If life was like a relentless bowl of stodgy porridge last season, then it’s rather more like a box of chocolates today.
From the ‘Run Forrest Run’ monotony of the Mick McCarthy reign, it now seems like we never know what we’re gonna get next!
Not if the utterly leftfield arrival of Frank Nouble is anything to go by, or the marginally less random signing of Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson.
So what do we make of all this?
If the pair put the quality back in our street then nobody will be complaining.
They’ve already added yet more intrigue to Stale’s tenure, whose relationship with us fans feels more like a chat and date dalliance with each passing day.
We all yearn for more contact with the big man, and we’ve all been checking him out on the internet with mingled excitement and desperation.
Like a mass of love starved, hopeless romantics, we wonder if the relationship will last, while our mates tell us that a foreign match-up like this will never work out.
Without Solbakken even unpacking his bags in the spare room yet, we pray he won’t have any irritating habits and we are all prepared to be as patient and tolerant as is humanly possible. After all, this is love we are looking for.
Frank Nouble represents the illegitimate child from a previous relationship which we’d have liked to have been told about beforehand, with Sigurdarson more the blue eyed boy who we’d unconditionally accept from the outset.
And without the card in the box to tell us which chocolate is which, we must wait for the season to start before the wrappers are taken off.
In these unchartered waters of foreign match making, we only know that our new boss has watched every game of the 2011/12 season.
We presume the miserable footage left a bitter taste in the mouth. That our team was one peanut cracknel short of a tin.
We now hope that the pacy 6ft 3in Nouble and the YouTube friendly Sigurdarson will add an unpredictable new flavour to sweeten our palate.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
2 strikers in presumably means at least one is on their way out.
Great to have them on board, but we probably need to start looking at the defence now and getting that sorted out.
Agree Rob. Was going to write a blog about getting by without Fletcher.
More interestingly is the thought process behind the Nouble move (in particular). Can’t help but be cynical on the one hand, that he’s a cheap option which Stale couldn’t have asked for.
Then thoughts move onto this fabled director of football, and what the score actually is there, being as it has gone a bit quiet on that front
But being as I’m desperate for a long-lasting, happy relationship with Stale, I just presume he saw how painfully predictable we were up top last season. No pace, no height.
Maybe he’s rectified this now, and will work on the defence, presumably with the money we get from sales?
Cheap – but low-risk! As far as I can tell from comments Stale wants to improve him which might mean he doesn’t intend to play him in the first team…yet…
The Nouble and Tank signings are Connors. Stale cold never have seen either of these in action so he’s allowed to splash the cash yes all £20k of it.
The one thing it will bring (Re Nouble) is some pace, height and power to our previously limp wristed front line. .. here’s hoping he gets on the end of Kightlys crosses or Milijas’s through balls.
Can see both Vokes and Griffiths going now, both need to move on for different reasons. I really, really wanted Vokes to become the player he looked like he would but sadly it won’t be here.
Nouble is an odd signing, but Sigurdarson is the one that excites me. For once we have picked up a young, foreign talent that others were trying to get too.
Not forgetting our other new signing Jamie Tank, an 18-yr-old centre back from Walsall, it’s been a busy week!
How many times did this blog last season have contributors bemoaning the lack of pace throughout the side, one reason we lost our premiership status.
My understanding of how our new manager plays is the preferred continental way, defend in depth and hit teams on the break with pace, oh that word again, maybe pace and strength with these 2 signings. Two big steps in the right and new direction for me.
i`d take a punt on a free transfer ex Chelsea academy and a lad who has England caps at various age groups. Must have something, but both of these signings are for the new way of playing. Vokes lacks pace, Grffiths has pace but he`s a featherweight. can`t see EB fitting in either.
MM`s squad have all had their opportunity to develope and become established premiership players, and failed. Mostly they`ve not been good enough, so get rid. If we want a decent next season, we will need loads of personnel changes, and the defence will change I`m sure.
