The pain of 1995 is fresh motivation
Friday 26th February 2010, 9:15AM GMT.
Wolves blogger Nathan Lloyd believes the pain of 1995 is fresh motivation the club needs to stick it to Bolton Wanderers again this weekend.
I was ready to move on, I really was. But then Jacqui Oatley from BBC Sport sent me a tweet regarding an e-mail correspondence a Wolves fan had received from the Premier League when he questioned them on their decision to give the club a suspended fine last week.
I won’t give you their response verbatim, but there was one sentence in the reply that left me flabbergasted: -
“I note you refer to the Hull versus Manchester United match last season. Following rumours that they would make a large number of changes, the club were reminded of the rules but they went on to win the match, therefore differentiating from the Wolves match.”
With that reply the Premier League are basically admitting that they favour the bigger teams and that, even though what we did at Old Trafford had happened dozens of times before, because we lost they decided to make an example out of us. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
Anyway, I promise that’ll be the last time I carp on about that particular indiscretion, but it did make my blood boil that they inflict punishment like this on teams like Wolves and not a red or blue team from the North West or the capital.
On to happier news, and isn’t it just incredible that despite £9million worth of losses over the last 2 seasons, Wolves are still seen as the most financially sound football club in the country?
Unlike Portsmouth, who with debts of around £70million have now fallen into administration, leaving just two probable final relegation places for us to avoid.
But our form has been so erratic all season that I wouldn’t like to say where the points to keep us up from the 12 remaining games will come from.
We certainly could have kick-started that survival bid against a Chelsea team that looked anything like champions elect last Saturday.
The West London club obviously had another gear to into if they had been in trouble, but Wolves really did give them a game and we should have probably got something from the match.
What the game did highlight was something we are all acutely aware of and that’s our lack of pace in the middle of defence. I know that it is unlikely that Mick McCarthy will change the Christophe Berra and Jody Craddock pairing with so few games left.
But if the manager is was open to ideas, how about when David Edwards returns, swapping Zubar for Berra in central defence? That way Kevin Foley could return to where he is most effective and Zubar could offer us the pace that we so badly lack.
As a bloke called Danny reminded me before the Chelsea game, “Yow cah wear a glove on yer foot.” An alternative way of saying that Mick shouldn’t play square pegs in round holes and that Foley needs to be returned to right-back.
It’s just a thought and didn’t Adlene Guedioura have another promising game in the middle of midfield against Chelsea? Adlene and David Jones have made a big difference since coming into the side and we now seem to have a midfield with more purpose and some creative guile that was sadly lacking before.
And hats off to the South Bank on Saturday, they were in imperious form with some of the funniest and most opprobrious chanting I have heard in a long time at Molineux.
So on to Bolton – or Notlob if you see Monty Python for an explanation – at the weekend, a team who haven’t scored in five league games and are now facing the rest of the season without their best defender in Gary Cahill.
Owen Coyle swapped the good karma at Burnley where there was little pressure and expectation to manage an established Premier League team in Bolton who themselves showed losses of over £13million last season.
Perhaps Owen isn’t a Judas and simply showed some ambition by moving the 30-odd miles to the Trotters, but it’s a club I have disliked ever since we lost to them in the 1995 play-off semi-final.
Coyle played for Bolton in those two legs which were brim full with drama. Peter Shilton was in goal for the Trotters aged 45 for the first semi-final at Molineux, which Wolves won 2-1 courtesy of goals from Steve Bull and Mark Venus.
I can still see the referee bottling it in the second-leg when Bolton striker John McGinlay chinned David Kelly in the area and only received a yellow card. Of course it would be McGinlay who went on to score the two goals which sent Bolton through to a final where they beat Reading, a game in which Coyle scored.
But that was back in the days of the intimidating Burnden Park, which is now an Asda superstore. The Trotters now play at the excellent but rather sterile surroundings of the Reebok Stadium that usually has as many as five to seven thousand empty seats for every league game and I have been to funerals that have had a better atmosphere.
So with Bolton at an extremely low ebb, there will surely never be a better chance to take all three points and repay them for just a small chunk of the misery we all felt in 1995.
I can’t think that Mick will change anything from the team that put in another good display, despite the loss against Chelsea. Leading the line on his own again will be Kevin Doyle, who gave John Terry and Chelsea a torrid time last week, just like he has done to defences all season.
His good form has got some Wolves fans worried about where his future lies. If we get relegated he will of course leave, probably for close to double what the club paid for him and, like Joleon Lescott before him, I don’t think any of us would begrudge him for doing so.
