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Wolves returned to winning ways with a rollercoaster win at Watford. Watch Tim Nash’s video verdict by clicking the play button.
Mick McCarthy’s side, stinging after three defeats in four games, were in no mood for the depressing run to continue.
They took the lead three times against a typically uncompromising Watford and managed to hold on at the death, with two superb goal-line clearances from Kevin Foley.
Chris Iwelumo had given Wolves the perfect start with a brave effort after just 42 seconds, before he was clattered by keeper Richard Lee.
The goal helped ease the pain of the big strikers horror miss for Scotland against Norway two weeks ago, which crucially paved the way for a much improved performance from the former Charlton man.
Wolves’ excellent start was checked by a 20th minute equaliser by Grzegorz Rasiak, before Dave Jones restored the visitors’ lead with a beautiful, curling free kick five minutes before the break.
Watford clawed themselves back into the game with a 47th minute equaliser from John-Joe O’Toole, after keeper Carl Ikeme had failed to deal with a Tommy Smith free kick.
Wolves then rode their luck as Smith missed a penalty in the 61st minute before Mickey Gray - on his first League start of the season - bagged a priceless 71st minute winner.
The visitors were pushed all the way, as Watford pushed desperately for an equaliser and the visitors were indebted to in-form Foley, who made two superb goal-line clearances in the 80th and 81st minute.
First, he cleared O’Toole’s shot off the line with Ikeme beaten, then he threw himself infront of substitute Jobi McAnuff’s point-blank effort.
Ikeme was protected by some stout defending from Neill Collins and full debutant Jason Shackell, who headed away numerous crosses as Watford pushed despertately for a third equaliser at the end.
Wolves fourth away win of the season puts them back on track, after a difficult few weeks during which they had conceded 12 in the previous four games.
Manager McCarthy’s ‘back to basics’ approach appeared to be in evidence at Vicarage Road as the visitors - wearing a bizarre combination of black shirts and gold shorts - looked much more solid after their midweek horror show at Norwich.
It must be noted that both Watford goals were extremely scrappy.
Rasiak struck after a shot by Will Hoskins clipped the heels of Shackell, before being tipped onto the post by Ikeme.
O’Toole’s effort from almost on the line came after Ikeme appeared to have been beaten by Smith’s free kick, from a similar position to where Sammy Clingan beat him on Tuesday.
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42 Comments
Great win.
Really gutsy performance!!
Well done lads.
Keep the faith
Wolves forever
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well done lads. It may have not been pretty but it’s still three points. Bring on swansea
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Well done because you took your chances from our mistakes and a decent free kick.
Maybe a draw would have been fair but then I guess its why we will mid-table and you up the top probably.
Good luck.
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I was there at the match today in the watford end and some of the defending by us was schoolboy stuff.
We were very lucky to take 3 points, however the boys did not give up so that was a plus.
The referee was awful and should never be in charge at championship level.
Keep the faith!!
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SOLID PERFORMANCE, AND 3 MUCH NEEDED POINTS.
NO COMPLAINTS HERE, WELL DONE WOLVES.
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MCARTHY’S A CLOWN
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE ANYMORE THAN A YO YO TEAM IN TE CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER THIS IDIOT !.ALL HE’S INTERESTED IN IS HIS EGO !!!.
MCARTHY OUT !!!!!!!!!!
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Phew….we tried our best to throw it away or what!. Hennessey on the bench again WHY?, he must be back in Tuesday. Big Chris welcome back you looked yourself again, and as for Kevin Foley quite simply “player of the season” so far.
Good win lads, praise where praise is due!!
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God it was desperate at times but we got the 3 points.
