Another step in the wrong direction for Wolves

So the winless run for Wolves is now up to 9 games with only 3 points gained from those 27 available, as Wolves consolidated their position as the worst team in the Championship on current form with another home defeat. It’s all turning into a nightmare for Wolves with nothing more telling than the 4,000 drop in attendance compared to Saturday as the people of Wolverhampton decide there are better things to do with their leisure time than watch the standard of entertainment on offer at Molineux nowadays.

There were a couple of changes to the starting line up with the choice of right back changing for the umpteenth time this season and Doumbia rested from midfield with David Davis given a chance in that position;

Ikeme
Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward
Pennant, Davis, Edwards, Sako
Sigurdarson, Doyle

Wolves started the game well and had Millwall pinned back throughout the opening 15 minutes. A succession of corners put the visitors under pressure. Doyle played in Sigurdarson whose shot was blocked and Sako was prominent in most of Wolves early attacking. And the home team were so unlucky 15 minutes in when Doyle was sent tumbling by Shittu on the corner of the penalty area. Referee gave a free kick outside the box but the foul was surely well inside the area.

Nobody more impressive than Davis in Wolves early supremacy and Wolves looked more like the team at the top of the current form table in the early stages. But they were not able to create any clear cut openings or seriously test the keeper and Millwall gradually started to make a game of it. But it wasnt a bad first half from Wolves and a hard driven cross by Sako that just eluded Sigurdarson was as close as they came to a goal.

But as has become such a familiar sight with Wolves this season the second half display was uninspiring in the extreme. Millwall took the initiative early in the half and rarely did Wolves look like re-establishing their early first half supremacy. There was a further blow for Wolves midway through the half when keeper Ikeme had to go off with a hand injury to be replaced by De Vries, and shortly afterwards Forde replaced Pennant and took up position on the left with Sako switching to the right. And Forde looked fairly bright and set up Edwards on the edge of the box whose shot went a yard over the bar. Wild celebrations from the Wolves fans at seeing their team have a shot.

But a couple of minutes later Millwall were ahead in the most predictable fashion. A ball into the area from the right by Wood fell to Keogh 8 yards out and he drilled the ball home to be the third ex-Wolf to score for a visiting team this season following in the footsteps of Mark Davies and Guedioura. Ebanks Blake came on for Stearman as Wolves desperately saught something from the game, and he was to get two half chances, drilling well over when the ball dropped to him quickly on the edge of the box and then sending in a weak header from Ward’s late cross.

It was Wolves lowest home league gate for years and many had left before the final whistle but those still there at the end produced a chorus of boos for another turgid Wolves performance and chanted ‘what a load of rubbish’.

Ikeme – didn’t have a busy evening and unlucky to get injured in the second half when punching out a cross
Stearman – didn’t look to have solved the right back problem with some very poor passing and inconsistent defending
Johnson – generally sound with the occasional unforced error
Berra – looks like he may be on the move in January with his contract up in the summer, and I think it will mean Wolves losing their most dependable defender
Ward – defended ok and made some good overlaps to support the attack, although some loose passing along the way
Pennant – remains a bit of a disappointment
Edwards – works hard but lacking the technique to make a real mark in this set up
Davis – had a bright first half and amongst the better players on the night
Sako – would probably benefit from a rest but still the most likely to create something
Doyle – trying to feed off scraps but rarely looks like getting on the scoresheet, although should have earned a penalty first half
Sigurdarson – like Doyle suffers from not having much created for him but looks to have the potential
Forde – looked brighter than Pennant when he came on
De Vries – had little to do and could not be faulted for the goal
SEB – should have done better with a late headed chance

Another match that no Wolves fan could have enjoyed as an ok first half followed by a lifeless second period. With many fans staying away, those that are sticking around being poorly entertained, you really do wonder where Wolves go from here. Maybe one result will turn things back in the right direction but sad to say that the gamble of appointing Solbakken is looking more and more like one that could have gone horribly wrong. There remains a will amongst many Wolves fans to stick with him and see what the January transfer window brings and hope that more encouragement will be there at the end of the season. But there is a growing number of people who are wondering whether the January transfer window would be a good time for a new man at the helm to come in and rescue Wolves from a season that is in real danger of going completely pear shaped.

Category: Team News