Wolves blogger Nathan Lloyd is in reflective mood while digesting the turkey and lacing up the boots to head to the Sheffield United game at Molineux.

At least with Christmas day out of the way, no one at work or in the supermarket can now ask you if you are ‘ready’ or are ‘all set.’

All set for what? One day of eating and drinking our own body weight in eggnog and brazil nuts?

Without wanting to sound all misogynistic, perhaps it’s a female prerogative, trying to have the perfect archetypal yuletide day and us blokes just letting them get on with it?

Being my last blog of the year, I thought I would reflect on the year gone by and have a little look forward at what’s to come in 2009.

I started writing the Wolves blog last season, so this time last year I posted my final blog of 2007 entitled ‘Patience running out.’ You can probably guess that it was a slightly drab and melancholy blog.

Unlike our excellent start to this campaign and the surprisingly brilliant football we played in Mick’s first season in charge, his second stab at promotion was dreadful from start to finish.

Highlights were few and far between in a season that never really got out of first gear.

In the last blog of 2007, I wrote about mine and other fan’s patience beginning to run out at Mick’s general lack of ideas.

Another point to moan was the pathetic return from the forwards of Stephen Elliott, Jay Bothroyd, Freddy Eastwood and Andy Keogh, who helped Wolves accumulate a miserly eight goals in 12 games over November and December in 2007.

Compare that to November and December in 2008, where we have already scored a remarkable 18 from just nine games.

This has come from strikers who actually do what their job description demands – score goals – so you can see why this season is turning out to be a bit of a belter.

By the end of 2007, I was contemplating dumping my Mick McCarthy fan club badge into the man draw in the kitchen, where I keep my manly tools (lightbulbs, radiator bleed key, etc).

Into 2008 it just got worse. I perhaps became a little bit of a megalomaniac with the blog and started believing in my own self- importance, when I started demanding a managerial change at the club.

In response, at some point last season Mick referred to my breed of on-line bloggers as nuggets! But who could honestly say that they enjoyed the majority of Wolves games last season?

Fast forward to this season. We have rarely lost a game and Mick is picking a team where players play in there right positions, apart from Stephen Ward that is, who most of us thought was doomed to failure when he switched to left back.

In fact, he has been a revelation.

Mick is now also playing two quick, skillful central defenders in Michael Mancienne and Richard Stearman, something fans were begging for him to do last season.

Michael Kightly is playing regularly and Matt Jarvis had been brilliant before the disastrous Reading game. In years gone by, I really did think that Reading defeat could have started a real downturn in the season’s fortunes.

Yes, we had a bit of a blip in October, but November was an incredible month and December isn’t that far behind.

Kevin Foley has quite rightly won a lot of plaudits, particular in the way he almost single handedly won the home game against Barnsley a couple of weeks ago.

Up front, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who was recently named 29th in ‘the Times top 50 British footballers list of 2008,’ continues to look a real bargain and Chris Iwelumo is a perfect foil alongside and is also a natural finisher.

For me though and this might be a little bit controversial, I would pick two main heroes this season. Seyi Olofinjana and Karl Henry.

What an overrated load of rubbish Olofinjana was. The player often referred to as Bambi on ice and did the club a huge favour by departing up the road to Staffordshire in the summer, freeing up Henry to slot into his more natural position.

Karl Henry has been superb this season. For me he doesn’t get the praise he deserves, because he sits in that defensive midfield position, you only really notice him when he makes a mistake.

His game has probably improved because when he plays with either David Jones or David Edwards, he knows he won’t have to be mopping up the kind of errors that Olofinjana was prone to.

Signing Michael Mancienne for another month is great, but I think its key that Mick does all he can to keep him for the remainder of the season.

I know in Jody Craddock, Jason Shackell and particularly Neill Collins we have players who can come in and do a decent job, but none of them are anywhere near the class of Mancienne.

There was incredible technique in Collins’ fantastically directed bullet header away at Doncaster, that won us a very tight game by a single goal. I thought that there was also a message of defiance in the way he celebrated in front of the traveling Wolves faithful.

His body language, the way he puffed out his chest, held his arms out like the Angel of the North, it was almost as if he was saying, “See, I am a proper footballer and I deserve a bit more respect.”

We finish 2008 top of the Championship and Mick’s tactics really have been spot on. I really didn’t think it was possible when I was writing my 2007 blogs, which were quite scathing at times in the second half of last season.

So far we haven’t achieved a thing though. We may have 12 more points at this stage of the season than Albion had last season after 24 games, but – although it is a massive cliche – the league really isn’t won at Christmas.

But my Mick McCarthy fan club badge is back out of the man draw and pinned back proudly on my sleeve.

Unlike last season, where we went into the transfer window with most Wolves fans insistent that we needed to strengthen in just about every single position, I think it’s safe to say that we are all a little bit more relaxed about the window this time around.

In fact, most of us are more concerned about certain players leaving the club rather than joining. This time last year the club did well in adding Ebanks-Blake and Edwards to the books, two quality players that weren’t just joining to make up the numbers.

This time around Mick may well be just bringing in players who can add some depth to what he currently has on the books for that final promotion push.

Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair on loan or maybe Leicester striker Matty Fryatt on a permanent deal? Who would you like to see come to Molineux and what rumours have you heard?

What areas do we need to strengthen, or are we missing a trick by letting players like Daniel Jones and Mark Davies stay out on loan?

So, time to give your liver and stomach a rest from the Christmas excess – at least for a couple of hours – and head down to Molineux for the Boxing Day fixture against the Blades.

United have a number of key men missing in Darius Henderson, Sun Jihai, Derek Geary and Gary Speed. Quite a few doubtful starters in Nick Montgomery, Gary Naysmith and their biggest scoring threat in James Beattie.

With Birmingham facing a tricky trip to Ipswich and Reading facing the sometimes brilliant Cardiff at the Madejski, it could be another opportunity to increase our lead at the top.

I’m going for Richard Stearman to get his first goal for the club and for Wolves to win 2-0.

Thanks for your support through 2008 and here’s to some magnificent champagne moments in 2009.