Obviously as you all know I’ve been away, I didn’t even get to listen to the game this Saturday, which I can tell you was utter hell, I was texting my da at one point every three minutes demanding live commentary, when Kightly scored everyone on the coach back to Birmingham knew about it. So, as a write up would be a bit silly, here’s what Mick has to say on the game -

“We’re a million miles away (from promotion), let me tell you, but we’ve won this and we’ll enjoy it.
“It’s not been a great game, but it’s just a matter of getting the points.
“We set off with an attacking team and we put substitutes on and we got the goal that mattered. It’s a nice feeling to have time off now having won.”

I think he sums up every Wolves fans’ afternoon nicely there, and if anything what with Birmingham and Reading only limping to a draw against Norwich and Crystal Palace respectively the afternoon ended almost perfectly, I mean ideally they’d have both lost but you can’t always get everything going your own way now can you?

Elsewhere since I’ve been away we’ve been linked with a loan move for Marlon Harewood till the end of the season, which I don’t think would be too bad at all. I mean sure, at times for Aston Villa he’s looked like he can’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo, but I think that’s mainly due to their style of play, I’m sure when playing as one of two standard attackers he’d run rampant in the Championship, definitely a good move with a few games to go, check this link out for reasoning behind that argument.

So there we are, Wolves now take a break until the 6th of April, which of course will be the big one against the Blues, I’ll be updating this place in the meantime with build up, so keep checking back, I’ll also be running another live blog, hopefully with a live match feed, as it’ll be on sky. So we’ll see how that pans out.

But for now, check out that beautiful league table, stop doing your mental football maths for a while and have a tinny or two on me, I’ll have the highlights up for you tomorrow!

Tarra-a-bit!

In the end it would be Iwelumo’s first goal in a Wolves shirt since the 25th of November and a goal, which was eventually awarded to Sylvan Ebanks Blake, his 24th of the season which won it for Wolves, in a game where, at times we were pretty poor. Wolves started brightly enough, for all of ten minutes, with Kightly spurring an opportunity early on. From then on Wolves found it hard to take control of the game as Charlton packed the midfield, leaving Wolves no time on the ball, our final ball suffered as a result which lead to our chances being limited to pot shots. The breakthrough came on the 35th minute as Iwelumo, fed by Michael Kightly slotted home in off the post, much to his, and the fan’s relief.

Unfortunately, rather than take that momentum into the second half, Wolves rather hit a plateau, and were made to rue that complacency on the 50th minute as Charlton man Zheng Zhi hit a sweet long range strike into the top corner, Hennessey flapped and Charlton were very much back in the game. Unfortunately it took Charlton scoring for Wolves to finally wake up and start playing again, and after a spell of pressure they found their reward in a “slightly dubious” penalty award. Up stepped Sylvan, and for the second time in three he had his effort saved. Must try harder Ebanks. However all was to be forgiven on the 78th minute, when Iwelumo and Ebanks combined to both head towards goal and eventually force the ball home. 2-1 Wolves fans in raptures, news that Reading had been held to a 1-0 defeat only sweetened the victory.

Up next? Nottingham Forest, who we beat 5-1 at the start of the season, and who lost 5-0 today….so knowing Wolves in their current form, that’ll be a tight game.

Until then, a big thank you to those of you who came along to the liveblog, (reader stats have doubled since the first one) and highlights will be along whenever they pop up!

Here’s to the top of the league!

Tarra-a-bit!

All in all it was a frustrating night, if results had gone the other way we’d probably all be pulling our collective hair out at the amount of times we came close to winning it. One spell of note saw Ebanks curl his shot against the bar, only for Kightly to send the rebound wide. In fairness to the team, Ipswich came and parked the team bus in front of the goal, as we all knew they would but without our dual threat of Kightly and Jarvis, we were found sorely lacking in ideas as how to break down the Ipswich back line…which at most times consisted of ten men.

