“Andy Keogh was inches away from connecting with Michael Kightly’s early cross”…he always is, nothing new there!!!!

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do we really need to go up,this team if it flukes promotion,will surely be slaughtered in the premier,especially if we keep the same manager,having said that i still hope we go up,like most supporters I still believe in miracles

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What’s going on! Wolves now have 1 win in 11 games. The alarm bells are beginning to ring and it’s only through sheer luck that Wolves are still top. So, what is Mick going to do? I still have faith that we’ll nick a promotion place but if we don’t go up then questions will need to be asked about whether he is the right manager. At present he needs to be able to be given the chance & finish the job up to the end of the season, but if we blow it then he’s not up to the task. Worryingly shades of the 2001-2002 season are starting to resurface. I hope history is not repeating itself!

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Once again we are paying for the lack of AMBITION, FORSIGHT and BASIC COMMONSENSE, by the Wolves management.WE NEED ANSWERS> WHY NO REAL INVESTMENT IN THE TEAM IN THE TRANSFER WINDOW????? WHY WAS DAVIES IGNORED AND FORCED OUT????NO AMBITION NO AMBITION NO BRAINS AT THE TOP!!!! A DISGRACE!!!!

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ITS REALLY FRUSTRATING SEEING OUR PLAYERS GIVING NEEDLESS FREEKICKS AND OUR FINISHING,SEB DESERVES TO HAVE A EQUALLY EFFECTIVE STRIKER PARTNER HIM,IT REALLY IS SAD TO SEE THE CONFIDENCE DRAINING FROM OUR PLAYERS ,MICK SORT IT OUT,CAN WE RECALL CURLE,DE WOLF ,NAYLOR,MUTCH AND BULLIE,GOODMAN,HOW I MISS THOSE DAYS,EVEN LESCOTT OR KEANE

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DAVID JONES BEST PASSER OF BALL AND BEST FREE KICKTAKER NOT PLAYING,STEARMAN ON THE BENCH,VOKES NEVER GETS ENUFF GAME TIME,ITS FUNNY WERE OUR 3 MAIN SIGNINGS IN THE SUMMER, I GUESS WE HAVE TO HAVE QUASHIE WHO NO ONE WANTS LONG TERM PULLING OUR STRINGS, AND KARL HENRY AS OUR SKIPPER WHAT A JOKE,GIVE IT BACK TO CRADDOCK HE WILL LEAD,WHEN YOU CAPTAIN WOLVES ITS NOT LIKE TELFORD OR STOKE (NO DISRESPECT)

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They say don’t panic. They say don’t worry. Well I aint…BUT…McCarthy has now got to go. The players need a manager who can kick backsides. They obviously have got too complacent.

Fortunate for Wolves, Reading also lost.

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I cannot believe it, we are going to lose out in the play offs at this rate. What the heck has gone wrong???

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I am still trying to stay positive and I think we will get into the playoffs at least, but it’s now becoming plain that when MM had the chance in January he should have got in some older wiser players. Merson on Sky said if Wolves go up they will need 20 new players and I think he’s right. If we can’t break down teams like Plymouth and Coventry then we are nowhere near ready for a season in the prem. MM you still don’t convince me that you are anything more than a one trick pony. I hope you can convince us all that you are a long term prospect. Come on Wolves!!!

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Absolute disgrace. Where’s Dave Jones Mick??? The only player who can pass the ball and you drop him because you’ll fallen out with him – probably because he doesn’t put a good shift in.

Kyel Reid – useless
Ward – useless
Keogh – useless

Sack the muppet now Jez this is a disgrace.

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What’s to say? The result says it all. Sooner or later that horseshoe will drop out of MM’s botty then guess what will hit the fan?

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I don’t think in all of my years as a Wolves supporter I have ever been so disappointed with a result as this one. We are top of the league and we entertained a poor side embroiled in a relegation battle. Our players are top drawer and the only person to blame is the clown of a manager. Any half decent manager could come to the club tomorrow and get this team promoted. This cr*p about not sacking a manager who is top of the league is just that, cr*p. He’s lost it. We just lost to a relegation team, top of the league, we’re having a laugh. There is no chance that our manager will cope in the premiership, even if the other clubs force us into promotion by being equally inept. If this club genuinely wants to be a premiership club we need a premiership manager now. If we are happy to be what we are, the laughing stock of the division, we should keep him. It breaks my heart to realise that after all these years, I’ve had enough; stuff the early bird. No more spoilt weekends, no more moving matches with no thought to the supporters, no more hoping like a child at Christmas to be let down by incompetence. Mick, you just dare blame the supporters for that today, you just dare.

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Mr Morgan, please come out and explain what the hell is going on at this club.
I will not line your pocket with my hard earned until you stop employing idiots like McCarthy and Moxey. This season is becoming the most depressing ever. At least in the 1980′s we had no money.

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WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH WOLVES SERVED UP TODAY. If wolves went up they will be completely embarassed by the premiership team. Karl Henry ought to be dropped, an inept captain if ever i saw one!

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Never mind what Reading, Cardiff or Blues are doing!

It’s what we are doing that counts!

We can’t rely on other teams – The players need inspiration, leadership and some better tactics (Now who’s department is that exactly?)

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Hopeless absolutely hopeless!!

