Ask a European Ryder Cup hero what separated him from the United States on Sunday evening and he’ll probably talk about chances – and being able to seize his when it arose.
On a margin as small as a three foot putt are winners crowned and losers lambasted.
It’s pretty much the footballing equivalent of a five yard open goal when winning 1-0, only for a striker to hit the bar when it was easier to score.
Kevin Doyle’s best Jim Furyk imitation in the midst of a second half purple patch confirmed the Irishman – and his teammates – as losers against Crystal Palace.
As soon as the ball cannoned off the woodwork instead of the net, the momentum of the game shifted as if obeying the orders of a sporting god.
Wilfried Zaha tiptoed his way around or stretched defence to score within minutes and crowned a thoroughly inevitable comeback with a quite exquisite finish on the turn soon after.
It was on a par with a Justin Rose monster putt and equally devastating to the recipient, who had nothing left to give.
It was all the more galling when we were 1up on the scoreboard with a gift of a goal from Ebanks Blake, who profited from a terrible defensive mistake.
After four wins in four, this performance reminds us all that we’re a long way from being anything like a finished article.
And whether fans love him or loathe him, we are hopelessly dependent on Karl Henry, who departed the field while winning 1-0, only for the wheels to fall off, just like they did when he was injured for three games.
It was clear that Palace had targeted Henry from the off and were under instruction to rile him to the point of red mist, as typified by a thoroughly obnoxious Jonathan Williams performance.
The odious little blonde crippled Pezsko in the second half too, as if to underline his role in the game, only to be withdrawn to the delight of Dougie Freedman.
When Sako had the ball in the first half we looked bright and the unpredictable man-of-the-match fashioned a chance for Ebanks Blake who headed at the keeper before Sako himself grazed the post as the half ended with a back post bullet.
At the other end, Foley blocked a near certain goal and Zaha had a big shout for a penalty turned down.
But in truth, the performance got what the games against Leicester and Derby might have got if things had been different on those days.
The line between winning and losing has never been finer right now and with Molineux looking emptier than I can remember for many years, we’ll soon find ourselves at a crossroads – not least once we’ve played more Palaces then Peterboroughs.
Both on and off the pitch, it will be a case of Wolves taking their chances as and when they get arise.
Unlike tonight.
Good post ben,your to kind as you said its about taking chances but we did’nt because imo
we need better strikers,The sooner the better.
And as for the crowd abysmal, its going to be a long long time to get them back with that sort of perfomance especially the second half.Well pissed off.
Yes John. Didn’t agree with Tim Nash’s assessment tonight at all. Thought they were stronger and we weren’t quite on it. They looked more threatening going forward, had more options, while we relied on Sako exclusively and nothing else. Hence my complete disbelief and anger when Doyle should have put the game to bed…we knew what was coming. Tim saw it differently, but its all about opinions. A 6/10 performance from us. (and another slow start to a game)
He got away with one one Saturday, but from ALL accounts, and the biased Wolves Player commentary, Ward was totally at fault for not closing down his man……..again, leading to their winner.
When will everyone else take off their blinkers and see this prick as what he is …a monstrous liability to the team, and should be nowhere near a first team place ever again.
Bought as a forward, “converted’ to left back, and fuckin’ rubbish ever since.
The only conversion he needs is being kicked through the Tettenhall Rugby Club’s uprights.
Right Royally Pissed Off in Houston, the dogs better keep outta my way tonight.
FOSW
Sorry Clive no one at the Mol is listening, I just refuse to believe we have a reserve team and academy. if we did they would be able to find some one better than “Wardy”. Probably find something better stored in a cupboard.
Just a fine point of detail Ward was not really converted to a LB becasue he aint one, never was and never will be. Mick just picked him there and as usual decided that if he called him a LB he would be one.
Everyone knows in the game you just have to run at him. Ironic SS says we are now a bit thin at LB, yes we have been for three years. Even before injuries.
Oh yes and a striker who actually scores goals.
10 yr old GSon got 3 over the weekend (in two losses) but even he just says “its my job, its what I am here for”.
