Remember that picture of the jubilant Wolves fan, cuddling Bully through the window of the Waterloo Road home dressing room, as our hero celebrated in ‘88?
Those were the days my friend…
The days when supporters not only shared in players’ successes, but broke down the boundary of a football stand to do so.
They were the days when a Continental GT or a diamond earring was a mere twinkle in a camaraman’s lens.
Good times.
Pretty much the polar opposite of Sunday at the Hawthorns, when the white vested Carlos Vela inflicted the most painful blow of all – a blow that no amount of past experience could soften.
The morbid, satanic inevitability of it made the eyes well up.
Partly through Mick’s imbecilic substitutions, and partly through a generation of hapless cock-ups against our arch rivals, including a Keith Curle own goal, a Keith Curle penalty miss, four defeats in one season, the South Bank invasion and that capitulation in 2002.
Yet even the desecration of my all time favourite Wolves memory – as an official mascot to boot – doesn’t hurt as much as what has followed.
It does its best to render time as an incapable healer and proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the modern game has nothing in common with the hard suffering fan.
It’s the unadulterated bullshit.
Not from the crowing Albion supporters, but the regional newspapers and twee little social networking sites that order me to think of the positives and get behind the boys.
Back in 1987, David Instone would paint the real picture for the Express & Star, while Graham Turner would offer a far more succinct crumb of comfort in far less words.
It is like George Orwell has never been away, as reams of mind numbing drivel is thrust in front of our teary eyes, booting us up the arse with a cruel call to action.
Just tell us all to pull ourselves together and snap out of it why don’t you?
Any moron masquerading as a reporter who dares to write a single quote from Mick McCarthy saying we must be positive can ram their chewed up biros up their arseholes.
‘Mick keen to point out the positives,’ yelps the headline.
On Saturday night, ‘Mick says defeat will relegate Albion.’
So get this then! We’re 30 seconds from condemning our most hated rivals to effective relegation when we make the biggest pig’s ear of defending since Stuart Naylor was available in instalments, and we’re all told to take a big fat positive from it all?!
Can someone, somewhere, tell it like it is, or stop insulting the intelligence of every Wolves fan to have ever shed a tear in 2002. Or 1988 for that matter.
Still staying up though aye we! Hope you don’t give up cos that will ceratinly send us down!
Keep the faith
Mick’s yer man!
Totally agree Ben – absolutely sick of the modern game, the premier league and the spin that comes from our club.
(probably because we are at the foot of the table and heading for relegation!)
I miss Bully too! Sick of hearing “how well” Doyle has played on his own up front – b*llocks I say, I know its tough but we need goals from our forward.
Agree mate, it is spin and it is infuriating. I am sure it never used to be this way, but therein lies my point I suppose…The game ain’t what it used to be. The media ain’t what it used to be.
It isn’t the fault of the authors in many ways, as they have obscene amounts of copy to write, in a 24 hour news world, dozens of deadlines etc.
It’s the power of the club that irritates me more. They can vet stories, ban reporters and set their own agendas (Moxey v good at this) so we are all fed bullshit like some sort of Orwellian society.
It actually hurts more, because for the brief moment you read the sanitised article in question, you feel like you’re on your own, with no crumb of comfort to wollow in on the back page.
EG: Mick says we played really well. (We didn’t). Mick said we have been playing really well all season (we haven’t) and before you know it, you’re wondering if all the games you have seen this season have actually been a figment of your imagination.
The end result is a complete insult on your intelligence, and a spoonful of pre concocted medicine that you never asked for to heal the pain.
Bloody hell…I’m writing another blog!
I miss Bully too???? I miss Billy Wright, The Doog, Peter Knowles, Johnny Hancocks, Bert Williams too – what on earth has that got to do with anything?? Those days and players are gone – modern football is modern football – accept it and move on!!
UTW
Maybe you’ve missed the point? The point of the blog is comparing now with then?
Football had more soul then – now it’s just spin and show business IMO.
Arsene Wenger said he didn’t see it.
Fergie says after playing shit “we played great”
Tony Pulis says “I get the best out of what I have got”
Ancelloti says “Torres played very well”
Mick McCarthy says whatever he needs to to save his bacon.
Oh… and Frankie says Relax – that was in 1984 when we had 3 consecutive relegations to follow.
Remember McCarthy’s reaction after we lost to Man Utd in the last minute at Old Trafford? He went fuckin bonkers. But now I think about it, was that his real reaction? Surely he didn’t expect a point there and he had time to think about how to portray his reaction prior to the press conference – but to have three stolen from him on Sunday in that manner his reaction should of been much much worse. Is he the straight talking, honest heart on the sleeve guy that we know?
