It can be easy to forget what an influence the Molineux crowd can have on a Wolves team’s performance, writes Wolves blogger Nathan Lloyd.
Saturday really was a game of two halves. Our first half’s play against a Tykes team, who are in a decent league position, was sublime in places.
Some of the passing and movement was perhaps the best we have seen at Molineux all season.
Freddy and Jay worked well as a partnership and Kites created some decent opportunities.
In my opinion we saw the best of Bothroyd so far in a Wolves shirt this weekend, he worked hard and his ball retention was superb.
After hitting the post twice in one move and missing a hatful of decent chances, we took just a goal lead into the break.
Barnsley came out in the second half rain and gave it a good go, as you would expect.
We fought well until the final 15 minutes when we started playing far too deep.
In the last few minutes of the game we played two short corners and this is when some of the crowd voiced their obvious anxiety.
I was a bit puzzled as to why some of the crowd were getting on the player’s backs.
Surely with the clock counting down and with Wolves clinging on to a 1-0 lead, they did what any good footballer should do and tried to retain the ball in the corner?
What would have happened if Wolves had carried on attacking and Barnsley counter-attacked and scored?
Wolves’ fans sang their hearts out even at 6-0 down against the Saints last season, so where has that spirit gone?
I know that expectations have been raised massively and that some fans claim that they pay their entrance money and therefore can boo and grumble as much as they like.
But we have a really young team out there and their confidence can really be knocked if they hear negativity coming from the terraces.
So, far be it from me to tell Wolves fans how to act, but lets try to make Molineux a hostile place for visiting teams.
If Wolves haven’t performed, then by all means moan and groan at the final whistle.
Just think if you were a player how you would feel if your own fans were getting on your back.
Would it inspire you to play better?
Wolves fans, what do you think? Have your say below
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48 Comments
Totally agree. Support the team guys!!
Just frustration. We’ll all be there next game. By 5.00pm most people agreed that it was 3 points gained. Maybe if the players and management were more accessible to the public these days, they would have heard that.
Its hard to cheer when you are not being entertained, but at the end of the day its 3 points.
And if people don’t like the moaning, why don’t they start singing to drown it out. Oh no, because the ones that moan and create a bad atmosphere are actually the ones that create a good atmosphere when things are going well.
I hope by the end of today this non-story is dropped.
the problem we have is that we can see that this is not a team good enough to get automatic promotion.the playoffs odviously only give you a 25% chance of going up & the play off teams are usually the ones to come straight back down,just look at watford & now derby.our goal difference tells the real story,if compared to the best teams in the division.
Good points made.
I was there on Saturday, and having missed the Bristol game the week before was told it was almost a carbon copy - excellent first half and a much poorer second.
For me it seemed like the players, as a unit switched off. To watch us back pass from the edge of their penalty area to our goal keeper, with the ball going to several of our players, who all seemed to panic when they got the ball was horrific to watch.
We also seem to have no confidence in hanging on - either players or supporters. Are we still reeling from both the Premiership drubbings, and Hoddle’s two years of 1-1 draws?
For me the real disappointment on Saturday was that in the first half we displayed imagination, desire, and fire. In the second we seemed to lose the will to play…and then the crowd turned. The play had fallen apart before the crowd became disgruntled.
And here lies an issue. Away teams at Molineux only have to disrupt our play, upset and unsettle our players until the crowd turns. I have watched this over the years. What can we do? Well we saw the answer last season. Supporters need to support throughout the whole match - leave negative comments until the way home, the pub, or discussion boards, and the players have to keep pushing forward all game. I don’t mean going hell for leather at the goal (only to give away daft goals), but to keep being creative for the whole 90 minutes. Even at 6-0 last year we played football.
On Saturday we the supporters stopped supporting and the players stopped being creative. We cannot let that happen if we want Molineux to be a real fortress.
I am now relegated to listening and watching on T.V.to my beloved team having chosen to come out to warmer climates. however in the 15yrs of being a season ticket holder I never booed at an individual or the team for an under par performance, and I saw a few,until the final whistle. I agree with Nathan that slagging the players off whether they be young or old will only knock confidence and allow mistakes to be made. So every single fan get behind MM and the team show the team and the visiting teams that Moll is a fortress and our young guns will rise to the levels we all so desperately hope for.
Gold and Black and proud of it.
Totally agree. Every team visiting the Molineux hopes we will turn on our team just to help them out.
If Booing becomes more regular our players will lose confidence as many are not used to the expectation levels. A few seasons ago I think it was Warnock or Dowie who said ‘their fans can help us defeat them’. That says everything
Yes, it’s all clear now!
If we had all shouted a bit more encouragement on Saturday then we would have scored again - easy!!!
Nothing at all to do with Bothroyd and Kightly going off leaving zero creativity on the pitch.
