Aside from the 3-0 loss, perhaps the most significant development from Saturday’s disappointing trip to Stamford Bridge was Karl Henry picking up his fifth booking of the season.
The former skipper will now sit out the Sunderland match, meaning a pretty significant reshuffle of the midfield is needed.
Whilst Henry has missed a handful of games in recent years, Mick has always had his trusted deputies – Kevin Foley and Michael Mancienne – to fill the void.
With one of those players still on the treatment table and the other now living in Germany, he doesn’t have the luxury of a like-for-like replacement.
So, the question is: What will our manager do?
Well, first and foremost, it depends on the formation.
Without Henry last season, Mick largely preferred 442, using Foley in tandem with either Dave Edwards or Nenad Milijas.
However, with Foley unavailable I’m not sure he trusts any central duo enough to handle the responsibility of this shape. The only possible midfield he could pick for a 442 would be something like:
Or, at slightly more of a stretch maybe:
But would anyone bet against:
A five-man midfield is the other option, but that would mean handing a start to either Guedioura or Milijas – both players who’ve made mistakes in recent weeks.
Even so, this would probably be the most likely 5:
With either shape, it will be interesting to see who will be handed the task of sitting in front of the back four.
Jamie O’Hara would seem the likeliest choice, with Dave Edwards pushing forward in his place.
I’ve always felt Milijas could play the holding role but after his Stamford Bridge horror show, will Mick share the same faith?
Probably not I would imagine.
For what it’s worth, I would play the midfield five pictured above, with Fletch retaining his position as the lone-forward.
That would give us a nice choice of options on the bench too with SEB, Hammill, Guedioura and hopefully Doyle all waiting in the wings should things go south.
What Mick will do is a completely different question all-together though.
Your guess is as good as mine on that one.
Strangely enough none of those midfields fill me with confidence! I don’t think any of our other central players have the defensive ability that Henry has. Right now our central spine of the team is relatively weak defensively due to a lack of pace.
Personally, I would throw caution to the wind and go four four two or four five one (Doyle dropping deeper as an attacking midfielder) Doyle and Fletch up front with Hammil, Edwards, O’hara and Jarvis as the midfield. I’d hope that would give us the pace and trickery to push Sunderland back and worry them on the counter hopefully taking the pressure of the defence.
However, I’m not very confident, we really could have done without any more defensive players missing. I still maintain that our strongest defensive line up when fully fit is Ward, Johnson, Stearman, Zubar/Foley as it gives us a relatively balanced line with strength, pace, positional awareness and experience. In my opinion a lot of our struggles this season are down to never being able to play that line up due to injuries or suspensions. Simply put our back ups aren’t good enough and that has to change in January if we are to improve.
I’d like to see Hammill play too. I think your midfield sounds strong and attacking, I like it.
I would argue that Berra has been better than Johnson for the last few games too and last years partnership of Berra and Stearman had some solid games. Hopefully we’ll see Stears back in the middle when his wrist is better.
For me Johnson and Berra have similar qualities and are interchangeable, however they both cant play in the same team, they are too slow on the turn. At the moment if we had no injuries I’d give Johnson the start as I see him and Stearman as the more long term solution. But based on recent form Berra probably scrapes it.
Couldnt agree more mate! Johnson is class buy bit slow on turn….however Berra is similar but not as good. Against Chelsea Sturridge made him look a womble.
If we replace Berra with class we wouldnt concede so many.
In midfield we lack class though and sad to say one more quality striker.
Mick has got us in this mess…he needs to get us out in January !
It’s a problem alright Thomas, you’re right.
I’m afraid I can see big George at LB for this one…nothing more needs to be said.
Anyway, I am optimistic as IF we are to get results then we should be getting them against other teams who are struggling and at home too.
One simple midfield solution, that would take a bit of bottle, is to bring David Davis back from ICT. I rate him more highly than Milijas & Guedioura (possibly even Henry)!
Another center-half please (Berra & Stearman not the answer) & left-back; go for Ridgewell!
I agree we need another centre half with pace in the transfer window and a cover left back but disagree with your view on Stearman and your choice of Ridgewell as the left back.
Stearman has a lot of potential and I think he would benefit from playing alongside Johnson at the centre of defence, his pace would be an asset to Johnson as well. Its a pity that injuries this year have prevented us from playing him in the centre.
Whilst Ridgewell offers experience I think he is similar to the players we have at the back already in that he lacks pace and mobility.
David Davis would be interesting, but probably this season is too soon for him to be thrown into premier league action on a regular basis. Were not playing the kind of football where we can carry players (as shown so glaringly by Milijas, Guedierra and Elokobi) so youngsters are going to get found out for any mistakes they make and that could have a catastrophic effect on their confidence and development. Couple that with the pressure on each game at the moment and the fairly volatile nature of the crowds, it doesn’t exactly add up to a good place to trial inexperienced young players.
