I think they call this type of game ‘a great one for the neutrals’.
And although I thoroughly enjoyed this action packed, topsy-turvy, end-to-end Super Sunday, I am in no way a neutral.
So predictably, I’m somewhat peeved that Alan Hutton wasn’t sent off for deliberately hauling down Nenad Milijas just prior to half time. And I’m incensed that the same player got away with an obvious handball in the second half that should have resulted in a second penalty. And I’m furious that Richard Stearman’s goal was chalked off despite the fact that he appeared to head the ball over the line without making contact with the goalkeeper.
Just as well then that Steven Fletcher rescued a much-deserved point, to avoid what would have been the biggest injustice of the afternoon – Wolves finishing with nothing.
Still, that scenario seemed the most likely heading into the last ten minutes with Spurs 3-2 to the good and looking a decent bet to kill the game off on the break.
Roman Pavlyuchenko had put them in control, thundering home a superb effort from the edge of the box after Wolves twice gifted Tottenham possession minutes into the second half.
That was after an exhilarating first 45 that saw both sides squander the lead to see momentum swing agonisingly back and forth throughout.
First, Kevin Doyle nodded in the opener, connecting with a pinpoint cross from Nenad Milijas to put Wolves ahead. It was the least we deserved for a sustained spell of pressure.
Jermain Defoe then turned the game on it’s head with two strikes right out of the top drawer. They were his first goals in the Premiership this season, a statistic I had to double check to believe it was true. Still, with Wolves defenders backing off, he was twice given an open invitation to pick his spot and did so in style.
But then the flash point. Milijas ghosts in to get on the end of a wayward cross. Alan Hutton wrestles him to the ground. Penalty. Milijas was 8 yards out and in the middle of goal. Surely that constitutes a clear goalscoring opportunity? Surely it’s a red card? Yellow says the ref. What?!
Ridiculous.
It’s either not a foul and not a penalty or a foul, a penalty and a red card. There is no other logical decision.
Thankfully Kevin Doyle converted the spot-kick to draw us level, ensuring that justice was at least partially served.
But with 11-man Spurs regaining the lead immediately after the interval, you couldn’t help but feel we’d been on the receiving end of some untimely bad luck.
That feeling continued as Wolves went searching for the equaliser. First, Nenad Milijas saw his long range effort tipped onto the post by Gomes. The same player then blasted over after getting on the end of an inviting cross into the box.
Then Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, on for the ineffectual Stephen Ward, skewed miserably over from an excellent cutback from Jarvis. Not our day you sensed.
At the other end, Defoe was denied his hat-trick by the post and the imperious Gareth Bale shot wide after slaloming into a wonderful position to kill the game off.
Something had to give and fortunately for Wolves, that something was a looping last minute header from Steven Fletcher to drag the home side level.
Spoils shared.
A fair result.
Overall, I thought Wolves were excellent. Jarvis, Henry and Elokobi really stood out for me, but the likes of Milijas, Doyle and Hammill also contributed significantly.
The mind boggles at why Mick persists in using Ward to fill each and every gap in the side. I actually felt sorry for the bloke today, as he looked lost at sea in a position that quite obviously he had no clue about.
Thankfully, when the cavalry arrived in the form of Fletcher and SEB, we had the necessary firepower to turn the screw on a shaky Spurs rearguard. Perhaps one of those players should have started?
But on a day when many questions remain unanswered, it’s probably best to walk away happy that Wolves were able to extend their unbeaten run to 3 games.
It’s all still to play for.
Plenty for the neutrals to savour. Plenty for the rest of us to suffer.
I wonder what Clive is going to say about Ward?!
I don’t have a massive downer on the guy by any means – if I was in charge he’d be in my 25 for the next few years as he seems a good egg and does give us a lot of options. But I’m afraid he had absolutely no idea out there today. He’s being asked to mix it in a Premier League midfield when he barely seems used to the basics of midfield play – showing for the ball, for example. When you haven’t played there much it is so easy for the game to pass you by if you let it – unlike full-back where people will always pick you out in space. He looked like a little boy lost at times.
