Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
The time to reassess ahead for Lalley
Tuesday 16th March 2010, 9:30AM GMT.
Wolves’ Sporting Star columnist John Lalley believes the win at Burnley could have put one foot in the Premier League for next season – but what comes next?
With it being almost 30 years to the day since Nottingham Forest defender Dave Needham and goalkeeper Peter Shilton got themselves into a comically almighty tangle to gift us our League Cup win at Wembley, it was appropriate that Burnley’s Tyrone Mears and Brian Jensen should display such an appreciation of football history.
They combined splendidly to allow Matt Jarvis to play the role of Andy Gray and help himself to an open goal that could be as vital as that Wembley winner.
The victory at Turf Moor, although not destined to go down in Wolves folklore like the triumph over Nottingham Forest, is nevertheless pivotal in our season and gives us an opportunity we simply must not squander.
Back in 1980, just as we had done after our previous triumph in 1974, we found ourselves relegated within two years of the ecstasy of winning a major trophy. On both occasions, we were undermined by complacency believing that our success meant we could freewheel basking in the glory of our achievement.
The opposite was true, we should have used both cup wins as a springboard to success and invested in strengthening our resources.
Wembley became an end rather than a beginning and almost from the marvellous moment that captain Emlyn Hughes lifted the trophy, we were already sowing the seeds of the most catastrophic decline in the club’s history.
After a long and often painful recovery, our failure to invest in the team that won promotion in 2003 may have made financial sense to the board but it certainly put back all that Wolves were seeking to achieve as a team by at least five years.
Kevin Doyle’s comments prior to the Burnley game make for an interesting comparison. The assurances given as part of an inducement for him to remain at Molineux seem to indicate that there will be some serious financial investment in the squad this summer in the event of our survival at the end of the season.
This of course begs the question – why wasn’t this kind of speculation the order of the day last summer, as the club by their own statements of intent had led us to believe?
But recrimination and criticism of the players we did purchase pre-season is pointless. All of them tried their level best every time they were selected. Some of them made little impression, others none at all, but nobody set out to disappoint. If they were not good enough, their limitations are not their fault.
We appear to have struck lucky with Adlene Guedioura but, should we survive, then surely we have to be looking to recruit some players higher up the pedigree chain if we are to avoid another season of continuous struggle.
And we clearly want no more long running sagas of public desperation the like of which turned our pursuit of Stephen Hunt into a farce, or the insistence that we were shaping up to fund a top dollar move for Robbie Keane, knowing full well there was not a cat in hell’s chance of him making any sentimental return to Molineux like the Prodigal Son.
No, let’s do our business quietly and efficiently and do the talking when the contracts are signed and sealed.
Our manager Mick McCarthy still divides opinions amongst supporters but he can’t decide the size of his transfer budget.
He doesn’t set the wage structure at Molineux anymore than he did when being short-changed when managing a Sunderland team, restricted in exactly the same way as our team under Dave Jones was after he won us promotion.
I am still amazed and delighted that Kevin Doyle joined Wolves but, with the majority of his colleagues survivors of our Championship campaign, he must hope that this time there is genuine intent in the assurances the club has given him regarding recruitment fort next season.
Staying in this league with the players at our disposal would probably rank as our best achievement since that League Cup triumph, but to ask McCarthy to repeat this feat without the boost of some quality personnel is surely asking the impossible.
This time, if we retain our status, there can be no room for any ambiguity and the club must put into operation the terms of its own stated action plan.
What a real opportunity we now have to achieve survival. The win at Turf Moor in itself guarantees us nothing, but it will take an amazing transformation in Burnley’s fortunes to reverse what appears to be an inexorable road to relegation. The smallest budget in the Premier League appears for them now an insurmountable handicap.
Wolves appear to be locked in a straight fight with a panicking Hull having chosen a remarkable moment to dispense with their manager, a ragingly inconsistent Wigan and West Ham despite much reluctance from their many national media chums to concede it in avoiding the last relegation slot.
I believe that we will stay up and if they do, any celebrating should be short-lived.
Meaningful preparation to ensure our survival for next season should begin on the following day and this time, the club should deliver in full measure any promises it makes.
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I agree completely we have signed to many players that may try hard and now no longer even seem to make the bench, 10 mill on players that dont make the team is not acceptable.
I just hope that we stay up (i think we will) that we then buy more quality and less quantity.
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Ideally the club should not make any promises, particularly those they cannot have any hope of keeping. We cannot imagine for one minute that a team that just escapes relegation, if indeed they do, will be an attraction to the so-called top class quality players everyone wishes were at Wolves.
