Terry Connor’s thirteen games in charge bought 4 draws and 9 defeats and the away win at QPR in McCarthy’s penultimate game in charge was Wolves only win since the first weekend of December. Thats one win in 26 games in all competitions and 59 goals were conceded in those games. It was a capitulation of the highest order. When McCarthy was sacked, Wolves were 18th and on the brink although level on points with 16th. By the time the season ended Wolves were 12 points and a poor goal difference from survival.

We will have a review of the season later this week but then it will be a season everyone will want to forget and now focus on supporting Stale (pronounced Stoller) Solbakken. The new man does not officially start at Wolves until July 1st due to the terms of his German dismissal but he will use that time to watch Wolves and Champiosnhip DVDs and will be hoping that there won’t be a flood of top players out of the club over the coming months. There will inevitably be a few departures with Sunday’s goalscorers Jarvis and Fletcher likely to be the ones in most demand. And maybe a small clear out would do no harm to refreshen the team for the fightback ahead. And there will be few Wolves fans crying any tears if Roger Johnson is one of the players to leave. He has been ridiculed by fans at the last two games and the failed signing from Birmingham is certainly one reason for Wolves poor season.

A summer break will rekindle some enthusiasm in the fans and then we will wait to see whether the Norwegian manager can put Wolves back on track.

He is 44 years old and as a player was rated one of the best midfield players ever produced by Norway. He is still referred to as ‘God’ in Lillestrom where he scored 34 times in 99 games, which is no mean record for a midfield player. He then had a very short spell in England with Wimbledon where he played 6 times and was twice named man of the match before falling out with manager Joe Kinnear. He then went to Denmark to play for Aalborg and Copenhagen, and he made 58 appearances for Norway. In March 2001 he nearly died on the pitch after a heart attack in an incident recalled recently following Muamba’s similar situation. This caused him to retire from playing and he had a pacemaker fitted.

Later that year he returned to his first club Ham-Kam in Norway’s 2nd Division as their manager. He was a great success there getting them promotion and taking them to 5th in the top flight, the best league position in their history. He was named Norwegian manager of the year before moving to another of his former clubs Copenhagen as manager. He became the most successful manager in their history winning the Danish title 5 times in 6 years and after beating Ajax in a Champions League qualifier they made their debut in that competition and although finishing bottom of their group they did beat Man Utd along the way. After deciding to move on from Copenhagen he was set to become Norway manager but german club FC Koln bought him out of that contract to take him to the Bundesliga.

He was not as successful in Germany and after a 4-0 defeat at Mainz he was sacked with 4 games of the season left and the club just one place above the relegation position. Solbakken was furious to not have the opportunity to see the season through and try to save Koln from the drop but in a similar circumstance to Wolves, a new manager was brought in who secured just one draw and three losses to seal relegation.

So Wolves are banking on that spell at Koln being a blip in a career that has been otherwise full of successes both as a player and as a manager. He is the first foreign manager at the club and it will be interesting to see if he wants to and can bring in some continental talent to the club. Speculation is that Terry Connor will be retained as coach and as the Norwegian does not officially take up his post until 1st July, it will be Connor that remains in charge for the final Premier League game of the season at Wigan on Sunday. Hopefully it will be the new man who will make decisions over the coming and going of players over the summer as we wait to see how many players Wolves lose to balance the books.

It’s a surprising managerial choice but I think an encouraging one thats a bit of a gamble on someone that will bring new ideas and a new approach to the club. They could have tried for a safer option by going for the likes of Curbishley, Bruce or Allardyce, or gone for one of the promising managers in the lower leagues in England like Poyet, Clark or Freedman. But this choice is one that has really come out of left field and will probably be either a massive success or exactly the opposite. The jury will be out until the autumn and we will keep our fingers crossed that it’s the start of a positive era.

Hennessey
Zubar, Stearman, Zubar, Ward
Kightly, Henry, Edwards, Hunt
Doyle, Fletcher

It was the first League game that Jarvis had missed all season spoiling his 100% record, leaving Stephen Ward as the only ever present.

Berra headed wide from a good position when he went forward for a corner and then Pienaar shot wide for Everton after being let in by Stearman. That was about it for goalmouth action in the first half. Early in the second Fletcher headed the ball across goal and Stearman got on the end of it only to provide a clearance rather than a shot. Berra left the field injured to be replaced by Elokobi returning from his loan at Forest. Interesting that he was chosen to come on ahead of Roger Johnson who was the subject of lots of sarcastic abuse from the Wolves fans during the game.