Mick made two changes to the team which secured two wins on the bounce, with Ward coming in for Friend, while Reid replaced the slightly jaded Kightly. Reid, whilst busy failed to find an end product to his running, thus never really finding his feet in the game before being replaced by Kightly on half time. Kightly had a good 45 minutes, creating chances and getting other players involved in the game, alas, it wasn’t to be. The other replacement, Ward for Friend is in my mind questionable, I’ve not heard that Friend was injured, therefore I’m slightly confused as to his absence, as in my mind he’s been fantastic over the last couple of games, I’d like to see his return on Saturday if Jarvis is yet to regain full fitness by the time Charlton come knocking.

We could have won this game, hell, at times we could have lost this game. As is it, and looking at the results around us, most Wolves fans will we be content, disappointed we missed a chance to push on with a further two points, but content that with another eight games to go, we’re still three points clear of Birmingham and in a worst case scenario, one ahead of Reading. And, as they’ve still got to play each other, and we’ve still got Birmingham to play before we call time on the season, the scales are starting, ever so slowly to tilt to Wolves’ favour.

On a side note, cheers to everyone who contributed to the match thread, it was a bit of an experiment so at times it was a bit hectic, but I’m definitely going to do it again, maybe next time we’re on TV so I can get a live stream of the game running underneath?

Right then, highlights up when I have them!

Tarra-a-bit!

No, not quite, the problem still remains that we’re quite the one man team. Ebanks Blake seems to be a catalyst for everything which we produce at the moment, everything moves through him and once he’s off the pitch…we’re a little bit confused as to what to do with the ball. Keogh did well when he came on to replace him with fifteen minutes to go, however he doesn’t offer anywhere near the level of impact, nor does he possess the ability to turn a game. Which is exactly what Ebanks Blake did four minutes in. Good work from Kightly to beat his man and chip into the box with his left found Ebanks well with time and space to bury his header past a flailing Grant. Ah, at this point I’ll raise another problem, Kightly also limped off in the closing stages rather suspiciously holding his hamstring, I’ll update this as it develops.

A wonderful game for the neutral it was not, it was drab, only had a few chances and neither team really attacked with much gusto. Yet, it might well have been the most important game for Wolves this season. After having such a dreadful run the pressure was on Tuesday night to stop the rot, and today the pressure was even greater to try and build another run of results, we could have shirked it, wilted under the heat, however we did not. We rose our game, more importantly the defence defended. Good grief, bar Wayne Hennessey’s increasingly standard losses of judgement we were resolute in defence. If this is to be Jody Craddock’s swansong, it may well be his finest hour. As an artist himself, if he can continue his tutelage of Berra as he is at the moment, he may well turn the young Scotsman into his finest work. The young apprentice can learn a lot from Jody, we forget at times that he’s notched up nearly 450 professional games in his seventeen years in football, and if anyone knows the English game then it’s he. Berra is learning well, and is already maturing from that nervous lost kid with flashes of excellence into a total professional, dealing with attackers like petulant children, brushing them aside and winning everything in the air.

That’s where we won the battle today, the defence. The midfield for large portions of the game were competitive, it was great seeing Jones in the team again, purely because I feel him to be another player, who, like Ebanks Blake has the ability to change the game on it’s head, he’s got the ability to play that pass, that through ball which can totally unlock a defence. He wasn’t afraid to stick the boot in either, and his tackling was consistent and tough all game, he forged a fine partnership with Edwards, he’ll get another game to prove himself hopefully before Henry’s suspension is served, we’ll see if he can raise the bar.

So where do we go from here? In a quite literally sense, two home games against Ipswich and Charlton, two potential banana skins on one side of the coin, two very winnable games on the other. Only time will tell, but for now, sit back, enjoy the rest of your weekend (for a change!) and look at that beautiful, majestic Championship table. My oh my, I’ve not typed those words out for a while!

Highlights up tomorrow!

Tarra-a-bit!

That’s not to say we didn’t make hard work of it. My goodness me we made hard work of it, making us sweat till the 74th minute for a start for a goal, and with Hennessey trying his level best to divide his time between trying to score an own goal, wondering around aimlessly in his box and pulling off match winning saves, he was utterly infuriating throughout. He showed the class which has made him first choice keeper for Wales and Wolves at just 22 at times, and at times, he reminded us all that he’s still on the sunny side of 25, and wasn’t even born when the first Back To The Future came out.