Just not jelling yet, it’s okay, MM going to buy another striker in January, he’s got an eye for a goal scorer so no problem!
We should all take a good long look at ourselves in the mirror because lets face it, we are the problem. Not the manager, not the players, no, it’s us. I think we should all hang our heads in shame and hand our tickets back to the club, say sorry and never show our faces again.
As has been said on here before, better to have 5000 real supporters that 20,000 closet albion fans!
I’m going to give it one more go, I will shout really, really loud at the next match, so albion watch out, I’m the secret weapon, I will pop up in injury time to kill the game off!
If we loose the next match you know who’s fault it will be!
Could someone come up with a really cool ‘happy clappy’ anthem please?
How about;
We’ll never-er boo again, no we’ll never boo agian etc…
To the tune you will never walk alone?
We should form a group;
“Nathan and the happy clappy’s”
Nothing like a bit of escapism to hide from the ugly reality of life!
the anxiety comes from us being 1-0 up before only to lose the 3 points or settle for 1 point because we didnt finish our chances. we need to kill teams off.
How about “send in the clowns - don’t bother, they’re here”.
didn,t some one famous once say - “the best form of defence is attack ”
as for saying dont get on their backs because its a young team - its not the under nines team its our first team earning a hell of a lot more money then any of us .most of these players have played for clubs previous to wolves and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have been eccled before now . my plead is to the fans - stop having a pop at each other - at the end of the day ,its the fans that make this club a great club it is .
How would I feel if I got booed?
Well….
I would be very upset, I would drive home in my Bently, open the front door of my million pound pad, look for my trophy wife, throw her on the bed and tell her that if all those nasty horrible fans don’t stop giving me a hard time then I’m handing in a transfer request!
I can play mediocre football anywhere I want, they can’t push me around!
Then I would nit onto the net to check my bank balance, perhaps buy a couple of new designer shirts while I’m there (so I don’t have to do the washing) then it’s out to my favorite restaurant and back to watch the late night movie on my 62″ home cinema system!
It’s a tough job but someone has to do it!
11.
You’ve already bought a tear to my eye!
Keep them coming!
Hey Nathan!
Perhaps you could use the ‘happy clappy’ anthem idea for your next blog?
This is getting stupid.
We are in the playoffs and doing well (in my opinion in spite of Mick.)
All we are discussing every week is the latest rantings from Mad Mick, first it’s how great he thinks our defence is, then he recalls Craddock, then it’s how he knows his best two, then he changes that.
This guy is ruining any chance we have of promotion.
How about;
“All I want for Christmas is two-new front men”!
No offence meant by this. But you are too fickle at wolves always have been. I think one of the key factors to your partiial sucsess last season was the support. It seems you have slipped back into the mode thinking you should automatically beat everybody playing attractive football.
You should support your team and if you are unhappy show it at the final wistle.
The fact that there is a story on here were MM says he needs to change the fans mentality shows you in a bad light.
See you all on the 25th, hope you are all looking forward to it.
It seems to me that the people on here who think it is acceptable to boo your own team are obsessed with the money the players earn.
Its always Im allowed to boo because I pay this that and the other and the players should accept it because they earn this drive that etc.
If jeolousy is your only reason for complaining then do us all a favour save your hard earned money and stay at home on a Saturday afternoon then well all be happy.
To all the Sad Baggies on here. You show your anger at full time TRUE enough. But for most of you its from your armchairs judging by the way your crowds have dropped. Average 18,310.
Here come the excuses…..
Bugger off up ya own end.
7 and 13 100% agree
Hey abdonwolf, I like what you said in letter 13, how can I get a life like that?
A song for “happy-clappies” - how about The Monkees and I’m A Believer?
Nathan
Who are you trying to kid. Playing the negative short ball corners nearly did end up with a goal for Barnsley. After one of them did i see the ball go all the way back to our keeper, with the obligatory hospital pass from the defnder and then rebound off the attacking striker and nearly bobbled into our net.
We were dreadful for the last 30 minutes and sat deep and invited Barnsley to come on to us.
Dont forget that Barnsley did score as well only for Mrs Lineslady to flag it for offside. It could so easily have been 1-1 and then where would all the people who right on these posts be. Would they be clapping and cheering only to vent their frustrations in the pub later when no one can hear them.
No one should BOO the team but i can understand why they do. We need to get real and realise where we are and that at present is a average championship club. We are now 16 games into the season and scoring 1.63 points a match, which if we keep it up will give us 74 points at the end of the season so it will be touch and go as to whether we get in the play offs.
C’Mon the Wolves, Keep the Faith
how about every time the wolves fans start the booing and moaning the announcer plays the liquidator . see what happens then hey ?