How does Andy Keogh get a game for the Wolves? He adds absolutely nothing to the team and his critics were more than vindicated when Iwelumo came on to show us all what we have been missing throughout this bizarre love afair between MM and Andy Keogh!

Further sarcastic applause greeted Keogh’s eventual and long overdue departure but you can guarantee as sure as eggs is eggs he’ll be back in the starting line up on Tuesday. This player and McCarthy’s beligerence in playing him will be what costs us this season!

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You could see today how the confidence has totally drained from the players. I have been impressed with Berra since he has come to the club but today he was very shaky. It seems walking into a team that can’t win has totally drained his confidence. The early goal was disastrous for us as it hit the players for six and the confidence just ebbed away. Saying that we still could have won despite playing poorly and the ref was shocking. We should have had two pens.
On the bright side we are still top and if we can go to palace and get a win then things really could change in our favour. Thought Iwelumo was impressive when he came on and should start the next game. When we were winning at the start of the season it was when big Chis was on fire and is key to our success.
Now to all the so called fans who make comments on this website. The majority of you should be ashamed of yourselves with comments like “Sack Mick” when we are sitting on top of the league. It is just testament to how good we must have been for the first half of the season to still be top despite only winning one in 11! Instead of being so destructive and sad posting negative comments get to the Molineux and get behind the team. No on second thoughts don’t bother we don’t need ‘fans! like you. Disgraceful losers

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I’ve never been so angry about a gsme in my 25 years watching the Wolves. This is not a bilp it’s a recession.

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Paul Merson quote from soccer saturday ‘if wolves go up they will need 20 new players’ – think i have to agree plus a new manager!

Sack the muppet!

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MM we need answers to critical questions:-
1. Where is David Jones? Why isn’t he figuring?
2. Are you watching the same game as the fans in the stands? If not go and sit in there and communicate by phone to the touchline you WILL see a different game – you will observe what we observe that a) Keogh is not a target man / striker.
b) Henry is not cutting the mustard.
c) Kightly needs a rest.
3. Where is the leadership / passion / drive?
The only plus is that you are now forced to change the midfield with Henry suspended but who will you bring in? You need to be bold. Take a gamble play Jones & Edwards. Put Iwelumo or Vokes back up front if you are going long. We need leadership on & off the field . Now is the time – its still there for us!! Come on you Wolves

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Why does that fool keep playing Keogh up front when although he works is never going to be anygood? Why play Reid who is very poor player. What has happened to Jones? Why not play five in midfield and don’t play our wingers because our only forward who can shoot [Blake] needs the ball to his feet. Knightly is although our best player apart from Blake needs a rest and is clearly not the player he was last season. Why not get somebody on loan who can give us belief and fire for the rest of the season. If MM fails from this position he needs to be sacked!

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And we’re not going anywhere so long as MM CONTINUES TO PLAY KEOGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good to see about 10 of us in S5 in the southbank trying to get the fans going but it wasn’t working because you all sat down as soon as we went 1-0 down and kept shut, why do u bother going ? unloyal i think so.

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get rid of mm now while we still have a chance.what is going on down there and why does he still persist in playing the wrong team every week.

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This is simply not good enough. It’s becoming embarrasing.

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Been to the game today. I haven’t been a knocker of Andy Keough, but not good today! Really struggled to keep the ball. The team looked panicked from start to finish. Berra doesn’t look worth anywhere near 2 mil! Give me Stearman any day. We can’t keep relying on other results, on this game today it’s not looking good for automatic promotion!

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Not normaly nagative but…

. Henry should NOT be in the side

. Keogh will never score when you need him to

. Mick DO YOUR HOMEWORK, weve been done by
long throws this season before.

. plymouth scrore 55 seconds leaving us the
whole game to at least get a point against a
poor side whos form WAS as bad as ours.

. Christ knows what will happen if by some
fluke we go up cos, we will get slaughterd.

. if mick cant get us up with now, he never
will, stubborn 2nd class manager who’s
tactics with the dinosaurs !

Will say my bit, and dont care if you slate me as ive been nothing but positive up till now.

Poroberly juse fed up and upset, but i tell the truth.

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At least Karl Henry picked up another yellow card and will now be banned for 2 games!!!

Possibly the only way he will get dropped by MM.

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Defensively we continue to look insecure. In midfield the absence of David Jones is baffling. Up front we are totally reliant on SEB for goals. The door remains wide open for automatic promotion but we have only won one of the last 11 and will surely need to win at least 6 of the next 12.

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Plymouth go 1 up in 39 seconds and Wolves can’t do
anything about it in 89+ minutes.Once again the
opportunity to increase their lead goes begging !!!!
Seems that all we hear is chatter from the players.We can do this,we can do that is all we hear from them all week long.
Well a11 this rubbish won’t work
anymore,certainly not in the Prem should they go up.
Very dissapointing to say the least.Maybe they are just the “Mighty Midgets of Molineux after all”.

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Been to the match today and I can say thats the worst I have seen us play all season. Anyone seen David Jones ?

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Well done to the South Bank for their rousing support at the start of the second half – the best for ages for about 20 minutes – we even got quite rowdy in the Billy quiet.

However it is quite difficult to keep that up when whats going on on the pitch is so disappointing. I know confidence is low, and I know that we need to support & encourage a young team, but we can hardly critise fans for showing their frustrations at the end. We should have put this promotion challenge to bed by now. Freakish results elsewhere are keeping us top.