Wolves produced a good move ending in Henry setting up Kightly whose shot was no better than all the others from the Wolves players on the day. But Everton looked the more likely scorers and Jelavic brought a save out of De Vries, then Fellaini shot wide and when sub Straqualarsi got the ball in the net the offside flag ruled it out probably incorrectly as it was not the scorer who was offside.

So Connor has still not won a match after 12 attempts and I still check if it’s April Fools Day when I read articles suggesting he might be manager next season. At least the draw meant Wolves did not equal the Premier League record for successive home defeats and it did mean Wolves kept a clean sheet at Molineux for the first time since August.

But this was a game to forget at the end of a season that many will also want to forget. Come August lets hope we have a new manager, a refreshed squad and we see some goals and entertainment, and bounce back to the top flight to stay.

The longest winless run in Wolves history was in the 1984/85 season when they were relegated from the old Division 2. In that season they went 19 games without a win between December and April and managed to end the run in their penultimate game of the season and their last home game of that season by beating Huddersfield at Molineux. The current winless run stretches to 12 games including the final game of the McCarthy reign. In fact Wolves have only won one game, away at QPR, in their last 24 games in all competitions. So will they again relieve a little of the gloom by winning the penultimate game of the season and the last home game? You would have to say the probability is no.

Everton are playing as well as any team in the country on current form. Liverpool and Arsenal are the only teams to have beaten them since the middle of January and having been a solid Premier League team for many years under manager David Moyes they have now found a striker in Nikica Jelavic that has turned them into a team that scores goals too and they recently scored 4 in three successive league games including away at Old Trafford. Jelavic has scored 8 in 8 starts for the Toffees and he was voted Premier League player of the month for April as the blues of merseyside climbed to 7th in the table.

Wolves have a couple of injury problems going into the game with Jarvis and Foley both doubtful. But Bassong is fit and Stephen Hunt is expected to start after having a season ruined by injury problems. And it would be a good end to the season if the game is as entertaining as last week’s game at Swansea and it is likely that Connor will look for his first win as a manager by sticking with the attacking 4-4-2 formation to try to provide an uplifting end to a poor season. I can envisage a starting line up of;
De Vries
Stearman, Bassong, Berra, Ward
Kightly, Henry, Edwards, Hunt
Doyle, Fletcher

So hopefully a decent game to end the season and then after a trip to Wigan next week we will move on to the serious business of finding a new manager and building for a return to the top flight. And in August even if not this week we will look to see Wolves win a game before they get too close to that record run in 84/85. Right now its quite hard to remember what its like to see Wolves win.

Connor sent out a positive team for the trip to Wales that I guess should have been an indication of the type of game that panned out;

De Vries
Foley, Stearman, Berra, ward
Kightly, Hnery, Edwards, Jarvis
Doyle, Fletcher

It was a positive team that looked more likely to score goals than keep them out but to their credit Wolves were untroubled by Swansea for the first 20 seconds. Then Sinclair got in a cross from the left and Orlandi headed in his first goal for 2 years. And Dorus De Vries returning for the first time to the ground where he had made a good reputation in british football was picking the ball out of the net again 4 minutes later as Wolves defence parted in characteristic fashion for Joe Allen to run through on goal and his shot deflected off Stearman into the net. It was looking then like a long afternoon for Wolves as Swansea got theiir passing game together and completely out played Wolves for the best part of half an hour and Wolves could easily have conceded more than three in this period of the game, with the third coming when Orlandi crossed and Dyer, probably the smallest player on the field, scored with a far post header.

A remarkable few minutes than came around the half hour mark. Swansea were finding things far too easy and their lack of discipline saw them leave Fletcher unmarked and he found the net with a header from a Doyle cross. Any optimism Wolves found from that was quickly undone as Graham was allowed to turn and shoot in the Wolves area to make it 4-1, but then Wolves were back immediately with a second as Jarvis turned the ball in with Doyle again providing the assist. And then the game changed completely with Wolves in the ascendency and it always looked on the cards that they would find a way back into the game.

Sigardsson, one of the signings of the season in the Premier League, nearly scored twice in a minute early in the second half when he first hit the post then brought a good save out of De Vries. But that was a brief dent in Wolves superiority as they went on to dominate the 2nd half. The impressive Kightly split the home defence with a pass to Edwards who scored the Wolves third, and then amazingly Wolves were level when Edwards freed Fletcher on the left and his low cross was turned in by Jarvis. And it was Wolves who came closest to winning the game late on when Kightly shot over from a good position.