Supporters also need to accept this no matter how difficulty it is. Simply offering astronomical wages and paying very large fees to players you hope will give they’re all and transform your team will more than likely fail. There is an endless trailed of failings, even by the so-called big clubs, following this route. They at least can afford the mistakes, we cannot.
It takes time to build a successful team and some of or current players may yet gel into a really good Premier League outfit given opportunity and time. We need an effective game plan and a good deal of patience to build.
However, some astute purchases during the closed season will not go amiss either, just do not expect too much to soon.
Lets go for it the rest of this season by getting behind what we have and cheering them on to success.
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i think we signed to many squad players and went for quantity not quality. With the exeption of doyle. If we manage to stay up then we need to invest in quality. I’m not convinced by mick as he has made some woeful signings, but as you say did he have the budget to get decent players. Any way lets get 3 more wins from somewhere..and then please please invest more next season as we may not be so lucky next year.
Come on wolves
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well said Pete, i agree with every word you say, this is just the beginning the wolves are back and here to stay, lets take our rightful place back amomngst the top clubs.
come on you WOLVES !
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How much drivel can you pack into one article?
1) Why are you discussing next season in the PL? We are far from safe yet.
2) The Jarvis goal is hardly comparable with the Gray goal. He did use his pace to intercept it and still had to get around the keeper. It was not an “open goal”.
3) Recruiting players for a team in its second season in the Premier League is much easier than in its first. Getting Doyle was a major coup and the management team should be applauded for this. We couldn’t attract other players without taking big risks on wages (that would also prove unnecessary risks if we stay up).
4) “struck lucky with Adlene Guedioura” – Please! Surely we can give some credit to our chief scout here.
5) “Wage Structure”, “restricted in exactly the same way” – Portsmouth didn’t skimp when they were promoted did they? Let’s get spending!
6) “Meaningful preparation to ensure our survival for next season should begin on the following day” – problem solved, if only you were on the board.
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I argee i think we will be in the prem next season! up the Wolves!
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If we stayed up we’d need to strengthen in key positions, CB, LB, CM, RW, ST.
We would need to spend £20-30M on these players alone, as you get what you pay for.
If we had another striker of Doyle’s quality and a winger/creative midfielder we’d be mid table.
As for the current team, I think we’d be a better outfit with Milijas in for Henry and Edwards in for Foley.
I’d take a point on Sat.
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Lets not get our knickers in a twist about the players we signed last summer. At the time they were the only players prepared to come to a newly promoted club, who had a more than realistic chance of going back down.
If we stay in the Premier League we will naturally attract better players. Then the Newcastle’s and West Brom’s will have to worry about the problems we had last summer!
Up the Wolves!
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I don’t think its the end of the world if we do go down. There are only 2 reasons why people watch football.The first is to see there team reach the highest level possible and the other is to have a few drinks and enjoy a day out with family or friends.
In today’s world the likely hood that we will ever achieve the levels of ManU or Real Madrid without mounting up devastating debts is highly unlikely. No point dreaming it will happen because its just not.
Which leads me to the other point. In the championship we had more games for my money and enjoyed 3-4 weekends away with friends supporting the team on the travels to various cities. In the premiership this hasn’t happened most games are in London where its too expensive to stay over night. The rest is just too expensive in general. Hull and Burnley were still asking £35 – £40 a ticket.
In fact my only away attendance this year was ManU where my costs for the total trip approached nearly £200 just to watch reserves. I didn’t enjoy the experience, the ground, the respect we were given or the 4 hour journey on M6 because of the stupid road works.
All in all the only reason for being in the premiership is to achieve something that were not going to get and in the meantime have a less enjoyable time and spend loads of money.
Were better suited if we go down this time. We haven’t made the mistake of offering players a massive pay rise to get us up like last time which meant we couldn’t afford to keep the same player when we went back down.
Most the squad will stay apart from the new signings which we don’t use anyway. Also Doyle stayed at reading when they went down so he might stay with us just as long as Moxey doesn’t get dollar eyes when the offers roll in as he’s done in the past.
West Ham
Man City
Blackburn
Sunderland
Bolton
Birmingham
Have all been down and back again so why cant we.
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We signed the players we could get to join us. The names you all crave just wont sign for a club, any club, that has been in the Premiership for two seasons out of the last 26. Why people cant understand this is beyond me.
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jeez we havent finished this campaign yet, theres still 9 games left anything can happen, cant believe we are talking about next season allready, yes it looks good at moment and i could stare at league table allday, but we gotta get 39points to be safe.