I question the continued absense of Jones, what ever he has done, surely the hatchet has to be buried now (thats good man management isn’t it?), and why didn’t we bring in a seasoned professional or two in January to settle the nerves of our young guns – in the Paul Ince / Denis Irwin mold? It worked last time.

Anyway in Mick we still trust. Just about.

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There is lack of the ” Fire In the Belly” and faith in their ability. The determination in the players is truly found wanting for a team leading the divison.

Having led the division for so long, they lack confidence and the team cannot depend on luck to be still leading.

They must be incisive and grind out wins from here on or they can say goodbye to their promotion dreams.

It indeed fait accompli and for the support give, it is indeed a big letdown from the management to the players.

Is there still belief in the team and their ability and confidence gauging from their performance????

Don’t let youself down as a team. Is this pressure that you can’t take, Wolves, if so, get out of the kitchen and let’s not talk promotion, for the Premier league you will not last.

Do yourself a favour and pulled up your socks and grind out those wins and a road to recovery.

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Not great – but the season isn’t over just yet.
Booing the team – can anyone tell me in any way how that helps the issue we currently have – a team low in self belief, and strugling.
If I sat there and booed you all the time how would you feel.
Get behind the team and support them – once all the games have been completed, then that is the correct time to try to sort things out.
All we need to do at this stage of the season is get enough points to go up, any way will be fine by me. But by booing the team, all you are doing is making sure we won’t go up.

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Not sure what to say.
I cannot believe we cannot shoot, pass and the communication seems to have disappeared.

No good getting on at anyone in particular no-one seemd to do that well, Foley seemed to be the only one with any confidence.

Lets move on get back to where we were as the rrest still need to over take us although the momentum is shifting their way.

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i do hope a russian billionaire takes us over,if we manage to go up with this shambles we will be a bigger joke than before when we finished bottom.

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MM Has clearly reached the end of the road.Opposition Managers have sussed him out.Weak defence put 2 on Kites Jarvo,dont worry about Keough(He’ll put a shift in and miss sitters).Stubborn as a mule wont play Jones(Please dont tell me he’s injured)Ward IS NOT A LEFT BACK.Again sussed,where we go from here God only knows.

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Is it just me who thinks MM should have reverted back to as close to the team that got him all those points, i.e D.J. back in the middle big Chris back up front….sorry if it sounds negative but MM isnt good enough whent he chips are down his tactics and timing for subs are wrong.
Another point I will say and having watched him play every game so far is why the hell did we pay 2.3 mill for Berra, mark my words he is as bad as Collins, no sorry Collins can head the ball better than him..total rubbish so far, add him with Captain Invisible, and cant score in a brothel Keogh and you wonder why we are struggling, if you dont like what i say tuff after what i watched yesterday I will say what I like!

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YET MORE PROOF THAT THIS WOLVES SIDE WILL GET SLAUGHTERED IN THE PREM. IT’S A MIRACLE WE’RE STILL TOP .. AND PROVES BEYOND DOUBT, WHICH EVER 3 TEAMS FINALLY GET PROMOTION .. WILL CERTAINLY COME STRAIGHT BACK DOWN. CHELSEA WOULD HAVE MORE CHANCE OF BEING RELEGATED NEXT SEASON THAN WOLVES HAVE OF STAYING UP.

THIS IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE POOREST CHAMPIONSHIP THERE’S BEEN IN A LONG WHILE, AND IF WE GET PROMOTION IT WILL BE BY DEFAULT. RATHER THAN WIN PROMOTION WE’LL HAVE BEEN GIFTED IT BY TEAMS WHO ARE EVEN WORSE THAN WE ARE AND COULDN’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR INEVITABLE SLUMP.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A WOLVES SIDE WIN PROMOTION WITH A TEAM THAT HAD AT LEAST A 50/50 CHANCE OF STAYIN’ UP .. BUT THESE CLOWNS WILL BE HARD PUSHED TO ACHIEVE EVEN DERBY’S 11 POINTS TOTAL. PATHETIC!!

B

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We had to miss the game yesterday for family reasons – and frankly we are relieved we did. Every Wolves supporter must be feeling so deflated. We are amongst those who travel a long distance for home games (300 miles round trip in our case) – and those return journeys can be so dismal when things don’t go right. Anyway, I’ve supported Wolves since 1952 and I always will, come what may.

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This is strange. Not won in ages and still top!

I get the impression that Mick will be sacked this week!

We maybe top but to lose so many since Christmas is just well….wrong!

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Dear Mick
I hate having to say this because I am a very positive person but that performance in front of all those kids was a disgrace to football.

Mick McCarthy and his very lucky leprechaun’s, a pantomime at its best “Hi ho Hi ho its on the pitch we go with a ball and a boot for a load of loot Hi ho, Hi ho Hi ho Hi ho” its just a pity it was supposed to be a football match.

This was top of the league verses virtually the bottom, a blip you can defend but not ten in a row if the season had started at Christmas we would be lower in the League than Plymouth sad but true.

This squad began to go off the boil well before Christmas and it required strengthening in the January window, two strikers and two centre backs would have done fine, you had done the hard work by getting the team to the top of the league.

