Below the line

 If a point a game is the benchmark that Wolves need to be measured by then they fell below that on Saturday by being the first team that couldn’t beat Portsmouth this season. Maybe over the 90 minutes Wolves deserved a draw and for sure they should have been awarded a 2^nd half penalty that should have lead them to get at least a point, but that will not take away the disappointment of losing the game and of playing below par in many respects.

Wolves started with a line up of;

Hennessey

Foley, Mancienne, Berra, Elokobi

Halford, Edwards, Henry, Jarvis

Keogh, Doyle

Kightly and Ebanks Blake replaced Foley and Keogh at half time. Maierhofer replaced Elokobi as Wolves went for it late on.

In the opening exchanges it looked like Wolves who were entering the game on the back of seven defeats rather than their opponents.  There seemed a lack of confidence in many parts of the team and maybe that 5-2 defeat last week had hurt more than expected. Also maybe going in to the game as favourites weighed heavy. But possibly it was just that a number of players were not playing well. It was no real surprise when Pompey went ahead after 19 minutes with a simple cross and header and Wolves just couldn’t get any serious threat on the Portsmouth goal. Jarvis had one run that ended with a weak shot and Doyle made a similar run down the left of the penalty area but there was no one far enough forward to get on to his cross. Berra had a half chance from a corner but David James did not have a difficult half.

In that first half Foley played as poorly as I have seen him play and maybe he was not ready after his injury. Mancienne looked down on confidence, Elokobi looked vulnerable defensively and his passing was dire, and the likes of Halford, Edwards, Jarvis and Keogh were totally ineffective. In fact Doyle looked at a different level from his team mates and was the only one that looked like making anything happen.

Wolves were better after the break and had Pompey pinned back for large periods but were still not strongly testing James. Closest they came to a goal was a free kick from Halford well saved by James but he couldn’t hold the shot and Ebanks Blake should have done better with the rebound. But the big talking point of the second half was a penalty that wasn’t given. Kightly’s cross was blatantly blocked by the arm of a diving defender and it was an incident seen by everyone in Molineux except the officials. TV confirmed it was a definite and deliberate handball.

With an international break next week Wolves will have two weeks to dwell on this performance before the trip to Everton on October 17^th. And McCarthy will have that time to ponder on who should get a game. Kightly, Ebanks Blake and , despite his poor showing today, Foley should surely be given the chance to show the Premier League why they built such a reputation in the Championship. But there is a long list of players whose places will be under threat including Mancienne, Edwards, Elokobi, Halford, Jarvis and Keogh. But in reality only Hennessey, Berra, Henry and Doyle can be sure of a place.

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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