Life left in Wolves season

Crystal Palace 0 Wolves 2

So, there’s life left in this damned season yet, writes Mark Douglas.

An exquisite flick of Michael Gray’s left boot soared above the mediocrity of this typically fraught Championship encounter – achieving the impressive feat of handing Wolves three critical points and completely reshaping the Molineux agenda in one fell swoop.

Gray’s sweetest of strikes ensured that, for seven days at least, Mick McCarthy’s employment prospects are no longer Molineux’s hottest topic as Wolves confront a Championship table lit up by possibility once again.

And while it was far, far removed from the free-flowing, barn-storming call to arms that Wolves fans have been waiting all season for, it told you everything you need to know about the McCarthy regime – and how this team might yet emerge triumphant from a campaign of acute growing pains.

If you expected Wolves’ fiercely straightforward manager to flinch in the face of the rising well of criticism aimed at his stewardship, his pre-match message was as clear as a whistle: think again.

Owner Steve Morgan’s thus far unflinching support undoubtedly helps but anyone expecting McCarthy to abandon his principles and start listening to the army of part-time pundits is clearly facing a long wait.

The Wolves boss unapologetically turned to old faithfuls to fill key roles – shunning populist calls for Freddy Eastwood and homegrown favourite Dan Jones and turning instead to trusty foot soldiers like Neill Collins and Stephen Elliott.

Even Andy Keogh – the player who most closely captures the essence of the new Wolves philosophy that McCarthy has brought to Molineux – was not safe in this most brutal of culls. Fit but dropped, Keogh’s looked the cruelest cut of the five that made way.

It was a bold and decisive move from the manager but also one that would have left him, Morgan and chief executive Jez Moxey looking like worryingly isolated figures if it backfired.

And for 76 minutes you feared the worst as a low-key contest meandered towards a joyless and goalless conclusion.

But the under-fire manager’s unerring faith in his starting line-up never wavered – and when Gray topped off a personal display of rare enterprise with a terrific goal it struck a huge blow for McCarthy’s credibility.

Vindication? We’ll know in 13 games time, but if Wolves are to add one final redemptive act to the drama that is their promotion bid of 2007/8 be sure of one thing – it will be done McCarthy’s way or not at all.

His loyalty and no holds barred honesty – such a uniting force during last season’s exhilarating effort – have split supporters who expected another campaign of unfettered progress this time around.

But they are precisely the qualities that have impressed owner Morgan and encouraged him to stick with a manager pilloried by a section of fans who were hailing him as the Molineux messiah twelve months ago.

McCarthy’s undiluted faith in a core of tried and trusted players with Sunderland and Ireland links has often been used as a stick to beat him this season.

But McCarthy has stood alongside the likes of Gary Breen, Elliott, Gray and Kevin Kyle before and believes they have the character to perform when the season reaches its critical stages.

How McCarthy must have revelled in this win then. He was hardly in triumphalist mode afterwards but there must have been an inward grin as wide as Thames barrier after Gray – and in particular the embattled Kyle – resurrected the season with two strikes of a quality that betrayed this largely tepid affair.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine either the manager or the 1,300 Wolves fans who offered their side noisy and unequivocal backing getting too carried away by this largely workmanlike victory.

Dogged determination was the overriding characteristic of a gold and black effort that was rarely easy on the eye but showcased every one of the battling qualities the manager had called for in the run-up.

From George Elokobi’s gut-busting surge into the penalty box in the first half to Wayne Hennessey running into a blue and red brick wall to claim a cross in the last 10 minutes, this was Wolves stretching every sinew to repay their manager’s loyalty.

And why shouldn’t they? In spite of what some of his more extreme critics would have you believe, the players’ loyalty to McCarthy has never wavered for a second.

Rather than their faith in his leadership it is their consistency that has dipped and plateaued during a season punctuated by spells of troublingly poor form.

And while they never really moved out of third gear going forward their honest endeavour was brushed with two moments of brilliance which settled matters Selhurst Park.

As Breen freely admitted afterwards, Wolves have sunk so low in recent weeks that simply surviving the first 10 minutes with a clean sheet was regarded as progress.

The 4-5-1 formation – combined with a Palace side who themselves are suffering from flat-lining morale – ensured Wolves made it through the opening stages with their goals against tally untroubled.

But playing one up front stunted the forward momentum of the Molineux men and they hardly threatened.

Palace didn’t do much either but while Neil Warnock made a raft of changes, McCarthy opted to persevere with his toiling side. The Wolves manager’s use of substitutions has been a cause for concern for some but here was a lesson in patience.

While Warnock’s decision to take off Shefki Kuqi backfired when the Finnish striker outraged the home support who had jeered him off with an abusive gesture, McCarthy’s unchanged side were able to grasp the initiative.

Darren Potter broke from midfield and strode forward confidently, but when his shot cannoned off a Palace defender it broke to Gray, who cut in from the right and curled a wonderful shot over Julian Speroni.

Sensing at that point that the game’s momentum had shifted, McCarthy did make changes, sending on Kevin Foley and Kyle to shore things up.

But while Palace pressed it was Wolves who had the final say when Collins’ long ball was deftly controlled by Kyle before the striker unleashed an unstoppable shot past Speroni.