This should have attracted better quality players, the type of player that would give us a slight chance of staying in the Premiership.

We are now relying on other clubs losing to stay at the top of the league; in fact we are there under false pretences, the top of a bad bunch.

Your comments relating to being in a better position if we were chasing don’t stack up as most of the other teams lost their games leaving Wolves at the top of a very poor league, again.

I hope you will agree that most of the team played badly, after ten minutes into the game it was obvious that we needed some height up front and there were two on the bench so why did we have wait a hour to get the change?

Even then we would have been very lucky to get a goal it would just have been better to watch. Please don’t take that team to the Premiership it will ruin our entertainment, a number of us have delayed our season ticket purchases to see how hungry you lot are to provide us with a team to compete next season.

You are right about one thing the supporters are fantastic it was unbelievable to see them queuing to give to the Paul Birch children’s fund.

In fact it would be in order for the Chief Executive, the Manager and the Players to give any bonus earned through promotion to the Paul Birch fund as they certainly won’t have earned it following their performance since Christmas.

Go up with pride rather than like a load of over paid amateurs scraping the barrel.

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How come MM is saying they are no good, he picked them, and anyway the fans have been telling him for the last 2 months, but he is so full of himself, and they are putting up the prices next season. by the way what happened to the £30m

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how can mcarthy stay any longer as manager our performances and results are abysmal.put incey in and we will go up with his enthusiasm.mcarthy has made it clear he doesnt care and he hasnt got a clue.

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the muppet must be kicked out now before it’s to late,we’re headless spineless useless,and thats just the good points,it’s not that often i run the board down but enough is enough,we’ll be 7th in the league by micks birthday april the 1st.

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beaten by the better side, methinks. Wolves “fans” are appalling – top of the league and booing your team off when they need you most. You don’t deserve a successful side.

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Goodbye Mick !

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Don’t the players want to play in the Premier League? For God’s sake how much longer is this crap going to go on?

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I know it’s not ideal being pessimistic but what or earth is going on at Molineaux. MM is the one in charge and it would seem he can’t get this team firing on all fronts. Too many players not performing. How can a team play so well at one point and now can’t get up for it with 11 games left. MM in my opinion needs to be working some magic which at this moment in time it would seem he is not capable of providing. IS HE UP TO IT? With Reading and Birmingham losing we could have been out of sight by now. IT IS NOW OR NEVER so come on lads play without fear as you have the colective talent!!

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mick out… mick out… mick out… mick out… mick out

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Completely hopless, end of season! Enough said.

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Never been happier, I love The Championship, more games for your money, football on Saturdays and Tuesdays, more chance of winning. I’m Looking forward to another year of the same next year. Could you imagine this manager and this team in the Premier lol.

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Well Happy Clappers – still clapping? As a commentator said on TV, if by some miracle we go up we will need 20 new players. What an absolute shambles. Looks like they will let us down again.
Must remember my Early Bird ticket for next season’s thrilling dispay of professional football guaranteed from a top flight manager.

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It is obvious that Mad Mick doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to stop this slide. Doers he even know what is his best team?

He can’t do, because he keeps playing ‘Powderpuff Keogh’ over proper attacking players. A victory of long-distance running over football!

Eventually, after much criticism he stopped playing Collins, who is a walking disaster in the Championship. Played one league too high for his capability!

The other bad “favourite” is Henry. No matter how badly he plays, he gets a place in the next game!

What is this doing to the brains of the other young players? They know that Henry is playing rubbish, and he picked above them!

This reminds me of the way he eventually brought the Eire national team to its knees, and he was sacked and replaced by somebody with tactical nuance.

It is obvious, even to the Happiest Clapper, that we are now at the stage where nothing MM does works, and he has totally lost the plot.

If the season is to be saved, then Mick needs to go now before he causes even more damage, and we get a new experienced, inspirational manager to save our promotion season!

Bring on Curbishley!

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No Jones, no Gleeson, not even on the bench.
The only substitution within time that might make a difference pushed Keogh out wide. Can anybody out there understand what MM was thinking ?
Team for Tuesday- WH-KF,RS,JC,GF-MK,DJ,SG,DE-SV,SEB.

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If I may paraphrase
“how many times do we have to rely
on other teams keeping us at the top?
How many weeks can we rely on others
foir our bubble not to go pop”?
For God’s sake Wolvwes, get your act together.
Mr Scholari said many a time before he was sacked that any of his players are for sale. Surely when we had Michael Mancienne we were on a winning streak without letting in too many goals. Five million pounds would surely have secured him but if promotion is worth fifty million pounds then surely we should have even gone to ten million to secure his services and not break a winning team.
But then what do I know arart that we dropped three more points again?
Come on lads, you were the best, you stilll are. All you need is someone to keep telling you this and boost your confidence.

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Mick has lost the plot. If he thinks Keogh is a footballer then i’m an astronaut. Been watching him for 2 years now and he is shocking. Also Kyel Reid showed nothing, while Berra is he worth 2.3m?
Why do we persist with humping the ball up to keogh who only won 2 headers all game. When Chris Iwelumo came on he straight away won his first 2 balls – 1 a pass to SEB and the other a cracking flick on to SEB. MM THEN SAYS HE DOESN’T know what is wrong, well ask 25000 fans?? Why did he not do his homework on Plymouth all big strong guys we needed the same from the start.
If results hadn’t gone our way recently then we would be staring down the barrel of Play-off humiliation. For pete’s sake get the selection and tactics right for Palace and Sheffield!!!