Anyway, that moan aside. We look as good a side as we ever have in last 30 years to be honest. It would be be extraordinarily frustrating to go down when it is easy to see how a good summer (ie. a couple of good defensive signings) could transform us into a midtable team. We have 3 decent strikers and as many as 8 midfielders I rate as well.
All those hopes and dreams come down to the next 9 games though.
Terrifying.
Ward’s an average Championship player at best, so I find it completely baffling that Mick persists with him in the Premier League. He’s not a left winger or a left back and we have Doyle, Ebanks-Blake and Fletcher who are all much better strikers.
Anyway, what’s more important is that we claimed a point late on from a game where we could have taken all three. Halsey should have sent Hutton off for the penalty, while Stearman’s ‘goal’ was unjustly adjudged a foul.
Let’s hope we can improve our away record at Villa and Newcastle.
I wish I had Ward in my Dream Team line up. 1 assist and 1 goal would have seen me raking the points in!!!
Disgraceful reffing by Mark Halsey! As Thomas and everybody else who watched the game knows – Hutton should have gone and that goal should never have been disallowed!
A good result at the end of the day. I’m sure that most of us would have taken a point before kick-off. A bit like the Albion game but in our favour with us scoring late on for a change. Still couldn’t help myself from feeling a bit robbed though come the final whistle.
Just to add: I think that Hammill is looking like a good player. Good at taking players on, good at crossing, good at tracking back and not afraid to put a foot in, full of energy and a never say die attitude! A good signing after all me thinks!
too drunk to write much, but i want to say i phoned my yid mate at full time and while i was gutted with a point he was well pleased with it. i rest my case.
it was Milijas that won the penalty but yeah, joke that it wasn’t a red. I also thought Gallas should have been off
Ah, you were indeed correct Louie.
Much like the referee, I had no video evidence, only what I’d seen from the stand and I assumed it was Jarvis that was bundled over. Changed the report as appropriate.
Interesting that you say Gallas should have gone off. He was booked at one stage I seem to recall. What else did he do? Was he one of the players hounding the ref after the penalty was given?
He wasn’t booked when he took down Doyle, one on one with another defender before his booking. It was worse than the one he got booked for!
On the Spurs players hounding the ref, I think that was the reason he only got booked.
Well played Wolves and well played Karl Henry. I haven’t been a big Henry fan since his return from injury and I have to acknowledge he was captain fantastic today as were all of the lads.
A good result and more momentum towards survival.
I’ve watched the incidents a few times tonight, my verdict:
– Difficult for the referee to say that Milijas wasn’t in a goal scoring position/opportunity when he was fouled, unless of course he saw Nenad’s penalty miss against Stoke recently. Red card 9 times out of 10…
– Stearman’s disallowed ‘goal’ was less clear cut; at the game I saw it as a fair goal, watching it back I still think it should have stood, but can appreciate the referee’s decision given the angle he was at and the nature of the contact – the linesman had a better view and should have called it a goal. Unlucky Stears – save it for Villa instead…
Ward didn’t have his best game but he wasn’t playing in a familiar position and was doing a job for the team. Best we could do with the injuries we had. Enough said.
Best move of the game? When no fewer than nine Spurs players acted in a coordinated ref-bullying session to turn that Hutton red card into a yellow. A quite brilliant pincer movement. Halsey was hounded and bawled at from all angles and had his retreats skilfully cut off. All 9 players played a full part in a tremendous pressurising operation. I wonder if they practise that kind of move in training?
Otherwise a really breathtaking match, and I was on the edge of my seat throughout. Well played the lads, especially Jarvis, who was superb (and yes I am not normally his greated fan).
What a relegation scrap it’s becoming though. Especially now that West Ham seem to be fighting like a cornered animal. It could be one of those years where even 40 points won’t be enough to beat the drop. Gulp.