Once again it was Ebanks Blake to the rescue, quick to make up for his last penalty miss against Coventry to cooly slot the ball past Speroni to claim his 22nd of the season. It wasn’t an assured performance tonight by any means, but for a team who’s streak of losses and draws as bad as ours, you’d never really expect a barnstormer, we were nervous and scrappy, we wanted that win desperately, the beautiful football was kindly asked to wait outside while every player out there put a shift in. It was hugely refreshing. Friend worked well in midfield, Iwelumo was a reassuring presence from the start, while Hill, as always, slotted into defence without much fuss at all.

So where do we go from here? Sheffield, to answer that question literally. The very same Sheffield Wednesday who gave Reading a good run for their money tonight…goodness me, not the kind of game you want when you’re just starting to find your feet again, this really has the potential to knock us right back over again. But let’s not dwell on that for now, Birmingham play on Wednesday, fingers crossed they manage to slip up against Bristol.

Right then, job done.

Tarra-a-bit!

Ooooh I’m instantly looking forward to tomorrows’ game five times more than I was 90 or so minutes ago!

Tarra-a-bit!

Quite what’s gone wrong seems obvious, we can’t defend leads, or defend in general at the moment. Berra is the solution to this problem, but he needs time to gel with the squad, I’m sure that process hasn’t been helped by the fact that it’s snowed all week in Wolverhampton, so we’ve been extremely limited to the amount players can train on real grass with one another. When that understanding is built up I’m sure he’ll be a fine player, big, strong, good in the air with an eye for getting forward on set pieces. I’m sure he’ll fit in given time, but unfortunately, that’s one thing we’re running out of.

Another thing we’re running out of is breathing space at the top, luckily, once again we’ve slipped up and neither Reading nor Birmingham have taken advantage and won, both drawing their games yesterday, so our lead is further cut by a point on each side, though it could have been much worse. This means, with a game in hand and if both teams win their game in hand, then Reading could be one point behind us, and Birmingham three. There’s still the faint glimmer of reassurance that each have got to play each other….but that’s getting less and less comforting.

A couple of things to take away from the game

-We seem to be unable to defend right after scoring a goal, we literally need to slap every player across the face after scoring, remind them that it’s not a golden goal scenario, and that they’ve got to defend.

-Iwelumo can’t be within 40 yards of the ball without the referee deciding he’s fouling the entire opposition team, because he’s tall.

-Vokes is a great impact player

-Perhaps Reid should be getting closer to half an hour, replacing Kightly or Jarvis, whichever is slacking off, this would have a dual effect, that of fresh legs of Reid and it might also bring up Jarvos and Kites game if they’re looking over their shoulder.

So there we go. Another three points lost and the nerves are certainly starting to jangle. At least mine are, I was in a foul mood all evening, luckily I work in the cellars so I can throw stuff around and use the keg crash mats as punching bags, for those of you without such materials, I suggest green tea. Next up is a trip to Burnley on the Saturday, which is going to be a hard game, no question about it.

So for now, let’s hold on to the fact that we’re still top…just, we haven’t been out of the top two since September, we’re still together as a team and that we’re still in the best place to be promoted, and let’s hope Mick gets those boys doing defensive drills this week…I think they could do with it.

Till next time, I’ll get highlights up when they drop!

Tarra-a-bit!

This game if nothing else highlighted exactly why we’ve spent 2.5 million on a defender, because at times we were utterly terrible at the back, school boy errors, misplaced back passes, lack of communication and all round general buffoonery on such a level that at times last night we were rendered utterly embarrassing to watch, we didn’t look like the team at the top of the league. With performances like that at the back, we won’t be for much longer. I think I speak for the Wolves fans collective when I say bring on the Berra, I hope and pray he’s the answer to the gaping holes in our defence, much like Mancienne was. Oh for the chance of getting him back on loan for the rest of the season…we can but hope.