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Well, the Muppet can only do so much. It’s time for the underachievers to stand up and take responsibility.
Get your act together lads and move on to some convincing wins. Up the Wolves.

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why didnt Keogh shoot in teh 2nd half when he had the chance? Bera looks all at sea and out of his depth

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Cant wait to see what mick’s going to say !!!

I cant remember how long ive been coming on here telling everone to get behind this team by cheering them over the finishing line….

… Now i say the opposite, when they play dross like they have done, boo them and the manager off the pitch….

… show these half a jobs, it’s not accepted to give us a feeling of hope only to throw it all away in the worst fastion possible.

. Micks tactics went out with the dinosaurs

. Henry cant play football, why is he CAPTAIN?

. Keogh is useless, i could “put a shift in”

. Berra is a 2.5 million pound collins.

. Hennesey would take k500 now nevermind 5mil

. Kightly looks like he should be playin for
grays again.

. Quashie, no wonder all blues n tesco fans
were killin them selves laffin.

Jarvis and SEB (both look like they have gave up now) are the only players who look good.

Think INCE would shake them up but would never happen.

WE ALL knew this would happen after failing to get anybody in the window, we have no idea’s now, no one to swap for out of form players..

Thinks its time to tell them how we feel. they play crap sing what a load of rubbish.

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68 & 69 COLLINS IS GREAT AKA terryican’tspell. terry why pose as a Wolves fan when you’ve already been found out, we will never be as bad as sandwell town AKA the Midlands SHAME. What a plank you are

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Why don’t most of you clear off down the road and support the steptoe’s then you would have something to moan about, I can’t believe some of the drivel i’m reading and I know everyone has the right to their opinion and I know that planks like terry are posing as Wolves fans to stir things up but seriously get a grip, last season we were dire and if someone said to you “next season you’ll be top of the league with 11 games to go” you would have snapped their hands off, now is the time to stand up and support the team, no matter how bad they play leave the post mortem for the end of the season, keep the faith keep believing We are Wolves.

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We are not top by luck we are top cause we have the best record in the league including this dire run. Henry has to dropped and a back to basics approach for tuesday:

Hennessey
Foley
Berra (c)
Craddock
Friend
Kites
Quashie
Jones
Jarvis
Iwelumo
Ebanks blake

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Hmmmm food for thought

There’s an Irish website called dangerhere.com, which has made currency from the countless problems of Irish commentators and footballers. The name comes from the predilection of RTE commentator George Hamilton for saying “oh, danger here!” whenever someone was close to the Irish goal. He did it at that moment in the 1990 World Cup when Gary Lineker scored against Ireland – appropriately enough it was Mick McCarthy who kicked Lineker into the net after he’d scored. The appearance of “oh, danger here!” and McCarthy in the same sentence isn’t an accident; Sunderland fans will appreciate it all very soon.

Since then, McCarthy’s career has been haunted by failure. Branded a congenital loser by Eamon Dunphy within weeks of succeeding his hero Big Jack, McCarthy was up against it. His teams failed to qualify for tournaments in successive play-offs against Belgium and Turkey, while some of Ireland’s good but old players felt the need to retire somewhat prematurely. Most famously Denis Irwin, then of the Manchester United side who were about to win the treble, was told to “prove himself” to the Ireland manager – who had made a success of his career as a player at Man City, Celtic, Lyonnais and Barnsley. Irwin baled a bit early, especially when you consider the absence of a quality left-back in the Irish squad.

The reputation Mick McCarthy enjoys in England compared with the one he enjoys in Ireland is illuminating. It’s all about to change too. Fawning English journalists loved the fact that McCarthy stood up to Roy Keane; adored his ability to dial their numbers when they left messages; and wondered at the jovial attitude he had towards life in contrast to his English counterparts.

Towards the Irish media, McCarthy was a tad different. His golfing buddies (some of the more senior Irish soccer journalists) wrote worriedly about a cabal of Sunday journalists who waged a campaign of personalized vindictive attacks on McCarthy. His other friends in the media wrote about the Sunderland job last time around as something which would teach the Irish public a lesson, about how we’d miss McCarthy when he was gone. The rest of us got short shrift at press conferences, gruff angry answers to legitimate tactical questions, and patronizing references to the fact that we weren’t middle-aged.

McCarthy joins Sunderland at what he would no doubt refer to as a “critically psychological moment” in the season (cf his first autobiography entitled without irony, Captain Fantastic). It’s most likely a “critically psychological” point in the club’s history: with some murmurings that the board are interested in getting a £50m securitization to “counter-act” their parlous financial state, the possibility of Sunderland careering headlong down the divisions is very real. Has no-one told them about Leeds United? And McCarthy is the man the Sunderland board have turned to.

In their wisdom, his defenders talk about Ireland’s world ranking when he left and how well Irish football was doing. They point at a small population and a ranking of 13 and draw the conclusion that Mick was a genius, and having to put up with that gouger from Cork is more than any man should have to deal with. But when McCarthy took over, Ireland were ranked in the top 15, then promptly fell almost 40 places while we (a) played with three at the back because it was popular; (b) pushed Keane to centre-back against Iceland, and; (c) made come-hither eyes at any mercenary who talked about Riverdance, Guinness or his granny.