I don’t like knocking Wolves’ players, but Stearman, Berra & Ward lack the essential agility to defend against Premiership forwards. They get turned easily because they cannot maintain their balance, wheras Ridgewell is a very well-balanced player, good in the air and an effective defender. Unfortunately, Berra and Stearman also lack the necessary physical assertiveness. Ward is the only footballer of the three, but lacks pace.
Davis was impressively effective pre-season. He showed a very cool head in the high-tempo area that is midfield. If you are good enough, you are experienced enough. Milijas and Guedioura are liabilities because they often get caught in possession and neither have the pace to recover. Milijas unfortunately passes the ball forwards to the opposition more than to his team-mates.
Keep Zubar fit, get Davis back and do some much-needed busines in the January window please!
You seem to be missing Johnson from that list, he was turned so many times at Chelsea! He was done for pace too, with Berra covering for him more than once.
There’s no chance Davis will get a look in.
Agreed, Johnson has hardly been any better.
The ineptitude of our scouting team is coming home to roost, when you look at the shortage of quality in our squad. Some of the players who are starting this year (and last year) weren’t getting a regular pick when we were in the Championship!
If it is simply that we don’t offer the money that enables QPR, West Brom & Birmingham (when in the Prem) to bring in decent players, then we need to turn to some of our promising youngsters (e.g. Davis!). Will going on about it improve the chances of this happening? Maybe not, but it’s the only thing that makes me feel remotely better at the moment!
I agree with you to a certain extent, however I think Stearman, Berra and Ward can be effective at this levelif they are kept to specific roles. In fact I would say that our first eleven (Hennessey, Ward, Stearman, Johnson, Zubar, Hunt, O’hara, Henry, Jarvis, Doyle, Fletcher IMHO) would match up against most in the bottom half of the table mini league when fit and on form. The problem this season is we haven’t been able to play that side due to injury, suspension or lack of form. What has been exposed is the lack of balance and quality of our reserves.
Injuries at the back to both natural right backs has led to us playing Stearman as make shift cover, leaving us devoid of pace in the middle of defence. Were in the same situation now due to the unfortunate coincidence of Stearmans injury just before Zubar’s return. IMHO Berra is worthy cover for Johnson and the pair are relatively interchangeable however their fundamental lack of pace and mobility render them unable to play effectively together unless the opposition are playing long ball football ala Everton.
The lack of pace at the back has let teams exploit the counter attack against us very effectively and meaning that any mistakes by our midfielders are likely to lead to goals. As a result our midfield are playing like rabbits in the headlights as they have no confidence in our back line.
As for Davis I still maintain a poor premier league team out of form and struggling is no place for a player to start his career unless he’s Rooney or Messi and have the ability to turn a game on their own. Its one thing looking good in meaningless training games in pre-season but playing in a must win game in front of Molineux crowd baying for blood when your a goal down on a miserable Saturday afternoon is whole different beast. Yes crowds will often give young players the benefit of the doubt for a few mistakes but should those mistakes cost us goals or games they would soon turn nasty.
I recently was at a Sheffield United game with the missus when the a large number crowd turned on their sixteen year old promising keeper for making a couple of mistakes that led to an equaliser, it wasn’t pretty and the poor kid hasn’t played since. There currently sitting in the playoffs in league two, imagine what would happen if Davis was at fault for us conceding when playing Sunderland or Norwich, it doesn’t bare thinking about.
Sorry league one my missus would be livid at me for relegating them again!
If you have to wrap a twenty year-old in cotton wool, then there is no hope for him. You either want the chance to play at the top level or you don’t.
Davies looks a good player and seems to have impressed for Inverness.
What if he appears and puts in a few match winning performances, scores a winning goal and becomes a instant hit.
Worth a gamble on our own youth team I feel.
It is as glaringly obvious as the nose on his face, WARDY!!!!
Goalkeeper is the only other position Ward has yet to be picked for, so this week he gets to be holding midfielder, and as usual he will be missing in action, sniffing around the opposition penalty area when he is supposed to be defending.
It wouldn’t surprise me if McDickwadhead ( see Sheffield, double the name in one word) told Henry to get booked last week, just so he could pick his love child in a new position.
Interestingly, in the 81 responses to the Chelsea match report, not one of you Wardophites mentioned the two sitters he missed in the second half.
It doesn’t matter what line up McDickhead picks, he will find a way to screw up the tactics, so we will probably give Sunderland a two goal lead, and keep Bruce in his job for another week.
Why can’t our manager get the “vote of confidence” from our board, which is always a precurser to dismissal?
Until this dinosauer is got rid of, it will not matter who is picked to play.
He has no clue about tactics in the modern game, the training methods are obviously inept, and he has no earthly idea how to motivate, other than through fear, or get the best out of his players.