De Vries – had no chance with the Swansea goals and made a couple of good saves
Foley – not his best game early on as Swansea tore the defence apart
Stearman – been a regular under Connor but not really enhanced his reputation
Berra – not regularly featured for Connor but looks the steadiest of Wolves centre backs
Ward – all at sea early on before having a decent second half
Henry – Wolves were outnumbered in midfield and Swansea were passing the ball around him first half
Edwards – did as much as anyone to bring Wolves back into the game with good running and link up play
Kightly – his injuries look well behind him now as he re-emerges as a key player and I made him Wolves best player on the day
Jarvis – scored two more goals and was a threat for the final hour
Doyle – looked livelier in the last couple of games and set up two goals
Fletcher – took his goal well and a goal threat for the last hour

So some pride restored in an entertaining game and perhaps a lesson learned too late by Wolves. Most of their best players at this level are attackers and too often in away games at this level they have tried unsuccessfully to patch up a poor defensive record rather then take teams on with an attacking approach. An enjoyable game to watch and yet we are still left with the prospect of going into the summer without a win in over a third of a season. The last two games see two of the best two teams in the league on current form in opposition as Everton come to Molineux next Sunday and then the trip to Wigan the following Sunday. Be good if those last two games are as entertaining as this one, but a summer holiday and a new man in charge are what most Wolves fans are focusing on now.

Wolves fell to the lowest ebb in their history when they were relegated to the then 4th division in 1986 but eventually climbed from there with successive promotions in 1988 and 1989 to take them to the 2nd tier of the football league. And there they stayed for 14 seasons before Dave Jones took them to the Premier League for one season, before another 5 years in the 2nd tier before McCarthys promotion. So it was one year out of 25 that were spent in the top level before the recent three years under McCarthy. So there won’t be many Wolves supporters taking it for granted that a quick return to the Premier League will be on the way.

The key to the quick return will be the appointment of a new manager. I dont believe there is any chance that Terry Connor will continue in the role. He has not managed any wins in ten games and any success he gets in the last three games will surely be too little too late to promote his chances. To replace him Wolves have two choices. To go for an experienced manager that will give them the best chance of an early return. Or to go with a younger manager that might not get them back as quickly but might take them back as a stronger outfit. The likes of Allardyce, Megson or Bruce would fit the first category. And names like Poyet, Clark, Powell and Freedman have been mentioned in the younger bracket. Curbishley who was linked previously might be someone that could both earn a fast return and develop the team, but he has been out of management for a while. And the lack of an external appointment in the spring can only really be justified if the door is opened to currently employed as well as unemployed managers in the summer.

If the option is to go for the experienced man, and Wolves do tend to go that way, and Moxey had said it wasn’t a job for a novice, then the danger is that a return to the top flight is achieved and then as under McCarthy they are not able to progress above a struggling Premier team. And that in itself would lead to the question – why move on from McCarthy? So I would like to see a younger manager that can grow with the club and modernise the approach in the way Rodgers and Lambert have done at Swansea and Norwich respectively. Poyet may well be the man most likely to fit the bill for that kind of manager.

My first choice would however be someone different to all of those. Roberto Martinez was the man that started Swansea off in the style of football that everyone has been impressed with, and has since managed to both keep Wigan in the top flight and continually get them to play bright attacking football. And that at a club with little to invest in new players and with little prospect of advancing above their current level at the bottom end of the Premier League. For that reason the Spaniard may well be tempted away from Wigan to a club with more long term potential.

The other big factor to affect Wolves short term future is how many players move away from the club in the summer. And the first priority in that respect is to bring in the new manager to make the decisions on who comes and goes rather than that being left to the likes of Connor and Moxey.

The injury picked up by Hennessey has probably saved one exit from the club. But there are plenty of other players likely to be attracting interest from other clubs. Jarvis and Fletcher are likely to be the most sought after players. Johnson’s poor season is likely to see him moved on and O’Hara’s experience of being hassled by supporters after one home game may well lead him to be looking elsewhere. Doyle, Berra and Hunt have not been getting games late in the season and might want a new start. And there are a number of players that have been out on loan that might be transferred including Guedioura, Elokobi, Hamill and Vokes. And players like Henry, Kightly and Ward might have their suitors.