Also, all I’ve seen in the press is “Hennessy not to blame” “McCarthy won’t blame Hennessy” “McCarthy – Not Waynes Fault”.
And I agree – he wasn’t to blame – but who’s fucking fault was it then cus I want to know how it will be changed to improve.
Whats that saying? “A definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”
Propaganga, bullshit, half truths, misinformation and as you put it Ben – an insult to our intelligence.
TATD
Only surpise to me is that given your grasp of team selection, tactics, straight talking, state of the art PR and motivational skills you aren’t managing a premiership side yourself (on your way to a Champions League place of course!). If it was that easy everyone would be doing it!
UTW
Yeah it was a bit of a rant… just my opinion tho.
Kind regards
Harry Rednapp.
Every one is entitled to their opinion, ………..and everyone is entitled to disagree with that opinion.
You, Mr. Oslowolf, appear to be one of those happy clappers we all love on here.
Have you actually seen any matches this year?
If you are suggesting that McRidiculous has a grasp on tactics, team selection, and motivational skills then methinks there is something rotten in the state of Norway!!
If he is so fuckin’ brilliant, pray tell us why we are bottom of the league?
FOMM
so does that mean the only people who can comment on football are football managers? Can only politicians comment on politics and can only those who run banks comment on the banking crisis? Jesus christ what a moron.
Hence my response Danny. What a proper plonker.
Amen !
Its well past time the 3Ms got some flack for this absolute mess of a season, with mick bumbling along, clueless as ever.
Big things n the way? Seems the only big things are profit margins at this club, as the squad slowly deteriorates. Jarvis, Doyle and Wayne should fetch a princely sum too.
Thank fuck for other sports.
The bloke hugging Bully is Nobby.
I used to stand in the North Bank with him, and, at various other times, Pat Banks, Aida (who always wore a blue suit) Big Mark, Bald John, Barry, Carol and her husband from CheslynHay (forgot his name) and a bunch of others, who I would recognize, but whose names I have sadly forgotten.
One of the official DVD’s of Bully has the sound to go with the picture of him, with Nobby screaming “Come on me Babbies!!”
Those indeed were the days.
FOMM
And now I’ve seen it all.
Check out the official sanitized site.
Henry for England!!!!
It seems, according to our beloved leader, that our genius of an England manager told him he is impressed with Henry, and Jarvis too!!!
Am I missing something here?
Haven’t those 2 been slightly lacking in performance ratings over the last few months?
Or, is our England manager as good at spotting talented players as McStupid?
We should start a campaign to have Ward change his nationality to English, so he can become an ever present in our England team……and join the rest of the underachievers already there!!
Next thing, we’ll sell him to Chelsea for $100 million!!
Going back to the Bully theme.
Has there been anyone since, who showed such passion to play for England?
The only one who I can remember, admittedly it was pre Bully, who played for us, was the late, great Emlyn Hughes.
FOMM
Yet again Capello proves he knows nothing about picking England players!
Jarvis left out when he was having a stormer, Henry included whilst having a stinker! Unbelievable!
Great article Ben and judging by the feedback you seem to have captured the feelings of frustration that many share following the events of Sunday and indeed our season to date.
Much like everyone, I hate the drivel and pointless soundbites dolled out to us pre and post match. I hate the fact that the E&S and official Wolves site are essentially one and the same thing. I hate that nobody ever asks Mick the questions we all want answers to.
Personally I feel our local paper are the biggest culprits in this situation. They’re the only people in a position to break this endless cycle of spin but instead choose to cosy up to the club, rather than, heaven forbid, ruffling a few feathers around Molineux.
As far as the club itself operates, well, that’s just the way it is I’m afraid.
Like it or not football is a business and business, as you know well Ben, is all about PR, putting a positive spin on things and damage limitation when things don’t go to plan.
Sadly, that filters down from the boardroom to the manager’s dugout.
Even so, I personally feel that Mick gives a pretty honest assessment, within the confides of what he can realistically be expected say.
For instance, he can’t come out slagging individuals off and pointing fingers of blame. That’s a quickfire route to losing the dressing room.
That said, I do often feel he’ll say we played well in games when the truth is, we played ok in spells but were largely poor for others. That’s frustrating.
He also often refuses to point out mistakes that he perhaps made. For instance, if he’d come out following the game on Sunday and said “We were under the cosh second half and I tried a few radicial things in an attempt to change it, but it probably didn’t work out” I think we’d all have accepted that.