TONY LEWIS watch what you say mate, its like dennis irwin said when he was at wolves, that you have to earn the divine right to be in the premier league. The season hasnt finished yet!
we havent done anything yet to say we have the right to be in the league, except for 3 very poor teams. Wish doyle kept his mouth shut and didnt go public praising burnley and to not rule them out, why? your meant to kick em when there down!
anyway it is looking good but lets not get carried away, we got some hard games coming up, if only we can get 4points from villa and west ham that will set us sail nicely.
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10 – Jake, unfortunately old boy you wont find much in common with your average E&S poster. You’ve hit the nail on the head about players not coming due to our lack of Prem time, but due to a combination of immature comments from Morgan pre season and grossly overt expectations, most fans just can see that.
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In any league you need a goal scorer, simple as.
Should of spent £10m on one striker to play with Doyle and signed a decent left back. instead of frittering £2-3m here and there on average squad players. I mean whats Mienhoffer all about?? Jones is keeping Miljas out, Halford can’t get a game and Zubar has hijacked Foleys position for some reason. I still think we payed to much for Berra as well.
Isn’t hindsight great!
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We must now be favorites to stay up, and if we do we will hopefully stay up for good.
A little more luck this season and we’d have been safe by now already. We are looking far more like a Premiership side now than the first half the season, & really we’re not a million miles away from being a mid table quality team.
Yes the same two issues that have haunted this season will need to be fixed. We do create chances but score from far too few of them, and any mistakes made are almost always punished. The Man U game is typical of our season…we had more clear cut chances than the one Scholes scored from, which we’d have squandered, so we lost 1-0.
Next season our Championship players will have become experienced Premier League players, and won’t have to go through the same learning curve. Think back to just how bad & nervous Foley & Jarvis were for the first couple of months. Didn’t Jarvis put in the most crosses in the entire league in August and not one was on target?
Craddock will be even older next season, which could effect his performance, but the core of the squad is young & should keep improving for the next 5 to 10 years. You never know, Kightly might even feature.
Admittedly it will still be hard to attract top quality players, but surely its going to be easier than last summer.
We should have funds left from this season, together with moderate amounts from offloading surplus squad players, plus a new Premier League budget similar to everyone elses.
My prediction is there will be less spending in the summer as many clubs will still be paying this season’s debts, and that Morgan WILL actually spend big.
Bolton, Wigan, Sunderland, Blues, West Ham and possibly Everton will be the ones who struggle to spend and may even lose players they can’t afford. Liverpool could also easily implode like Newcastle. Even Newcastle will be back, and will, err…do a Newcastle again.
LOL, wolfo, so its not just me then that stares all day at the league table.
Simon :)
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Some very good points. It is highly unlikely that we will go down. Burnley are totally reliant on and have horrific home games to come – 3 of the 4 chasing the 4th spot and a local derby v their local rivals, Blackburn. Down!
Then we are talking 1 from 4 – Hull, Wigan, West Ham and Wolves. I can see both Hull and Wigan possibly getting 3 wins out of 9 – anything more is asking a bit and then due to our GD we only need 2 wins – easily gettable.
As for signings… yes there were some poor ones – Halford and the Hoff spring to mind. Doyle is class and Zubar, Guedioura and Milijas are good players. Surman could yet be one for the future. We need to get these victories and then spend some money and very importantly pay the wages. Roger Johnson and Scott Dann spring to mind!
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If and its still not a given, we manage to stay up we really need to strengthen the backbone of the team. Strong quick centre back, Good creative midfielder, Forward who will guarantee 10 to 15 goals a season.
This cost money so splash the cash Morgan and this Wolves team will go on to bigger and better things.
Good Luck on Saturday lads!
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Very good article, agree entirely with its conclusions. Can we also make a start on extending the capacity and reducing the cost so people like me can afford to go again.
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is’nt it funny how some supporters and i use that term loosely, insist on telling anyone within earshot of how the club should be run, who should and should’nt be sold. no wonder mcarthy said that he could’nt care less what they think. I suppose they feel valued as fans if they think that someone actually cares what they think. UTW. VILLA 1 WWFC 2.
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Excellent article.My only beef is the assumption that it is almost cut and dried that we will survive.It is still nip and tuck and it would not surprise me if we are still chasing a goal against Sunderland with 10 minutes to go.
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I am worried about the effect Hull sacking their manager will have on the final outcome.
It was a brave and positive decission by their chairman because there was no way they were going to stop up.