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Why is Ikeme getting preference over Hennessy,
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back on track. And you won’t like that. duh duh duh etc
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welldone lads a hard fought win against all the odds,i say against all the odds simply because that referee was determined to stop us from winning the game but the lads kept going.roll on the next game hopefully this is the start of a winning run if the defence can sort itself out we are leaking goals for fun(shacks&stears)should be the centrebacks more pace then.must mention foley and those 2 goal line clearences fantastic hope the bought him a couple of drinks for saving the game for us?remember in mick and the lads we trust so lets be positive to try and push the team on for promotion.we are wolves
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Great afternoon,,you stay at home fans dont know what your missing,,thanks Chris I had a couple of quid on you scoring first at 5-1…Super Mick can be happy Andy Keogh got a cheer,,but he still did nothing,,but enough of that Im not going to spoil myself…
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Ikeme not ready, a half fit Matt Murray is better.
Collins needs to keep the bench warm for a while,
and we need left back to play left back, not a centre forward, no offence Wardy!
Roll on Tuesday……..
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needed to win this game. i know the back 4 are a bit rocky. but foly played the best for wolves. keep kickin on boys we can do it…. UP THE WOLVES
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Well done lads still shacky at the back though.
but i’ll take the 3pts
Just hope we can get another 3 on tues.
i still think we are weak in depth we have not got real cover.hope we can do the double on the welsh this week.come on the WOLVES
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A much needed win ! Well done!
In particluar, we owe much to Kightly and Foley for great performances and a spot of luck with their missed penalty.
Unfortunately whilst mick insists on playing collins we will be leaky at the back, and with Hennessey clearly going in January, Im not filled with confidence about Ikeme.
Nevertheless a vital 3 points away from home, keeps us in the top two, but i still think we need to improve especially at the back, as Watford were pretty awful, and a half decent side will murder us.
Here’s looking towards Swansea with a bit more confidence
COME ON YOU WOLVES !!
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Great day as we put two more precious points between us and Reading. Revenge over the Swans and we are looking good. We are leaking goals and were lucky it was not five again, time to put Henn back in, rest Collins and give Shackell and Stearman a chance to form a solid partnership. Not suggesting we change tactics as I believe in an attacking style but we need to stop making life so hard.
Great win!
How did the Baggies do against Hull? Someone told me they lost three nil at home but they were not serious surely?? Happy where are you?
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Stearman back in for Collins on Tuesday. Another poor performance from him.
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Now one of the worst defences in the league. Collins is complete waste of space and Ikeme still looked dodgy. We need to get a decent left back and centre hald in January if we have nay chance of going up. Thought Foley was outstanding yet again!
Sort it out Mick
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well thats a turn up for the books,where were we on tuesday at norrrrrrwich,so now lets turn swansea over on tuesday,go for it lads,thats all we true wolves fans ask,good luck up the wolves.
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Lets hope we start in confident mood on tuesday night. We owe the Swans after that match in Wales! Would’nt change much either, except bringing Hennessey in, and return Stearman to the side for 1 of the centre halves. We need his pace, but leave Gray in. Carlos Edwards don’t seem up to it at the moment.
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Not sure about the change strip? All white would be better!
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there’s only one micky gray!!!
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mick with the teem he had,pickd the right teem today Djohns was class so was Kfoley. and others played well but collins is the real weaklinc in are teem so stearmen must start next game.
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nice win, a bit closer than we’d like but 3 points is 3 points so what the hell!!!! few results went our way too, a little daylight to 3rd place again so we need to build on that daylight by keeping on winning and hoping a few others slip up too!!
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number 6, are you ever happy? moan, moan, moan!! 2nd and still whinging!
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Desperately need to invest in Green shorts at the very least - the kit looked a shambles !!
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I know this is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things but…what id the point of having a change kit if if still clashes with the homemteam!
We always knew we were going to be playing Watford this year so why have an all black strip.
Wearing the away strip with gold shorts must have given them a mygraine! Totally bizarre - looked like they were at an acid house party!
Why couldn’t we wear last years away strip all blue - which i thought was this years 3rd kit.
Or is the fact its not on sale anymore. Or is it the fact the away strip must be promoted at all costs - I think so.