So there could be a mass exodus, but Wolves, unlike many relegated clubs are in a good financial state and will not need to be raking in a fortune to cope with the reduced income that comes with the drop. So at the very least it looks possible that they will go into the Championship with a team as good, and probably better, than the one that won that league 3 years ago with ten points to spare for automatic promotion. And while a few departures are certain there may well be a few new faces coming along as well to help the cause. And David Davis may well be the first of a few players from the Academy to prove to be good enough to make the grade.

So there is some cause for optimism that the return to the Premier can be achieved quickly. And then the stadium project can be revived and the firm re-establishment as a Premier League team can still be a dream thats not too distant.

But stage one of the bounce back has to be a good managerial appointment. And if a good choice is installed within a month of the end of this season, then 2012/13 might not be all that bad a season after all. And at least we will see more wins, more Saturday games, more floodlit games, and more goals for the home team at Molineux. And May 2013 might even be a time for celebration.

Connor made three changes to the line up that earned a point at Sunderland last week with Bassong replacing Berra, and Edwards recalled at the expense of Ebanks Blake, while Dorus De Vries came in as keeper to replace the injured Wayne Hennessey;

Hennessey
Foley, Stearman, Bassong, Ward
Henry, Davies
Kightly, Edwards, Jarvis
Fletcher

City had their title hopes boosted by United only drawing 4-4 against Everton earlier and within seconds of the start of the game Carlos Tevez was firing a shot over the Wolves bar. But it was Wolves who then went on to dominate the game fot a period and a Bassong effort was deflected inches wide. Aguero then shot narrowly wide before David Davis fired in a shot from the edge of the box to bring a save out of Hart in the City goal. Wolves were having a lot of the game but City twice went close when Nasri and then Aguero shot narrowly wide. But City did find the breakthrough after 26 minutes when an excellent through ball from Clichy put Aguero through and he made no mistake.

Wolves heads did not go down and a Fletcher header brought an excellent save from Hart. And as the second half progressed City were not putting the game to bed as was expected and Mancini made a cautious change replacing Silva with De Jong. The decisive second goal came in the 71st minute when two pieces of misfortune construed against Wolves. Tevez had fallen over and appeared to be obstructing Davis from getting to the ball but the referee penalised Davis when he tried to get to the ball. Tevez got up quickly and played a quick free kick and Bassong pulled a hamstring as he went for the interception leaving Nasri with a clear chance that he was able to convert.

De Vries – made a good impression with some good punches clear, and quick off his line to cut out through balls
Foley – had his usual steady game
Stearman – almost gifted City a goal with a poor headed back pass but otherwise had a decent game
Bassong – did well against the talented City frontline
Ward – held his own on the left of the defence and got forward well in the second half
Henry – had an excellent game and my man of the match for Wolves
Davis – another promising showing from a good late season find
Kightly – always positive and had a good first half in particular
Edwards – some good runs off the ball before tiring late on
Jarvis – had a good game but found a tough opponent in the excellent Zabaleta
Fletcher – some good lay offs and came close with a header
Doyle did well when he replaced Edwards

And so Wolves stay in the Premier League is over after three years and they will now have three meaningless games to end off their disappointing season. We can now look back at how it all went wrong and look forward to how a quick return can be secured. But at ten to six on Sunday the heavens opened over Wolverhampton and we all got totally saturated walking away from Molineux – a somehow fitting end to the Premier years.

City had some costly slip ups during March that put them out of the UEFA Cup and with 2 draws and 2 defeats in the League they handed the title advantage to Man Utd. But they won 4-0 at home to Albion and 6-1 at Norwich in their last two games to show they are right back to their best, and the Argentinian strike pairing of Tevez and Aguero is looking pretty unstoppable. A win for United earlier on Sunday at home to Everton would put them 8 points clear of City, but that could be down to 2 points if City beat Wolves then win next week’s Manchester derby. A result for Everton at Old Trafford would open the door for City to make themselves favourites for the title and would likely make things even more difficult for Wolves.

City have won their last three matches against Wolves with a feast of goals in a total of 12 to City and 6 to Wolves. But Wolves have won 2 of the 3 Premier League clashes between the teams at Molineux to give a little encouragement.

As if things were not bad enough for Wolves they were met this week with the news that keeper Wayne Hennessey, who is favourite to win Player of the Season, is likely to be out of action for 9 months with cruciate ligament knee damage. Its a massive blow to the keeper who may well have been the subject of some significant transfer bids in the summer. The irony for Wolves fans is that the injury is likely to lead to him staying at the club for another season, and if promotion can be secured at the first attempt then he may well be here for a while.