We need a hungry lad up front. How about giving Cassidy a once over, he is scoring for fun at Tranmere
I think I can see what we are trying to do, but for all this possesion were does it go not enough happens in the opponents box only Sako tries to go past people and open things up. It worries me that most of our goals are from free kicks/penalties and opponents mistakes and not enough from our creation. Also there needs to be a plan B if that means a few bombs in the box in the last 10 minutes when chasing a game then whats the problem. I’m not saying Nouble is the answer but what was the point having him if he’s never involved. One final point the strength in depth is not there we need at least a left back for cover and striker capable of doing something IN the box
If you get zillions for your best forward and don’t invest in a left back and a quality striker this is what
you get.
MOXEY OUT AND MORGAN PUT YOUR HAND IN YOUR POCKET.
You’re a bit quick with last seasons news Alf, what is it 9 matches in ???
A new season brings new thought processes even though maybe the same issues may still be unresolved, simply repeating your opinion about M & M is as welcome as a smelly fart in a full lift. These type of comments helped to de-rail last season, exacerbating the situation which lead to the totally embarassing shambles. We’re all just as commited as you are to WW but it’s time to move on Alf, the vast majority of us have even though last season still rankles with us, we have moved on, looking forwards not backwards.
As ever UTW !!!!
I agree with Cwmbranwulf
I have had to move on for my sanity.
I still feel the same ill feelings towards the CEO and the owner as last year, but that cannot de rail what is trying to be achieved by the new manager.
We need to back this project and see where it takes us.
Things move on and we are where we are, lets give him time.
Not this year. Next year. The StS plan.
Great write up Ben. A shame the same cannot be said about the performance on the field.
Palace would struggle in the Prem; where does that leave us?
I guess we need to be patient but after 4 out of 4 I honestly expected better.
Bad old feeling again.
ALL clubs would struggle in the Prem right now – when teams get promoted they need to invest strongly and wisely to stay there. We didn’t do that under Mick and that’s why we were relegated
My sentiments exactly. Perhaps if we go up we can buy Fletcher. He’s not looking a bad buy.
Disappointed but nowhere near the end of the world – of course we were never expected not to lose another game this season but when Doyle misses the chance that he had and when the equaliser should never have stood for offside it is frustrating!
We’re still in the top 6 but we need better finishing if we want to stay there – the amount of corners and the amount of Sako crosses we had into the box without making any of them count says it all really. Will Siggy be the answer? I still think he’ll come great for us but he needs more gametime IMO…
Onto Blackburn!
Great write-up as always mate.
My thoughts:
* Zaha was on another level. Talk all you want about closing down and offsides, but his two finishes were Premiership class. He’s destined for the very top.
* Not many teams in this league will have a Zaha, so I still have faith that Solbakken’s system and shape will enable us to keep clocking up the points.
* Injuries are a big, big concern. Peszko, who was just showing signs of becoming an important player for us, will be a massive miss, particularly with Boukari sidelined. Thank goodness there’s an international break so matches missed should be minimised.
* Doyle needs to finish his dinner. We can afford to applaud all-round play when we’re winning and someone else is putting the ball in the net, but on nights like last night it’s so frustrating.
* Sako really is a revelation. My dad reckons he’s better than Jarvis. Any takers?
There are still, unbelieveably, 38 games to go! As an aside, i think if the championship was reduced to 21 teams it would be better, quality over quantity and then teams would be more prepared for the premiership. Not at match so i can only look at the reviews over the net and what i seem to get from them was the fact that an organiosed team with ONE class player beat us. Again, we have the same old defensive frailties with big open spaces and shots from outside the penalty area not being closed down and no goals from incisive open play.
Still there are 38 games to address this, so fingers crossed we get our systems and players worked out, with some dynamic drive in midfield, another striker, and some blood and guts defenders ie a Stuart Pearce. Early days yet and we are doing better than i thought. I would rather we get an organised system of play, and several more players than to be promoted, humiliated, relegated and go through the debacle of selecting another coach and manager.
Finally, remember the Club is well run- not long ago Watford, Bradford, Wednesday, Sheffield Utd and Leeds were all doing well only to crash and burn through mismanagement.