Mm never had a cull of his promotion squad, believing they would all step up, well they didn`t and don`t deserve a second chance. If the new faces fit the new project – lets embrace the newcomers into the Wolves family and give them our full support.
Sigurdason will hopefully be a brilliant signing, and Nouble will hopefully prove his doubters wrong – when you think about it we only really had Fletch and Doyle as competant strikers in the PL – and only Fletch when Doyle had that horrible form of his – so two strikers do make sense! Whether it means we’re selling a striker, I don’t know but we’ll see!
Jamie Tank for defence is great as well – if only for the name! 😛
I’m very happy with the newcomers. Extreme qualities are essential to compete with the best and now we got it. Sigurdarson: a man which many have compared to Zlatan can do things on his own. A very important piece of Stales jigsaw. Nouble is quick as lightning; he runs 100 meters in 10.5, according to an article I read today. And we know what Fletcher can do, as he is one of Great brittains best poachers. What a formidable strikeforce Stale has to his disposal.
Then we have a bunch of players which many raises question marks of: Griffiths: a fast and interesting player, Vokes: amazing at his best, but does seldom score, Doyle; experienced but doesn’t really have any extreme qualites except being a smart player (don’t underestimate smartness, Stale likes smart players). I know Trappatoni recommended him to Juventus one season ago. + youths fighting for a breakthrough.
It’s too early to say for sure yet. Now we just have to wait and see who’s going to be sold of the attackers. I really hope we’re able to hold on to Fletcher.
They should send Fletcher out on loan. That way, if we do make it back, we will have him.
Sigurdason looks great on youtube, but then so did Hammil! He does look good though doesn’t he?
As for Herman Nouble, he looks like he’s got the physique and pace but his goal scoring record isn’t great so far. Probably worth a punt. Brought in on the recommendation of the scouts apparently so don’t think Ståle had much to do with it.
Yes! they are unproven. Sigurdarson is however a very particular case. No one is compared to Zlatan by mistake. You can never be 100 percent sure, I am however 99.9 percent sure he’s one of our highest rated players after the season is played. I believe Nouble is more dependable on how the team play and how he’ll fit into our team than Sigurdarson, and strikers are for the most judged by their goal rate.
´Great on Youtube´……. hahaha…. Love you wolves fans getting carried away with a foreign signing, LCFC for the Championship
It’s alright, mate. I’d be sour if I’d try to buy the Championship and managed the dizzy heights of 9th as well.
Even when Wolves were trying to buy Div 1 in the 90s we at least used to manage 7th or a loss in the play-offs.
In 2003 I was in San Francisco for my birthday, October 25th.
Remember calling my Dad back home in Wolvo, for the half time score.
“They’re losing 0 – 3 to Leicester.”
“Bollocks”, sez I to ‘er indoors, “miserable birthday this is gonna be.”
Remember calling my Dad, who was still back home in Wolvo, for the final score.
“They won 4 – 3.”
“Bollocks”, sez I, “cant believe it” !!!!!!
History has a nice way of repeating itself sometimes, so don’t get too cocky Newbs.
And by the way, are all you blogs that bad, or is it you just don’t have a life, that you have to stick your nose into the rarified atmosphere of a decent blog???
FOWB
That was an amazing comeback! I was at Leicester uni at the time – oh how I gave the local lads some stick for that!
LCFC means you’re a Leicester City fan reading a Wolves blog, is that right. And you’re laughing at us?
When I blog Martin, the Leccy League stands up and takes notice!
your lot really impressed last season……..and then i woke up! knob
yeah and your lot really exeeded expectations finishing JUSTabove halfway eh…youve never won f— all youve never won f— all!! are your lot covs feeder club numb nuts?
It is a statement of intent these two new strikers.
Guess after his ‘study’ of the DVD’s, he thought he’d start at the top and work backwards.
Think SEB will go, definitely Vokes, Griffiths, and either Fletch or Doyle.