But positive thinking tells us that we are not going to get relegated and as we know Doyle loves it at Wolves, I’m sure the three Ms will come up with a package to keep him in the Black Country and ward off any interest from other clubs. If only life were that simple.
Right, with just over 100 days to the World Cup, I’m going to start practicing with my left foot, just in case I get that call from Fabio Capello.
Enjoy Notlob and the rest of your weekend. Up the Wolves!
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“But our form has been so erratic all season that I wouldn’t like to say where the points to keep us up from the 12 remaining games will come from.”
How about having a bit of faith aye? We have beat Spurs twice this season.
We have Bolton, Burnley, West Ham, Blackburn at home, Porstmouth, and Sunderland at home.
Are you telling you can’t see where our points are going to come from? Seriously?
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You change your tune more often than an over used Jukebox mate!
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Woah, steady on Wolves Mod…that was a relatively positive post! Be careful about all that positive mumbo-jumbo or you’ll end being called a happy clapper!
UTW!
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I dunno what your going on about, i’m the biggest happy clapper around. See you at Bolton – i’m on the very front row lower tier.
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We may well have beaten Spurs twice this season, but we flopped badly against Pompey, Hull, Wigan and Blues at home – teams we should have beaten, with the exception of Blues, so I’m guessing that’s where Nathan is coming from. Having said that, Mick finally seems to have finally found his best formation and his best (current) team to play in it, so as long as we reproduce our form against the bigger clubs when we play those around us I think we’ll beat the drop. No more hiccups.
If we can keep Bolton’s big uglies quiet tomorrow, and stop Kevin Davies from appealing for everything, then we’ll win. Guedioura to finally score, and Jones to get one too.
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What I was trying to infer was that we will probably beat Utd at home, yet lose to Bilston away……
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imply
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infer
but thanks again for the spell check.
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Berra is quicker than you think.He makes some mistakes in an unforgiving league,but surely everyone can see Zubar is likely to make more. That being said I like Zubar at right back where he can bomb forward and his pace helps out the centre backs.It is also useful to have 3 decent headers at the back,given so many goals come from set pieces.The problem is where are the goals going to come from.
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I’ve been saying the same thing about Zubar. I don’t trust him in a 100% defensive role. If he makes a mistake on the right (which he does frequently) it is usually Berra or Craddock who bail him out.
I’d stick with Berra, who has probably made less mistakes than Zubar but has been unfortunate in that his mistakes have largely been punished.
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Agreed – Berra got stick because Drogba roasted him for Chelsea’s second goal, but Drogba’s roasted pretty much everyone that’s marked him his season. He and Rooney are, after all, the two best forwards in the Prem. If we were losing by three or four goals regularly then I’d say Nathan has a point, but we’re not. We do, however, need a left-back that doesn’t turn his back on the play just as the opposition striker is about to put the ball in the back of the net, as Drogba did for Chelsea’s first goal last week.
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Good Points regarding Berra and Zubar, I think it shows how well Berra and Craddock played at the weekend that they forced Drogba and Anelka into just two shots on target between them, sadly thats all Drogba needs! John Terry made more mistakes than Berra during the game, problem was we were unable to take advantage as Cech showed why he is a world-class goalkeeper!
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Bolton where just to good for us over two legs just as Albion where.
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you odviously never went to those games i did we batered Bolton at home they were lucky we didnt score six and were well in the game at there dump untill the sending off…..cmon Wolves do Bolton 2morrow….i hate them as well
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Yes i was at both games and i was in southbank for FA cup.
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We battered Bolton in the first leg and were cheated out of it in the 2nd. How the fluke is that being outplayed?!
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[post 3+1]
B F, You mean you couldn’t score then like you can’t score now?.
Bolton 4-0 woolfs.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Whats up JTH is it getting boring, boring, boring down at Sandwell now you are in a downward spiral while Wolves are on the ascendancy….
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Hello not posting under never never or one of your other monikers you Tesco trolly wally! I’d be more concerned about your faltering promotion push if I was you. If baggies were a boxer people would be saying ”he’s out on his feet.” I was at both Bolton games and we were by a mile the better side in BOTH and should have gone up automatically were in not for a couple of key injuries at the wrong time, but thats football and WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE SAY WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE!
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I think you’d better pop yourself back down the road to Sandwell and learn the difference between ‘were’ and ‘where’ matey! There’s a good boy…
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Laurence,We have to miss spell so that Low
Hill City fans can comprehend.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Maybe I am becoming over-anxious, but I am now nervous that our rivals will gain easier points from Portsmouth now they are in administration. Burnley tomorrow for example. I think Portsmouth will roll over now, the spirit sucked out of them. Loan players will be sent back to parent clubs, etc. I know we travel to them on our penultimate game but – I’m feeling twitchy about future events and the fallout from the Portsmouth affair. Reassure me someone.