Watford, Leeds , the Sheffields , Bradford et all.. Was quite a long time ago and during the early days of the Premiership when people were discovering teething problems. One word sums up our 4 seasons in The Premiership . Underinvestment . We aren’t, savvy enough to make new rules.
No I would not agree with your Dad he’s a better dead ball specialist but is not as good as Jarvo tracking back, and beating players down the wing & cutting inside. Also Sako seems to slow the play down in the 2nd half for some reason. He gets the ball & almost stands still!
Not that downhearted the jury is still out on the team they have not been convincing as yet but we do have 16 good points.
The problems are missed chances, too slow build up meaning when attacking we are always checkmated, why did Stale take off Henry for Pete’s sake? I knew then we would either draw or lose, the same would have happened if Doumbia came off. Without these two together on the pitch Wolves are at the moment lost.
Loads have said it, but the fact is we are very vulnerable down the left side with Berra & Ward, any coach worth their salt will exploit this weakness. Sako not being a natural tracker back does not help this. With Foley on the rignt, strong and reliable, teams will go down the left side even more so.
But all is not lost, be philosophical, we can win the next or draw. Play Edwards on the right and stay positive. Doyles gotta get his shooting sights back soon!
Oh & don’t think Sigurdarson is the answer he has such a heavy touch.
Good sum up mate, Doyle miss was crucial. 2-0 up and it’s a different game!
Got a tough month ahead with our fixtures, think we’ll get found out more than just last night with similar performances. Completely agree with our reliance on Henry, like him or loathe him, he is key!
With our defence we need more than one goal a game, would’ve been happy to have seen another striker bought in to help out.
Defensive frailty again. Karl Henry has been a key player for us for a long long time what he does he does well and with little fuss or panache. Without him there’s no covering the massive issues we have at the back. Ward isn’t a natural defender and Berra and Johnson are too slow and have the turning circle of a pair of super-tankers. Compound that with Berra guarantee to a at least three or four free kicks away a game for his hands on approach and were in trouble. Surely some of that money can be found to find a defender with a bit of pace and nous?
Also some cover for Karl wouldn’t go amiss, Frimpong must be close to fitness now surely he should be on our radar for a loan deal?
Disappointed with the fact that the game should have been as good as over at half time.
Why is it when we go behind we seem unable to pick up the pace and tempo to chase the game back. Mistake taking Henry off, played into Their hands.
Lost count of our corners first half but nobody could get on the end of one.
Zaha destroyed ward in the second half.
Back down to earth with a bump, but we will pick ourselves up and go again Sat.
A bit of a reality check by the sound of it. Same problems at left back and same problems putting away chances. What’s really starting to worry me is the amount of injuries which are being picked up and the perceived lack of fitness. With MM we were still running around (admittedly like headless chickens) as much in the 93rd minute as we were in the first. I admire SS’s desire for the team to make friends with the ball, but sheer hard work and sweat is going to be required just as much to get us out of this division.
Good points Doog.
There is clearly nothing we can do about LB if they havent got it by now they never will.
Am i clutching at straws, but if you are good enough you are old enough, we got a young kid at Tranmere knocking em in for fun.
You are right MMs teams never ran out of steam, mind you a lot of games in a short period recently.
Yes, that young lad looks sharp.
I wonder if he can play attacking left back?
There you go solve two problems in one stroke
Agree with Ben about Henry, but what annoys me is that he was rubbish last night but him playing terribly is still stronger than the alternatives.
We’ve been left bare by poor investment and are utterly reliant on Sako.
Going to be a long hard season starting with the ‘Kean Out Party’ on Saturday.
It was areality check alright. 3 wins against the bottom 3 teams and some think everything is rosy.
I see no change. Same brittle defence. Berra out Margreitter in. Johnson out Batth in.
Same issues with injuries. Unfit players picking up knocks that put them out for weeks. Daley out. proper fitness trainer in.
Can’t score. Doyle out. SEB out. Nouble and Sigurdson in.
Then we have a different team altogether and not just a slight adjustment on last years inept relegated lot.
I agree Henry looked out of sorts last night culminating in one wild cross field ball prompting SS to ball out ” What are you doing?”.
