Man City 1 Wolves 0 – Verdict
Saturday 22nd August 2009, 5:15PM BST.
A mighty effort by Wolves came within a Shay Given crossbar of earning them a point they would have deserved at Manchester City.
It was only the woodwork which prevented Andy Keogh scoring a 69th-minute equaliser, as the visiting side gave the Premier League’s new A-listers a terrific fright at an expectant Eastlands.
Nearly 40,000 City fans poured into the Stadium expecting the slaughter of Mick McCarthy’s Championship winners by a side boasting £101million worth of summer signings.
For the first-half it looked as if that may happen, as Emmanuel Adebayor gave his side a 17th-minute lead and the defence remained at full stretch to keep out the attacking swagger of front three Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robinho.
But Wolves introduced a tactical switch at half-time, which saw Kevin Doyle join Keogh up front and folk hero George Elokobi played his first football of the season – and the team were transformed.
They never came closer than when Keogh pounced on an error by Kolo Toure to beat Given with a left-foot drive which bounced away off his bar.
But they had City’s less than convincing defence under enormous pressure at times with 3,000 travelling Wolves fans loving every minute of a second-half reviva,l which will give McCarthy great heart for the months ahead.
In the last five minutes Matt Jarvis came within a whisker of setting up an equaliser for Doyle and then broke through for a cross, which rolled agonisingly wide of three men as they flew into the area.
It left McCarthy applauding his side from his technical area, a response the travelling fans mirrored as they gave Wolves a standing ovation at the finish despite their defeat.
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Good performance all round, couldnt really fault anyone. Craddock was unlucky to knock on the ball for the goal. Realistically City could have had 10 if it had gone their way but we could have had a couple. Jarvis should have done better when he cut in the box and tried to curl it in the top right corner.
Thought Elokobi looked awesome when he came on and Doyle appears like a class act.
Out of the 100 million they spent only Adeyabor looked real class. Robinho looked rubbish.
I am well happy with the start, 3 points from 3 games is good enough, we need to keep it up and hopefully when the full squad is fit then we can pick up some home wins.
Also, all 3 games live so far in the USA. Fantastic.
Charlie
ATLANTA WOLVES
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Before the moaners and the ‘sack Mick’ brigade start, this is the pattern for the season – win then lose. We can expect nothing more this season. The main fact is staying in the league and in the two defeats we have seen some significant promise. As other teams get humbled, Wolves are learning.
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Well done Wolves. Great performance in the 2nd half and I think we were unlucky not to get a draw. I’ve been very encouraged by the first 3 games of the season and hopefully we can get some good results against the lesser teams.
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Fantastic. It is expected that teams like this will beat us this year. If we can never let our spirit be broken, then we will be fine. It has been so different from last time around already. Keep this work rate and desire up lads and it will be premier league football all round again next year! What a tremendous display from the young and hungry brigade!
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What a great game!!!!
Just finished watching online and apart from giving them way too much space in the first half I thought we were superb and deserved a point from that.
Any Wolves fan who thought we might struggle in this league should now agree we will be a force to reckon with injuries allowing, as this match was away and a good side to face.
Doyle is going to be such a big player for us.
Fantastic team effort and Keogh and Jarvis were unlucky not to score.
Bring on Hull!!!!
Come On You Wolves
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Well done lads, great effort. We won’t be playing £150 Million’s worth every week. Keep the effort up and who knows……..
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WATCH THE MATCH VIA THE INTERNET ,AND WAS PROUD TO BE A WOLVES FAN ,THEY PLAYED SOME GOOD FOOTBALL HERE AND THERE AND JARVIS SHOULD HAVE SCORED BUT FOR A TOP CLASS SAVE FROM GIVEN ,WHO TIPPED OVER THE BAR.THEN IN FINAL QUARTER KEOGH AGAIN HIT THE POST WITH A GOOD SHOT .WELL DONE WOLVES A SIDE MADE UP OF OVER £200 MILLION DID NOT BLITZ THE WOLVES .WELL DONE MICK FOR CHANGING THE TEAM AND TAKING THE GAME TO MAN CITY AT HALF TIME.COME ON WOLVES AND ROLL ON HULL NEXT SAT.
