Well that’s the bullies out of the way – now for some fights Wolves can win.

Or rather must do, certainly if the grim reality manager Mick McCarthy is warning is to be heeded. By admitting Wolves are in a relegation fight, with just a third of the season gone, the gaffer has removed any lingering layers of doubt in the minds of players and supporters alike about their position.

History tells us teams need to average at least a point a game to stay up – 10 from 13 is nowhere near good enough.

From the same number of games last season, Albion were bottom with one more point than Wolves, Newcastle were fourth bottom with three more and Middlesbrough occupied the dizzy heights of 10th with 17. We all know what happened to those three.

Whether McCarthy is indulging in a bit of reverse psychology to shock his players into an improvement is not known. That is for another day. Knowing the straight-talking McCarthy, my guess is that it’s nothing of the sort.

My guess is he’s desperate for everyone connected to Wolves to be aware of just how serious Wolves’ position is. Getting out of trouble isn’t going to be pretty or easy, and there is likely to be plenty of heartache over the months ahead.

But, just as they have done so far, they will give it a bloody good go.

Throughout his 40 months in charge, effort and commitment have never once been lacking in his players. What he, his staff and the board expect however is a few more points on the board.

McCarthy hasn’t been helped by injuries to key players such as Kevin Doyle, Michael Kightly, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Foley, as well as Ronald Zubar’s settling-in period, that see the five still striving for their top form. But we can’t keep groaning about missed chances, points lost, injuries and form week after week.

That is essentially McCarthy’s point. There have been too many goalscoring opportunities wasted and points that have gone begging. Now, more than ever, is the time for action, time for chances to be converted and scruffy wins.

A victory of any sort – handball assisted if it comes down to it – would be most welcome. Given they were 20-1 outsiders to win, Saturday’s drubbing was arguably the most inevitable since some of their early capitulations in their last Premier League season.

Despite the current run of seven games without a win, circumstances are thankfully different this time around. With a young if learning team, money in the bank and a bright long term future, there is plenty of hope. But unfortunately, the nature of Wolves’ current results means there is no getting away from the importance of the next two games.

Birmingham this Sunday and Bolton the following Saturday are two matches that will have a huge bearing on shaping Wolves’ destiny this season.

Win both and they’re right back in the pack approaching Christmas with a spring in their step for the difficult trips to Tottenham and Manchester United. Drawing or losing both and they’re staring at the same fate as Albion, Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

Events at Stamford Bridge on Saturday were never going to decide the fate of either team. Any fans critical of this performance only need look at Chelsea’s record this season to realise Wolves are in good company. Carlo Ancelotti’s galaxy of stars have put four or more without reply past Atletico Madrid, Bolton (twice) and Blackburn.

All the four-goal defeats against Arsenal and Chelsea have done for Wolves is go to script. What was crystal clear from the opening minutes was these two clubs exist on different footballing planets.

Nearly two decades of the Sky TV millions and five years of Abramovich’s billions mean Wolves, much the bigger side of the two in the 1950s, are now the paupers in comparison.

So wide is the gulf between the sides that with Porto and Arsenal next on their hitlist, Chelsea destroyed Wolves despite missing six players, in the rested Ricardo Carvalho and injured Jose Bosingwa, Frank Lampard, Deco, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba.

Yet they still took the field with a starting XI worth more than £200million – almost 20 times what McCarthy’s side cost and how Chelsea rubbed their noses in it.

On this overwhelming show of devastating supremacy, they have no equals, certainly in the Premier League. When Dave Edwards saw a point-blank, sliding chance blocked after four minutes, everyone suspected Chelsea would punish Wolves.

But even the most ardent Chelsea fan would have been blinking at the brutal manner at which they savaged their sorry opposition. So much so, that they effectively had the game won by the 12th minute.

After Florent Malouda ruthlessly punished Jody Craddock’s poor clearance by finding the top corner 60 seconds after Edwards’s miss, the colossus that is Michael Essien powered home a header to make it 2-0. By the 22nd minute, when Essien’s shot somehow squirmed through goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, it really was game over.

All three goals were poorly defended and Wolves will know that they last thing you want to give a team of Chelsea’s quality is a helping hand. But on a weekend when floods dominated the headlines, if Wolves’ defending opened the gates, their attacking ensured the tide was never going to turn.

The next two chances before the break fell to Wolves, but the impressive Richard Stearman, who started as a third centre-back as McCarthy experimented with 3-5-2, missed his header from point-blank range, before Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s header produced a world class save from Petr Cech in the home goal.

All three Wolves openings were created by Matt Jarvis, whose excellent delivery here suggests he has acted on his manager’s words.

Within 11 minutes of the restart however, it was another winger – Chelsea’s Joe Cole – who made it 4-0, but rather than sparking the start of the party tricks, Ancelotti’s side proved their champions’ credentials by refusing to take their foot off the pedal.

Howitzers from substitute debutant Gael Kakuta and Jon Obi Mikel brushed the side-netting, while an Essien chip was superbly tipped onto the bar by Hennessey. In the end, the magnititude of defeat didn’t matter.

The crumbs of encouragement came from the attitude of the Wolves players, racing around to close the gaps to the last whistle even if they were chasing shadows. That attitude and their response is going to be crucial in the weeks ahead.

By Tim Nash