Instead, he tries to put a spin on everything by saying that getting a point was a positive and the performance was good. It’s fair enough to take this view but you have to balance that out with the aspects of what went wrong.
After all, if everything was so good, we would have won wouldn’t we?
Wolves have paying customers. It’s a commercial enterprise. So, you will inevitably have some spin; just like any commercial enterprise. Directors and managers of companies have fiduciary duties to the company. They must never say anything to harm the reputation of the company and (often) this involves being economical with the truth (although the current lead story on the official site, “Henry’s Cappello Boost”, is an exercise in puffery that exhibits more spin than Alastair Campbell and Shane Warne combined.)
All normal and unavoidable, sadly.
New to the blog and glad to have found it – good to read honest, informed and erudite opinions from fans about the mighty Wolves.
Got to keep the faith we’ll stay up but know it’s hard after what happened on Sunday. I know WBA played well in the 2nd half (we allowed them to) and deserved to get something but I’m sick to death of Wolves conceding in the dying minutes of a game to lose or at best draw a game. Its happened to use time and time again and it’s got to stop. Why does it happen? do we get complacent (I don’t think so), go to sleep, lose the will, or are we not fit enough to maintain effectiveness through a full 95 minutes, Midfield get lazy and rely on defence to carry us through to the end. I don’t know but Mick etc. have got to fix it.
There’s my tuppence worth
Sick as a parrot (and other football cliches)
Very nice of you Tipsy. Hope we can keep you on here for a long time to come, injury time permitting!
I note that the E & S wrote a piece from O’Hara, saying we will stay up IF we cut out the late goals.
You know things are dicy when the paper starts using the big ‘if’ word, and backing up their statements with conditions.
Before the weekend, there was no ‘if’, just a defiant tub thumbing article or two about how we can relegate WBA.
In fact, the ‘if’ word hasn’t been used all season, so perhaps this is paper talk for ‘we’re doomed!’
Who said you can fool some of the people some of the time, or something like that. Spin is ok when you are winning, its just oils the wheels of expectation.
The problem is when we hear after another defeat, MM stating we played well and deserved something from the game, its just bollucks. I read on the WWFC website recently that we were unlucky not to get something from the game at Stamford Bridge. well that was my 60th birthday weekend and while we just about contained Chelsea to a 1-0 scoreline until 10 minutes from the end, noway did we ever look like creating a scoring opportunity in that game. More bollucks.
We should have made progress this year after the money spent after surviving the previous season. Unfortunately the table doesn`t lie, we just aren`t good enough. I renewed on the early bird as I will always be a Wolves fan, doesn`t mean I like much of the bullshit coming out of the club, even the spin doctors are having trouble defending the indefensible, as everone can see where we sit in the league table.
Brilliant blog Ben. Nuff said.
Cheers Martin. Very nice of you!
It was born out of some of the most excrucating pain I have ever felt as a Wolves fan. In fact, it has barely dulled since 2pm on Sunday.
Until Sunday, I thought that football wasn’t quite doing it for me like it did my formative years. I hadn’t been clamouring for the turnstile at 2.30pm, or tuning into WM like the days of old when we’re away.
I’ve got a little boy, priorities change, etc etc etc.
But now and again, a seismic moment hits you so square in the heart, that your senses come alive like never before.
This time it was Vela, and I can honestly say I have never felt raw emotion as a football fan like this in my entire life. Call me melodramatic, but even John McGinlay at Burnden Park doesn’t come close to the pain I felt at that moment on Sunday – or felt since.
It actually feels like a bereavement.
That the papers, the club, or any reporter never bothers to even attempt to convey this pain forces me to put my fingers to my keyboard!!
(It still bloody hurts mind!)
I know exactly how you feel mate. This season is doing my head in completely. What makes it so unbearably infuriating is that this just should not be happening. I’ts all set up for success not failure. To be honest, i find it hard to write on here at the moment, it’s just better not to think about it.
I am pleased to see that other fans have finally discovered the gap between official statements and the reality on the pitch. It’s annoyed me all season and think that it has encouraged the delusuonal view that we are not going to go down, whatever the results or our position in the table, because we are too good to be relegated. I am compiling a file of quotes uttered by players and management and have written a couple of reports on the subject, posted on the Vital Wolves site on 4 October and 9 February. Check them out. Let’s hope that a sense of the enormity of our plight intrudes by Saturday and that management and players address our real weaknesses. In this respect I hope it will not be the defining moment that others are talking about. If it were, we will ship a goal or two at the back through lapses in concentration and silly mistakes, while finding it vittually impossible to take our chances the other end. We have to redefine our season if we are to survive. I am travelling up on Saturday more in hope than expectation that we will turn it round.