Two failures later and four years on, Ireland finally began to play some football. Or rather Roy Keane and some of his better teammates did. By the time he left, McCarthy had presided over the team being booed at Lansdowne Road and defeats against a poor Russian team and mighty Switzerland.

McCarthy didn’t just fail to deal with Keane at the World Cup, he failed to deal with Keane at any point. This isn’t a situation that blew up in McCarthy’s face, rather it was one he was solely responsible for over the six years of his tenure. An examination of how Keane was treated doesn’t cover McCarthy in glory. He was told one thing before another happened; he had to watch McCarthy celebrate Ireland’s draw in Amsterdam when they were 2-0 up and wonder at the man’s ambition; he watched McCarthy pass the buck in Saipan when the training gear was late arriving; he watched the drinking sessions that Ireland international gatherings degenerated into and wondered about his own battle with booze. The story appeared that Keane didn’t want to do a piece for Niall Quinn’s testimonial programme, though few mentioned that a journalist who had exhorted Irish fans to boo Keane was involved in the production of it. In essence, he watched a pretty amateur organization degenerate as time went on, despite his efforts on the pitch to qualify for the World Cup.

Ireland’s best soccer player ended up going home from a World Cup he should and could have dominated. This will represent McCarthy’s biggest failure, although successive relegations with Sunderland could run it a close second. History will record that he chose the counsel of his No2 Taff Evans instead of the captain of Manchester United, and allowed a situation to develop where he tolerated the shoddy approach of the FAI to preparation.

And there are several instances of McCarthy’s biggest failing: his loyalty to certain players, which resulted in remarkable selection policies. Kevin Kilbane started every game in the World Cup 2002 programme. In the wake of possibly his worst season for Leeds United, Gary Kelly went out to represent Ireland in the World Cup while Steve Finnan, after a remarkable season for Fulham, was sidelined. Steven Reid, who came on in the second half of that game and displayed a level of brio that a moribund team could only hope for, wasn’t supposed to go to the World Cup. Instead Mark Kennedy, who has done a spot of baby-sitting for McCarthy from time to time, got the nod, despite not being fit. Thankfully the doctors over-ruled Mick the physician.

As a manager, McCarthy made a point of being mates with his older players and as a result he found it impossible to drop them. Jason McAteer started several more games than a player of his limited talents could have hoped for. He picked Kelly for that first World Cup game because he’d been “great off the pitch”. Did he make you laugh, Mick? Or was it because he rallied the troops to give you a round of applause when you sent Roy Keane home?

McCarthy will be an interesting study in how English football works. A manager with a questionable series of results at both international and club football, but who appears with alarming regularity on our television screens uttering bland aphorisms; one who has cultivated a good relationship with the media, tikka-tanned and tempted back to club management. It sounds a bit like Terry Venables. But Venables will look a shrewd appointment when it comes to compare records in the future.

For McCarthy, all criticism was personal, never professional. His World Cup Diary is full of pot-shots at every single journalist who ever slighted him – answering all the perceived criticisms of his team with various incomprehensible ideas and always talking about the team spirit he engendered. This involved allowing people to go to the pub and get excessively drunk as several members of the Irish squad on several occasions during the World Cup did. There was no mention of the story Tony Cascarino told about him cowering in the corridor of the airport hotel as Gary Breen’s mates and Roy Keane got involved in some handbags late one night.

Not a brave man when it comes to making decisions, he’s been equally frightened to offend the English media. They’ll stop with their Paddy routine now that he’s in charge at a Premiership club, and when the gloves come off we can picture him cowering again. Only this time it’ll be in the Nationwide League.

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61 I agree with what you say,BUT the problem is would top class players come and play for McCarthy.I DONT THINK SO. Remember the Roy Keane incident,HE AINT CHANGED ONE BIT SINCE THEN and has got a reputation within football.Seeing his treatment of certain players WOULD YOU PLAY FOR HIM???

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No Mccarthy, YOU are hopeless.

you wont be missed.

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I don’t think the blame should go to Mick, the blame should go to the players. Their performance on Saturday vs. Plymouth doesn’t warrant the top spot. Mick has formed a good squad over the years and has helped create a stable football club. We all know the players can do better Mick knows this but what happens during the 90 minutes on the pitch is all down to the players, so can everyone please lay off Mick McCarthy. If we don’t go up Mick should be allowed another chance at the club next season. At the beginning of the season I for one never expected us to get an automatic place, a playoff place at least. I will be the first to admit the wheels have fallen off, but the blame should not go to the manager it should go to the players, they were terrible on Saturday.

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muppet mick totally clueless,he says we where hopeless on sat,so what has he been watching for the last 3months?plays 2 wingers and no target man, the man a joke at moment the only way we get a win is if we sack him as most team get at least one or 2 wins when they change manager. may be the club should look at all the player we have let go and are now playing well for other teams but did not do it for us i.e clark at wednesdays will score on sat against us,we we are playing can see wining a game at moment.

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I don’t get chance to get to many matches, but this last one was one that I wish I had missed, abysmal from start to finish.