Johnson, O’Hara and the like don’t become bad players overnight, it is trained out of them, morale is in the shitter, and so are we.
Fuck him off this week, Morgan, we are doomed if we keep him.
FOMM
I think we all let Ward off for that miss seeing as he’s our only decent outfield player…
Speak for yourself, all sitters should be put away, no matter the score at the time.
Goals always boost confidence, and with our lot, like last year, goal difference will be critical come relegation time.
FOMM
We can bleat on ad infinitum about team selections, players performances (or lack thereof) and inept tactics but whats the point ? The arrogant SOB beats his chest every chance he gets stating only his opinion counts… and who can argue, it is indeed only his transfers, tactics and selctions are sending us like a lead balloon down the league…
Nevertheless I will reiterate what the honorable Clive from Houston has said
FUCK OFF MICK MCCARTHY !!
Go back to West Brom you moron!
He IS right though. You don’t have to be from Sandwell to see that.
How many more inept performances will it take to convince you that McCarthy needs to go Steve, because I can assure they are coming there is no silver lining for us this season if McCarthy is allowed to keep his job.
I wish I was cool enough to swear…..
FUCK YOU!! See, it’s fucking easy…
That does look easy, now, do you have to put caps lock on or not? and when you type it on your keyboard do you punch the buttons really hard, and when you click the ‘post comment’ button with your defenceless mouse do you shout ‘who’s the Daddy’ at it?
Let me know. I’m trying to learn….
Thanks_in_advance
This conversation is going nowhere. go play somewhere else.
Can you hold a conversation?
I didn’t know this blog was merely for keyboard warriors who swear?
I was going to suggest Ward too, more for his attributes than MMs shortcomings though.
I do agree that the exact personnel he goes with is not really that important, I can’t really imagine us winning a game no matter who we put out.
Our one saving grace might be that in Sunderland we face opponents who on current form are as inept as us, however we do have a tendency to alleviate bad runs for our opponents so this is hollow comfort at best.
Someone said after the Chelsea game that they are now numbed to the constant losses, and I have to agree. My weekends are for enjoyment, and if I have to pretend football doesn’t exist to achieve this then so be it. Haven’t felt this disenfranchised since we handed promotion to the a****n 10 years ago.
I’ve been pro Mick for a long time, and will always be grateful for him finally getting us out of the division from hell, but unless he learns some 21st century football tactics I simply can’t bear to watch us lose every single week, giving away a 2 goal lead before we even bother attempting to string passes together.
Fickle? Maybe, but only in response to the shite that keeps getting dished out by MM
Sleachy ,Don’t forget our beloved Dave Jones he was our true messiah but alas he wasn’t
given the funds to keep us up but thats another story in the past.I hope for all our sakes
McIdiots tenure becomes a thing of the past without a distant memory sooner the better.
The McIdiots ineptitude will be his own downfall he’s got the players running around like
headless chickens, they’ve had any football they had knocked out of them trying to put
that proverbial shift in.FOMM.
Just a thought if sunderland do sack Bruce with a bit of luck they will want McIdiot back.
wishful thinking,just a whim….
Yeah, and then we get Steve Bruce!
Careful what you wish for! 😛
just taking the piss,Ham
Ward at left back.
Zubar at right back.
O Hara and Edwards central midfield.
Doyle as attacking midfield, would be interesting to see him play a bit deeper.
Jarvis and Hunt on the wings.
Fletcher up front.
If MM picks Elokobi and moves Ward i will not be happy. WTF does he see in Elokobi- he has options. Love ya big guy but your pace does not match up to your muscles.
We stand a chance with this game.
I would also ike to see Hammill come on as a sub for the last 20 minutes
UTW
This is a real conundrum-Think Thomas has done a good job here about the options. Micks ablest lieutenant is Ward and I wouldn’t be surprised if MM asks him to “do a job”. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but Ward is more mobile than O’Hara or Millijas. The obvious choice is Millijas but he’s not playing with any confidence. Its another example of how short on playing quality the squad is. Surely this eventuality should have been seen coming-he is in fact the only player we have that is effective in that role-injuries withstanding.
I’m more concerned about left-back-Mick can’t play George again surely-they have pace and Bruce who is fighting for his life will be exploiting this. So rubbishing my earlier suggestion think he’s got to go with a 5-but he won’t play Hammill and Jarvis together. Think Doyle has to feature in order to create something of a threat.
If any of this makes sense let me know-its hard tapping keys when you’ve bitten your nails to the core-and its only Tuesday…..
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ward starting on the left, it’s classic McCarthy. I’m not sure whether Doyle will be back, but I wouldn’t expect us to switch to 442. I’m not sure Mick trusts/likes Milijas, but we don’t have a lot of other options, other than apparently equally untrustworthy Guedioura. I just hope we don’t see O’Hara take Henry’s slot, which I half expect to happen. He’s been one of our most threatening players going forward, especially in the games against Swansea and Wigan. Fletcher must start too.