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todays effort was fantastic, To all of the whingers who may complain about todays loss
“BUGGER OFF”
We have a great team who have a better than most chance of survival as long as we all get behind them.
It was good to see Doyle and Big George playing
UTW
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Well done to the lads can’t fault there efforts. Hull next week is the kind of games we need to be getting points from, anything else is a bonus. Just shows that money doesn’t buy everything could easily have come away with a point today. Keep it up lads!
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Before the game I’d have settled for 1-0 but having been there today I’m gutted we walk away with nothing!
There is something very vulgar about the city revolution, something which echoes all that is wrong with the game! A team of mercenaries with no value or passion for their team…..very ugly!
Extremely proud of the lads and I think the future looks really bright! Onward and upward lads!!!!!
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unlucky 2 not get eny points from this game again keogh showed his class
utw!!!!!
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i hope this will give Mick the incentive to start playing Elokobi, because as much as i think Ward has done a job for us, i feel Big George would really help the team out.
Delighted with the result, as we could have had a really bad goal difference after the match. Conceding 1 goal against some of the best forwards in the world is a statement, and if we would have nicked a point, it would of been the icing on the cake, but as it stands, its looking good coming up to the hull game.
Hopefully some of our injured players get fit, and it will be like having new signings. Bring on Hull!
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Was at the game – ridiculous team sheet for City, Fantasy Football for real. Great credit to Wolves for second half performance – I was sitting with City fans and they were not happy! Credit to Mick for going 4-4-2 – we surrendered too much initiative in first half so lacked any attacking threat. Big pluses Elokobi cameo, Jarvo and Henry (again) and Craddock & Mancienne who did ever so well. Unlike start to 2003 season, we CAN compete at this level. Up the Wolves!
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went 2day !
brilliant !
though every player was exellent
like 2 give a mention 2 craddock !
thought he was class 2day
never saw him miss a header against adebayor !
quality lads !
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We are learning fast, what else needs to be said?We have yet to field our best side and with the change of tactics took it to a well fancied side. Well done everyone!
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went to the game today, there was so much passion on show in the second half, Doyle and Elokobi were outstanding!
Looking forward to game against hull!
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So now we know! This team can compete for the top ten, not just try to escape relegation!
Well done to all the team, we have nothing to fear in the Premiership and we won’t be fighting relegation, and that’s for sure.
We will take a few spankings, but we’ll also sneak unlikely wins and draws as well.
So, keep supporting the team. OLD GOLD FOREVER!
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well what can i say before the season started i was worried but 3 games in and i,ve watched all 3 games as well not worried any more,wolves can hold there own in the prem yes we will struggle against the so call big teams who wouldnt?but we are playing so much better than we did in the championship,we look more composed pass it better and we actually look like a prem team,i think playing the teams around us is the main thing and we will win more than we lose so heres to staying up the mccarthy way ohhhhhhhhhhhh yesssssssssssss,WE ARE WOLVES
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Y’know what? I think we can make a fist of thid division!!
UP THE WOLVES!!!
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Well played wolves in the second half,yes city
had the chances, but so did Wolves. Mancienne was
awesome. Thought Mick was spot on with second half
change.Along with Wolves, Elokobi was not out of depth, had Wright-Phillips in his pocket and must start next week.
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I think we are finding our feet quicker in this league than some of us probably anticipated. Three great performances so far . Todays second half performance proves that we will not become star struck and i am confident that we will be able to mix it with the best of them.Well done lads.
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Was at the game, tbf I thought we were excellent. Second half was a breathtaking performance which tbf shocked me in a way lmao. If we play like we did in the second half for the rest of the season, we will easily stop up. Really impressed with the lads today, and the additions of Elokobi and Doyle made the performance extra special.