I think last night came down to two equally matched teams cancelling each other out apart from Zaha running Ward ragged.
We must learn from our Premiership experience (losing key players at crucial times-(Frimpong, Henry) and get active in the loan market NOW. Heaven forbid Sako picks up an injury. Where’s our supply line then?
Looking at the results from last night bears out what I’ve been thinking.
There are about a dozen clubs – we’re one of them – in this division who are capable of making a challenge for promotion. Any of them can beat any of the others on a given day.
But none of them are anywhere near good enough to cut it in the premiership.
If we get lucky and go up we are not going to have a snowball’s chance in hell of staying there without massive investment.
We are not likely to get that given the track record of the present men at the top.
We’ve had a bit of a winning run and we all got excited and upbeat. It doesn’t take much to make a Wolves fan smile (fortunately).
This season we’ll win a lot more games than we lose – isn’t that better in the long run than being promoted and getting hammered every week?
I’m not saying that’s what I want but it does make you think.
I have been thinking the same.
One of the issues seems to be big clubs just snatching all young talent and stashing them away
I have been hearing strong rumopurs abut starting the SB stand. Maybe thats the intent spend on the facility and tell us to be patient. Although last nights crowd might have been a reality check.
Better the devil you know?
For all my Happy Clapping last week I do worry about our strength in depth, including (unfortunately) a few of the first teamers.
LB and CB both need improving. This much is beyond debate, and the lack of resolution can be seen as a damning indictment of the senior management at the club.
We have been unlucky in that lots of the players we’ve signed in good faith to improve the defence haven’t worked out. Van Damme, Mouyokolo, Johnson, Margretter… all came with the intention of sorting the problem out, none did. Is it just bad luck or is there a deeper reason for this?
Regarding the striking options, I can’t see how anyone can say Doyle and SEB aren’t good enough at this level. Both have great records in the second tier, Doyle’s industry and awareness of space are second to none while SEB has 2 Golden Boots from this league. Doyle is more than capable of scoring, it’s all in his head.
STS managed to get 3 consecutive clean sheets out of our back line. Surely he can both remind Doyle where the back of the net is, and also find and train some adequate defenders? I reckon given time and money he can do both.
Midfield is surely our strongest element at present, which is the area with the most STS signings. Unfortunately when these players are unavailable the MM era ‘put a shift in’ mob are the only ones we have left to fall back on, which is why we won’t get promoted this year (and also why we don’t want to… need at least another year to rebuild).
Finally, can’t disagree more with the ‘at least under MM we ran till the end of the match’ brigade on here. We may have managed to run around the pitch, but we didn’t do much else towards the end. Defend? Score? Retain Possesion? No, no and no.
He is a lovely bloke and got us promoted and all that, yes agree. He is NOT a modern football manager, he has NO CONCEPT of tactics and anyone who for a moment laments STS (eventually) replacing him is as much of a dinosaur as he is.
In the nicest possible way.
I did qualify my running about after the 93rd minute statement with ‘like headless chickens’.
I was merely alluding to the fact that even though we couldn’t play our way out of a wet Argus, at least we were fit.
I agree entirely with your comments about MM. Top bloke, love to have a beer with him, but I wouldn’t let him anywhere near my football team.
I never intended to imply i was a MM fan as a manager. He did a job and then should have been replaced. His records as a Prem manager speaks for itself. If you put a shift in you got picked. Did dnt matter what you did in your shift as long as you ran around a lot.
Due to marital obligations, financial restrictions, work commitments and snow at West Ham, the last match I saw live was our promotion clinching win against QPR.
Last night against Palace, half of that team I watched were playing, including most damningly three of the defense.
This is progress?
I have advocated giving the dross from last season a second chance, but never a third.
Wholesale changes have to be made soon, or we are going to fade into mid table obscurity.
I heard someone say that last night was like we played under Hoddle.
That scares the shit out of me.
Have I missed anything about the Coaching position, I was in mexico last week.
I would be looking at our coaches to get the strikers striking again. In fact for all the good he does defensively put Doyler up there.