That was meant to be me. The missus’ details were in! At least I made her sound intelligent..
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ward starting on the left, it’s classic McCarthy. I’m not sure whether Doyle will be back, but I wouldn’t expect us to switch to 442. I’m not sure Mick trusts/likes Milijas, but we don’t have a lot of other options, other than apparently equally untrustworthy Guedioura. I just hope we don’t see O’Hara take Henry’s slot, which I half expect to happen. He’s been one of our most threatening players going forward, especially in the games against Swansea and Wigan. Fletcher must start too.
Hennessey;
Zubar/Craddock/Berra/Ward;
Hunt/Milijas/Edwards/O’Hara/Hammill;
Fletcher
What concerns me is the choice we have in midfield with neither or Milijas and Guedioura looking capable of fitting in. Milijas especially is nowhere near the player we saw a couple of years ago and has gone the same way as Michael Mancienne did last season. Two very accomplished players who were reduced to bit part roles. Thought guedioura might have been the answer but plays like a headless chicken ! (gives the ball away more than KH)
I’d argue that Karl Henry although he tends to pass sideways or backwards is the only player in our centre midfield recently who can find a gold shirt. O’hara miss places short passes or runs into a blind alley. Milijas looks disinterested and fails to get involved in the game. Guedierra appears to need to be checked for colour blindness in relation to football shirts. Edwards has a lot of energy but lacks passing ability as for Hammil.
Although I’d love to see Wolves attacking all the time I think we’ve forgotten the principle rule of possession being 9 tenths of the law. I’d much rather see Henry passing sideways or backwards and retaining the ball than O’hara running into trouble in our half or lazily giving the ball away and giving the opposition an ideal position to counter attack from. Same goes for the lazy punt of the ball from our defence and goalkeeper.
Retaining the ball a bit would also force teams to come and chase us rather than the other way around allowing us to exploit the gaps created with likes of Jarvis, Hammil and O’hara. We show the ability to hold the ball in glimpses which makes it really frustrating.
How are we suppoesed to keep the ball when McCarthy instructs his team from the kick off to pass back to WH so he can “f*ck it off up the pitch” ?? We have 11 headless chickens who are scared to death of the ball, so when the get it they get rid of it as soon as possible in an “any where will do” way. McCarthy has destroyed these players, he needs to leave as soon as.
I agree its one most annoying thing about our play at the moment this tactic of lazily hitting and hoping from Kick off. But I think its probably a symptom of a lack of confidence in the whole team. Our defence is so frail at the minute because of the lack of pace in the middle that any mistake in the midfield can lead to a counter that costs us a goal. However, I would say that hasn’t always been the case with MM teams we have played some good football in the past couple of years and we have seen it in glimpses this year often after we have scored.
The problem for me has been the; coincidental injury crises at the back (losing both first choice right backs, finally getting one of them back only for our paciest centre half to go out long term), loss of form of our key creative influences Jarvis and Hunt and the under-performance of key players Johnson, O’hara, Milijas etc. Some of these can laid at the feet of the manager as can some bizarre tactical decisions. But some are down to bad luck and the depth of our squad which is a state of affairs outside of our control (Morgan has to put his hand in his pocket!).
I noticed that we passed the ball around decently on Saturday. The problem is most of the passing is done between the back 4, with a midfielder dropping short a giving a one-two with a defender. Chelsea didn’t need to push up on to us and were happy to let us pass around in our own half.
We had real issues when we went forward because we lacked the confidence to have a go at their defense. And when we did we lost it very easily. Fletch was isolated, Jarvis would pass to Zubar and run off, Edwards is just getting back to fitness, SEB spent most of the game on his fat arse. We need to work on passing the ball further up the field.
Confidence is the key at the moment, whereas in the previous to seasons we could always rely on at least one of our midfielders to be an outlet ball and attack the opposition, too often this season players have made the wrong decision and lumped it forward to early or run into trouble.
But retaining possession is important even if its in your own half, after all the opposition is unlikely to score if they don’t have the ball. If the Chelsea game has seen the shoots of that starting to show then some good has come out of the game.
Regardless of the formation and regardless of who plays in that formation, we will be losing by at least 2 goals come half time. No pace, no passion, crap tactics, crap players shoehorned into wherever just to get them to play while players with flair are allowed to rot in the reserves, being told week in week out that only graft will get them in the team.
We are a joke. We are one dimensional and on Sunday we will make the Mackems look world class.
Strong words – very strong words indeed!
You don’t know what will happen on Sunday.
It’s called taking in to account things that have already happened to allow us to predict with reasonable accuracy what will happen. In other words, based on current form and past results you wouldn’t bet on us not being 2-0 down at half time would you!
Not against Sunderland…though I would have said the same thing about Swansea!