UTW! Bring On Swindon Town :)
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watched the game via the net and i tell you what wolves were amazing.
Even man city fans were praising them in the chat section of the site i used and many said wolves had them on their toes they thought wolves were going to get something out of this.
Fantastic by mick to change things at half time and keogh last season i was moaning at you this season i am in awe of you brilliant player.
Infact everyone of those lads out their today were superb.
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Living in Tampa, Florida, it was my first chance to see the Wolves play. In the first half, I felt the team did well to keep the score down and probably showed too much respect apart from Jarvis excellent effort which was well saved by Given.
The last 25 minutes of the second half we looked much more of a competitive unit. The bold chngae in the lineup definitely helped and MM is to be applauded for taking a more offensive stance as it almost paid off.
I feel that there are enough teams that we can take points off to keep us in the Prem. Hopefully, we can get Kightley back soon- some good pace on both flanks will help us in this division.
COME ON YOU WOLVES!!!
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Great to be able to see wolves maul a mediochre Man City here in Rio on ESPN.
M. M. played a blinder changing the formation at half time, keep taking it to them Mick. I have no worries about staying up on this form, a credit to all involved.
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I think that we should forget about being defensive with just one forward when we play away. Our attacking ability is good enough to go away with an attacking formation.
Remember the Stan Cullis mantra, “If they score two, then we score three!”
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Been to the game today and sat with the City fans in the hospitality area and felt really proud the way the guys fought for everything.
What a change around at half time!!Well done Mick and the boys.
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Lets not be happy losers
But great effort from the lads today, some of them playing their 4th game in a week & half.
Our work rate again was fantastic.
If we keep it up we will be OK.
City may have spent millions, but they ain’t got anywhere near as much heart!!!
KTF
Wolvesforver
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Played lads proud to be a wolves fan, we outclassed them 2nd half, they didnt have a clue ;) keep it up wolves, ebanks, kightly, iwelumo and foley to come back we could really push for 45+ points this season :D ill be happy with any amount as long as it keeps us out of the bottom three though! We Love You Wanderers!
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Gallant effort from an improving Wolves which spelled a more optimistic and positive challenge for the season and maintaining our Premier league status.
Well done and Up The Wolves.
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Great second half, very happy with Elokobi who has great crossing ability and power. Lets carry the good work on to next week. watched the whoe game on American TV, GOOD COVERAGE BUT VERY ONE SIDED.
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George looks awesome. No one could get passed him. Fantastic effort from Wolves. HHopefully we can build on the CM area. Henry and Edwards are just too lightweight.
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A lot of good football.Could have got something out of the game,but on another day could have been hammered!
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Bob was there and very impressed with the performance – however the article is slightly misleading as we did not really deserve a point. Yes, we had a few chances but Man City should have had the game wrapped up by then.
Not many teams will get much at Man City this season, who were very good at home last season.
Some very big performances;
Elokobi – looked class at left back and should be in ahead of Ward when fully fit, who was lucky not to concede a penalty.
Jarvis – full of running, unlucky with the effort in the first half and gave donkey Richards a torrid time in the second half.
Doyle – half fit and looks a class above the rest of our strike force.
Edwards/Henry – won the midfield battle second half.
Having put in this performance it is essential that we follow it up with a victory over Hull next week.
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Just want to say this team is making me very proud indeed.Just wish i could see more of them.We going to stay up this season,next week a game that matters,we need to beat the Hull,s STOKES and Wigans,anything from a game like the City game is a bonus.Keep it up lads and let the fans be load and proud.
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Was at the game and if Wolves can maintain this, never surrender, will not lie down , style of play, which surprised Man City, then we will survive in the Premiership.
The second half showed that Doyle is class and will fit in to the Wolves attack, Keogh and Jarvis tried all day and worth their spot,Mancienne and Henry outstanding, and big George played a blinder.