All of you out there slating Keogh, yes he was inefectual but so were a lot of others, Kightly hardly had a clue, first time I’d seen Berra, and if he is supposed to be our next best thing then I’m not impressed, Henry, everything seemed to go sideways or back. I don’t think that we made their goalkeeper make one worthwhile save, he’s probably never had an easier match.

I did think that Edwards had a ‘half’ decent game together with Foley.

It’s no good going on about how we should have had 2 penalties, the players should have made sure that we didn’t need to be shouting for penalties in the first place, by creating and putting chances away. Yes I know unfortunately there was very little in the creative department, and the one time we did get through our ‘striker’ didn’t even put there goalkeeper to the test, he blasted it over the bar.

I have to say that at this moment in time I hope we don’t go up, because the results will just be so embarrassing.

Can’t say that I fancy our chances in the next couple of matches either the way things are going. We could have had this div sewn up by now if they had taken advantage of the results that went their way.

Did anyone listen to the 606 phone in on the radio, there was a lady on there who said she was appalled at the way the wolves fans, got on their backs when things weren’t going right, well I think, if I’m paying £50 for a couple of tickets, petrol money to get to the match (and I have a fair distance to travel) and then purchasing drinks or whatever at the match then I think I have a right to have a go at them, wouldn’t any one of our bosses have a go at us if we didn’t do our jobs as we should??? and just to round my afternoon off, my radiator blew on the way home, so this game has cost me a whole lot more.

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just an addition to my comment earlier,
can you imagine this side in the prem,
RONALDO VS STEPHEN WARD
VIDIC VS KEOGH
EVRA VS KIGHTLY
LAMPARD VS HENRY
EVERYONE VS CALAMTY WAYNE

THE ONLY 3 PLAYERS IN THIS SQUAD THAT COULD HACK THE PREM ARE FOLEY,SEB AND JARVO,
FULL STOP.
MICK HAS GOT TO GO, IWELUMO CAME ON SATURDAY AND WON EVERYTHING, AND RIPPED PLYMOUTH TO PIECES, KEOGH IS AS MUCH USE AS A PAPER MUG,
USELESS, YOUR GONNA LET US DOWN AGAIN ITS OBVIUOUS, AND WITH REGARDS TO MANCIENNE, chelsea wanted to sell him for 6 million, look at the facts, steven elliot, 1.5 million, shackell, 1 million, berra 2.5 million, eastwood 1.5 millions, surely we could of spent that money wisely on a player that could get us into the premiership.
YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING!

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WHERE HAVE ALL THE I LOVE MM HAPPY CLAPPERS GONE?

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ALL THAT GLITTERS- I will not ask you to write my CV–Knife well and truely in mate–Touchee——————-What I care about is Wolves and I am now of the opinion on Judgement of these last 10games that MM is not the man to take us to the future-He needs to go if he takes us up and that does not take account of his tranfer dealing(With Moxey).
He appears to be an accountants nightmare or a magician if he has been told by Moxey- He cannot spend BUT-He must be the only Manager who buys players and then discards them.

I will read the same book mate–KEANEES version is slatting I believe-Why would it not be ?. Crazey Dave—————-

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142 its fans like you we dont want, you just love failure and crap players, now go and ask your wife for a job to do and go away.

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All I can say is David Jones, Daniel Jones and even Gleeson must have been sat in the stands laughing their socks off on Saturday.
David Jones far superior to any of our other central midfielders. Daniel Jones is surely a better bet than Reid but keeps getting farmed out on loan and Gleeson would do a better job than Edwards. At least he can control and pass a ball to a teammate!
I find the constant inclusion of players such as Henry and Keogh in the side despite them not delivering the goods simply amazing. You would think we had no other players to select! The treatment of Vokes and Friend also frustrates me. Why has Vokes never been given a run in the side? Why was Friend not given a chance after his excellent display against Blouse in the cup?
It just seems that McCarthy selects players who run around a lot, expecially in midfield but have no class or guile and leaves out the one midfielder who does have class an guile. No wonder Mark Davies got out of town whilst he still could!

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142 wolvesned

he is banned for 2 matches after Tuesday, so will have to put up with him again

SACK MM NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Time has come for wholesale changes give some of the younger guys a go what have we got to lose as the team MM has been picking since Christmas have obviously lost all form and confidence and maybe just maybe an injection of youth with their enthusiasm is what this team needs I’m not saying drop the whole first eleven but maybe three or four as our luck is running out fast and you would have thought by this stage we would have resurrected our season by now.

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MORGAN SACK MM NOW, GET IN PAUL INCE, INCEY WILL GALVANISE THIS TEAM WHO CLEARLY HAVE LOST FAITH IN THE TACTICS MM BRINGS TO THE SQUAD. ALSO MM ARROGANCE IN JANUARY SAYING THERE IS NO ONE HE CAN ADD TO THE SQUAD WHICH HE SAYS HE IS HAPPY WITH IS EITHER MORGAN HAS TOLD HIM THIS IS YOUR TEAM YOU GET US UP WITH THIS TEAM OR MM IS JUST PLAIN STUPID IF HE THINKS THE SQUAD IS GOOD ENOUGH!

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144 How can you say i love failure and crap players, I take it you can read and if so you are obviouslt too thick to understand what I WROTE, soits you that should clear off and get a job moron.