Not Jarvo’s “greated fan”? oops I meant ‘greatest fan’.
Being barged on a crowded train on the way into work in HK after a late beery night watching the footy is not the best way to compose a text message…
Great game. Hammill, Doyle and Jarvis were the class acts for me on the day. Everybody but Ward contributed positively with the exception of a few errors.
You have to feel confident on the squad that will be finishing the season. We can’t go down and sell these guys, it can’t happen!
What a match! We showed great fight to come back again after being robbed of the equliser. Absolutely nothing wrong with Stearman’s goal and i didn’t see us coming back again. It does look like we may need 40 points this year.
Great for Fletcher to come on and score, it’s a shame we don’t see much of him because he’s a goalscorer, but with only one slot and two others ahead, he’ll continue to be a bit part player at most.
Also, can Zubar not play on the left? With Zubar and Foley on either side, that would be the left back problem solved.
Oh, and 7 goals in 2 Premier League games (even though we actually scored 4 yesterday). We are being spoilt!
Hutton penalty- if the referee does his job honestly and logically, red card is the only decision possible. Plus maybe several Spurs bookings for dissent and harassment.
Stearman’s goal was a definite foul-Gomez had him in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground, otherwise there was no contact. Linesman did not signal a foul.
Once again i’m left with a huge feeling of frustration at the end of the game. Partly because of the unfairness of these decisions but mainly because we are so close to being a very useful team but the ship is being spoilt for a ha’pence of tar(or whatever the expression is). This obsession of playing Ward and leaving class players on the bench(who then have to come on to rectify the situation) is unfathomable. At least one of the goals started with Ward hopelessly giving the ball away. If the left back position had been properly addressed and Ward consigned to the bench and the odd appearance’ i honestly think we would be half way up the table. Instead we are in the bottom three and still in very serious danger of relegation. What worries me is that with the points lost already, and other teams improving, the damage may have already been done.
One other point. Once again Hennessy is beaten by long range shots, this time three of them. I know it looks like he had no chance but it very rarely happened when USA was in goal. There must be some reason surely.
The Hennessy issue bothered me to, i’m not going to moan too much as they they were very good goals, the third taking a deflection that although slight took the ball past his right side when initially it was going to his left. Thing is if you look back at the goals, particularly the second, Hennessey is on 6yd line, two steps back on his starting position and he catches the ball. Something Defoe had already noted before the game?
Me too – Hennessy could have saved the second and the third goal as they were in reach. Yes they were hit hard but from that distance he should have at least got his hand to them.
I’ve never been his biggest fan anyway, but glad I am not on my own!!!
Well, what a game to be at in Blighty. We thoroughly deserved the point, if not all 3, and Halsey should go have a good long look at himself… those 2 points he cost us may just be the difference between staying up and disaster. Defoe will probably never hit another as sweet as that, and of course Hutton should have walked. Pathetic weak refereeing….typical of the conspiracy against Wolves… we are an unlucky team, I’m sick of it
I’m glad the lads put on a performance for you mate.
Like you say, not a lot we can do if the referee isn’t going to make straightforward decisions.
How disappointing that the 2 (maybe 3) major talking points of the game were the dreadful decisions made by the referee. At this time of the season I fear that such decisions may prove costly as we need all the points we can get. Have we had any good fortune or benefited from a referees decision this season?
If Mark Halsey has a conscious I hope he didn’t sleep well last night.
Great Performance, Jarvo is back on form, Doyle was as Energetic as ever, Hammil, Milijas, Stearman, Berra, Foley, Elokobi all played well. Henry was nearly the King yesterday, just some woeful passing demotes him to Prince. While Ward was the Queen.
WBA and West Hams next few games are stinkers and I think Wigan will be down. If we play like this for the rest of the season we must stay up!
