Mick McCarthy believes his Wolves side have closed the Black Country derby gap which cost them a promotion chance last season.
McCarthy took his team back to the scene of their promotion play-off semi-final heartache for yesterday’s 155th Black Country derby and watched them emerge with a point from an honours-even contest.
It was another heartening signal for McCarthy at his team’s steady advances during six derby battles in a little more than a year.
Wolves were well beaten 3-0 in the corresponding fixture in October 2006 and went on to lose three of the four which followed as the team was steadily rebuilt by McCarthy.
But with his side checking Albion’s electric recent form in a goalless draw preserved by Wayne Hennessey’s dramatic 85th minute penalty save yesterday, the Molineux boss believes Wolves are once more the match of their fierce rivals.
“We came here as underdogs last season and there wasn’t a doubt that they had the edge,” he said.
“But we have come back today and matched them in terms of power, pace, technical ability - last year I don’t think we were able to do that. We had to play right at the top of our game just to match them and that is very demanding.
“I think this performance undoubtedly shows we have made progress since then. Albion are a good side and Tony Mowbray has got them playing some great stuff. But we have matched them and that is good for us.”
The point was enough to keep Wolves tucked in with the pack chasing leaders Watford . And they will do so with a new hero enshrined in derby folklore after Welsh international Hennessey left the Hawthorns stage with the fans singing his name following his brilliant penalty save from Zoltan Gera.
Michael Kightly is ready to rule himself out of Wednesday’s home clash with Colchester.
Kightly twisted his ankle badly during his yesterday’s Black Country derby and emerged after the game on crutches. He is due for a scan on the injury today.
40 Comments
Its the way we played that was so pleasing. All the whingers about the defence had better stay quiet now - we seem un-breachable.
MM is doing ok but the misses were rteally too bad. OLY must do better.
What a great day.
I did’nt go to the game myself….
But a good baggie “friend” who is a season tickett holder even confessed to me we’d deserves something from the game.
Great tatics by Mick it seems by the reaction from the fans & “media”…….
Well Done Mick !!!
Credit to Wolves, I think you played well, but I honestly think we played into your hands, you sat deep and let us play in front of you. 4-4-1-1 only restricted us, and you could ended up snatching a win.
I think it would’ve been a different game had the Albion set up 4-4-2, allowing us to get in behind you a bit more, and test how strong that defence really is. We’ve given teams a much harder time at home than we did you yesterday.
That said, you have improved, I still believe we’ll finish above you, but hopefully we’ll both be in the top few places.
Well done lads keep up the good work in your next two home games and see where that will take us!
excellent result now 2 relatively less difficult home games Colchester and Preston. 6 points and we will be flying with Millar joining Phillips on the long term injury list i can see us leaving albion behind as we push for top 2. Come on MM all we need to to now is find our scoring boots. Onward and Upward
Overall a fair result on the day!
Clearly Super MM out-thought TM!
Good tactical switch with Kightly moving infield and Gibson moving to the right.
Jody Craddock was awesome!
Pity about the missed chances which could have cost us dearly!
Collins should donate his appearance fee to Hennessey!
Come on you Wolves!
I bet the Tesco’s were pleased to see the ground full!
Totally agree with warren (3) - our failure to score when on top meant that we were hanging on a bit at the end. 0-0 was a fair result at the end - even with the missed pen.
I think the gap has closed for two reasons, one the boggies are missing a few key players, two they don’t have the individuals they had last year.
I still think our defence is suspect, the only reason we don’t let in many is because Mad Mick plays very defensively has an organisation.
I said last week it would be a lot tighter than last season and it was.
We had the better of the 1st half , you had the better of the 2nd.
At the end of the day you got what you came for - a point.
You need your strikers to perform though.If Kightly is out for a while and Olofinjana off to the African Cup you might struggle a bit.
All said though both teams should be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
I haven’t seen many other teams to frighten either of us.
All credit to the lads for hanging in there to get a point.
However, to answer 1) regarding our defence. We sat back protecting our defence, this restricts us as a team.
I am no whinger, but a lot of us can see major limitations of our defence. It actually limits our attacking options.
Anyway, MM played a plan that got us a good point. With some tweaking in the Jan transfer window, we can do even better!
Hope Kites is OK.
Need to get our scoring boots on to pick up wins in the next few games.
Anything is possible this season, but we need improvement in the offensive way we play, this starts by getting a defence that can cope in less numbers.
I think we missed a whole host of good chances, Olofins header form Kightly cross, Olofins shot from Foleys cut back, craddock hitting the post, Foleys free kick in the first half, Freddies one on one and Kightly bought down in the box.
We could and should have scored. And to suggest we played for a draw by Mowbray was a little extreme and showed his lack of technical ability in terms of defence me thinks
Looking better and growing in confidence. Let’s kick on from here with two emminently winnable home games.
Excellent result, Wolves have made progress since last season’s thrashing.