I thought Hennersey played well in goal also
While Wolves were unlucky with shots from Keogh and Jarvis, they were also fortunate not to have conceded at least two attempts on goal by Man.City.
The 1-0 scoreline did not really reflect the game, a result of a 3-2 victory to Man City would have told the real story.
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I also watched the game and we played well, but I just hope were not going to be here at the end of the season saying weve played well and been unlucky,..but gone down, the reality is if we loose to Hull it will be 3 points from 12, and that is relegation form,…not being negative but it shows how impoertant our home form will be this season.
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Mick said it could have been a draw. It also could have been 6-2. However, I thought the lads did really well. We still need that extra quality in midfield (Get Ledley). We still need another quality striker (Suggest Beckford)Now Duff has gone to Fulham no suggestions for the wing, but we also need additional cover there. If we can get this sort of extra quality in – we will be okay. :-)
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we need to beat Hull, that’s all that matters. We can say how well we played today but it won’t mean a thing if we don’t beat Hull at home.
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watch game we played well a specialy in second
half we had chances but could of been 3 down at
half time. i have now watch all the prem game
and at the end of the day all the team created
many chances but it will those who take them who
will do well and many of them like did not,but when we get seb and kits hope we can be ones that do,keep it up boys.
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I Know we don’t get on etc etc but what i have seen of the Wolves you will survive,i reckon 15th,hopefully then more black country action on the tv instead of london clubs.
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Wolves should have been dead and buried by half time but they weren’t.
Credit to Wolves for second half perfomance and you may feel agrieved at not getting a point but if Wolves play like the second half all season, there should be no worries of relegation. Well done Wolves
MCFC
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Thanks Blue & white, post 41. At last sensible and welcome quotes from the dark side. I too hope you get promoted and more derbys on the tv for the midlands.
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Good performance from the lads thought we gave the ball away to much in the first half. tactical switch at halftime to a 4.4.2 was needed. Doyle will get us goals. Big George was very impressive. Did not expect anything from the game so it was all about the performace from the lads faced with the stars on show. We now have a few of our own. The goals are coming hopfully Hull on saturday. I predict 15 this season no probs. :)
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A good effort again, though Man City did create enough chances to have us buried by half time. Anyway, keep those super LED Lenser torches shining brightly, and bring on Hull. Can’t wait! PS. Torchman’s brother and sister in law – great edible chocolate sponge torches last night!
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Well cant argue with the score! i thought we did ok and it looked like we might get something at the end, a reasonable performance, i still think we need a bit more speed at the back!
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Yes the lads did us proud at Man City. It is easy to give the richest club in the world too much respect I suppose – but how did we fight in the second half. I don’t know about the rest of you but I feel it was not a pressure game yesterday unlike the one against Hull. Brown will be thinking his team have a great chance as do we – its vital we do not lose. Still hopeful of one maybe two more faces before 1st Sept, its a long time until Jan. and with the near £2 million Lescott windfall and the £2 million we did not spend on McCarthy there should be enough in the kitty. Would still love Ledley – but not Faye for God’s sake a waste of money for an aging Stoke reject who is also a crock.
Fight, fight wherever you may be.
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God I love this team they have the hearts of lions and they make me so proud.
Can anybody give me some good sites to watch the games as living in Ireland makes it rather difficult to see as many games as i would like.
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what a great game!!!! some really exciting football from this wolves side. watched it on sky n felt that we aint seen nothing yet! okay man city could have had a hatfull but they didn’t. It is somethin to work on in training however i still think 2-3 new additions need to be brought in. Jarvis, Keogh, n elokobi had a fantastic game n Doyle is champing at the bit. Cant wait for next game! Mick Mcarthy top man!! Cooooooommmmme on u Woffers!!!
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What a treat to see the Wolves back on the TV here in North America. The game was the feature game of my satelite provider. And what a great game it was! Well done lads, stay hungry and we will stay up!