It’s just that you were saying ‘we will!’ 😛
I guess we’ll see on Sunday – I hope you’re right! *CA*
We’ll beat Sunderland. We can’t drown our selves because we lost 3-0 for one of the best teams in the world! And since we were promoted O’Hara and Zubar are the only players we’ve bought in from top teams, while many of the other players we bought comes from relegated teams: Hunt, Fletcher, Doyle, Johnson, or from scotland and championship. How in the world can somebody expect us beating teams placed on the upper part of the table? Teams that buys world star players.
Playing Ford, Ismail, and D. Davis, not all at the same time of course, could represent a long term solution how to develop and to establish our selves in the upper half of this league.
Forde didn’t play any worse than the other first team players against Chelsea. I think the Chelsea game could mark the start of a new era in Wolves history, if our biggest talents get’s the chance to shine in future matches. The earlier, the better!
I never expected to beat Chelsea, and my grumbles are not about losing, believe it or not I’m not overly worried about losing as long as we have competed in the game. We are just not competitive at the moment throughout thewhole team and that is where I have the problem.
I’m glad we’re out of premiership. I’ve always claimed that our strike force is one of premiers weakest. Our wingers are quality and O’Hara is one of the deadliest attacking midfielders, while Henry must be one of the best defensive midfielders in the league.
MM isn’t going to buy players in january either, but a loan deal for a young striker from Leeds has been mentioned and Shelvey from Liverpool. We need a striker that can do things on his own. I’ve seen statistics on Doyle, and he never score outside of the box. Fletcher is also a box player. And they don’t have the speed to outrun the opposition’s defence. If our play are limited by our players ability, then it’s no use shouting for MM departure!
It’s not though – our player can play much better than they have been recently… I just hope they can do so against Sunderland!
I’m actually pretty sure we’ll win. Sunderland’s performances are far worse than Wolves, taken in consideration the money they’ve spent. Although they’ve improved lately with the arrival of Bendtner.
I Love sixpointers – we don’t have anything else to play for :=)
Maybe so, but that still doesn’t guarantee victory – it’s the expectation that we should win that makes me all the more nervous about games like this lol 🙂
I’d argue that we have the best strike pair outwide the top 6/7.
You would argue black is white if McDickwad told you it was.
The best strike pair out side what top 6/7?
Divisions?
And whom to are you refering of?
Doyler?
Fletcher?
Fatty Blake?
or that well known double act …Stephen and Ward?
Get real, on current form only Hennessey is worthy of a place in the Prem, the rest are championship at best.
Note, I did say current form….they could get worse!!
FOMM
So because I have a different opinion I would argue whatever ‘McDickwad’ told me to and that I should get real. I’m gonna stop now because you’ll just drag me down and beat me with experience (lots of it)
You can argue what you like and how you want (ie, abuse) because you are Ben’s uncle (or whatever). Interesting that isn’t it.
Strangest statement I’ve read in a long time, Louie. I’m completely thrown as to how you came to that conclusion – Doyle couldn’t score if his life depended on it and Mick refuses to play Ebanks-Blake. That leaves Fletcher as the only forward capable of finding the onion bag…when he’s fit, which isn’t often.
I think doyle has shown what a top class player he can be, and why he has been linked to top 6 clubs. Since his injury for Ireland in March he hasn’t been the same, it’s not just clicking for him.
Fletcher is class and probably our best player, a 15-20 a season striker if he could stay fit.
Being linked and being signed are 2 very different things. Although I agree both could go on to do well in teams that actually knew how to attack
Are you kidding – Sunderland is a joke 🙂
Way to negative, we are talking about a team who lost to Wigan at home.
You clearly dont watch football then – Wigan havent been playing that badly, Rodellega et al have just been firing blanks – their results were bound to change soon.
Try again.
And yet we still beat them
who cares braniac, lets see who’s season is about to kick on and who’s plummets…
no prizes.
I did see the miracle of the invisable force field around our goal mouth with Rodellega.
Some people go through life with the glass half empty of water, some with the glass half full, some see the glass at 50%.
You see the glass completely empty because you are looking through the water,lets see on Sunday, Mr Negativity!
I vote on the last line up with Miljas replacing Henry.
… otherwise I don’t care as long as Forde and Ismail get some valuable premier experience. The match against Chelsea is a step in right direction.
‘I don’t care’ sums up exactly the predicament we are in.
FOMM
It will be 4-4-2 with Hunt-Edwards-O’Hara-Jarvis I reckon. Hopefully Fletcher and Doyle. And our best player in his best position!! No prizes for guessing who I mean.
Wayne Hennessey in goal? 😉
Not a bad point though… I am worried someone will bid for him in January. However, if United paid £18m for De gea, we can expect more!
I hope he goes, he deserves better than where he’s at and where’s he’s headed if he stays with us.