What happens if we draw Hull in the FA cup?
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We need to play Hennessey and Stearman…Edwards will be a good player, but he’s not ready, and as for Ikeme - Gomes would instill more confidence in me! He’s awful.
Otherwise, great performance. As for those complaining about the amount of goals we’re conceding - I’d rather us be in the position we’re in now, playing attacking free-flowing football, than 8th or 9th with a tight defence. Come on the Wolves!
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I never get on the back of players but I do feel Collins needs to take a breather for a few games, he gave away several needless free kicks on Saturday.
I think we will see Stears and Shacks at centre back next game now that stears has returned from Suspension.
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6.
Not a single bite eh ?
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What is up with Hennessey? if we go up, we will need a goalkeeper like him and so it makes no sense to even think about selling him in January. If do not go up, then we can sell him in the summer.
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13. I was there ward did nothing wrong so why pick on him … murray in not ikeme or hennessy
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Wolves support was fantastic on Saturday, deserved win in what was a scrappy game.
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Great entertainment all these goals, and to win after Norwich is a tribute to the spirit in the team. To still be second when our defence has a striker playing left back, and Collins a regular is a real and remarkable bonus. Can we get away with this for much longer though? who knows but I`d rather be watching WWFC than Brum. MM was a centre half - therfore the defence shouldn`t be a problem to sort out, should it!?!
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The stats don’t lie. We can’t keep playing like Real Madrid (We don’t care how many you score, We’ll score more than you) Something isn’t quite right at the back. Goalkeeper included. Didn’t Hennessey keep the most clean sheets last season? Ikeme has come in and conceded what… something like 11 in 4 games. I know it’s not entirely the Goalkeepers fault but… Come on Mick for christ sake?
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We will never go up unless McCarthy gets his defence sorted out. Hennessey must be recalled with a back line of Foley Stearman Shackell and Ward.
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Comment 6 I think you might find that you are the CLOWN!
Stupid knob!
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Oh here we go again. The anti Collins brigade start their weary chant….
We were not exactly brilliant on Saturday and we were as lucky as Watford and Collins wasn’t a genius but thus far this season he has been very good. The conditions were bad on Saturday and although I thought we were the better side, it was not a comfortable win.
But Watford is the team we tend to lose to even when we play well - like last season in the league for example.
The bigger test is Tuesday cos Molineux invited the Welsh hoared to play and they are a very competent, comfortable and well organised team. if I was Mick I would pick a team capable of getting a draw first - certainly not two wingers - and then rely on the attack to get through as they always seem to do.
Amazing that once again a player who hasn’t scored for ages (Razziak) gets a goal against us. It happens so often that in future I’m going to put money on it. Life is so cruel sometimes…..
I hope everyone’s second team is now Hull cos they wear Black and Gold and stuffed WBA but good. Love um….
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I don’t care if we win 5-0 or 5-4 every game as long as we win, and if we win UGLY then so be it, this is our season and lets get behind the lads 100%. SOTA
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39E11 Wolf,,,nothing wrong with the conditions on Saturday,,great day
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Stan Cul;lis used to say, “If they score 3, then we’ll score 4 or more!”. that is how the Wolves of the 50’s and 60’s played and made us the greatest of the time.
However, Cullis had the benefit of a great defence. We are scoring for joy of it, and it’s great to see us attacking this way. But the defence is leaking goals like no tomorrow.
It is obvious that Mick recognizes this, and he now has the chance of restructuring the defence to be as effective as the attackers are at their job.
I still feel positive enough about what is happening to stay supporting Mick and his strategy, however, I think that some more tactical nuance would help as well. However, that is not what you get with “1 trick Mick”! But everybody learns.
So, let’s see where this leads, as Mick has never before had this attacking philosophy, anywhere. Before it was always about grinding out dire defensive games.
In the meantime, I love the feeling of being second and having nothing but better prospects ahead!
NEVER INSULT THE SHIRT!
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