A cracking game and ultimately a point that I would have taken before the game. I agree that we were unlucky with the refereeing decisions for the Hutton incident (am I the only one that was just relieved we actually got awarded the penalty??) and the Stearman ‘goal’ but at the same time how lucky were we that Defoe hit the post when he looked sat to get his hatrick? Or when Bale took advantage of the mix up between Henry and George? All in all I thought it was a fair result and a bloody good game. Nice to have us getting a late goal for once!!!!!
I was actually the same as you Rob, at the time. Just ecstatic that the ref had spotted the foul and given the penalty.
Still, the more you thought about it, the more you couldn’t help but think it just had to be a red.
And I was convinced Gomes was going to save the penno. Thankfully Doyle proved me wrong. Good to see him getting a few goals. Hopefully it’s the start of a run.
I was of that persuasion Bobby. We’ve all seen so many far more blatant penalties not given this season, that
Sorry, try again…I was of that persuasion Bobby. We’ve all seen so many far more blatant penalties not given this season, that i was just gratful for small mercies.
I was over the moon we got the penalty because we never get them!!
I also hoped he’d hit it down the middle as I had a feeling Gomez would flop to one side!
Great performance and the team is looking as strong as I can remember – once O’Hara comes in for Ward.
I just worry like Martin, about whether it’s all coming a bit too late, with all other clubs picking up.
Perhaps we can drag a Blackburn or a Stoke into the mix somehow.
Albiono will be safe. You just know they will.
Well played lads, a superb effort!!
I think Blackburn could be the ones who nose-dive Rob and maybe rue the day they sacked the big man. Forgotten his name already! I’m hoping Wigan Blackburn and Blackpool can implode together and provide a nice safety net for us. Allardice that’s it.
Nenad looks like the happiest man alive in that picture
Yeah very funny because he normally looks as miserable as sin. Well done wolves.
Well done Mick you got it right today and my faith returns after the drubbing it got at the Hawthorns! You have been doin a great job mate, but please try not to let me down like that again. I am happy for you to make the odd mistake we are only human! But not several against the baggies, we could fall out.
Long Live Super Mick
Amazing game. If we go down I’ll maintain that my season tickets been worth it, another incredible night under the floodlights at Mol.
Also, saw this decent article on the guardian yesterday about Big George. The quote about him telling the club of his tendency to ‘go big’ when he does weights had me chuckling to myself. Interesting to read about just how serious his ligament injury was as well:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/06/george-elokobi-flex-muscles-wolverhampton-wanderers
Caught the game live on Newstalk via sky (an irish talk radio station – top class sport coverage – can you get it in the UK? my dad can get it in Spain). What a match, all the better (albeit nerve-wracking) to hear it via quality commentary from 2 unbiased & passionate commentators. They were scathing of the ref for not giving a red to Hutton and kept going on about it for the next 30 minutes.
After seeing Stearman’s goal on MOTD I think he was fouled by Gomez – very unfortunate indeed.
However, delighted to see we scored a late goal, rather than conceding! Maybe I can now stop moaning about our miserable last minute conceding record.
On this performance we can rightly claim to deserve to stay up. Keep the faith lads
Good morning one and all, nice to see some positive comments about my fave non player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I only got to see the highlights, agree with everyone that Hutton should have been off, Stearman’s effort was good, and Ward is useless.
Now McIdiot’s tactical brilliance is beginning to bear fruit. Finally, even those giving players ratings in the media, are seeing Ward for what he has been all season (and last, for that matter) a waste of space, and more importantly, realizing how many points have been thrown away all season by him being in the team.
That one, season long brain fart by our manager is the sole reason we will be relegated.
I fervently hope I will be proved wrong.
Otherwise, great performance by the lads.
FOMM
What a great game of football, and its rare to see live one fantastic strike a season, to have three in one game was absolutely brilliant for the football purists. What was also brilliant was how Wolves played, they were up for it and deserved at least the draw. Henry was my MOM, back to his understated best, while Big George gets better, and we`ve got a real gem with Hammill. Add that to our best players Doyle & Jarvis, and with Stearman fulfilling his potential, we have a lot to be proud of.
