So picture the scene…
…Kenny Jackett masterminds a late push into the play-offs courtesy of some scintillating counter attacking football.
Sako mesmerises, Afobe dispatches and van la Parra progresses in equal measure as we elbow our way into the reckoning, overcoming Middlesbrough over two grueling battle royales.
With nerves frayed and fingernails chewed, we are within a coat of paint of beating Bournemouth in normal time at a sunshine baked Wembley Stadium.
But we lose in a five goal thriller through a deflected Harry Arter shot in extra time – Peter Beagrie lauding the best play-off final since 1993.
Amid teary eyes, Sako departs, Afobe’s head turns to WBA and van la Parra frustrates. Dicko meanwhile, becomes disillusioned.
Kenny Jackett then starts the 2015/16 Championship season in much the same way Solbakken did in 2012/13 – with one arm tied behind his back.
Is anyone to blame?
Would this not just be a depressing by-product of a once Beautiful Game, where long-term planning documents are chewed up and spat out by that ravenous, vulgar league above.
Would it not just be bad luck on Wolves’ part? An emotion-laden storyline for Morgan and Moxey to garner a bit of sympathy from when the going gets inevitably tough?
Lessons would be learned of course. Kenny wouldn’t get the sack when we’re 15th in the Championship at Christmas because the chairman knew his constraints too well.
We would build again. Iorfa and Hause would play 80 games between them, Batth and Price would become focal and who knows, Boukari might be injury free for a while, in the most unlikely Sako imitation act imaginable.
Some more young bucks would be blooded and by the end of the season, a play-off tilt might just become possible for 2016/17.
Do you buy this vision and more to the point, is there even an alternative to think of? We had so much fun in League One last season that it’s all pretty relative anyway, isn’t it?
Without a sugar daddy prepared to throw big bucks to make that Promised Land plausible, this is surely how it’s going to be from now on.
Aspiration is arbitrary these days and like those fans clamouring for a terrace from where to view it all, times change.
That we had the chance to rewrite this script from 2009 to 2012 adds to the pain, but that’s showbiz folks.
With no other scenario available, we surely embrace this hypothetical grudgingly and keep buying our tickets, even if the cyclical mingles with the Groundhog.
On the otherhand, we actually win the play-offs and get ourselves promoted!
Like that lick of paint scenario I conjure in the Wembley five-goal thriller, it’s a fine line.
Or go up next season. Except for Sako they’re all under contract. Be strong and reject bids. Get at least one more season from this group of players and go for the title with at a couple of additions. Why isn’t this possible? It’s not all or bust in my opinion.
There’s £5.14billion reasons why this isn’t possible I fear JdW. Look at this lad Keita who has never kicked a ball for us, yet is demanding a wage in line with some first team lads and will now be leaving?!
I.E. Norwich might well go up and with such vast wealth secured, could offer £8 million for Afobe. It’s a net £6 million gain for us and despite the player having a much better attitude than, say, Keita, money talks.
There is an argument (I think Bully has even gone along with this one) to say that we’re not ready to go up. But because time waits for no man, I fear it is shit or bust for this current crop.
The TV money may change the landscape like never before.
I’m just putting it out there!
I agree Ben.
It may be that going into Easter, with a chance of promotion, is as good as it will get.
Football is big business now, both financially and propaganda wise.
Our ‘management’ style of trying to be a ‘profitable’ business will not succeed.
If we do not achieve promotion, ‘management’ need to do all they can to keep the team together and strengthen it. If we could do that then, next season, we would walk this league.
But we won’t.
M&M will balance the books, before contemplating any footballing ambitions.
Have been waiting for them to prove me wrong for several years.
But will they want to if your offered Premier League football your going to take it the prospect of a bother 46 game slog in the championship even given them more money just won’t keep them and you or me would be the same.
Players are thick either well not all of them they can see if a owner/ club has the AMBITION, drive and financial commitment to try and achive promotion.