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Funny I think the opposite, I think the players will come out and want to give the fans something to cheer about.
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I agree. They are now in the shop window for the close season and will want to get noticed.
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B w clubs already know what they can do, Girly. How dumb.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~~JtH.
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Thanks Tim, that’s the sort of thing I needed to hear. I guess I was worried that they’d already been doing that and that today might be the last straw. But, yes, I must be positive.
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Pass the straightjacket nurse.
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Solentwolves – you missed something……WE ALSO HAVE TO PLAY POMPEY BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON!!!! Last away match I think.
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You’ll be down long before then.
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Don`t worry tomorrow Portsmouth still have something to play for even though it would be nigh on impossible to survive, it is still mathematically possible and the team will still basically be in place, by the time we play them the administrator will have terminated some of the expensive contracts and they will surely be down.
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Pompey willbe able to hold your hand onthe
way down.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Nathan, I think mistaking a lot of Wolves for having the intelligence to understand words like ‘opprobrious’ when their core vocabulary seems to centre around the word ‘muppet’, but nevertheless another solid blog and an enjoyable read.
Loved the ‘left-foot’ sign off at the end, a real classy touch!
I agree with the sentiment about defence lacking pace in the middle, but given as how it’s a pretty settled back four I personally wouldn’t change anything myself – the team needs a solid foundation from which to build going forward, and this is as solid a foundation as we’ve found all season. The time to experiment with that, for me, is in pre-season. I think experimentation in the ‘business end’ of the season is asking for trouble, personally. I’d sooner concentrate on us sticking the ball in the net more, as we’ve shown we can shut out the likes of Liverpool & Spurs…
I agree with Chris Hoggard about Zubar too – he’s a wonderfully cavalier right-back but if he played with the same approach in the middle it would heap pressure on Craddock or Berra to cover his mistakes, whereas I think those two complement each other well.
What I love about Zubar is his clearing ability. You watch him head the ball – it doesn’t go up in the air like it does from Craddock or Berra – it goes miles down the pitch!
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got to agree about Zubar my only worry is he seems to get a rush of blood in a bad area at least once a game. Foley at right back and Keogh/edwards right and I think we would start to be much more balanced and have players doing what they are good at in the right positions.
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Agree with Big Steve about the words being used in some of Nathan’s blogs -
“opprobrious” in this week’s blog….
“obdurate” on 5 Feb….
Blimey, is it “National Lets Use Big Words Out the Dictionary” Month in Nathan’s household, or has he just been reading one for fun?
Anyway, whatever the reason, I must offer him my sincere contrafribblarities, and I will return interphrastically……
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Blimey, I didn’t realise that a couple of decent words would get any attention!
Next week, I’m delving into my latin phrasebook….. Mick addressed his Wolves team today against Notlob with aut viam inveniam aut faciam.
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wolvesmod.
we only have Blackburn and sunderland @ home, all the others are away.
we need a few shock points again i think, but our saving grace will be Hull and Burnley wont get points either.
us to stay on with 30 points.
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Keep going by next week you won’t need any points at all.
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I agree with number 2 -Chris. Berra is quicker than we think (surprised me at times this season!), just maybe not as quick as some Prem players. He has surprisingly adapted well to the Prem and should remember he is only 25. . I think Ward has done well at LB but he is the weak link in the side. Any coincidence that Berra plays left CB and is sometimes seen as defending poorly. I think a great full back will sweep behind his CB on occasions which Ward sometimes wont do because he is not in his natural position.
Could you trust erratic Zubar not to make a rash tackle or foul playing CB.
Fabio could play a forward a LB works for us! :P
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A quick note on the ManYooGate.
Firstly, most wolves fans thought we should have had a go that night and not rested ten players. If we’d have done that, we wouldn’t have been fined.
Secondly, most wolves fans were critical of those changes, like a lot of McCarthy’s decisions, but because we got fined we’re up in arms saying ‘how can a manager not pick whatever team he wants’?
In theory this is correct, but like most wolves that night I whole heartedly disagreed with the team selection as a matter of footballing principles. And again I don’t care what other teams do, just wolves!
Anyway, another interesting point raised is our defensive problems. I too think Berra is slow and clumsy and would like to see Zubar given a go alongside Craddock. After all, he was bought as a CB and played that position in the Champions League! He might make a few mistakes but it’s worth a try, as I don’t feel we look that solid now at the back. However, the obvious answer if we stay up is to this time just buy a decent defender.