Next midfield and surely he will keep Kightly.
Also would be good to see if Staale can bring out the potential of Hammill -Will we keep Jarvis?
I can’t see him keeping O’Hara and as for the defence? –
Surely he must know, after Ireland’s performances, that it is time for Ward to move on….
July might be a fascinating month on the Wolves front…
It will also be interesting to see if Ismail and Forde can break into and compete for a place in the first team.
I’m looking forward to the pre-season games already.
Staale will bring a new dimension to Molineux…
I’m one of those whose said for a long time we need strikers that can offer us different options. Both of these guys fulfill that brief.
Nouble is a strange one but at 6″3″ perhaps he can provide Seb with the same kind of ammo that big Chris iwelumo did. If stale watched the champ winning season review, he’ll surely have made a noteof
…their partnership which was a key factor. Seems certain fetch and possibly Doyle too are on the way out. Where and for how much will be very interesting.
I doubt Stale has had much say with Nouble probably another nail in the coffin of a scouting team burying itself.
If Fletch is determined to leave he probably will whatever we are offered – he is a good striker but an old fashioned one and indicative of the Mccarthy era – i for one wont be distraught.
Really? Fletcher is one of the few quality players we have! And if he really was indicative of the McCarthy Era we would still be in it and still be in the PL!
Got to disagree there, Hamsterlet, and there’s a surprise!
Fletcher is, or was, an average Prem striker, of which there are many.
I don’t think he will get many decent offers, and like all the rest of the underperformers from last season, should be made to honour his contract and try his damnedest to get us back up.
Why should he, or any of them, get an easy ride back to the Prem? it was their collective fault we got relegated.
FOWB
Most killer goals in the Premier league are scored on the counter attack with pace through the middle which leaves Mccarthy and Fletcher out of the equation.
What next for wolves. I don’t know
Now I don’t often comment BUT, Remind me again just how many goals Fletcher scored last season? About 21 less than RVP. We need somone to do the business up front, and in midfield and at the back. Now a captains role is to marshall the field so he needs to be a solid performer with a footballing brain. Who would you suggest fills that role.
Has Johnson gone yet usless waste of money he is / was.
WWFC since the 1950’s so I have seen a lot of good players come and go in that time. New manager New ideas New era I hope.
I’m sorry, but Fletcher’s goal tally is about the only thing about the last two years that can’t be criticised. To reach double figures two years running in an awful, awful team which won 5, count em, games last season is a brilliant achievement. You clearly haven’t seen very much of him, he’ll be a sad loss.
See comment above, in response to Hamsterlet.
Sorry, disagree. He is far better than average and he was doing his job up front scoring goals, unless you wanted him in midfield, at the back and in goal too? If the rest of the team were half decent he would have netted 20 plus.
Fletch is a good striker but most of his goals are headers and he was playing in a team whose only route to goal was to get the ball wide first.
Agree, Clive that is ridiculous.
Not only does he score goals. but he is also our best footballer. One of the best touches in the league, links up play (when he gets the chance) and is bloody good in the air. If he’d played for Liverpool or Spurs last season he’d have got 20+
But he didn’t and he didn’t
If is the biggest word in the English langwidge.
If my auntie had bollocks she’d be my uncle.
He’s average, looks good compared to the rest of the Wolves players, but is still not an outstanding Prem striker.
If he leaves, best of luck, but I still maintain they should all be made to suffer the 2nd division, as we are.
If I said black is black and white is white, you would still disagree, Louie.
Of all the things I’ve ever argued with you about, this stands as the most ridiculous and I think a lot of people are going to agree with me. He’s a top footballer.
Sorry Louie, I have to agree with Clive about Fletcher.
Will not be sorry to see him go Sigurdason might be better!