My comfort is that SS has done all the right things mostly. He knows what he has got has blooded a few youngsters, given all a chance pretty much. So now he can go and wisely spend that “war chest’ and money Moxey is holding for him. Ah aha
Sorry I meant Ward not Doyle. Brain fade.
Oh dear,one defeat and here we go, this player’s crap , that player should be sold, we should buy a new this or that. I am sure Solbakken would love limitless resources and the pick of any player but in reality he has to work with what he’s got and I like what he’s doing. Admittedly last night’s performance was all foreplay and no penetration but in the first half we passed and moved were more patient in the build up and resorted less to hitting the ball long and hoping. Sako looked a real threat on the wing and I thought Peszko was starting to combine well with Foley. We are going to lose games and some players and going to have poor games but Stale’s style is stimulating my erogenous zones.
OOOOHHH! Matron!
But I know what you mean.
I’ve always believed’ what goes around,comes around’ in football and people like Jonathan Williams usually come up against somebody much harder and dirtier than themselves.Hopefully,he will get his in due course and oh! how we will laugh.
Oh dear, first home defeat despite bags of possession, hit the post and the bar and an aggressive opponent who set out to rile and disrupt our flow from the start. He was successful in his endeavours, ask Henry and Peszcko and we need to get used to this aspect of CH football and urgently learn how to combat this method used by teams with limited footballing ability which nullifies the opposition rather than amazes us with their skills. CP are quite used to life in the CH they’ve been there long enough !! There’s a fair few other clubs like CP in the CH so wise up Ståle.
As ever UTW !!!!
The facts are we played really well first half without scoring and that to me is where the trouble started we need strikers who can score on a regular basis,
Doyler should have scored, but we all know that is’nt all that went wrong last night,i know blake scored but i think he is past his best don’t forget he was a good 3 years younger when he got his golden boot awards.
Stale MUST NOW SEE that we need a L/B sooner than later because wardy is getting done over to many times to warrant a start now he goes to sleep to many times for me hence they score.
I like the way stale is going about business but i think the sooner we get a English style coach
in sooner than later to help but i fear moxey does’nt want to shell out to much on a second coach no matter who he is.
I know its only one defeat in five but its the way we lose gets me and don’t forget we have only played one or two of the better sides along the way with a lot bigger and better sides to come so we must improve or we will flounder and languish in mid- table obscurity.
There’s no need to be particularly down-hearted about last night’s defeat. As many have pointed out, if Doyle had scored we may have won – that “offside” equaliser was a body-blow coming immediately after his miss and Henry’s withdrawal.
We are not going to blaze a trail at the top of the Championship with the current team. We’re still carrying many players from the MM regime who can’t be faulted for effort, but are not going to excel at the more sophisticated passing style that Stale is converting us to.
The fans are going to have to patient. Until we get slicker and faster at the passing and more crafty with space-creating runs and giving the man in possession options, we are going to have to put up with fewer penalty area chances.
We’re not pulling up trees, but we are moving in the right direction. It will take time and there’ll be changes in personnel along the way. It’s pointless moaning that Ward, Berra and others are not up to the job – those players are in the team, representing Wolverhampton Wanderers, and are working hard at improving our style of play. What they need from us is support, not boos.
Away for a while had to follow this one from a distance gutted by the result and the biased national press just saying palace should have had a penalty aswell – having read all the excellent contributions here starting to feel more optimistic again thanks !
Great write-up as usual Ben;loved the Ryder Cup analogy.
I went to this game, the first competitive one i’ve seen under the new regime. I went with high hopes, excited by the four wins on the trot, and came back down to earth with a bump. I’m glad i went though, as others have said, this was a reality check and i needed it.
All the talk about keeping the ball, angles and making the right decisions at the right times sounded great. Unfortunately it wasn’t. There’s still a lot of work to do.
Being objective, i thought Palace were the better team by some distance and Zaha’s second goal was sublime.
Having said that, we could still have won. SEB was handed a goal on a plate and Doyle missed a sitter to make it 2-0. I love Doyle like everyone else but a goal scorer he is not. 19 goals in 102 matches is a worrying statistic.
I do think we will generally prove hard to beat and maybe do well away from home. But this is just the start of the journey and there’s still a long way to go.