This game is a must not lose. I’d probably take a draw but a win would put some real distance between us and Bolton. The only thing that concerns me is our inconstancy and the fact we tend to bottle it against the teams we’re expected to beat in our mini league.
Let’s hope with the new settled team and formation, the players can this time do us proud and get revenge for ’95!
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You cant let it go can you ?
I remember you were on here originally saying how “most Wolves fans” thought this and thought that. How do you know ?!
Your consensus is derived from a message board where, as ‘Big Steve’ points out above, most fans vocab stretches to the word “Muppet”.
Funny how so many are up in arms about the fine, but still think McCarthy was wrong !Whatever.
Anyway, 3 points tomorrow, I can feel it in my water. Bring it on boys.
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I haven’t been on a forum all week, so how you come to that conclusion is beyond me.
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You don’t care what other teams do only woolfs.
well I surpose thats about all your tiny brain can handle.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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1995 playoff semi, i went to both, at molineux we outplayed them in every department and if it wasn’t for shiltons heroics bully would of had a hat trick at least. Full of confidence we arrived at Burnden park only to be out done by mcginley, my memories of that night standing in the open end not even being able to see the whole of the pich due to a shop!! was a fully grown man standing by the floodlight choking back the tears saying “have i got to go home and tell my son weve blown it”. Revenge is sweet, we are owed this one.
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Another terrible blog.
I genuinely hope you get sacked.
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Thanks Tony, I’ll pass your wishes onto the E&S.
Listen, if you genuinely think it’s terrible, then tell me why.
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Bit harsh Tony!!
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Tony, is it because you want to do the blog?
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Another week, another good blog. With you and Big Steve on the left foot World Cup reference. Its a shame that Bridge has felt the need to back out because of JT. On the possible plus side, here’s hoping JT can get to Heskey’s missus before the start of the tournament!!
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“the pain of 1995 is fresh motivation the club needs to stick it to Bolton Wanderers again this weekend” – No it isnt Nathan Lloyd – how many of the palyers from 1995 are in the current squad or in any kind of set up at wolverhampton wanderes at the moment? Do we have the same manager as we did in 1995 so he can remind these young players of 1995 and get them motivated for Bolton? NO! You honestly dont know what ure talking about soimetimes and quite frankly im sick of your blimin blogs. The only motivation the team needs is 3 points and the opportunity of going 4 points clear of Bolton!!
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Shhhhhh.
I remember 1995, Gandhi would still hold a grudge about that one!
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Hey I don’t write the headlines! Sorry you don’t like my ‘blimin’ blogs, I truly am. But I still you are still reading them?
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I think t-wolf and Tony are right after all, sack the blogger! I can’t type for toffee, that made no sense. Let me try again.
…But I SEE you are still reading them.
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I can still hear Jimmy Greaves saying “he’s got to go, he’s just got to go, the refs bottled it, the refs bottled it”!
Great to see Keogh back; although obviously it’ll take him a couple of games to reach the 100% work rate we saw before November.
I think Portsmouth will be tougher now they have entered administration than before. There is no pressure on the players as they are all but mathematically relegated and they are all in the shop window for next season.
Its fair to say that wolves still very much hold there own destiny in there hands with only one top 6 team to play (Arsenal) in the final 10 games. We need to nick points from Villa and Everton and not just rely on taking points from the teams around us.
Come on you Wolves, 3 points on Saturday would do wonders for morale and team spirit!
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Berra has been consistent,but in my opinion he is a bit slow like craddock and both have struggled with physical strikers like drogba,kenwyn Jones, altidore. Not sure how they will cope against davies.
If we are going to win this game we have to play like we have played the last few weeks. We have to support Doyle, with players who have some attacking threat- this means No foley.
I’m not an edwards fan I dont see what he’s offers the team, he’s enegetic but doesnt pass it well and his finishing has been poor. If MM wants to win this game he needs to play Miljas or Keogh in place of Foley from the start. But I think he will stick with Foley and will play if safe and put Miljas and Keogh on later in the match.
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Nathan I don’t see how the pain of 1995 is a fresh motivation. None of the current crop of players of management can remember what happened then. I remember going to the home leg which we won 2-1 and we should have won 6-0 as we absolutely murdered them but a shock goal from McAteer killed us off.
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Stoke, as I said above, I didn’t write that headline. I don’t think it is a motivation, I would just like to Notlob get beat full stop.
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dear me….
I would like to SEE Notlob get beat full stop.
Who writes this rubbish? Oh yeah, me.
