So we’re 12 games into the season, we’re second bottom, and we have exactly the same number of points we had after the same number of games in 2003.
Yet we all seem to be remarkably upbeat! Maybe it’s the miserable weather that’s got me thinking. Maybe it’s Jedward. Or maybe I just want to delve deeper into a can of worms which, as yet, has been left alone.
For all our encouraging displays and for all the well worn platitudes about our young and hungry side, I’m starting to feel a little desperate. So I made the mistake of looking up our results back in 2003, and the team that ‘graced’ the world’s toughest league back then.
For all the talk of how much stronger our squad is, have we got a more consistent right back than Denis Irwin at the moment? Do we have a left back as good as the much maligned Lee Naylor in 03? And what about the defensive pairing of Craddock and Butler? That back four kept three times more clean sheets at this stage in 2003, so what does that say about us now?
And what about a midfield pairing of Ince and Rae? Maybe not young and hungry enough?
We had won the same amount of games after 12 outings in 2003 and one of those featured one of the most mesmeric, epic second half showings in beating Leicester 4-3.
Can you see us scoring four goals, three in open play, in one half of football?
So many questions! I’m not expecting too many answers, just playing devil’s advocate I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I love this team, their achievements, the idiosyncratic manager of ours, and can’t wait for the next time I see them all. I’m just throwing it out there. What do you guys think?
In 2003 we had the most abject, dismal pre-seasons that I can ever remember, featuring That Game at Morecambe, not to mention another dismal defeat (at League 2 Yeovil if memory serves).
In 2009 we lose at MK Dons, Port Vale, Bristol City, and some Spanish team I daren’t try and pronounce. The alarm bells were almost as loud this time as they were 5 years ago, and one look at the league table tells me that I had good reason to be.
We were undercooked under Dave Jones, and we were as undercooked as a piece of French veal this time around weren’t we?
I thought the quick, consecutive arrivals of Surman and Halford would be our ‘foreplay’ of the transfer window, not the climax of it, and was naive enough to think that when the owners promised us Premiership experience, they meant it.
I was treated to a midweek Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game at Southampton on Wednesday and it struck me how damn competitive the Football League is. Clubs, big clubs, with beautiful big stadiums, fighting over each other to get to the Championship, let alone the Promised Land. Their fans all clamouring, demanding for the successes that they used to be accustomed to.
We know what it’s all about. We’ve been scrapping with them far too long. I hope to God they stay beneath us, scratching and clawing at the rung of a ladder we’re now precariously perched on.
Forgive me for panicking.
Good post Ben and you definitely point out a few things every Wolves fan must have at least been thinking about.
For me, the performances have been far better this season though and the signs, more encouraging. We got beaten up by Arsenal, but have competed with every other team so far. You certainly couldn’t say the same at this stage in 2003.
What we haven’t done, which we must do, is put the teams around us to bed at home. 1 point against Hull, Pompey and West Ham at home isn’t good enough and we need to take a minimum of two wins in the next month against Blues, Bolton and Burnley at Molineux.
If we fail to pick up wins in those three home games, I certainly will be pushing the panic button.
The reason that we’re talking differently at the club now is that the bigger picture for Wolves is very different to 2003. There’s a growing sense of stability, an owner who looks in for the long haul and a team with potential, passion and seemingly commitment to the cause. That spiel gets rolled out a lot, I know, but it’s true.
In the here and now, it’s tough. A slog. I’d never have said ‘in DJ we trust’. But ‘in Mick we trust’, I do.
We need 9 points in the next month, otherwise the alarm bells will really start going off. With 19 points after 18 games , it would be 4 points more than last time round. We only got 4 points from the next 6 games. 4 points won’t be enough. We have to get nine, other wise I will start panicking.
the life of a wolves supporter. so much promise and endevour but never quite the end product!? time will tell
i think as some people have said we have looked a better side than 2003. we feel more confident in the club and the players but the results just haven’t matched that. we are a very battling sort of team, with great qualities that gain us a lot of praise but we need that extra player with the guile and skill to break teams open. put doyle or SEB one on one with a keeper, any keeper and i’d bet a lot of money they would score but we cant seem to do that!
we will always ship goals but the strike / creative force for us just aren’t unlocking teams. tbh im not sure what we need to do but im gunna strap in for the ride as i can see its gunna be tough!
I seem to remember us having a terrible spell not long after picking up some wallopings. We have three vital ‘must get at least 7 but should really be 9 points’ games coming up next month
I also remember a tougher league with Man City, Everton and Newcastle (who were half decent back then) just above us. This time we have Hull, Blues and Burnley, who i still think will tail off, above us.