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Brilliant effort. not rewarded but if the lads play like that all season there shouldnt be a single grumpy fan in sight.
Elokobi was brilliant, and assuming match ready should start. Doyle looked promising, if he can play up front with Keogh just behind i i think we’ll have a winning fomrula.
Cant wait for Kights to come back, Halford doesnt impress me much. Jarvis is a different gravy, must be MOM, him and Kights on the wings feeding in corss after cross… oo la la !!!
Wonder whats up with Milijas though – plays well, and is subbed. is he nursing an injury ?
Anyhoo, absolutely over the moon to be a Wolves fan. Well done lads, keep it up you are doing us and the club proud.
WE ARE WOLVES !!!!!
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Great second half performance, credit Mick for going 4-4-2 in the second half and George Elokobi was brilliant. Even at 1-0 we almost nicked a goal in the first half with a Jarvis’s excellent effort, Keogh was unlucky with his volley and Richard Stearman came close late on we had City sweating near the end. The team who finished should start against Hull.
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looked very good in the 2nd half – able to watch it live here in the usa. except for the negative and bias ramblings of trevor francis , i was very impressed by the energy footballing prowess of the team. midfield we matched them in the 2nd, javis and keough were always a threat. hull is a must
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I’m sick of the Mick Moaners.
He turned a struggling and thin Wolves, cleaned up Hoddle’s mess, and where are we now?
But I was proud of the way we played, I usually have to take a negative or point to improve on from a match, but I had a hard time finding one, it was Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y.
KTF,UTW!
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After just 3 games our ‘championship’ players are looking like premiership veterans.
Adebayor, Tevez and Robinho are 3 of the best players in the world…and we forced 2 of them to be tactically replaced.
Apart from Adebeyor they had very little we couldn’t handle. Henry & Edwards were very effective in the middle after Tevez went off. Keogh had another great game & Doyle was obviously quaility.
Mancienne made Bellamy look like a clown. Elokobi had SWP in his pocket. Jarvis ran Richards into the ground.
Halford & Milijas were quiet but Mick was quick to change things round & very nearly got us a result.
So we lost, & could have lost heaviliy but in the end we just got better and better & the most expensive star studded team in the world hung on, & they were the ones relived to hear the final whistle.
Simon :)
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Sorry Guys (including the Editor). How you can say you lot deserved a point is laughable. From the game I was watching City should have been out of sight at half time and on another day you would have lost this one 6-1.
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Wolves played extremely well second half but some of te comments on here ie “We (Wolves) outclassed them in the second half” are way way offmark. Stats say 11 shots on target to Wolves 2 – what yesterday shown was that if you dont take your chances at 1 – 0 you can always conceed. Hope you stay up but remember the prem is a marathon and not a sprint
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fair play to 41 and 42. We showed a lot of spirit especially in the second half, but city carved us open on several ocassions and didnt have there shooting boots on, otherwise it could have been 3 or 4. like i said ealier this week Keogh is a willing runner and has really done well, but he’s not a goal threat as a lone striker when we play 4-5-1. i actually think if we can get a target man and i dont know if doyle is the answer, we could pick up some points away from home. i’m confident we can win a few at home.nice to see elokobi and doyle on the pitch.elokobi looked effective against wright philips and adebayor, and has pace. Mancienne looked a little sluggish and may need a few games to get his fitness up.
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Remeber the we played beat Barcelona last week. This says it all
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Can a US Wolf tell me the best TV service to get live Wolves matches?
Up the Wolves
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I’m a City season ticket holder. Just wanted to say I thought your team were totally outclassed in the first half but whatever Mick did to change it they were awesome in the second half. Your fans were great throughout, and we became increasingly nervous.
Not sure I agree with this article that you deserved a point on the balance of the full game but I think you will easily find three teams worse than you in this league.
Just glad that we played you when SEB was injured as I think he may have won you a point.