Abdon Wolf (maybe it should be Abandon Wolves the way you are going on),
No-one is telling you that these players should not be expected to give it their all or that we shouldn’t expect them to actually play well - but it simply doesn’t help them if there is constant barracking from the terraces. Why don’t you just save up all your little moans and criticisms during the game and make them into one big boo at the final whistle? This will be more fun for you and will actually give the players more confidence to achieve the best that they can do during the match.
I also think that if you look at how many players we bought during the close season then there is not necessarily any reason that we should go from being play-off candidates to automatic promotion certainties. We didn’t spend that much money (relative to other teams) and we have had injuries. a top 6 position currently and plenty more to come in 08 should give us optimism for the new year.
I have to agree with 16 - we are where we are in spite of MM’s team selections and tactics. He does not seem able to change the course of a game with a tactical substitution because he appears to be very stubborn and stuck in his 4-4-2 ways. Just now and again I think it would pay to play 5 across the middle - perhaps Rosa between the the 2 regular midfield players and a lone striker. This would also allow Kightly Rosa and Jarvis (please play him) to interchange making it much harder for Kites to be man marked.
i for one was glad we corner flagged the corners to waste team
every blinking team in division seems to do it so why not us
my frustrations were that the 1st corner we sent up jody n collins why when we winning 1-0? even if whipping it in dont bother sending them
my other frustations was that we kept the ball in corner flag for around 5secs on each corner, so we might well not bothered doing that tactic
the tactic was right the exectution was far from right
13 lmao 100% rite mate x
Well bon jovi keep the faith is a great song and will never date so you can still sing it in 20 tears when you’re still a tin pot second rate club… ha ha ha.
Or de de de de de de de de de de..
Stood on the Molineux terraces for the first time in 1952 so I have witnessed every emotion possible where Wolves are concerned. I vent my feelings like the rest of all football fans but never boo even at the end of a poor performance.
Long time support dosen’t make me an expert but just a few personal observations.
MM,s Summer signings? Foley…excellent
Ward not good enough for C.Palace! Elliott poor injury record..out again.
Gray..better than Scotlands under 21’s Mulgrew?
Jarvis our new left winger who is predominately right footed! first 3 mos out now fit but S Ward is prefered.
Eastwood..its all been said.
MM’s choice of Captain..sentiment.
MM decides despite no natural left sided player available to send D. Jones out on loan and Cradock is surplus to requirements as well!
MM’s philosophy on team selection is based on putting a “shift” in.
Rosa with 7 goals and high work rate for the reserves tries hard to catch the Managers eye all to no avail.If only he was Irish.
Hence the season begins with people playing out of position and as a result seldom looking like a cohesive unit.
MM,s best strike force putting a shift in but with poor goal converion rates have now both been relaced.
A last based on Sat a promising looking partership..goals awaited.
Anyone tell me though why when at last we have someone up front at 6ft plus he is taking the corners and free kicks rather that being in the box heading them in?
Stubborn Manager only playing one way with his favourites…the overpaid players…or the fickle fans who is to blame. Your shout.
I know where my doubts,concerns and frustrations are focussed.
above comment .. Impressive.. Put things into context .. makes sence x
I have heard this “Molineux Factor” rubbish before.When things are going wrong it is so easy to blame the fans.How anyone could critcise the crowd after what we have had to put with over the years is beyond me.The fact is we are not good enough to get automatic promotion.Several of those players Sat should not be in the team.Until we get a decent midfield that scores goals we will struggle.
Well said.
Its a team that benefits from genuine support.
hmm, lets think about this lot. No matter how much encouragement one gives to a runner with one leg he isn’t going to run a sub 4 minute mile! We have a poor team and MM gets what he deserves.
It’s one thing supporting but its another think to actually have to pay to see our poor performances.
WE actually pay MM’s salary and also the players salaries. It’s why we pay to sit where we do. isn’t that accurate? So why is there a problem if we are so disgusted with the team MM gets onto the field that we boo loudly?
This isn’t supporting the team, its simply informing the people we PAY FOR that they aren’t doing their stuff.
The Molineux factor is the same as the Bolton factor or the Wigan factor, I am sure Norwich get it this season as well.
It’s simply fans who turn up getting a bad return on their nvestment and informing the company accordingly.
you gotta laugh, how do you compare a one legged runner to a football team?
its simple we (the fans) believe that we should just turn up and roll these teams over FACT!!
i dont remember any game when we were in the premiership where the fans wernt bursting a blood vessel to help the team, same applies when we play sandwell town!
Of course support counts for a lot why else would home results be better than away ones?
So stop slating super mick & his comments, deep down we all no that he,s right. Lets get behind the team & put our “shift in” & we will all be happy… FACT.
30. ted 1949. Full of respect for you sir. Made plenty of good observations. Most important of all: “never boo even at the end of a poor performance” after 55 years supporting the club. You are my No. 1 fan.
featherstone, you lost the plot. Can’t make a poor team good no matter how much support they get.