I don’t, he might keep us up and I quite like watching Wolves in the Premier League
You like that shit we serve up week after week?
You need to get out more.
I quite like watching Wolves in the PL as well! 😛
I’m beginning to wonder if I actually do anymore. Just seems a to be an endless round of either hopelessness or disappointment….boo hoo.
And again, why bother with the ‘you need to get out more’. Ridiculous.
Where did I say I was happy with the tripe we have been playing? Go on, point it out to me because as far as I can see I’ve said I don’t want WH to leave because he can keep us up, showing how bad we are that I’m pinning my hopes on a 24-year old keeper
By saying you quite like watching Wolves in the Prem infers you like watching the dross that passes for football that is served up for our delectation.
Forgive me if I mis inferred your comment, but I assumed what you wrote meant you like the tripe served up.
I certainly have no problem with Hennessey, see comment above, or below, or somewhere on this blog.
Stop taking everything so personally as though we are on the playground, Louie, all is in jest and merriment, lighten up a bit!!!
And I would never admit to being Ben’s Uncle……nor would he want me as one!!!
FOMM
The only certainty regarding the Sunderland game is … whatever permutations we think of, they will all be wrong because McCarthy has a weird sense of the unethical!
What’s the chances that his favourites retain their places BUT he brings in a player from the academy squad to replace Henry? Couldn’t happen? We are talking about McCarthy here.
The Sunderland game could be the end of McCarthy’s reign at Molineux IF another defeat comes about, that is as long as Steve Morgan puts to one side his friendship and does what all good chairmen do when a club’s league position comes under threat, relieve the manager of his duties!
It is with some disbelief how Morgan can tolerate a succession of defeats and seemingly accept without any guarantees that McCarthy can turn things around. Yes he has done it twice before BUT his luck WILL run out sooner or later.
Keeping McCarthy at Molineux will do the club, the team or the supporters no good at all. The man has enraged the fans too many times and now even his supporters are outraged by his recent comments, so how much longer can his presence be tolerated before those same fans vote with their feet?
Apparently, someone on Twitter has said that Steve Kean will be fired if Sunderland lose Sunday…
*Steve Bruce – oops!
They also said he was to be fired Monday morning but he was given a reprieve given the tragic events that took place on Sunday morning.
Hodgson was sacked after we beat Liverpool. Now Bruce will go if they lose to us. Doesn’t say much for us, does it. The team no one dare lose to.
“The team no one dare lose to?”
Um, where did that come from? Hodgson was sacked because of his overall performance as a Liverpool manager, and the loss to Wolves was the tipping point! That is true for Bruce and Sunderland as well – nothing to do with being a team no one dare lose to!
Yeah, well said Hamlet. I was going to add, Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini also got sacked for losing to Wolves as well didn’t they?
Can understand MM being annoyed at KH booking he is in bit of a hole of his own digging but not only is Sunderland a big game the six December fixtures make it a massive month – an aside a lot of MM haters like to tip there hat to the great Dave Jones ( do they get bored if the balls not just bouncing loose ? )
Your excellent article just outlines the lack of depth in quality in our squad, Thomas. It is an issue that must be addressed in January, when we will need to be very active in the transfer market, not the least in securing a holding midfielder and a creative midfielder. Add to this a quality centre half and a fast, strong and skillful striker. It looks as if anything less will not be good enough this time.
As for the Sunderland game, surely we have to play with two strikers, we must be positive and we must attack them from the first whistle until the last, it is quite simply a game we cannot afford not to win.
Ward will play the defensive midfielder.
MM will stick with Elokobi.
I’m surprised at some peoples optimism.
Be realistic, without two glaring misses from Wigan’s striker, we too, would have lost at home, to Wigan.
Anyone, who thinks that with the present set up we will avoid relegation, is deluding themselves.
The silence from our chairman shows his lack of concern.
The arrogance of our manager in not resigning for the good of the club amazes me.
The problem is that from the top down they don’t care about Wolves as a football club.
To them Wolves is just part of their career, they are not fans and it shows in their actions.
I can see us losing Sunday and still MM going on about how well we played and, but for several silly mistakes, we would have got a draw!
By the same argument but for two dodgy refereeing decisions we could have got a point or maybe a win against Newcastle. While were at it but for injuries to Matt Murray and Joleon Lescott we might have been in the premier league years ago and a sheikh might have bought us and we might be lining up with Aguero and David Silva! Or if our scouts had been a bit quicker or more persuasive Rooney could have started at Wolves.
Its useless saying if’s or buts, judge the team based on the actual results and performances they’re bad enough!
I’m not sure what you mean, Sheffield ?
In one sentence I say :
“Be realistic, without two glaring misses from Wigan’s striker, we too, would have lost at home, to Wigan.”
This is my take on that game and you have somehow turned it into a montage of improbabilities and fantasies, which have no relevance to Sunday’s line up!