It’s a shame really that the defence aspired to such ham-fistery because this game could have easily have been a sweeping eulogy to the one man goal machine Sylvan Ebanks Blake who notched up his 18th, 19th and 20th goals tonight, in a classic poachers evening. Wolves finally have a striker who you can expect twenty upwards a season from, and were it not for him tonight we’d be looking down the barrel of the result which would surely be almost too much to stomach. To be honest, only taking one point from six against Norwich this season is hard enough to take, but I’m not sure I’d have been able to handle coming home empty handed twice.

I don’t usually question Mick when it comes to decisions, and this is only a small question, rather than a full on gripe, but with 5 minutes to go, slinging on Big Chris (which I’m all for) and taking off Jarvis seems utterly mad. If anyone’s going to supply Iwelumo with the chances to score, it’s going to be Jarvis! I was left scratching my head over that one, that is, if I had a spare five from fuming over the referee, who at times didn’t even want Wolves to have corners or throw ins, even when they were obvious, the boys having to rely on assistant referees to overrule the plonker in the black, Respect Campaign? How many times have we had duff refs this season? Too many. If I acted that much of a tool in my job they’d have me out of there faster than I can change a keg, and I can change a keg faster than Bruce Lee.

So here we are, match facts for those of you itching for that kind of thing, Wolves lined up with a side unchanged from Saturday, aside from Jarvis coming in for Reid.

————-Hennessey
Foley—Stearman—Craddock—Ward
Kightly—Henry– David Jones–Jarvis
——-Ebanks-Blake—- Keogh

Wolves took the lead on the 25th minute, after looking, to be honest, second best for the opening stages, with Ebanks slotting in after good work from Kightly and Jarvis. Unfortunately, and not for the first time, we managed to kick off and concede pretty much straight away. Norwich looked from then on the more likely to score again, Wolves pretty much just about managing to hang on till half time. Things weren’t helped by the loss of Kightly on the 39th minute. He seemed to fall on his shoulder awkwardly (I’ve heard rumours of a dislocation). This had a two stroke effect, in removing our talisman Wolves were lopsided and demoralised, let’s hope he’s not out for too long.

I don’t know what Mick said to them at half time but it certainly didn’t work as Wolves managed two minutes before Carl Cort managed to do something useful at the Molineux for the first time in his career and score, it’s just a shame he could never turn it on like that with us. Norwich fans shouldn’t get too excited, he’ll be out of the rest of the season soon enough. So there we are, behind by a goal, what happened next was nothing short of inspiring.

Within the space of three minutes Ebanks Blake dragged Wolves level, and then ahead. The man is simply a brilliant striker. Both goals poachers efforts, inside the box, another assist for Jarvis on the second and Wolves were back in control…for NINE minutes. For the love of God, if Mick does nothing in training this week it should be to slap each and every one of the players around the face when they go ahead because by crikey these lads need to wake up when they take the lead. I’ve lost count the amount of times we’ve taken the lead only to be pegged back. The game was an utter hum-dinger for shots, just look at the gamecast, it’s off the chart with what we usually see in a game!

And so that’s how it finished, 3-3. Still enough time for our Keith to bottle a blatant second yellow for Croft and a hand ball, but let’s not split hairs eh? A brilliant game for the neutral then? I dare say a brilliant game for a Norwich supporter. I’ve got no idea how they found themselves in 20th prior to this game, they’re one of the most attacking sides we’ve seen down the Molineux all season.

Oh, this is my 100th post since starting this blog in October for those of you who are counting, hello to those of you who’ve read from the start, hello to those of you who are new! Thank you for reading the words that I put up on here and thank you for the feedback! I love writing this blog, even when we churn out performances like tonight and I love hearing from you in the comment box!

So, let’s move on. We’re a game ahead of the rest of the top four and find ourselves five points clear of Reading and seven clear of Birmingham. Which isn’t the end of the World, because if we’ve learnt anything this season, it’s than anyone can beat anyone!

So here’s to Saturday! And another 100 posts!

Highlights up when they drop!

Tarra-a-bit!