Now we need to capitalise on the result and win our next 2 home games.
No11 you miss chances thats why 17 teams have scored more goals.A draw was a fair result yesterday.you played well but who would get in our team,henersey on our bench,none of your strikers even with philips and miller out.2nd in the table going up in style.
Listened to the commentary on Wolves World for the first half. The first 22.5 minutes had the normal Wolves commentator and an Albion analyst (didn’t catch his name) and the second 22.5 minutes had the Albion commentator and Robbie Dennison as the analyst. There was bias on both sides but the Albion commentator was getting so excited you couldn’t understand what he was saying when Albion attacked. I had had enough at half time and tuned into BBC 5 Live Extra for the second half. Steve Froggatt was the “expert”, I suppose he is not totally un-biased but seemed pretty neutral to me. In summary he said Albion had more possession in the first half but Wolves had the better chances. Pretty much the reverse in the second half. In summary the feeling coming from the BBC commentators was “Wolves SHOULD have won it but COULD have lost it” all in all a draw seemed like the fairest result. I think everyone agreed it was one of the best 0-0 games for a neutral to watch.
Beat the teams above you… I am glad we got the point but not overly delighted that we got it…
We played well but we were lucky not to have come away from there with a defeat… thanks Neill Collins for that…
I dont particurly rate him as a central defender let alone a left back as I think we looked susceptable last season in a couple of games where him and edwrds
The people slating the albion for having injuries is wrong… It could have been a terrible injury to Miller and thats nothing to have some banter at… I aint seen one message saying “ha ha thank god that Kightly is injured” from the albion fans
Jody Craddock was immense and McCarthy should reward him with the captaincy back permanently
Colchester on Wednesday will be a tough game but if we beat them and then Preston the Albion result will be superb…
If we look at the games up untill the new years day game against Sheffield United
Colchester- H
Preston- H
Barnsley- A
Burnley- H
QPR- A
Leicester- H
Hull- A
Norwich- A
NONE OF THE GAMES ARE UNWINNABLE… A MINIMUM OF 20 MORE POINTS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR AND WE WILL BE JUST FINE.
all last week wba fans were saying 3-0 4-0 even 5-0
10-3 where are you? saying our defence is rubbish? i think we have the most clean sheets if im right??
although wba say they were on top i think we came just close as they did
everyone will hail the peno save
but the real quality save was from that portguese lad, that save was pure quality
im glad now we shut up the majority of albion, they know wolves arent a push over and last year the only games your proply killed us were the first two when 1st one we didnt have squad 2. we was putting squad together and without key players
Wolves still ‘Kick and Rush’ nothing ever changes.
Why r albion fans goin on about how we came 2 defend, we were the away team so its common sense that we should have been made 2 do a fair amount of defending. U had ur chances 2 win it but so did we.
WELL DONE WOLVES !!
Isn’t it ironic that our defensive department was the major cause for concern before we kicked off the season and yet we have now conceded less goals than most and given Mowbray his first taste of a goal-less home game!
Baggies fans were queuing up to poke fun at the ‘Fanny and Granny’ led backline. To be fair, as Wolves fans we had serious concerns too.
That said, I agree with Big BadWolf (10) in that less time spent protecting the back door would allow more attacking play against the better sides.
We still need to buy defensive pace in January, a creative midfielder as Kightly cannot go on shouldering that responsibility himself and of course a striker. We are a solid top six side but the challenge is how to get more goals out of this team to kill off opponents.
To be in fifth spot after a tough run of fixtures bodes well though.
Thanks to the Baggies supporters on here posting sensible comments.
Bojangles - I agree the fixtures look winnable, we just need to start putting the chances away and things could look very positive by the year-end.
Anyone heard anything about Kites yet?
Thanks Bojangles
As always the voice of reason.
I have commented on our pages about
the gloating/amusment at serious injury,
it`s just incomprehensible.
Bytheway, well done on the draw mate,
fair result i thought, and i also thought Wolves were the best team to visit so far this season.
I hate these matches…too much hype. Anyone would think it a cup final with all the build up!
Back in the real world, we have 27 points from 17 matches…or if you like, the equivalent of 9 wins and 8 defeats.
The prediction at the start of the season was top 2. We are 4 points and 9 points respectively behind where we’re aiming for. By contrast, we are behind Plymouth Argyle and just ahead of Barnsley and Hull!
The defence has improved due to the manager reversing a gross error that most fans wouldn’t have done in the first place and we have 4 strikers, none of whom are scoring regularly and not enough goals from midfield either.
I accept I’m a whinger and that my glass is half full but I am also making a sober judgment of the Manager’s performance against the targets he set for himself at the beginning of the season.
I’d give him 5 out of 10. Tries hard but must do better!
All this talk about us playing for a draw is rubbish. Look at the facts, the Baggies shaded possession 52% to 48%, that looks pretty equal to me.