Also, last time we had a mountain to climb. I think in February or March, we were 7 points from safety. We need to stay in touch. The truth is it’s not how many points we get, it’s just make sure we’re above three teams
everyone is still writing off burnley. i’ve said from the start of the season i think they have a good chance to stay up. ok their squad is pretty small so any injuries to key players and they may struggle but they seem to have that more clincal streak in them so far. 3-3 against man city anyone . . . . . . .
ok they’ve been battered a few times but all promoted teams expect that but they’ve got results when they’ve needed them. i think we play with a lot of heart and desire but when it comes to it no one seems to want to mess up so won’t shoot or try a defence splitting pass whereas burnley rather unexpectedly got promoted so are without fear.
sorry got side tracked talking about burnley – main point was meant to be. someone please make something happen, it doesnt have to be glossy or brilliant but a shot or two from outside the box wouldnt do any harm!
The beauty of football is that it can’t be predicted. Look at Stoke last season – pre Xmas they were awful, post Xmas they bought a couple of players and went on a good run finishing 13th or somewhere up there. We could feasibly lose every game up to xmas, then buy some unknown striker from say Plymouth and take the league by storm in the New Year finishing 13- 16th. Who knows what will happen. One thing for sure though is the supporters need to stay behind the team no matter what. Supporters have short memories – last season one of the xmas away games was the mighty Blackpool standing on a make shift stand with the north sea cooling the air to a balmy -3 degrees and Wolves giving away a 2 goal lead. This year our xmas away game is at Anfield! I know which one I’d prefer to be watching even if we are getting dicked! So if it proves we’re not good enough to stay up, so what we’ll be back again one day, but for the moment lets not worry too much about it and just enjoy the ride!
I’m certainly not writing off Burnley, it’s just that their away form is disgraceful and they can’t keep this home form up forever. They proved that at home to Wigan. They will be around their but I think they have a good enough manager and team to stay up, unless injuries mount up!
Jed, I’m all for enjoying the ride mate and can’t wait to take my seat in the Anfield Road End. The urge for supporters to get behind the team need not apply. It’s a given.
But the fact I haven’t got a short memory makes me all the more anxious. I just can’t mirror your sunny disposition over the prospect of relegation, and the thought we’ll return ‘one day.’
I still shudder at Filbert Street and that was knocked down years ago, let alone Glanford Park, London Road etc. Nobody wants to go back there, or Bloomfield Road with a gaggle of brass monkeys.
I’m not sure I’d enjoy that ride. But like I say, I do tend to panic.
Sam: Agree about Burnley. Coyle has kept it simple, stuck with the players who got him promoted, supplemented them with some shrewd signings, all of whom seem to have bedded in straight away. Maybe they’ll get ‘sussed’ over the course of the season.
Ben, my main point is that we really have no control over what happens, and no matter where we are next season we’ll still turn up in numbers to watch the team. I still believe we’ll comfortably reach our target this season, even with the odds stacked against us. But if we don’t then I’ll still be shouting for the team next season, as we all will (except the odd glory hunter who’ll be back watching tiddly winks on World of Sport).
Every season it seems that at least one of the promoted sides outperforms expectations, Hull last season Burnley this. Hull were found out big time after xmas and stayed in the league only because Newcastle and Boro were unbelievably poor. It is quite feasible that Burnley will do the same – who knows! We are ticking along playing reasonably well, we will be looking a whole lot better if we take 9 points from the next 4 games which is not impossible although unlikely.
There are a lot of teams, including ourselves, who are very poor, some will improve some will get worse, we need to make sure we are one of the teams that improve. After xmas is the time when everything needs to click for us. After xmas teams in the lower half will begin to fade and we need to make sure we can capitalize on their slowdown. A couple of decent buys in January could have a dramatic effect for us. And in relation to those signings, some of our under performers need to step up (SEB Kightly) and if they do and they manage to improve by just 10% what a difference they could have to our season!
I think I’m rambling (work is slow today!) I’ll shut up now!
Ben, I see exactly where you’re coming from, and understand your trepadation.
I’ll take the opposing view, and am happy to be upbeat, but maybe that’s my sunny disposition. I think we’re probably a 40% chance to stay up (all things considered) and the beauty of football is that it is not predictable, otherwise there’d be no point.
The beauty of this board is that people can make these statements, with opposing viewpoints, and have them considered and not get abused. That (and good content of original posts) is what makes this board so much fun.
t’OM. definitely good to have differing opinions and reason with eachother, instead of abuse. I think other boards would have called me a ‘pant wetter’ a good 24 hours ago. (they’d be right as well!)
If I was trying to condense yesterday’s blog into a sentence, I think it would be:
Did we expect we’d be 2nd bottom with 10pts from 12games after Steve Morgan spoke to us on the pitch back in May?
Speaking on behalf of all contributors on here, I’d wager that 100 per cent of us would have answered no.
But I digress…A blog and a question which I hope will be consigned to the dustbin as the season progresses, as we spank Bolton, Blues and Burnley, not to mention grab a point at Chelski!