Wolves are going up .
it’s not all or bust.
On Keita, if he can’t be patient (and when we are offering him a very good contract offer) then that is his problem. He may well have made the bench by this point had he continued to progress and not act like a spoilt brat.
Will Sako go if we don’t get promoted? Most likely. If he doesn’t, fantastic. If he does, that’s 25k a week in wages that we can look to spend wisely on additions that can improve us.
Why is everyone pant-wetting over Afobe because the daily star linked him with Palace and Albion? It’s embarrassing. This is his first consistent run of games in the Championship. He’s a bright, level headed young man who knows this is a great place for him to develop.
Promotion would be fantastic, but it would not be the end of the world if we don’t get it.
I tend to agree on Afobe. He seems a mature lad with a great attitude and willingness to listen and develop. From what I’ve seen he appears to know that Wolves is a good fit for where he’s at Right now.
Before he thinks of moving on he needs to establish himself fully at Molineux, something he’s made a fine start on.
When the Premier League comes calling he will be off no amount of level headless ” right fit for Wolves ” will come into it that’s where every player wants to play stop kidding yourselfs and Morgan and Moxey will come out with ” we tryed to keep him statement” but whether that’s true or not they carnt offer him Premier League football in the for Senable future……get real people.
I think the point about Afobe is that he was already at a Premier League club. However beside a couple of glimpses of the first team, he wasn’t really anywhere near playing. For the last couple of years he’s been wandering all over the place at a handful of different clubs, including a drop down into League 1…..
In Wolves, he now has a permanent club where he’s settled in quickly and is starting to establish himself as, perhaps the player his potential always hinted at?
Now I’m not saying that he’ll definitely be at Wolves next year; maybe he will take a chance if a Premier League club comes sniffing. But it appears he wants to develop himself further, something he can’t do from the bench at a no-hope-premier-league nobody. He clearly respects KJ and probably knows that at Wolves he got a chance of being top dog (and currently still a chance of playing in the prem).
So I don’t think it’s as clear cut as you make out.
It now he wasn’t Arsenal but he was hehind a que of very talented and expensive strikers if he went to a mid table Prem team he’d be first choice because he’s now proved he can do it in the championship the next natural step is the Prem, those Prem league clubs looking at him will take him because as you and I have seen he way above any other striker in the championship not just in goals but skill technical ability you can tell he’s been at a top club everything about him is first class I think club in the Prem just waited to see if he could do it in the championship before they made there move.
And just because he’s under contract that won’t put them of we paid £2 million for him could you honestly see Morgan turning down 5,6,7,8 million may be more…..I carnt.
And that would be nothing to Prem clubs with the new tv money.
I know what you’re saying, however this has been a bit of a breakthrough season and he’s spent just over half of it In League 1. We all know how good he can be and the potential he shows, however I would think he needs to prove it over the course of a season and maintain the consistency in performances and goals before any serious money is offered.
I could be wrong.
I still think that Wolves and KJ, from Afobe’s perspective – for next season at least, offer him what he needs.
We will see?
I hope your right, but in the back of my mind is the that reoccurring nightmare, lets hope it’s just a bad dream.
As ever, Ben, you encapsulate the feelings of a host of Wolves fans perfectly.
I like to think I’m a ‘glass half full’ sort of person when it comes to our situation but it doesn’t help when you’ve got a load of Premier League clubs sticking their straws in it and sucking hard.
But whatever happens, new heroes will rise from the ashes and our great club will carry on long after you and I are mere names on an ancient blog archive.
C’est lavie!
The best option is to reach the goal of course: promotion. Then there’s no reason why Sako should leave us for West brom. Why take the risk and move to West brom. It’s not certain that their kind of football suits him. A villa would be a wiser choice. Afobe must be kept at all cost or the buyer has to offer ridiculous amounts of money. We have Dicko, a player we knows deliver in championship. Afobe’s potential on the other hand is so big that I would become utterly disappointed if he left us after 6 months. NEVER change a winning team 🙂
This was on the last blog but I’m putting it up again in case some people missed it.
