Regis excited by Wolves strike pairing
Friday 31st July 2009, 10:23AM BST.
Ask not what Sylvan Ebanks-Blake can do for Wolves, but what Wolves can do for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
That is the key question facing the Premier League newcomers according to local legend Cyrille Regis as the days tick by to the Molineux club’s return to English football’s top flight.
Regis holds a unique place in contemporary football in having crossed the great divides of this region in playing for Albion, Villa and Wolves and managing to earn respect and appreciation in all three camps.
It is no small feat – and one he hopes will help ensure a healthy turnout at Hednesford Town’s Keys Park on Sunday (12.45pm) when Regis heads up an All-Stars Black Country derby for WaterAid, the charity which supports the provision of clean water to under-developed corners of the globe.
It’s a charity which has grown close to his heart where the fortunes of the region’s three most successful clubs lay and, when he meets up with old friends and rivals on Sunday, there will be plenty of talk about what lies ahead this season.
And, at Wolves, he is as fascinated as the rest of their following about how Mick McCarthy’s squad will cope. Inevitably, the pressure will fall on the man whose goals have driven Wolves on this past 18 months – Ebanks-Blake – but Regis warns that it is not simply a case of the striker continuing his prolific scoring ratio in the gold and black.
“There is a reality they have had to deal with,” said Regis, awarded the MBE last year for his services to football and the charity for which he is now so eager to raise funds.
“If you are a good Premier League player on the move, the first thing you do is look at the clubs most likely to struggle and that is always those coming up. It’s very difficult as a result to persuade them to come.
“So I think they’ve done well to get in Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann. Doyle is a fantastic signing, both ‘young and hungry’ but also with that vital Premier League experience.
“You are looking at the potential of Doyle and Ebanks-Blake and thinking ‘that could work’. I like the look of that.
“I’m a fan of Ebanks-Blake, he’s a goalscorer. He will score goals anywhere, anytime, just like Bully. You would never have doubted Bull scoring goals anywhere would you?
“For me, it’s not a question of whether or not he will score goals in the division, it’s whether or not Wolves can make sufficient chances for him. They might create three chances for him in a Championship game but in the Premier League it may be only one. Is that enough to expect Sylvan to deliver? Can he raise his ratio of chance-taking? But I like the prospect of his playing with Doyle, I can see that. The balance of that partnership ‘feels’ right.”
Regis’s work as an agent has given him a contemporary grasp of the recessionary forces now beginning to restrict football and he has a healthy respect for the way Wolves have gone about their business in the era of the “3Ms.”
“It must be so hard to be a manager these days because you have lost the motivation of money,” he said.
“When I was playing we would maybe be earning £500 a week but would get another £200 as a win bonus. Now that is a massive percentage of your weekly pay to be on the line each weekend. But that power has gone now. You’ve got captains of industry, running companies with thousands of employers and with 20, 30 years experience behind them being paid less than a 19-year-old footballer who can’t get in his Premier League first team.
“The game is feeling the pinch, though. I am trying to find contracts for young players and they are faced with wage cuts all the way down the divisions. The money just isn’t there at the moment.”
Which brings him back to Molineux’s “business model.”
“What I like about Wolves is that they are going to do it their way and sticking to it,” he said.
“They’ve got a bunch of exciting young players and what everyone will be asking now is whether they have got in the experience that they want. Only time will tell.”
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we need more players
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Big Cyrille is a well respected person & if he say SEB will be a hit in the Prem,I believe him!
So onewolf, if YOU were in charge at the Mol,who would YOU sign & how much would you pay for them?
Finding a happy medium is a difficult task,just ask Alex Ferguson!
It took him ages to win his first trophy with Man U!
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Hennessey
Foley Zubar Berra Elokobi
Halford Henry Milijas Jarvos
Ebanks Blake and Doyle
Do we really need more players in the wings? I don’t think so.
You might want to replace a few of this team with your own favourite. That in itself shows we have strength in depth.
the words “premier experience” are being given far to much importance.