Wolves lined up thusly –

—————-Hennessey
Foley—Stearman—Craddock—Ward
Kightly—-Henry—-David Jones–Reid
———–Blake——-Keogh————–

Wolves went into this game knowing that their grip on the top of the league was loosening with every game that passed, with both Reading and Birmingham breathing down our necks we knew it’d have to be a performance of intent. They certainly went about that task with gusto in the opening few minutes, spraying in shots, Kightly looking particularly lively with Watford increasingly choosing to foul our men in order to stop their progression into their box. Kyel Reid looking very sharp early on, his pace and drive causing difficulties for the Watford defence. It was to be Reid’s corner which would lead to the first goal, nodded on by Stearman and then finished by Blake on the 23rd minute. Wolves had the lead, and yet the performance didn’t drop as it has done increasingly in the past, as you’ve always felt that if Wolves don’t score again straight away that they’re venerable to a counter attack. Wolves fans held their breath across the globe.

Indeed, we then had to wait until the 67th minute to let out that deep inhalation of breath, as Kightly fed the ball into the path of Keogh, who cooley guided the ball into the back of the net. Relief we thought! But no, this is Wolves, we wouldn’t want you to enjoy your afternoon too much they thought, so no, no clean sheet this week as Adrian Mariappa managed to make it interesting on 81 minutes, I say interesting, I mean terrifying, I could see tomorrow’s fan vitriol pouring out already. Luckily this only lasted for 9 minutes, before the joint substitutes Jarvis and Vokes managed to work their way past the Watford defence, to cement a victory, and add the kind of gloss to the game that we’ve not really had since…hmm, let me check my records…last time we scored three goals…that would be the 9th of December, against Derby, so thank goodness for that. It’s also a better result than in our first game against Watford, earlier this season where we also scored three, but conceded two.

So there we go, job done? Ship steadied? No, not quite, but we made massive steps to do so today, and a brief look at that wonderful Championship table would suggest that with sixteen games to go we lie top of the league, is there a better place to be?

Highlights up tomorrow!

Tarra-a-bit!

On a side note, Wolves lined up a little bit like this –
————-Hennessey—————–
Foley—Collins—Stearman—Ward
Kightly—Quashie—Henry—-Jarvis
——–Keogh—-Ebanks-Blake——

So Quashie got his debut, which was relatively solid to begin with, nothing spectacular, yet he’s not a spectacular player, a few long range pops, which pretty much summed up most of our chances in the first half and the early stages of the second. The second half started with Wolves looking far more sprightly, Reading seemingly happy to let Wolves come and attack them, which Wolves seemed to be slightly reluctant to do, much to the fan’s fury at times. Wolves were looking quite flat, dangerous at times yet lacking that killer last ball, the game was tight, tighter than we’ve seen in a lot of games this season. To be fair to both Reading and Wolves, it was clear why these two teams were occupying the top two places of the Championships, you don’t get to where we both are by having shot shy strikers, or calamitous defenders….though I do wonder at times I’ll be honest.

Iwelumo made his bow on the 60th minute, Keogh making way for the big man, Keogh yet again running tirelessly, yet not able to turn that industry to goals, I love the guy, if he had goals he’d have a very complete package, there are strikers who score more than Andy does who don’t try half as much, it’s very frustrating. Iwelumo almost made an instant impact, only his inability to hold his line against the Reading defence the only reason he didn’t get his name on the score sheet.

So there it was, we lost, again. Compiled with the fact that Birmingham won….and er…Reading did too, that means our lead is looking extremely shaky. Which is worrying.

Collins’ didn’t have the best day at the office it must be said…an own goal and a Red Card is pretty much the worst day a defender can have I suppose? If he had a dunces cap, he’d be wearing that on the coach home for me tonight.

All this means that the game at Molineux on Saturday against Watford becomes a must win, and I don’t usually say that. It’s a must win. We’re still 4 points clear of third? For the optimists amongst us, that’s something to hold onto, but I’ll be honest, as every week passes, there are less and less things to be confident about going into games. Let’s hope we can get someone in before the end of the transfer window, give us that shot in the arm I think we’re beginning to desperately need.

Highlights up tomorrow!

Tarra-a-bit!