It’s a long and very boring story (a bit like most of my blogs) but I have a ticket for the Leeds game which I can’t use.
It’s in the Steve Bull, near the half way line, and has the name of the PMDG’er on it.
So it’s a collector’s item as well.
I bought two and Brompton Wolf has the other.
I am offering it to a lucky blogger who can give me a good reason why he/she needs it.
An added bonus is that the lucky winner will get to sit next to the ‘Poloshirtmeister’ for a couple of hours.
It is available for the knock down price of £17.25 (£17.00 for cash) as I think I remember rightly that is the cost of the polo shirt that I am trading with Brompton for the other ticket.
If anyone is interested, please email me at:-
my.studio@btconnect.com
I can post the print out of the ticket to the winner and then they can either send a cheque by return or square up at the bloggers’ meet, at Park View, at the end of the season.
There you are then – The chance to see the lads smash Leeds AND get Brompton Wolf to buy you a drink.
An offer you can’t refuse!
Had I seen this before I would have taken it, as I now have a ticket behind the goal in the south bank for this game
I look at villa And think of them as a huge club with good fans A good history , a catalogue of excellent players shaw Morley cowans etc . Punching above their weight for a few seasons now , bit I would not wish anything too bad on them
Blues ,. Not the best fans in the world but those that stick by their team .. Fair play . Felt sorry for them having those crooks running the club , hope they have some success soon , but not at our expense .
Coventry .. Who remembers taking their life in their hands going to high field toad . Big game back then against Coventry . 30.000 + always . Massive club , feel sorry for their old fans . Sure they can come back soon.
Shrewsbury . Remember what a great f a cup team they ve been . That old gay meadow packed to the rafters … Giving the likes of arsenal a run for their money . I always wish them well
The sadlers . Bit gutted for their fans at wembley last week and Hereford u t d
I always look for their score cos of graham t .
Even Kidderminster harriers and stafford rangers I look for . Telford it’s cos they had our old floodlights
All of these clubs I have a reason to care for except that is for Albion
I can’t stand anything to do with them
I can’t wait until the boot is back on the other foot and we can rub their faces in mystery . Only a. Couple of weeks ago they were heading for relagation now they’re acting like they ve won something
They say we re rubbish and yet they want half our team
Make the most of it shit bags . Nothing lasts forever
I can’t believe how much I hate that shite
FOWBA AND PULIS never mind relegation I’d like to see them bankrupt and gone !
I too would love to ‘rub their faces in mystery’.
What a great expression!
Long live predictive text!!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder what he meant but cannot fathom it out.
Obviously I meant misery
First thoughts are usually correct, my old Latin master used to say.
Stick with mystery, sounds fookin’ great!!
My old Latin master used to say, “what the fook are you doing in this class you thick cut”
Thick. I proved him wrong, I’m a Wolves fan not A Boing Boing’
I prefer rubbing their faces in mystery too London…You’ve unwittingly created a quite brilliant turn of phrase, which I will be shoehorning into my next blog. In fact, you’ve pretty much summed up the sentiment of my entire blog in five words!
As for your generous words about our many near neighbours…I admire your kindness (not to mention knowledge) but I think you’re too kind! Walsall pretty much loathe us and the only reason we don’t notice is because they don’t matter. In fact, they all hate us with a passion.
I agree with what you say on the Villa though. I have a lot of respect for the Villa, which I’m not ashamed to admit.
Now then…I’m probably going to get killed by Clive for typing this now, but I actually have a grudging respect for WBA too.
Now hear me out!!!!! I hate WBA precisely because it is in my DNA to do so as a Wolves fan. BUT! They’re a proper club like us, steeped in history. Five FA Cups, Bomber Brown, Astle, the Three Degrees and even Bryan Robson more latterly. And they gave us one Stephen George Bull MBE.