Any chance of some of what you are smoking?
It does have relevance – if I, or someone else, were to come on here and say ‘we should have drawn/won at Newcastle’ you would have argued against that just as sheffield argued against your point!
The fact is we lost at Newcastle. Also, the fact is we won at Wigan! I bet if Stephen Ward misses two shots while 2-1 down to Sunderland, you wouldn’t be saying ‘we would have won at Sunderland’
On a side note though, I do believe that MM, at least, cares about this club! Did you see him after we managed to survive against Blackburn last season?
Yes, coz he knew his pal moxey would be keeping him on for at least another season, and bonus’s were in the air!!!
Nothing to do with loving The Wolves, he is that far behind, he still thinks we are a championship team…………….look at the players he picks every week!
FOMM
I had a feeling that someone would bring up the issue of money… >_>
Money or not one thing I would say in defence of McCarthy is look at the teams that came up with us, Birmingham relegated in financial turmoil because they spent more than they could afford (although they did win the plastic cup!). Burnley relegated don’t even look close to coming back.
For all of his foibles, his championship players, terrible football, and bizzarre tactics, you can’t argue with the final result we are still in the premier league, a fact that looked unthinkable when he took over. McCarthy deserves our thanks and respect for that. Credit where credit is due.
That said we need to put in real performances at home in the next few weeks against Sunderland, Stoke and Norwich and get wins or at least a point. Home form will be key to keeping us safe and if MM can’t get the team picking up regular points form games at home against the lesser teams his time will be up. With that in mind I don’t mind losing to Chelsea, if we get all three points this weekend. In the end its our performances against the teams around us that will determine our fate, we can’t rely on getting results against the top six teams like we did last year, those games are just bonus games.
Sheffield Wolf – I take your point about McCarthy but no one can live upon past glories particularly in football!
McCarthy did indeed bring us up to the ‘promised land’ and we are all extremely grateful to him for that but he has been fortunate to keep us there, last season being a case in point BUT do Wolves fans really want to see perennial relegation battles?
As I have said before, Steve Morgan can decide upon that question but up to now he has been the ‘sleeping’ chairman on playing matters and only comes awake it seems when it comes to property development, which after all IS his real game!
I agree, you can’t live on the past. But in MM defence the club is trying to live on a budget a lot smaller than those scrapping with us and as a result were at a disadvantage each season. As a result of this I kind of expect us to be in a relegation scrap each season (despite the hot air coming form the club) as it will take us time to build up the strength and depth in the squad to mount a challenge for anything else.
I’m on the fence with MM to be honest, if find his tactics boring and one dimensional. But I think he deserves credit for building a team which has a decent chance of staying in this division each year despite the relative lack of resources (wages, cash, etc) he has to play with.
Sheffield, firstly, if we play well against Sunderland and Ward misses two good opportunities, why assume what my reaction should be?
You are arguing yourself into a hole.
Fact is MM, now, is taking this football club down.
It is you who have brought in ‘ifs and buts’, as it is the only way you can justify your argument that MM is good.
He isn’t he is crap, results, team structure, the way we play show that is the case.
Our manager is the laughing stock of the league.
Am sure Quinn has told Bruce:
‘if you beat Wolves you stay but if you can’t outwit McCarthy you’re out.’
I thought we were lucky against Wigan and think Sunderland will be well motivated to beat us.
Your replies are a little like our defence, full of holes.
Know any friends who call McCarthy the ‘laughing stock’ of the league then?
Yes I do. One of my oldest friends is a Sunderland supporter and has been as long as I’ve supported Wolves, that’s 45 years. He and other Sunderland supporters think getting rid of MM is the best thing Sunderland did and that Wolves are the ‘laughing stock of the Premier league’ with him in charge!
Our manager isn’t the laughing stock of the league. I think you’ll find if you look at the response to the boo gate earlier in the season a lot of managers, ex-professionals and the press came out to defend his record at Wolves.
MM has a lot of problems and may well be pushing us into a relegation scrap and you can make arguments that other managers may do better. All I’m arguing for is that you judge him for his record as Wolves manager not for things that didn’t happen. We won at Wigan, we did honest you can check if you like! It doesn’t matter how we did it we won. As Clive keeps admirably pointing out, it’s not the performances that count its the points on the board and we currently have more than three teams below us!
Wolves are outside the relegation zone and wins against the three teams I mentioned would mean we stand a decent chance of staying outside of it for a while. If we don’t win then Mick deserves the flack but so far this season for all of the poor performances and poor results we have not been in the relegation zone once!
I’m firmly on the fence with regard to MM I dislike a lot of things about how he sets the team out, but also see the fact that Wolves are a team on a budget and therefore in this league were always going to be at a disadvantage. With that in mind progress is going to be stalling whoever is in charge and I think were due a few more tight scrapes before we can honestly call ourselves an established premier league side.