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Joey Barton please, a bit of bite and leadership. We all know he has gone off the rails a little so he is in the last chance saloon, lets face it if he was not so mad we would not be in with a chance. Benjani and Mancienne also and we will have a go . Berra, Henry, Elokobi, will get embarassed in this league because of their lack of skill, Jarvis is another worry if he he cant beat a man for pace he has got no tricks.
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We need less moaners.
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Keep the Faith
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5. Well said lets get rid of all the negativity !!!
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#1
Hush up chap for goodness sake.
Yes it would be great to see 6 top line players signed up before the start of the new season. But get real, it aint gonna happen.
We have enough players to compete with the bottom 6/7 likely clubs staying up is paramount this season we can then look forward to having the cash for improving the team. I predict we will finish no lower than 14th. There I have stuck my chin out.
Try being happy about Wolves prospects onewolf.
Up The Wolves
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We will know by the first week in December whether or not our team will be okay with what we’ve got. Until then I suggest we all shut up and wait. Just one more thing, sorry China but our team needs a prat like Joey Barton like we need the Bhatti brothers back. The guy just needs tossing on the scrapheap and forgetting about. He’s had his chances and blown them all.
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Totally agree with 8 & 9. UTW!
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Re, Canada. Joey Barton has been a prat, so what if we could get him on the cheap I dont care. He was class for Man City thats why he won an England cap, he was not so good for Newcastle mainly due to injuries. I just care about our lack of quality, if you really think Henry is better than him then thats upto you. None of our midfield have played at the highest level we need experience like Ince said we are too quiet as a team, Barton is anything but quiet.
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I’m very pleased with our signings so far. I don’t think Premier League experience matters much, it’s been over-rated too much, even though it’d be nice to have someone in the middle of the park who’s been there to guide the team along when the going gets tough. The other players will then trust that person simply because they’ve been in the Premier League and know what’s expected. I’d still like to see another centreback (Mancienne or Dunne, but if we can’t get either of them then I’d take Davenport or Shittu). I think Stearman will cut it, but use him as a back up at first. Don’t think Berra will cut it, he hasn’t got the pace, same with Craddock. We also need another centre midfielder incase Milijas gets injured. Julio Arca from Middlesbrough for £2-3m would do me. I think Karl Henry will do well. He’s better than Quashie, and he done ok. And if Henry gets injured, we can play Zubar there instead. Then we definately need a striker, because we only have two quality strikers at the moment, so we could loan someone like Jay Simpson from Arsenal or something? Then we need back-up for Kightly. I think Jerome Thomas is a good player, so I’d be happy to sign him on a free. Then a left-back on loan would be good, but I doubt that’ll happen. I think we’ll be alright, we’ll have a few stuffings but we’ve got a better squad than last time we got promoted. I also think that Surman should start instead of Jarvis.
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My line-up v West Ham with what we’ve got atm…
————— Hennessey —————
Foley — Stearman —- Zubar — Elokobi
—————— Henry —————-
Halford ———- Surman ——– Jarvis
—————– Milijas —————
————— Ebanks-Blake ————
Would be a good line-up, but like I said above, would be better with a centre-back who’s got Premier League experience along with Zubar who’s played in the Champions League. On the bench would be Hahnemann, Craddock, Ward, Jones, D.Edwards, Keogh and Vokes.
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And also china wolf mate, I wouldn’t want him in our team to be honest. Milijas will give us the bite we need in midfield, he looks quality, and he was captain for Red Star Belgrade so will have the leadership skills we need, along with UEFA Cup experience and international experience with Serbia. Zubar sounded quality at MK Dons aswell, apparently he won everything. I think he’ll be quality for us. He’s got Champions League experience and Marseille are a great team so he should be great for a team who’s going to be in a relegation battle.
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Canada Wolf: I could not agree more. Bringing Joey Barton into the dressing room would be like brining George Bush into the Muslim Council of Britain.
