welcome back Kites – but did you forget how to play football?)
Season’s going down to the wire …
Cheers boys , 4 -1 You’ve made my weekend. I told you that you wouldn’t get an easy game but you wouldn’t believe me.
Jarvis is the worst England International I’ve ever seen, and Jamie o’hara should stick to banging Danni LLoyd!. One word of advice ditch the keeper and put the Yank back in …….
Fair play Tony, Newcastle deserved it. They were the better team and wanted it more from the start.
Why you choose to make such silly comments about Jarvis is beyond me though. He set a goal up today and should have had a penalty for an obvious hardball in the first half.
Wolves were a shambles defensively and Newcastle bullied us. Hennessy had a poor game and the center halves weren’t at the races either.
Even so, at 3-1, Fletcher missed a golden chance to get another back. That goes in and the game ends up differently.
Onwards and upwards.
Cheers mate, you seem a decent enough fella . Having said that you could argue the finer ponts of the game all day. Eg Loverkrands hitting the post etc , should have had a blatant penalty in the first half etc.
As for the comments about Jarvis , I don’t know mate he was just not I expected and I think you should ditch the five in midfield away from home because it just invites pressure on your selves. I also think the American Keeper you have is better than the one you have in goal at the moment.
But all credit to you for admitting that we were the better team , and we will try to beat Villa u for next week. Good luck for the rest of the season, but I am still not fan of Henry……….
funny, i thought the worst england player ever was joey ‘i’m the victim really’ barton. 2 penalties (handball from jarvis cross, push on SEB) and a blatant sending off aside, yeah you deserved it.
I thought we all agreed the worst one ever was Lee Mills? what a c**t!