We did burst every blood vessel when we were in the top flight.
Shame Moxey didn’t do the same and pulled out the wallet to keep us there. Sir Jack apologized for not doing it, we heard nothing from Moxey and the clown is STILL THERE WITH THE CHECKBOOK! Deja Vu guys..
34 - I think that this is the worst argument I have ever heard. If you think that going to Wolves is an investment in a company then go and see Man Utd as they may give you a decent return! I have more sympathy for people who love the team but are frustrated by the performances and therefore boo. 35 is absolutely right when he says that the support in the premiership was incredible (as it was last year) and that this support nearly helped us stay up despite having a threadbare team. Why is trying to get to the premiership now worth less support than if we are actually there. I agree that we are not necessarily playing the best football that we can do at the moment but booing loudly just isn’t going to make things better - it WILL make it worse. Love the team, support the team - any other way will reduce our chances of gaining promotion.
we really need to sort out the midfield. where’s the real bite, the creativity we are lacking. the wide men - kites doing well, but what has happeneed to jarvis who is supposed to be the flyer too - he can’t even displace ward (wot’s going on there???) as for rosa, i know that mm doesn’t rate him - he could score 3 goals every reserve match and still wouldn’t get on the bench.
inspite of all this, we will succeed
You wonder why “some of the crowd were getting on the player’s backs”? Easy, Wolves have more than their fair share of numpties in the crowd. A place in the top 6 in November with a team he’s largely built himself and the likes of post 16 are calling for Micks head.
I remember a thoroughly nice chap, Iwan Roberts saying after he’d left the club that the attidude of wolves fans had in part spoiled his time here. Dont know what it is about Wolverhampton, It seems to breed manic depressives by the stand load.
i made this comment when mr twoddle was gaffer and he blamed the fans for being negative.it works both ways,as a fan if the team is negative it makes me that way if the team is possitive i am like wise.
i think had we been 2 or 3 up at wouldnt have been so bad but 1-0 never comfortable.
maybe im old fashioned but i believe the best form or defence is attack
Not sure what tune ‘10-3′ is trying to sing at the end of his post (29). It’s ironic to see Baggies’ fans that often accused us of being arrogant have become exactly that. Anyway, to more important matters, I’d like to see the crowd get behind the lads for 90 minutes. As one guy mentioned above, we did it while losing 6-0 to Southampton so why not when we’re winning 1-0 at home? Up the Wolves.
Keep the faith guys.. ha ha ha
34. Only one problem, we the fans as a collective whole are impatient. You only have to listen to us on a match day. Doesnt matter who the manager is, who is playing for us, unless we are 3-0 up we are inclined to be unhappy. Instead of being a 12th man for the Wolves we invariably become a 12th man for the opposition. Teams coming to Wolves know this. Our players and managers know this. What is sad, is that our reputation is so poor in this respect that sometimes when we are actually booing the ref and lineman (and lets face it there have been some diabolical decisions in the last few years) our boys and the opposiition think we are booing Wolves. Just watch players’ heads drop and raise next time.
I pay there wages as well.
I get as frustrated and worried as the next man.
But booing, and shouting do not help our cause at all.
And ultimately, getting rid of Mick, and one day his successor will not help, because we, the fans , will still have the same impatience.
Plus there is no guarentee that we will get a better manager in anway.
The fans will respond to what they see on the park. The best way for MM to get the fans on side is select players who can score goals.
Thanks for all your comments regarding my blog (or was it abdonwolf’s 7,8,9,13,14,15?).
I stand by the fact that if voice negativity during the game, that the players will not up their game.
what a waste of time this ’story’ line is. Problem was Players thought they were winning 8-0, and started strolling about from the hour mark. Barnsley came on looking for the equaliser, and we were asking for it, playing way too deep, and holding nothing in midfield 9deja vu). I didn’t here a lack of support for the team around us, but i did see a lack of passion and commitment on the park, along with curious signals. What’s wrong with the guy we waited for all season? Shamus Ward may have done nothing wrong, but in Jarvis we have a ready made supplier of the ball, get him on Mick, as Shamus, is just an adam proudlock.
Once Kites went off we couldn’t hold the ball past the halfway line, and crowd becoming nervy, didn’t stop darren Ward back pass, and hennessy not commanding his area.
I hate the albion with a passion, but work the script out……
Just look at the 2 Irish National teams to understand why wolves are so poor on the pitch. There are so many Irish here now the Mol. should be renamed the PADDYFIELD!!!!!!!AND they are being payed more than a bowl of rice a day. Things could change though– the rumour is that the owner is a BIG admirer of Paul Jewell & he has just turned down the Wigan Job.Don’t wait ’til Xmas mr Morgan,PLeeeeeeeeeeeze