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132..Chris

The stat’s speak for themselves. Limited ability..!

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Thanks for thar 146/147 i was havin a good day WIN WIN WIN WIN ALL THE WAY TO THE PREM……

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You happy clappers,and micks yes men in the Southbank are as much to blame as anyone,all you know is lets get behind the lads.Iff anyone dares to criticise all you say is ,,,dow cum down the Wolves agen..His record for the last 11 games is relegation form,we have had about eight points out of a possible 33..A new two year contract for Keogh,,what a joke,,Mark Davies,couldnt get a game for us,playing premiership football now.Elliot playing out of his skin for Preston..Stears relegated to bench warming,,never mind we have got KEOGH,,Cummon Southbank lets get behind him.

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think its just a disgruntled minority mick ???

sounds more like an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY…

never liked ya. wont miss ya.

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We’re at the top of the championship.

So were baggies last season.

I think MM can get us there but he’s another Dave Jones.

Chelsea were fifth from the top of the premiership and that wasn’t good enough so they sack the manager and get another.

Seems to me that the board need to get their goals in order, not just promotion, but PL longevity. Lets not be just another rubber band team like baggies and blues, oh yes and Wolves.

We have the cash, we certainly have the supporters, best in the midlands, but do we have the vision?

I want my kids to take their kids to see the team in the champions league.

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Keogh is being destroyed by McCarthy playing him whilst his confidence is shot to pieces Keogh will need a shrink to get over it.
Great tatics Mick lump high balls up to the two smallest forwrds we have in the squad.
Berra 2.3 million joke very very average player at least Stearman has an attacking option to his game.
You’ve lost the plot McCarthy if this run of games had been earlier in the season you would have joined the 2 million on the out of work no ones bigger than the club not even you Mick McCarthy.

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For a team that supposedly puts a shift in he must have lost the dressing room

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MICK McCarthy’s press conferences over the years have rarely been dull, but of late they’ve become unmissable. Last week, for example, he was asked by a valiant reporter if he thought Saturday’s home game for Wolves against relegation-threatened Plymouth would be easy.

“I’ll ask you a question,” he replied. “There’s a greyhound going through a field and he sees a rabbit. The rabbit gets up and starts running. The greyhound fancies a bit of snap, but the rabbit fancies his life. Who runs the hardest? The rabbit, absolutely! That’s been my view on life.”

And true enough, the rabbit outran the greyhound at Molineux, winning 1-0. “Let’s cut to the quick, we were hopeless,” he said.

As he put it before the game: “It’s an anagram isn’t it? If I get promoted I’m a god – and if we don’t I’m a dog.” His fate is in the paws of his sluggish greyhounds.

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PS; sorry about the spelling & errors in 169, I am still totally pi**ed off by the mess we are making of a dream start to the season.

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It is obvious that Mick has lost the dressing room, and his team selection is now just bizzare.

The time has come to remove this abject failure and appoint somebody who can inspire and get the team playing again.

OUT OF DARKNESS COMETH PAUL INCE!

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166 above! I never boo or jeer the players during a game and never will. And that still applies after 40+ years as a paying fan

So your a new comer then

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also was at the game on saturday, very,very disappointed with the display of the team and especially “Mad Mick” the only reaction from him all game was throwing his arms up in disgust along with running his hans thru his thinng hair. The tention look to be getting to him, it is totally unacceptable that the team is allowed to put this kind of “shift “in. if this was my job delivering that sort of output I would be looking for another job!!!!!!. The game was similar to the way we played in the middle of last season, when we were all calling for the head of Mick, whats the difference now, we cannot depend of the rest of the pack gifting us the league as they are at present, Come on Mick,Come on team we know you can do better, YOU know you can do better.

Bring back BULLY, True Legend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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There isn’t a good team in the top six of the league. Not one of them can possibly get promoted and stay there. Wolves may make it, but they are as average as any of them.

A friend came up with a really good way to have the right teams in the premiership. The bottom three in the premiership play the top three in the championship league. Every team plays each other (or whatever)and the top three of the mini league would be the Premiership teams.

Come on look at Middlesbough having a problem in the premiership but kicked our butts. Just an enormous difference between the bottom of the premiership and the top of the championship.

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YOSB agree with most of your points (yet again)
But with regards to Wolves going up and what would/ could happen if we did – As it stands; we would need at least 6 to 8 Prem quality players and look to “swoop” for the likes of Chris Eagles at Burnley – who I personally feel is far more consistant than our very own Kites – 10, 9, 8, 7 …… (waiting to get slated by MK fans ;-)

Also as far as if, perhaps, maybe MM has what it takes to cut it in the Prem – without a capable No 2 dont think he can cut it – with a decent No 2 – like Brian Kidd then he has a chance – someone that can clearly translate direct instructions and motivate the players to do and perform on the pitch (Kidd may not have been a decent manager BUT as a No 2 there are not many that are better)

Finally, If and when we are finally promoted – this will be the “acid test” to see if SM our silent benefactor actually puts his hand in his pocket and bank rolls some real quality Prem class players – Unless of course he waits until we are promoted and then unveils his dreamteam new manager and ast manager combo???

Here’s hoping for that pot of gold at the end of our promotion rainbow!

UP THE WOLVES!!! Even if its a bit wobbly at the moment!

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