Sorry to disagree with you and Clive but Fletch is good and what he does, and what he does is the classic poachers job. He’s consistent as well 8 goals for Burnley in their relegation scrap, 22 goals for us over two seasons. He’s been fed scraps for 3 seasons and come up with the goods in one of the toughest leagues in the world. He strikes me as in the Jelavic mold and there most definitely is a place for him at any of the prem teams barring probably the top 4. Yes he’s not world class like Van Persie but not many are. Give him the supply and he will get 15-20 goals a season at the top level.
So, using that logic, if he stays with us, and does not get injured, we are looking at 30 to 35 goals in the second division, with the correct supply?
Fatty Blake only managed 20 plus goals per season, for 2 years, so is Fletcher 50% better?
He is better that FB, but not much.
However, if he stays, proves me wrong and scores 30 plus goals next season, I will eat your hat Louie!
Have a day.
FOWB
If I was asked which scandinavian defensive player is ranked highest on Stales trade list, I would answer Thomas Rogne at Celtic. He is Norways second best central defender after Hangeland. He would be a scoup.
correction: coup 🙂
I have to say that not for the first time I’m wondering what the situation is at the “Mol”. Currently, officially we have no manager. Stale has said previously he was going to wait and see the players on the training pitches before deciding who he wants to keep and who he wants to let go
I can understand the signing of SBjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson at this stage because the player is already known to him and wants to come to Wolves. However, the signings of Frank Nouble & Jamie Tank leave me scratching my head. Stale would not have watched or have knowledge of either player. On whose authority were they signed? Who is pulling the strings? Did Stale have any input? Has Stale already decided from seeing the videos who is leaving even before he’s seen them in pre-season training? Does he know which players are moving on and will need to be replaced? Anyone know the answers to these and many other questions?
Apparently they were suggested by the scouts, still Mick’s I presume, and he gave it the thumbs up. But it is still quite worrying, and I guess this is why he wants his man in as director of football pretty sharpish. Unconvinced by Nouble at the moment, but who knows, maybe he’ll come good.
Yoda knows, methinks, or maybe Hamsterlet, who is two bee or not two bees, or maybe methinks too much anyrode!!!
Time will tell, let’s give him that and our full support. At least we haven’t lost for several weeks!!!
FOWB
Brizzie the answer to your questions will begin unravelling, for us all, Monday week when Staale appears. I’m fascinated by what his influence will bring and how he will deal with the inevitable comings and goings of players. He must know, by now, that our defence is crap and our midfield about as imaginative as Mick McCarthy. To me, an ‘oldie’ Wolves fan, he is a potential breath of fresh air on the managerial front, who might have the guile to guide us straight back to the Premiership.
Like Clive says, it is June and we haven’t lost for over a month, so am hopeful for Nouble, Sigurdarson, Solbakken & the remainder of the squad he assembles.
Actually he has commented on the arrival of Nouble and agreed that he is a type of player full of potential. I assume that he at least agreed in bringing him. Tank is another issue which I imagine is a case that belongs to the youth management to decide.
Ideally Solbakken should have taken over earlier. Yet he has already bought Sigurdarson and I’m sure he’s active planning his trading strategy. Will we have a stronger side this season than the last? We have now. . If there are departures I’m sure they will be replaced by decent players.
I’m not going to judge either until we have seen them on the pitch. How many YouTube sensations have we signed that have turned out to be crap?
a healthy mentality indeed :=)
What are your impressions of the Euros so far, chaps and ladies?
I’ve seen all the goals and most of the matches ( yeah, I need to get a life! ) and I must say I’ve enjoyed the apparent sportsmanship, with not too much cynicism and diving and dying on the pitch from an opponents fart, but I cannot stand the tippy tappy keep ball being played by Spain and Portugal and one or two others. It seems somehow sanitized.
Maybe I’m wrong ( no, never, I hear you cry ) but I really cannot get excited about this competition.
The news emanating from the hallowed corridors of The Golden Palace is keeping me up at night, agog for the next in “Stale” ment of what’s going to transpire.
“We live in interesting times!”