The trouble with this club,Is the hierarchy of this famous club,Don’t give
a shit or anything about the fans.Don’t they realize how long we waited
in the doldrums to get into the premiership and for what another season
of under achievement not down to investment this time”but the ineptitude
of mm,!it pains me even the thought of his name!..and his coaching staff all of the same inability.
.As said before on this blog i would get rid now of all
of them and get somebody who knows how to coach and not to talk
a load of bollocks like he does…Its wishful thinking on my part i really hope
we stay up what ever happens in the next couple of games at home as this
will plot our destiny of this woe-ful season.As with most of the faithful i will
be taking up the earlybird offer as i have for the last 10yr’s . stay up the wolves
The only good thing that comes from a shit season is the conversation and discussion it creates on sites such as these. When a team is doing well what is there to write about?
Your post Ben rightly slates the ‘press’ for the happy clapping statements that comes from the club. Considering there is so much discussion at the moment it truly is piss poor that they can think of nothing more to write.
Personally I couldn’t give a flying fig what McCarthy or any of those prima donna’s say, I don’t give a f**k anymore. I am sick of being disappointed and humiliated by a team of players who collectively earn more than the budget for the local hospital for the next 10 years.
My advice to Muppet Mick and his boys is simple – shut the f**k up and do your talking on the pitch for f**ks sake!
Couldn’t agree more.
Foot of the table – but everything is ok – no it isn’t so pull your fingers out. Starting with Blackpool.
My missus works in “Corporate America” and she gets completely pissed off with people who report to her, who wont do what they are being paid for. Nothing more, nothing above and beyond the call of duty, just do their job.
She comes home some nights absolutely seething about the inefficiencies and ineptitude of them.
I tell her, this is exactly how I feel about the Wolves. No one is doing their job.
We are not asking for miracles, or heroics, just for all of the employees to do what they are getting paid for, and let’s face it, they are getting really well paid.
If that lot were in “real” jobs, they would all have been fired, or at least demoted, because none of them are performing as per their job descriptions, starting from the top management and trickling all the way down.
Yes, we all want us to stay up, but do we all want the same faces next year, if we do?
Can you imagine another season like this one?
Oh, fuck, no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FOMM
I am off to Molineux tomorrow (Wednesday) for the Fans Parliament..
The last one was a picture of calm as we were 4 games into the season and things were looking pretty good. This should be a livelier affair.
If you have any questions that you would like me to put to Jez Moxey and co then please let me know.
UTW
Adam
That really opens a can of worms, but let’s face it, that fat greasy Dago bastard will never answer any question which has a hint of controversy or demanding a definite yes or no.
Why don’t you try finding out about the plans for the stadium development, and how it will work when we get relegated.
Also, ask him if McDinosaur is gonna get fired when we go down, and will he please take Ward, Clipboard and Moxey with him.
Wonder how many pointed questions you can ask before getting kicked out!!
Also, ask if he reads this blog, and if so, WHY DON’T THEY LISTEN TO US???!!!
Have a nice meeting and try not to throw up too much at the drivel you will hear.
FOMM
Hello Adam, could you ask him how he can trust Mick McCarthy again with a large transfer budget again after how badly wrong it has gone wrong since promotion and also why is our manager not coming under more scrutiny when we are the worst team in the league depsite him spending £33million on new players since promotion?
The happy clappers will cling to the fact Mick got us up and we are now forever indebted to the moron for the rest of time – absolutely pathetic.
happy clappers are nowhere to be seen Danny… even their giant blinkers cant hide the shower we are all witnessing.
Hi Adam. Thanks for letting us know about the Parliament. I have a hundred questions that could be swatted away, based on my het up opinion, but I do have one that isn’t based purely on subjective emotion, which is:
Will Jez Moxey review pricing policy for FA / League cup matches in the future after the Stoke City match which attracted 8,000 home fans?
Not only was the £25 entry per adult extortionate – particularly when other clubs far higher in the Premier League were charging less – but £8 for my 2 year-old was disgusting.
In the age of austerity that we are in, £58 for me, my wife and my boy was too much to take.
(and don’t let him wriggle out with the £20 per adult discount for S/Ts – that was still £5 more than the most expensive seat at Villa!!)
Following on from that, why no kids for a quid, everyone in for a tenner etc etc like other clubs?