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A very good effort against City especially the second half when we had more of the ball I thought Mancienne and both Elokobi and Doyle when they came on had very good games. Once we get Kites,Seb etc back from injury we will be even more competitive.Looking forward to getting the points against Hull on Saturday.
Go you Wolves!
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If we play like we did in the first half we will go down, if we play the way we did in the second half we might stay up its a long hard season and we need goals,but with the fans and team we have I think we will be OK must beat Hull. I am going to see every game live on showtime cool?
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54 – you know what makes me sick? All these people coming on here saying how they are sick of the MM moaners. You really take the mick (pun intended). The best thing about this whole thread is the way everyone to a man (including Bob Wolf) is praising the team for the effort put in against a side that beat us, and deservedly so, but we could have sneaked a point from them quite easily in the end.
There’s plenty of praise for MM changing his tactics, the vast majority of players are getting praise from people, yet you come on here and start off having by having a moan.
I bet if you won the lottery you’d still complain “but I had to share the £8m with someone else. So unfair. Makes me sick.”
BOO – OLI OUT
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A lot of plus points from this defeat. Yes Man City deserved it but we hit the bar and the best save was made by Given.
We have three main players out in Foley, Kites and Ebanks and hopefully a couple of signings this week.
Not worried but must beat Hull!
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64_ Hear ! Hear ! Well said Andy !!!
if we dont play well I will have a go. If we do play well I will come on and sing their praises.
Those who knee-jerk moan about moaning are no better themselves.
COME ON YOU WOLVES !!!
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Did anyone see match of the day? disgrace, did not show much of wolves attacking but showed every city attack!
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It makes you proud to be a wolves fan! UTW! Bring on Hull!
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I’m very proud of the lads’ performance as we all should be. These kids wear the Gold shirt with pride and distinction. They’re not short on talent, too, and are rapidly adating to life at the highest level.
Man City just about desrved their win, overall. We did get pummelled in the first half and could easily have been 3 or 4 goals down. The second half, though, saw Wolves have the lions share of the chances and we maybe should’ve grabbed a point. Still, we won’t face this kind of quality every week, so the boys should have no fears.
We’re only 3 games into the Premier season, yet what a huge contrast our current boys are to the over-the-hill team of “bottlers” we had six years ago. Survive or ultimately fail, at least we know this side really is up for the fight.
WELL DONE, ME BABBIES. TAKE NO PRISONERS AND KEEP IT GOING. WE’RE PROUD OF YOU.
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67.
To be fair, they showed all of our chances. We only had a few. Jarvis 1st half, Doyle’s diving header, Keogh’s crossbar & Stearmans last min header. Can’t think of any more chances?
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Not an excuse – but the referee deserves a mention. More evidence – as if we need it – that Premiership new boys don’t get any of the breaks. He didn’t change the result, but it was pretty clear that he was star-struck.
Let’s hope that we weren’t waiting on Lescott’s transfer to City to get hold of Dunne. No improvement on what we’ve got on that showing.
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Obviously, an excellent game!
Interesting comments from City fans – I felt they were constructive and sporting.
So unlike those down the road in Sandwell!
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Well done boys, really proud of the way you took it to ‘em in the 2nd half. What I want to know is why the media (except local)are just saying we were lucky not to get thrashed with no mention that we had them on the back foot in the 2nd half? It seems that if the team aint from London or loaded you have no right to portrayed as anything other than cannon fodder
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To 60: Are you in Raleigh? I live in Holly Springs.. Best way to get coverage in my opinion is to get DirectTV, make sure you get a package that includes Fox Soccer Channel, and then you will also have to subscribe to Setanta for $14.99 a month. After that, you will get a few Live Wolves matches this season but get to see about 90% of their games overall. Watched the game on Saturday and have to praise MM for not only his change of formation but for making great decisions about the change of personnel. I think hasd we nicked anything Man City could have felt agrieved, but that’s the risk you run when you dont finish. My MOM was either Craddock or Edwards.
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We need to hammer swindon to get some confidence flowing through them…
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