( For 10 points name the movie that line is from and who spoked it)
All the big guns are still in the game. I expected more from the Netherlands and France. Especially France disappointed me after a good game against England. Yesterday night they showed no signs of having creative players. For spurs sake I hope they’ll don’t appoint Blanc.
I have not seen England playing so direct since Graham Taylor. Their weakness are maybe that they are a bit predictable and Italy is a difficult team to score against, so it will be an interesting game to follow and a huge test for England. If they beat Italy they can beat everyone.
exactly my thoughts..if thats total football then im getting into rugby! now germany ..they are almost playing excellent football in an aggresive but fair way and seem a really powerful well disciplined side– much more entertaining in my opinion..spain are like really girly although hard to break down and yes they do work hard to get the ball back but give me german football any day
Germany are awesome to be honest, tenacity when off the ball but when on it the ability to hold it like Spain or punish you with the quick counter. I’m hoping for a Spain, Germany final with the German’s winning out (playing their style not the switzerland/Chelsea park the bus style/blind luck) and showing that tiki taka has its limitations, you have to have a cutting edge to go with it.
England have over achieved really and that’s testament to Hodgson’s organisation. However, it reminded me a bit of Wolves first two premier seasons under McCarthy, lots of hard work, but we look second rate compared to any team that can keep possession.
For England to go forward they need to look at the example set by Germany in 2006 after the world cup pretty much they lost their golden generation with the likes of Kahn, Lehman, Frings, Effenberg, Ballack all retiring within a couple of years of each other. Loew when he took over began by building a team that were comfortable on the ball out of the experienced internationals he had Klose, Schwienstieger, Lahm, but mainly by picking players who had been successful together at u21 and under 18 level Ozil, Muller, Bender, Khedira amongst others. England need to do the same now, forget Terry, Johnson, Lampard, Gerrard amongst others and start again. Build the team from players who are comfortable on the ball and pick the tactics to suit their strengths. The fact is teams full of blood and thunder and gutsy players have got us precisely nowhere, England are ten years behind the leading nations technically and stuck in the stone age tactically. The fact that our main way of changing the game was to bring on Andy Carroll as a battering ram shows how deficient we are.
The changes need to happen at grass roots levels as well. Why is it that Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France amongst others can produce a stream of technically gifted players who can manage to pass and move, but England for the pass thirty years have managed to produce only a handful of players who can do the same (Barnes, Gascoigne, Platt, Waddle, Hargreaves, Beckham). It’s no coincidence that our most technically able players are usually the only ones to have successful careers abroad. The fact is the premier league is only good because of the technically proficient foreign players. Terry looked his best when playing alongside Carvalho, Rooney looks better when feeding off Nani, Gerrard had his best season when playing alongside Alonso.
Oh and me and my girlfriend invented a new game last night drink along with Young losing the ball, we nearly ended up in A+E. I think as a game it could only be surpassed by drink along with Terry or Johnson out of position or Rooney looking pissed off. On a serious note what has Wayne got against Walcott, he ignored him for most of the two games only passing to him when it was a definite hospital pass. Is he jealous of the youngsters pace?
England’s problem is that we have sold the ‘Premiership’ as a ‘world-wide league’ at the expense of English football.
All the good teams in Europe have a team based on ‘national league’ players.
Barcelona and Bayern spring to mind.
Our best football teams are dominated by ‘foreign’ players who make ‘our’ players look ‘better’, i.e. Gerrard’s best season was next to Alonso.
So, we have a world wide audience for the ‘Premiership’, but a crap national team………
“You pays your money…..You take your choice” (Aldous Huxley)
I agree with you, there was a time when the England team benefited from some of the foreign players, the likes of Bergkamp, Zola and Klinsmann did bring something to the English game and showed the benefit of technical ability over graft. However, instead of clubs (Arsenal and United apart) taking that information and using it in training their academy lads, they bought in a squad mercenaries. Some as in Arsenal’s case regularly fill their academy with foreign players as well. Now teams with a substantial home nations influence are a rarity and for the most part look poor (Wolves as a classic example). Whilst a home nations cap would undoubtedly affect the quality of premier league in the short term hopefully it would cause teams to improve their academies and encourage them to have much more of an involvement in the youth leagues outside of the academies.