I predict we’ll be seeing those deals again if we get relegated!
cheers guys.
clive – asking how the club will cope with (and indeed the wisdom of) this stadium expansion given the very real possibility of relegation is definitely on the agenda.
danny – that will definitely come up if all the talk is how great a job everyone is doing: we are bottom at the end of the day!
ben – will ask about that for sure. last time jez argued that pricing is not the biggest factor behind attendances – even putting to one side issues like fairness, loyalty and respect it is hard to argue why we sold no more tickets than against doncaster if money wasn’t a factor.
if there is any interesting feedback i will let you know.
mcnugget is guaranteed a job next season folks. perhaps time to put this little crush we all have on WWFC aside for a year (or more) atleast until the incompetant arrogant wankers at the helm have fucked off to sap the life out of a different club …
It’s a difficult one, Ben. On the one hand we all know McCarthy’s positive rhetoric is complete nonsense – the team is bottom of the league and on course for a Championship return, so any suggestion that we’ve played well this season is, quite frankly, ridiculous. We can’t score or defend, which ultimately spells relegation.
On the flip-side, what would it do to the players’ confidence if McCarthy came out after most games and said we were shit? Brian Kidd did it while manager of Blackburn and look what happened there; the team went down and he lost his job.
While I hate hearing McCarthy harp on about us playing well, I understand why he does it. But make no mistake, it matters not one jot what McCarthy says – this team is going down and it will be typical if Albion put the final nail in the coffin when we meet at Molineux.
Great article Ben as usual. Sunday hurt big time.
Questions for Moxey:
2 years in the Premier League and we went into a local derby with 7 Championship winning players. How does the CEO feel about the return on player investment since we got promoted?
Who on the Board provides the challenge to the manager’s decisions on the football team or is he left unaccountable? This question is born out of seeing the same mistakes made month after month!
Does the CEO feel the contracts signed with the coach companies for away travel provide value for money when an independent group can undercut the official travel club by over 50%? Profiteering?
How can a matchday food kiosk run out of food before half time on a repeated basis in the South Bank? I believe it also happens in other stands.
What the hell happened to the pitch and what are the club doing about it?
As a premier league club I am sure Mr M would agree that we should be scouting the world for players. Can the club release details of our ‘worldwide’ scouting policy and the number of Wolves exclusive scouts based in which countries?
Please explain to me the point of passing the ball back to the goalkeeper from kickoff?
When does JM or MM expect to see some of our exulted youth promoted to the first team and the significant investment in our academy produce results?
Does the lack of investment in January show the lack of belief in the manager or despite being bottom of the league does the club believe we are better than our league position shows?
Very good points Matt. Will be interested to see if any get aired.
The pitch one interests me a lot. I was on the brink of blogging about it, but thought there was little point, as we can all see how bad it is.
Also, youth development. I’ve heard great things about James Spray and Sam Winnall. Would have been good to see them in a cup match. Would have taken the edge of the £58 admission if we saw some young local lads in there.
It feels as if we loan them all out (which I don’t have an issue with in principle) but the muck and nettles of lower league football levels them out and takes away their shine. I heard that about Danny Batth, who was awesome when he first went to Colchester, but was a jaded, tired ineffective centre half by the time he came back. Difficult to know what is best I suppose.
cheers matt. some good questions there.
McCarthy has got to talk positive to the papers and the TV, it’s part of his job and responsibility to corporate WW. To do anything else would be irresponsible. However, what he says to the press and what he says in the dressing room are very, very different. I believe MM is well capable of dishing out bollockings as and when necessary to those that deserve it.
Do they listen though?
Question is whether he delivers them to all the players or are some exempt?
Fair point.
I live in Ireland and think MM has always been keen on irish players even though his time at the helm of the national side wasn’t great – not entirely his fault, more to do with the blazers that Roy Keane ranted about. MM is of Irish descent too. but can’t imagine he’s soft on Doyle, Hunt etc.
We have a term over here, BIFFO (Big Ignorant Fucker From Offaly) which is currently mostly applied to our Prime Minister whose government managed to squander the wealth of our nation – he’ll be kicked out of office when we all go to the polls tomorrow! MM is a BIFFY as he’s from Yorkshire and knowing a few blunt Yorkshire types I believe no-one in the dressing room would be exempt from a bollocking. However, bollocking ability is no substitute for poor purchases and silly substitutions.
Adam, Ask him 1 question, Will mick McCarthy do the right thing and
RESIGN at the end of the season come what may,Then we can have a worry
free summer and not fret about what that wanker will waste money next
season….Sorry to go on.
Sorry Adam just realized its wednesday night, who knows you could have a
iphone and just happened to check the wolves Blog.