(In fact, didn’t Clive and one or two of his mates occasionally go to the Hawthorns to watch them with friends if Wolves were away?! I stand corrected!)
Blues on the otherhand evoke absolutely no respect whatsoever unlike WBA (who I’m not permitted to acknowledge due to tribal necessity). Everything about them winds me up.
Their kit, their ground, their lack of any heritage whatsoever, not to mention the whole wretched St Andrew’s experience as an away fan. Even their recent PL years were sullied in my mind by that horrid porn baron who sat in the stands with his daft furry Russian hat, like some big hairy minge in ode to his profession.
For these reasons, I hate Blues the most – but can’t admit this!
No Ben
Now you re rubbing my face in mystery . What are you talking about ?. I’ve wiped better than them off my shoe .
The offer of a beer is now off the table.
Fancy accusing me, me, the biggest shit hater in history, of going to the sandwell crem in preference to following The Wolves to Derby.
( They stuffed Coventry 7- 0 if memory serves and played brill. I stood in the Throstles corner to the left of the scummie road end, amongst Wolves, Coventry and shit fans, and we had a good day out!! )
But you didn’t have to tell everyone!
And to say you have a grudging respect for them as well!
Are there no limits to which you will stoop?
How can you ever hold your head up in front of your Dad and little Arthur and admit what you just wrote?
I will bring a Tesco bag for you to wear in everlasting shame at the Millwall game!
And to cap it all you even spelled out their initials in full.
Methinks your face and whole body are gonna get rubbed in mystery, if you have the nerve to show up!!!
Oh, all right.
I’ll still buy you a drink.
I bet it will be a Tiger beer, the official beer of Sandwell.
Agree with all said about blues but at least they know they are a deplorable club with deplorable owners, deplorable fans and virtually no history. Now the other lot have a mental arrogance which basically revolves around one goal by Jeff Astle.Even there celebrity fans use it as a smug calling card.
If we sell Afobe within the next 18months for less than 10times what we paid, then I shall become severely disillusioned both with my club and the ‘sport’ in general. Although, such is the disparity in financial muscle between the two sides of Ben’s ‘fine line’, 20mill will be small change to them. That thought makes me even more disillusioned. 🙁
Mate.. I shall be disillusioned if we even consider a sniff about him ..he could rank alongside Bully…well…almost
Ben,
I will be in Wolverhampton in less than a month.
I will buy you a drink, or ten.
You obviously need cheering up.
I aint read such a doom and gloom piece since my marriage license.
We are Wolves fans, this is our life. Boring and predictable it aint.
As has been said, nothing lasts forever, not even Prem TV money. That will change eventually.
With “best in the world league” subject, you can fool all the peeps some of the time and some of them all of the time, but never all for ever.
Eventually, the world will wake up and see the Prem for what it is, a bunch of plodders with a few good players interspersed, milking it for all they can.
Let’s push on, get promotion, and some of the dosh on offer while we can.
Once morgan and his henchman have their fill, even they have limits, they will move to pastures new, and maybe, just maybe, we will get someone in who gives a shit.
And on the subject of them in sandwell crem……
Fuck Off.
Your a very naughty boy, but can zi stop laughing. No I feckin can.
(Knock Knock)
Brilliant:-)
Its all been doom and gloom since I couldn’t find an end date on my marriage licence.
Doom & Gloom.
My wife said to me the other day, “I married the wrong bloody man”
Quick as a flash I said, “So did the vicar”
If Brompton could bring my Polo shirts to Intensive care it would be appreciated,
🙂
Wolves….we all know we are good at throwing it all away and I agree Ben there is a lot at stake…
I think perhaps more than at any other time as we are on a knife edge with three players..
I’m a fan from the 70s and I don’t know if Hibbett Richards Dougan is as strong as Sako Dicko Afobe..
If we were flying in the PL they would be worth 30mill..