BUT if they appoint someone like El Tel they will have the imputus to have a go and WE will be their target.
Pity our chairman has no bottle………
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No point in discussing players signed or not signed last summer or in January; and talk of strengthening the squad for next season’s Premiership campaign are pie in the sky.
We are where we are, with what we’ve got and apart from injured players coming back (or new injuries, God forbid)we have still got one hell of a fight on our hands.
Portsmouth capitulated to a very
ordinary Liverpool last night and they are first up for Hull who on paper have the easiest run in.
Wigan too have some difficult games, but, their biggest problem is their own inconsistency.
Bolton have the possibly the hardest run-in and will really need the points they’ve nicked recently.
Look out for West Ham ! They’ve got some real tough ones, plus games against relegation rivals. They could be the side making up the dreaded threesome. With debts worse than Portsmouth, if they do go down, they’ll implode ……Sullivan, Olympic Stadium, ice-bound pitch and all. Well played Iceland !
Apart from the last match of the season Sunderland successes could have a big say in this unfolding drama.
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Agree with may of the points in the article,at the end of the day its results and the players you bring in that decide how good a manager you are.
MM has bought poorly and has shown his inexperience at this level .He has gone for workrate, running in a league that demands quality to survive, apart from Doyle, Miljas, and Geudiora. Its really funny hearing some fans on here defending some of these other signing. I know if i was steve morgan and i’d spent 10 million on them and none of them can get in the team i wouldnt be too impressed…
A chairman must trust the judgement of the manager, but if we stay up, would you give MM another 20 mill to spend to strenghen based on his track record???
MM doesnt have to listen to our comments and feelings, but the board do, just look at Smegson.
The good thing about MM is that the team spirit and morale is good, and theres still a good chance of staying up
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19. thankyou for proving my point.
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Good post John, i too think that we can survive this season but everyone needs to be behind the team, the away support this season has been fantastic its amazing what a lift it gives the players.
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Wish I could feel sufficiently optimistic to be discussing next season as a Premier League Club!
Saturday was only our second win in 12 games; with only 9 games left, a similar return surely wouldn’t be sufficient to ensure survival.
A massive effort is still needed- a good number of the squad probably appreciate that this is likely to be their sole chance of Premiership football; even survival would likely see many of them depart/marginalised.
Let’s hope this doesn’t inform their commitment and endeavour over the remaining games.
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I believe that we will stay up this season.
I am concerned over Morgan – he says nothing. That’s ok when things are going well but, after what we have been through, and are further likely to go through, it worries me that he doesn’t attempt to give the fans any crumbs of comfort and, with that, confidence for the future.
As for the CEO, he has kept the club solvent, so that’s good for all. However, no speculation = no accumulation and all that goes with it.
I suppose the annual bonus replaces any need to venture too far out of the comfort zone!
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I said at the start of the season the Striker i would have gone for was Darren Bent a player who Harry Redknapp didnt fancy, yet was in Englands squad, was also top english goal scorer the season before ok he would have cost £10m but rather than waste £10m on 8 squad players and buying 4 top players and using our own squad around them.which i feel would have given us more value for our money. ( well Steve Morgan’s money )
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Personally,i am delighted with whats happening at the club i love.Wolves are very much a work in progress,a gradual and steady development;the odd blip here and there but overall an upward curve bit like a recoverring stock market!
The 3 M’s have a long term plan of investing in young hungry players.Some will make it, some won’t but the ones who move on will be sold and not given away on frees like so often in the past.
Do we really want to be like Hull with ageing injury prone players like Jimmy Bullard reputedly on £40000 a week.If they go down i doubt they ever recover.
No, we spend our money instead on a unique fitness “laboratory” to make and keep our players the fittest.
Recent happenings at Portsmouth suggest obscenely inflated fees and wages for players is not sustainable, the bubble is about to burst and Wolves will be in a very strong position when it does.
I am hopeful we will stay up this year(if we don’t we’ll still be in a strong position to come back,a major blip but not fatal)and if we do i am very optimistic for the future.
We will be one of only a handful of premiership teams completely debt free with plans for a 40000 seater stadium and a chairman with money and knowledge of the game.
This is exciting times for Wolves and all Wolves fans.
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The current ratio of points to games suggest Burnley would finish on 30/31 points, Hull on 31/32 points and Wolves on 35/36 points. Things may change but when you measure these kind of things over the whole of a season, usually statistics don’t lie. I am quietly confident after the Burnley result. A point at Villa would be excellent. Wolves FC forever.
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