Please China Wolf, do not try a belittle what he has done, he is a menace to the game, and deserves his lowly position. In fact he deserves to be out of the game. Hes has had his last chance 3 times now. Enough is enough.
As for knowing where we are going to be in December I totally agree with Canada Wolf. We really don’t know so why by loads of players who will ruin the team ethic and not gel for the new season.
Finally, some fans seem to think that our team is competing against, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, MAn Utd and Tottenahm. We are not, if we were we would be hammered everyweek.
We are competing against, Blackburn, Burnley, Wigan, Portsmouth, Blues, Sunderlnad, Hull, Stoke,Bolton and West ham.
Only 3 of the above go down, and we can more than compete against these teams. Now please stop looking at the big 5 or 6, and look at our real competition. Then you might calm down a little and stop paniking over the coming season.
In Mick, you should now trust.
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We bid £2 million for McCarthy and we may get a similar amount with the Lescott sell on percentage which gives us £4 million to use plus any extra coffers. We could possibly if we are careful get a quality central midfielder with this, possibly even Ledley, who would be the icing on the cake. Others who I would like to see mentioned are of course Mancienne, why not fire a £5 million bid at Chelsea? Dean Ashton still young, has England and Prem. experience and a terrific player when fit. Lallana at Southampton would be a good developmental player, it appears MM has gone cold on him?
In short another 2 or 3 players would make us comfotrable as opposed to having our finger in the dyke.
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4!I would rather take the joey from down under.
You know,the one in the pouch and you could bring it to the home matches. At least you have a joey!
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Stoke On Trnt Wolf. Apart from Mancienne. None of those players are better than what we have. Why would we want to waste another £10million on those players. By the way, Ledley is not for sale. And they have recently rejected a £5million bid from a prem club.
Quality prem players are just not there. Lets hope we grow our own. Which to me is far more exciting than buying everybody.
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wwfc 2 west ham 0 , new striker to sign next week and mancienne also
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Wolves 1 – Doncaster 1 !!!!!
Signing’s please 3m’s
Quick
Very quick
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ok not normally a negative poster
but
and nowhere else to post yet
we can only manage a lucky draw with
the mighty Doncaster
what the hell is going on
i understand thats whats gone before
was just getting match fit
getting ready for the premiership
but
there is now less than 2 weeks to go
14 days
what the hell will happen when we play some
real opposition
i can only see us being slaughtered
Doncaster outplayed us
they had more chances
they deserved to win
we deserved to lose
suddenly i fear for whats to come
without a incredible change in attitude
and a stupendous increase in effort
not to mention a big increase in fitness
and skill levels
we are going to look pathetic in our new adventure
i really cant see us getting any points at all
unless things change quickly
against Doncaster we were pathetic
if this is how our players
show the manager they have the desire
and strength and courage
to play against the worlds best players
then we have no hope
i really hope and pray i am wrong
but as it stands
i am scared to death for this new season
to start
prove me wrong
please
i am so disallusioned
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I hope your right truewolves, another Striker of good pedigree and Mancienne will be a big help, at the moment, i feel exactly as you do USA Wolf, i too dislike feeling negative about the coming season in the Prem, friendlies they may be, but such poor shows against lower opposition, so close to the opening game against West Ham is hardly encouraging, I really hope that we are holding back and that the true Wolves will turn up for the real thing on the 15th of August
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Hull lost 4-0 to Crewe last pre-season. So stop moaning about drawing 1-1 to Doncaster. the results in pre-season mean nothing. Nothing at all.
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US and A Wolf, what are you on about?? stay at home in yankland if thats how you feel, im sick of so called wolves fans moaning.
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We cant take to much into pre-season friendlies, they’re just a kick-a-bout! Didnt the mighty Man City recently draw against a lesser team than Doncaster?
We would all love to see a few more signings but i’m sure the suits are doing all they can anyway.. we have to stay positive and support the young, hungry squad we already have!
and i think no.5 is the best post i’ve seen so far on this site :)
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