I also think it’s shit or bust with this team with the option to rely on the youth rebuilding the squad but surely
the back street mob can see that too?and our only option is to bonus the team / selected players into the PL with higher wages….
The saddest part of all this is that we could of been auto candidates either by KJ making sure we beat the lower teams or we of course should of bought earlier..
Give or take Dicko we have been lucky with injuries too..
Easter is going to be so critical.
You have a point, but right now we don’t have a Munro, Skipper Mike Bailey, Waggy, etc etc etc
A reply from Oil land no less…. Clive….the point I was making was our three are the strongest and best we’ve had for years (hence the interest) and to keep them all we need to go up and even I will admit its a tall order…
Your are right to say we haven’t a Baily as we did then that’s the missing player to be alongside K-Mac ..Steers and Batth are pretty strong currently…..Sako Dicko Afobe are the best in this league ..and could do the biz in the PL too if we would of put away the points lost I wouldn’t be crapping myself…Afobe is a jewel…..as to West Broms interest ..It doesn’t bear thinking about..
I have an absolute fundamental belief that KJ will get us promoted, whether its this year, next or in 5 years time! All we have to do is back the guys judgement time and again through thick and thin. I’ve no doubt SM knows this.
Slider you poor deluded man.
I suspect that, with Morgan and Moxey in charge our future lies mainly in the Championship. Even if we achieve promotion this year or in the future I don’t see them paying out enough in transfer fees AND competitive wages to build a side good enough to stay up. I am also not sure that Jacket and Thelwell have enough knowledge of Premiership class players to buy as wisely as they will need to (or even the charisma to attract them to Molineux).
Memo, spot on we are only ever going to be a Championship club with the odd Premier Season thrown in under M and M I’m glad someone else can see through the PR bullshit.
I think if we dot go up this season the likes od Afobe who is almost certainly on the radar of most of the bottom half of the Premier league and may be a couple higher up McDonald and even Dicko could be tempted by a tilt at the Premier league and as for Mand M saying we had to let them go because they have ambition and we don’t want to stand in there way.
Well it works both ways and I’m afraid to say the lack of ambition from Morgan if I was one of the afor mentioned I’d be thinking why stay the ownership is not showing any ambition Wolves are going no where fast, I’m off and I wouldn’t blame them because that the crux of the problem with Wolves owner he’s happy to plod along with the chance of a play off here and there how can you expect any employee to hang around on the off chance of a better environment/ standard when you don’t show that ambition yourself as an employer.
I’ve blogged this about a month ago I fear for us if it all goes pear shaped because regardless of wether is Jackett or jones Morgans not going to give them the money to replace Afobe, Sako, McDonald and may be Dicko your looking at £ 5 million plus……..yes in the back of my mind I can see the nightmare becoming reality.
If the above nightmare did happen and Morgan didn’t invest then I think it time for a concerted campaign to remove him, and I know there are those who will say but who’s going to buy Wolves my answer would be, you don’t know until you try.
Just another thought re: fans Parliment has the question, why Morgan brought Wolves apart from we were cheap, been asked may be it needs asking again because I like thousands of other fans can only conclude for personnel/ bussiness gain.
Strange we didn’t sell Sako at Christmas. Morgan missed a trick there. Could have made a few quid for his back pocket. Bit of a mistake spending 2mill on Afobe too. If he’s not careful he could find himself owner of a premier league club and having to find somewhere to salt away all that nasty money.
For Martin now in Cyprus.
Looking good for yer lad.
🙂
Declan Weeks @DeclanWeeks
Very happy to get on at half time for Wales 21’s tonight. Tough game but good 3-1 win vs Bulgaria
54m ago
I am more optimistic. We have bought players this season i expect us to do the same next. Most of the big spenders in the Championship are the recently relegated clubs spending from sales or the parachute money. Often big money transfers at this level dont quite work out.
I respect Ben’s honesty on them but believe me he will eventually see the light. We have all been in the slough of despond at some time or other.