Great performance by the lads on Sunday. The mark of good, steady progress. Now for the next test. We must not fall into the trap of thinking the next couple of games look a push-over. The lads have now to show the other side of their game. Taking it to the opposition, and finding the back of the net. At least we can approach these games hoping that we can maintain that steady progress and keep the heat on the teams above us. We need to see a few more chances being converted before we can claim to real promotion candidates.
24- Nobody with half a brain is criticising how you set up to play yesterday.
People make the best of the resources they have. We’ve got some dangerous players so it would have been foolish if you’d turned up and gone gung-ho. We certainly weren’t complaining about getting numbers behind the ball under Gary Megson!!
The fact you sat deep made it harder for us to break you down and you probably looked more dangerous on the counter-attack.
I think we contributed to our lack of cutting edge yesterday by playing the system we did, but I’m confident the Albion will be okay over the course of the season. Hopefully Wolves won’t be too far behind.
Good result,nice to take a point off the boggies,need to win your home games really.
Just think, if England had been able to call on Hennessey, they would have been in the finals of the European Championships. Clean sheets against Germany and the Boggies in one week. Not bad for a lad!
Thanks WBAForever
Like I said last week you have got a good squad of players and I think that you are one of the best sides in the league…
Good luck with the rest of the season and I hope that we both go up… Ill even give you the championship as long as we get second…
Birchland wolf Kites had an ankle strain and is battling to be back for Wednesday or Sat. JB had dead leg and he may be back as well.
30 - Laura - cheers, update was slow and feared the worst.
Anybody noticed there aint a “who cares the match has gone get on with the rest of the season” to vote on on the E&S vote section.
(27) I agree you should win your home games and perhaps draw at the least away but if you draw at home and win the next away its the same 4 points I would take 4 out of 6 anyday .thats promotion stuff hopefully we can put this over hyped football game behind us and both get on with being promoted either order first or second means nothing to me. The way the press portrayed the game you almost think it was worth 6 points for a win instead of 3
As an exile living in Cornwall I had to tune in to the 5 live commentary for the game.I thought they handled the game very well. The only difficulty was keeping the missus quiet for that length of time. I have since spoken to several friends who were at the game it seems that what I heard was a very fair reflection of how the match went.I was more than happy the Wolves got a point at the Albion but I will be extatic if we win at home in the return.
Push on the Wolves its there for the taking this season!
bojangles once again you are a credit with your postings both fair and honest.
Yes a little bit of banter etc is ok put it tends to go over the topdo you not agree?
I actually was a little dissapointed in wolves as I was led to beleive they where a better side than that but I understand that they came do do a defensive job and it was “job done”.
I think we will both be there or there abouts come april/may.
All in all a decent day we regained 2nd spot and not too much trouble between fans.
I minor thing to the muppet throwing things at miller whilst he was injured you do your family and club proud (thats sarcasm if you understand what sarcasm means)
34 - i think the way we set our stall out yesterday was mainly due to the experiences we had last year against you.
i think you know we are better than that, as we know your team is better than they were. you can’t judge anything on a derby game cos pressure is too big.
Thanks Baggieboy
I think that tactically Mick got it spot on… He said on five live that he would have taken a point and i think that he set up thinking we had a point when we kicked off and not to lose it… If we got the other two it was happy days.
All in all I think Wolves would be happier with the point but like you say Baggie boy you went back into second so you guys cant grumble… Hope Miller, Phillips and your other lads are back as soon as possible.
Would have been a different story had phillips been playing I feel!
I am well pleased with a well earned point. Some will not like admitting it but the Baggies are by far the best team in our league so that result was excellent.
Not sure you’re correct there Reality. The Baggies have scored freely but that often came from individual performances rather than a sustained collective effort.I feel the Wolves are growing week by week and if only we could get the striker we need, the team would become very good.
I am delighted with Craddock and I would give him the captaincy and a bloody good pay rise. To think he went out on loan…..
Well done Mick on having the balls to recall him.
I’m sorry about the injuries to the Tesco players and I hope they get well soon. Wouldn’t it be great if Wolves and baggies got up. For the Midlands to be represented by Brum and Villa is very depressing. They are as colourful as a damp November afternoon.
38- The reason we’ve been scoring freely is because we adopt an expansive style of football with players who are very good at this level and create chances as a team (hence the huge goals tally), not I can assure you, because of individual performances.
The reasons we didn’t look like scoring freely yesterday, were first and foremost, because we played with 1 striker, and spent the entire game playing in front of your back 4 and made it hard for ourselves to get in behind you, and lacked a cutting edge.
Also, we came up against a well-organised, discliplined side who sat back and let us play our football in the middle of the park, not the final third.
I agree with you though, it’d be great to have the derby in the Premiership, and I saw nothing yesterday to suggest you won’t make at least the top 6, if not more.
Well done the Wolves… I was wooried we would get a bit of a battering rfom the Tesco lot…But… our defence was up to the job.. Craddock and Hennesey absolute fantastic … We need goals and we are away….