It is likely to mean that Dorus De Vries will get the chance to impress in goal although a chance against City might be a mixed blessing. But he will be keen to impress to earn the first choice position until Hennessey is fit, although Carl Ikeme has been recalled from his loan at Doncaster to provide competition.

It is unlikely there will be many other changes to the team that drew at Sunderland last week. That would mean Henry and Davis continuing their promising partnership in the central midfield. Connor must decide whether that is in the anchor roles in a 4-2-3-1 formation or in a 4-4-2 as they played with last week. Steven Fletcher will be looking to increase his goal tally and is evidently keen to end his exile from the Scottish National team and is also under consideration for a place in the GB team for this summer’s Olympic tournament.

It’s difficult to imagine anything but a Wolves defeat this weekend and the betting interest in the game may well be focused on how many City score. But even a heroic result may well only put off the inevitable relegation confirmation for another week, and then all the focus can turn to finding the manager and team to make a successful return to the Championship.

Hennessey
Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward
Kightly, Henry, Davis, Forde
Ebanks Blake, Fletcher

The first half was not an exciting affair with Sunderland having the majority of possession without creating clear cut opportunities. Sessegnon was the main danger to the Wolves defence. He set up McClean to shoot just wide and brought a save from Hennessey himself, and Bardsley was also wide as the home team were restricted to long range efforts. Forde was having some bright moments for Wolves who were worth an even scoreline at the break.

Sessegnon was continuing to be a threat early in the second half but Wolves were increasingly frustrating the home team and starting to create some attacking moments of their own. Forde had a long range effort saved at the near post and Ebanks Blake should have at least hit the target when put through on the right of the area. And then came the closest moment to a Wolves goal as a cross from sub Matt Jarvis found Fletcher whose header was well saved by Mignolet.

There were a couple of close calls late on to threaten Wolves clean sheet but after Hennessey dropped a cross in a crowded area and there was a goalmouth scramble it was eventually blocked at the third attempt by the keeper. And he also saved a McClean header to secure Wolves a point.

Hennessey – not a busy afternoon but got away with one dropped cross and made a couple of good saves
Foley – as good as anyone on the Wolves team on his comeback
Stearman – had a steady game as Sunderland failed to build any consistent pressure
Berra – unlucky to have losr his place in recent weeks and came back with a sound performance
Ward – not trouibled defensively and made some good runs forward
Kightly – not as impressive as last week but worked hard
Henry – solid in front of the defence and had a good game
Davis – continues to impress. Needs to improve his passing but can form a good partnership with Henry
Forde – had a bright first half and could well have a breakthrough season in 12/13
Ebanks Blake – wasted one decent chance but worked hard along the front line
Fletcher – looked brighter than in recent games, some sublime touches and came closest to scoring
Jarvis replaced Forde after an hour and it was a boost for a player to come off the bench to strengthen the team, not happened much this season.
Edwards and Zubar replaced Kightly and Foley in the final 15 minutes

And so it was largely the ex Championship players of Wolves that earned them their first point for eight games and that will have given a boost and a reminder that the club has the ingredients to make a speedy return to the top flight with the right manager in charge. And for today we can say well done to Connor for restoring some pride in a well earned result

When Wolves won against Sunderland at Molineux on December 4th Martin O’Neill was watching in the stands waiting to take over as manager of the North East club a couple of day later. And since him being in charge they have racked up 36 points in 21 games. If that points average was maintained over a season it would add up to 65 points which would last season have secured 5th place. So not an easy task for any team to take them on at the moment but Wolves have won their last 4 games against Sunderland. And in the last 11 games between the teams both teams have scored.

Since that win against Sunderland at Molineux Wolves have won one game in 21 in all competitions. There will be a forced change to the team with Bassong suspended after his sending off on Wednesday. And that will probably spell a return to the team for Christophe Berra who came on as a sub in the week. Otherwise Connor must decide whether to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation they started with against Arsenal but had to abandon after ten minutes when Bassong saw red. If that set up is retained then David Davis would retain his place with a choice between Doyle and Fletcher for the lone striker role.

But the interest is in all the wrong stats that Wolves may well make even worse. It could be an 8th successive defeat, 10 games without a win, a 10th successive game of conceding at least 2 goals, and 9 games without a win in the managerial career of Terry Connor. A win could end all those sequences but such is the depth of the problems on the field that not many Wolves fans would be surprised if those records were still being extended through to the end of the seasin.