Bit late with posting… I was too busy rubbing my face in this… (Gotta be better things to rub my face in!)
Really ?? Shrews wolf ….
Is this all you ve got to do all day ?
So it’s true then.
Kenny Jackett has resigned because Morgan has accepted a bid of (in excess of) £25m for Sako, Dicko and Afobe, from sandwell town.
That’s it then.
I have already bought my season ticket for the baggies and have redecorated my house in blue and white.
This will be my last contribution to this blog.
See you all!
On the subject of rubbing your face in Mystery, if anyone is keen to try it, please feel free.
May I introduce to you all.
Miss Terri
Nice try Doog but you still don’t get the chocolate brownie. This one was posted on the Wolvesnewsnow siite and it did make me chuckle.
Laugh! I nearly bought a round.
http://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/2015/04/keys-park-update?
I got your email Stu. Had to laugh. I stopped falling for the April 1st jokes a long time ago. I did however initially think that if they had done what you said they had they would be “Dopes”.
See you Friday mate.
I read it too, and I wondered how many would actually believe it. Had me chuckling for ages.
now that’s a Miss Terri to keep the face well and truly rubbed… nice find StuWolf!
London Wolves Loyal… It appears that that is all I have to do all day but StuWolf top trumps me in style! How do I compete?
Shrews Wolf,
I thank you for the comment.
I am but a pale shadow of your razor wit and knowledge of all things Gold & Black. I stand a mere novice and enjoy your contributions my friend. Long may you reign.
Bull doesn’t want us to go up this year. He said so in an interview regarding his 50th birthday.
Just been reading Kenny’s comments on not getting more players in. For the fans who always hunger for new faces i dont think he will let them down (that is if the hunger can ever be satisfied ?). But you have also got to have stability and development within the group to keep going forward.
On Bob Morgan i am probably in LWl’s camp. Can be wise to fly a little under the radar.
If the Prem clubs come calling for Afobe we will see Morgans true colours ( still red ). He could make one statement now to blow away all the speculation by saying that if we don’t go up this season major funds will be made available to the coach to make a concerted push for automatic promotion next season and none of our best players will be sold whatever the money offered espeailly Afobe that would send a message to those Prem clubs, the players here now and potenial targets that we mean bussiness ……….can you see that happening oh look there’s a pig just flew past.
I know Jacketts come out a said he wants to build a team around Afobe the key word there being WANTS I think he mean would love the funds to do that….am I right Kenny ………silence speaks volumes.
Other than StuWolf and I, who is going to the match tomorrow? I am just interested in blogger attendance.
Iv’e just been in to pick up another Blues away ticket for my Grandson. At present we have 9 coaches going and they expect that to rise to 11-15 coaches when the go on general sale on Saturday. So looking like we may sell out of our 4000 allocation, feckin Brilliant, our 12 th man the away following e
Will be up for that one and drive the lads to 3 more points in the bag. Be there or be square (Fonzy)
HaÍppy feckin Days indeed, don’t you just feel proud being a Wolves fan, (Skint, but proud)
🙂
Get down there and drive em on boys, it’s within spitting distance.
I`ve tickets for Nottingham Florists and Brum and fully expect six points and massive away support as well. Its a home game for me living in Notts, and its quicker for me to travel to Brum that the golden palace. Great times for us Wolves fans.
Was in Telford recently and met with some friends of my missus, the chap is a Norwich fan and he raised the blindingly obvious point that if ever there was a year to go up, this is it. Then even if relegation followed immediately the financial benefits are so great that promotion back in theory could be a `formality`., given the financial clout of the relegated sides.
Imagine two seasons hence and the best of the current under 21s are hitting the first team, Morgan`s game plan would have paid of.
I believe we are capable of getting promoted, and if that happened this season, even the owner would be able to spend some of that extra Sky revenue without dipping into his back pocket.
I totally agree, it’s a shame people like Paul Featherstone don’t see it that way.