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Careful Nathan you’re turning into Jack the Hat.. boing.. boing..(further up this thread) Now just imagine how he coped with ‘ opprobrious ‘ ?
He’s probably gone back down his own end now, or, it could be past his bedtime, but somebody ought to remind him what happened to the real Jack the Hat !!
Blog was fine, but, like a few others I would worry about Zubar in the centre of defence. He’s likely to do something completely daft. Red Cards and penalties we could do without.
Any road up, I think Craddock and Berra have done well this season.
(Hope that hasn’t put the kibosh on proceedings !)
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Nathan I think all of us have a game/team we remember (obviously for the wrong reasons!)
I am the same as you, Bolton is a very, very vivid game for me.
Stoke on Trent Wolf and T-Wolf, how you can say from a fans perspective tomorrow isn’t huge cause of the past then I don’t know.
That defeat, that single play off defeat set us back years, forget what happened with McGhee, money in the premiership was already shipping in by the bucket loads then.
Wolves spent nearly as much as most premiership clubs that season, had a high wage bill etc. Wolves would have been long established had we gone up (ok we didnt but…..)
A joke of a referee decision and the fat McGinley deprived us of what would have been a return to the big time (and probably an established one)
Bolton rubbed it in (of course, why wouldn’t they) but that feeling of being robbed, watching Bully know a big chance had gone begging, the fans around, its still there.
Tomorrow from a fans perspective we owe Bolton one, we need to set them back 10 years like they did to us. Nathan has it right, let the players know the past, get them fired up for it, why not?!
Add in the fact they poached Davies and the youth lad Connolly, why shouldn’t we be up for this one….. oh and the donkey at left back Robinson we really should be up for tomorrow.
well done Nathan, good blog, if people dont like them, then why read!
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dublin, wolves, bolton not liking each other goes back longer than 95 i remember late seventies we went there last game of the season allready promoted needing a point to be champions, i think bolton could also be promoted if they won and chelsea lost, we did them 1 nil with about 10,000 wolves fans there and invaded the pitch at the end of the game. I think you will find they,ve hated us ever since. Do you remember that game Nathan ?
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Mad Tunna, I was talking about a personal perspective, but you are right, I heard something like that (sorry wasnt old enough to be there or remember it either!)
Its a game the fans want, so come on Wolves get into them!!
Oh and Nathan….. why do you only reply to people who criticise, yet when people add constructive remarks you ignore them most weeks…. bit strange. A blog to create debate, to be ignored and just talk with the idiots!.
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Dublin, I think I always think that perhaps I should respond to the criticise and some of idiots who focus on me rather than the subject matter.
I thought your response was excellent by the way, glad you echoed my sentiments and understood the point I was trying to make.
I’ll pay more attention to the responders who have something to say in the future, I promise!
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Some good points raised.
We all remember the heartache of that playoff defeat too vividly and lardy boy’s punch, but remember too the Premiership game against Bolton at Molinuex when Uriah Rennie dismissed two clear penalty claims, the first when Kennedy was so blatantly chopped down in the opening minutes. That more or less sealed our relegation.
Yes Bolton owe us big time, let’s send them to Scunthorpe for a midweek fixture in February 2011
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Can someone please edit these articles (or preferably ghost-write them) before they get posted? It’s painful reading.
Zubar is a bit of a liability. You’d be asking for trouble playing him at centre half. But you’re right about Craddock and Berra – they’re like a pair of cart horses. How I was Joleon was still at the club.
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That donkey stopped Low Hill City from gaining
promotion to the Premier league.***McGinley***.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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A big factor in that 1995 defeat was bad luck.I seem to recall we hit the woodwork at least twice in the home game, and had a no of efforts cleared off the line.Peter Shilton played for them that day.I first saw him at the Mol in Aug 1968,that is a period of nearly 27 years playing professional football.It must be some sort of record.Shilts was great in ’68stopping the imperious Peter Knowles time and time again,and he was man of the match in ’95.Mind he wasn’t so good in the cup final on 15 March 1980.
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what an oppertuninty for THE WOLVES!bolton havnt scored for 500 mins.and the fact that we are not relegated already must be an achievement.to think that if we beat notlob(bolton;)AWAY will go along way to ensuring premiership survival.on a shoe string i might add.god bless accountants!and one frugal owner(sorry had to:)it seems that wolves have forged out a gilt edged chance and they must take it,dont want to see us blow this one against inferior opposition.its time to show the premier league and notlob we are here to stay.wolves have earnt this chance so motivation will not be an issue.nice to see a consistant team and our midfield is firing on all cylinders.utw.
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