If injuries forced MM to play Ward, who was hapless, hopeless and almost useless, in midfield then so be it. Its not the players fault but playing Ward is MM`s achilles heel, he unluckily intercepted a pass stright to Defoe for the second goal, and was five yards late tracking Jenas for the last goal. Out of his depth is almost a compliment.
That aside we are now set for a real dogfight to stay up, but we have spirit, attitude and real quality shining through, if MM can instill the same desire for our remaining fixtures, we may yet survive.
Three words sum this game up…
Cheating Ref c***!
Happy to get a point, happy to see Henry have a great game, happy to see Wolves contribute to a wonderful game of football.
To say Milijas was ‘not in a goal scoring position’ is worse than just keeping your mouth shut – its a total insult to our intelligence. Red card every day of the week. If that had been Stearman or Berra the would have been straight down the tunnel.
Dont start me on the goal either – amazed I ever thought it would be given as I danced around the lounge frightening my 5 month old with some industrial language! Its now a foul to throw the ball in your on net and drag the attacking player to the ground. Even MOTD2 said it was a goal or a penalty!!
Cheated out of another 2 points in this biased league, at least the championship is honest!
If the goal that was disallowed would have stood we would have probably lost the game. Spurs would have come hunting the winner and with Bale against Elokobi, there would have been only one result. Also we would have sat back and therefore Fletcher would never have scored – draw was a fair result!
What will be, will be I guess – but it doesn’t detract from the point that two of the Refs decisions were typical of the favouritism shown to the big clubs.
Agree = and it pi$$es me off that the perceived smaller clubs get f&&ked over time and time again!
I wonder if some statto out there can tell us how many points we have lost thru the season as a direct result of errors by Stephen Ward? He was absolutely atrocious yesterday and certainly had assists for 2 of Spurs goals.
I just don’t understand how McCarthy can think he is better than other players in our squad.
I know it’s not Ward’s fault for getting picked but I’m sick of seeing us concede goals due to his ineptness. Hopefully that is the last we see of him in a Wolves shirt, however I fear it is not!
Other than that I thought it was a fantastic game of football. Both teams were unlucky not to win which suggest a draw was a fair result!
Just been reading the Daily Mail edition today while my beloved was at the dentist. The players scores from the match on Sunday made interesting reading, I see Ward got 5, way the lowest score for either side.
i`m not sure he even deserved that really, as for Jed`s comments above, far too bloody many unfortunately. Just imagine if we had played with 11 team mates all making a 7 or 8 out of ten, which we have to do for the rest of the season. The premier league is an unforgiving arena, where any weaknesses are inevitably and ruthlessly exposed by our opponents – and why shouldn`t they be. Its down to MM not to play this lad, anywhere, or even as a substitute in our remaining games. Maybe taking him off early put him out of MM`s inflicted misery, please Mick don`t play him anywhere.
One road win to finish the season should allow us to be safe. With the results we have gotten at home this season and the clubs we have left to host, 2-1-1 should be very attainable (hell 4 wins wouldn’t shock me at the current moment but I don’t want to be too optimistic). That gives us 7 points from the home games, needing 4 from 5 road games to get to 40, which surely will be safe. Get a road win, surely we can battle out a draw, and we get to see how much money we spend, rather than sell, in the offseason.
WHY do we always get shit refs..I thought Halsey bottled it more than
once,think he must be a blackburn fan.
we all know about the rest of the game.But got to stop playing big nose
costing us ,making to many mistakes ,,
Hennessey for me is crap at saving long range shots, He’s to far off his
line and got caught not once but three times that said he will get better
as he gets more experienced we hope…with a bit of luck we can get
12 from 27 points and i think that will do.Another thing i don’t like is the
breaks we have to take,don’t think it does us much good…
27 points from our remaining fixtures, Title winning form,
COME ON ME BABBIES, we can do it!!!