Emphasis on the word currently!!!
How can you call the team on a budget,when he’s spent 49 mil
on the team or do i mean wasted.It’s down to him i think,whats it
worth now ?.Iknow its not a lot in premiership terms but its still a
lot of money for where we are now.
£49m goes a long way on champ manager. you only have to look at our next oppo to see that £££ spent by an experienced manager at a relatively established club does not guarantee success.
And if my Aunty had balls she would be my Uncle!!
WH
RZ. RJ. CB. SW
DE
AH. SH. JOH. MJ
KD
SF
Stand a much better chance with this 12man team.
Abbreviations are cool
WTF-What the fuzz
LOL-Laugh out loud
MMAL- Make mine a latte
BRB- Be right back
FOMM- forever, only Mick Mac
TB-Text back
ICFTRHP-I cant find the remote help please
For any of you technophobics
FUCKOFFMICKMCCARTHY.
There, work that one out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FOMM = Forgive Our Manager, Mick!
…I’m sorry, I had to do it! 😛
E & S report that the talking is over prior to the game. That’s good news for me-Not having to read some of the nonsensical utterings of both Management and players. It’s time for action and a performance.
Would still like to hear what Morgan has to say and think-but as ever he is waiting for good news. He might wait a long time.
I am dreading Jan transfer window as I can see any players of quality we have will be targeted by clubs who have momentum. We are standing still-whats happened to “the plan”-if it ever existed?
BBC has just said that Steve Bruce is no longer at Sunderland! Never mind whether we beat them or not!
So Bruce has gone, that leaves us with absolutely no chance of a decent manager wanting to come to the Mol, coz M O’Neil or Mark Hughes will go to Sunderland, and also, with no manager or team tactics, their players will play with total abandon against us, and we’ll get hammered.
Happens all the time when a manager gets sacked.
So, Morgan DO THE SAME!!!
FOMM
Just what I thought when I read Bruce had gone.
Also, I guess a good place, potentially, to start a new era with a win.
I think if you thought O’Neill or Hughes would ever come to Wolves you’re living in cloud cuckoo land Clive!
These kinds of managers are going to demand funds and a lot of freedom, neither of which they’d get at Wolves.
If we spend any money in January I’ll be very surprised – far more likely we’ll take someone on loan and Mick will state how ‘pleased’ he is with the squad.
I remember last year when players like Sidwell turned us down…well, it’s gonna take more than a Steve Sidwell to save us this season!
At least Sunderland have got the guts to make a decision-Yes think they will come out of the blocks fast hoping to show the new man they are worth a place. He’s already in place but the announcement will take time.
Eric Black is an experienced professional in caretaker charge and his pride will ensure a performance-its not going to be any easier on Sunday.
Sacking the manager is an easy decision, no “guts” required. The difficulty comes with replacing him. It can either go very well (the al***n replacing Di Matteo with Hodgson) or very badly (Newcastle replacing Allardyce with Keegan). I don’t see either of the two big names mentioned here going to Sunderland. O’Neill has expressed an interest in the vacant Northern Ireland role and Hughes left Fulham to be at a club in Europe.
Regarding us, I doubt that there is any manager out there who would get more from our current squad than McCarthy. Although you can question a lot of the aspects of his management his big strength throughout his time at Wolves has been forging a good dressing-room. It therefore makes sense to back McCarthy (board AND fans) over this next run of games and re-evaluate after Christmas.
He might have once forged a good dressing room, with all the shift work put in, but we are now the pits, and getting shafted every week does mine head in.
(Clever mining references there, I need to get out more, Louie)
FOMM
I think if you thought O’Neill or Hughes would ever come to Wolves you’re living in cloud cuckoo land!
These kinds of managers are going to demand funds and a lot of freedom, neither of which they’d get at Wolves.
If we spend any money in January I’ll be very surprised – far more likely we’ll take someone on loan and Mick will state how ‘pleased’ he is with the squad.
I remember last year when players like Sidwell turned us down…well, it’s gonna take more than a Steve Sidwell to save us this season!
Thinking of selling my MM memorabilia am i in the place ?
You just know Sunderland will put one over us now! 😉 Anyway, I agree with alf white and that at least Sunderland decided to shoot before it got too drastic. It seems like MM should have had the Sword of Damocles hanging above him for weeks/months but all he has done has used it to cut down ‘mindless idiots’ who dare voice an opinion of dissatisfaction. I hope we do beat Sunderland – we should. However, I get the impression we will scrape it, ala the Wigan game all over again, and MM keeps his job for another few months – meanwhile the team will continue to flail around like a fish out of water.
I just have no confidence in MM and TC. I know we don’t have a divine right to beat anybody, but we should at least be able to feel confident of beating some. Even the managerless Sunderland still keep worried but if it loses MM his job then so be it. Anything to be rid of this clown. UTW.