I am involved in one of the feeder teams to the Sheffield academies and am still amazed by the amount of technically gifted, confident players who are turned down at 7 – 10 because they are too small, not strong enough etc. Also we need to drop the attitude that a player needs to know their position by the time they are 12 its ridiculous, similarly the obsession with leagues and competitions for kids at a young age needs to dropped it’s counter productive as it favours winning over the development of the players. Kids at the 7-10 age group shouldn’t be playing football for trophies they should be playing to develop there confidence on the ball, technique and love of the game. To often I see players who have had those basic skills drummed out of them in favour of kick and rush or strong defensive skills.
O’leary would have taken you further. His teams have been far more dynamic than Hodgson’s. One saw it against France and one could saw it against Italy.
Correction: O’neill. The short preparation time Hodgson had before the tournament can also explain why he didn’t get more out of the teams potential.
I think Hodgson’s done a great job with what we’ve got. The fact is that no team we faced beat us in normal time. We were a real pain in the arse to play against, and in a couple of the games showed glimpses of potential getting forward. But until we’ve got some people with the ability to keep possession, and those players have worked together consistently over time, we’ll always have to surprise to proceed at the latter stages.
See from the express and star that the plans for the sporting director have been shelved and all the scouts and TC are to be retained. The happy family carry on with Moxey in charge presumably as a commendation for their excellent recruitment and coaching record.
As cosy and comfortable as ever.
The article quotes greasel as saying a director of football would report to him.
That really takes the biscuit.
What the fuck does greasel know about football, and who in their right mind would want to report to that fat twat, except Connor?
And, the “backroom staff” are staying.
We are lumbered with these useless plonkers forever, as McDickwadhead is very unlikely to ever land a manager’s job again, all the other owners having sussed him out as nothing but a mouth on a stick.
So, we have the prospect of a new manager starting his job with both hands tied behind his back, and once again greasel pulling the strings.
How can a new bloke be expected to succeed when he has a bunch of losers foisted upon him?
Fuckin’ ridiculous!
Hasn’t Morgan been watching, listening and taking notes?
Apparently not.
until greasel is gone our club is going to flounder around from one comedy of errors to another.
Greasel Out!!
The article in the E&S is a real cut and paste from html, and wonder about its credibility.
Let’s hope when Staale arrives Monday things start to unravel, especially for Moxey and TC…
Oh well – `director of football on hold` – ` we are happy with the way things are` . What a load of bollucks. The DoF would have clipped Moxey`s wings for sure, and as for happy.
Under Moxey as CEO we got relegated, yet we are happy as we are. Well that fat self serving fat prat must the only person connected with Wolves who thinks thats ok, for me it is just not good enough.
Stalle will soon get pissed off if Moxey starts to interfere, and starts making obstacles as the new manager tries to bring in his new methods, players and systems. Moxey remains part of the problem, and will never be the solution or way forward, he`s the idiot who persuaded Morgan not to change managers at the end of last season, I can`t believe he`s still there.
Sorry chaps, I meant at the season ending after the Blackburn game at home. I`m sure true fans knew that though. Oh well, at least I can watch the lads at Leeds on Sky 18th August.
To the tune of “We’ll support you evermore”
“Are you Big Mark in disguise”???!!!
You can tell by the `s
now the dust has settled moxey is getting a bit cocky …this may just be a paper trying to make a story out of nothing but if e+s are right then how can things ever change with the original backroom staff STILL in their jobs? i suppose it is a way of saying a really well done lads and arent we all just great….maybe things will improve but it seems to me someone at the top has a really short memory . i would like to see a broom taken to all of them even if they ARE doing ok . no pun intended but it would prevent things becoming stale