Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Villa 2 Wolves 2
Saturday 20th March 2010, 5:03PM GMT.
Wolves were denied a precious victory after two-goal John Carew rescued lacklustre Villa.
The game seemed to be heading towards Wolves’ first win at Villa Park for 30 years until Carew, with a second suspiciously offside-looking goal, diverted home substitute Steve Sidwell’s shot with eight minutes left.
After a bright start which brought them a simple goal from Carew in the 16th minute, the home side faded alarmingly and the visitors made the most of it with a Jody Craddock equaliser on 23 and an own goal from James Milner 15 minutes later.
But, despite Carew’s late equaliser, Wolves left Villa Park the happier team as the point put them four points clear of the drop zone, at least for a few hours.
In an open start, Villa had little trouble finding space in the opposition defence and it looked like there were going to be chances galore, especially for the hosts.
Carew made the most of a poor Carlos Cuellar cross to rifle an angled effort across the face of goal, with Stephen Warnock just failing to apply the final touch sliding in at the far post.
Wolves responded with a fierce volley from Adlene Guedioura that bounced a couple of yards wide from a Matt Jarvis corner.
But Villa were quickly back into their stride and only fine tackles by captain Karl Henry on the rampaging Milner, Christophe Berra on Carew and Stephen Ward on Ashley Young in the penalty area prevented more assaults on goal.
And it was little more tha the claret and blues deserved as they took the lead in their next attack in the 16th minute.
Young got away from Ronald Zubar far too easily for Wolves’ liking down the left and crossed to Carew – fractionally ahead of last defender Jody Craddock – to tap home his 12th goal of the season.
Their tails up, Villa attempted to drive home their advantage and Young’s fizzing angled shot was held by goalkeeperMarcus Hahnemann.
But just as they looked in control, Wolves hit back to equalise through Craddock in the 23rd minute.
The veteran defender, who has been told he has a new contract this week, fired home first time left footed for his fifth goal of the season after Zubar teed him up from David Jones’s swirling free kick.
Villa Park seemed strangely flat and the home team was the same and Wolves took advantage, taking the lead 15 minutes later – albeit in fortuitous circumstances – when Milner stabbed home Jarvis’s cross ahead of Jones just inside the six-yard box.
The home side appeared tepid and could offer little in response but they wasted a superb chance four minutes before the break, when Stewart Downing planted a free header into the ground and over from six yards out.
Martin O’Neill’s men found the net early in the second half – but thankfully for Wolves, it was only the side-netting from Richard Dunne’s far post header then the top of the net from Young’s free kick.
The visitors, who brought on George Elokobi for Guedioura at half-time then Michael Mancienne for Stephen Ward on 64, had little trouble containing Villa until after the hour mark, when Carew should have done better with a header.
Wolves were forced into a desperate clearance from Henry on the line after an Emile Heskey header him on 70, before Carew’s late heroics.
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2 off side goals,, we never get that sort of luck.
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Great performance. Great point. Well done lads. All I could hear on the TV was the Wolves fans – what fantastic support!
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Well ok it could have been all 3 points, but all in all a point is probably a fair reflection on the match as a whole.
If someone had offered me that before kick off, I would have snatched their hand off.
Maybe Carew’s goals were offside but I will take that point as very well earned, Villa had a real go at us second half (expected nothing less tbf) and we stood up well to them. Hahnemann was absolutely IMMENSE today!! I’m ecstatic that all these ridiculous 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 Villa predictions have been well and truly put to bed. I don’t know about anyone else, but 2 points this time is a VAST improvement on last time’s zilch, not to mention the 4-0 home tanking we suffered for it also. I think the next time Villa face us we will command a little more respect from them, players and manager anyway not sure about the fans.
Onto to Tuesday night then, another performance such as this may see us gain another point at least. West Ham like us are desperate for the points, so a good open game should be there for the taking if we match (or better) today’s fantastic effort IMO.
Still plenty to do but this is a SERIOUS confidence boost to fans and players alike, whether we like to admit or not Villa are potentially top 6 material.
We CAN survive, we just have to keep the terrific support going and more importantly the faith in this fast improving Wolves team.
We Are Wolves (and extremely proud of it too)
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Well done to the Team, another gutsy performance. Jarvis, Doyle, and Jones were the main men in my opinion.
Disapointing we could not have held out for the win.
We were again to open at the back and Mcarthy still needs to do something about the full backs, there is too much space allowed we were not closing down, and backed off them too easily. Thought we looked better on the left when George came on.
Henry is still not worth his place and nearly gave two goals away before half time, and continues to foul too near to the box, then appeals to the ref, not me guv.
would like to have seen Chris come on when we were 2-1, another missed opportunity to put pressure on a team when we were ahead.
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we should of won! Great atmosphere in the away end, with Hull and Burnley losing, we are looking good, we are wolves.
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Just watched pompey score 2 in last minute 2 beat Hull,another game nearer safety.Played well in phases and thoroughly deserved the points.
Well done to all.
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Give me that result before the game any time, thats just given us a 4 point gap from the 2 other sides we have to worry about…. com on me babbies !!!!!!!!!
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how many fouls did Petrov commit after already recieving a yellow card, i would say at least 3 or that he would have been yellow carded for had he not already been booked. 2 offside goals. should have had another pen in first game and still they only take 2 points off us.Top 4 your haveng a laugh.
Great performance from the lads today lets go and beat West Ham now.
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dont forget they should have been down to ten men aswell
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Certainly deserved a draw today and the effort over the whole pitch was good. Villa were clearly offside for their first goal which was a disappointment.
I still cannot fathom some of the moves MM made with the substitutions. The French lad goes off (injury??) and Elokobi comes on and Ward goes to midfield?? Ward I thought was weak and looked very vulnerable defending both Downing and Young with no one supporting him. His clearances were atrocious.
We spent way too much time defending deep and it was only a matter of time that Villa would find a way back.
I really believe when we went ahead was the time to have been more adventurous as Villa looked lost and would have been vulnerable to a more attacking posture.
However, a good point and hopefully we can atleast get another point at West Ham. The results for the second week running with Hull, Burnley and Bolton all losing and,hopefully, Arsenal will thrash the Hammers later today are all in our favor so MM and the lads have no excuses not to make a real fist of getting us out of trouble.
COME ON YOU WOLVES!!!
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Another good performance by he team. Should have taken all 3 points (both Villa goals just offside), but happy to have scored 2 goals agains the best defence in te league and taken a point I wasn’t expecting before the kick-off. Strong performances from Hahnemann, Craddock, Berra, Henry, Jones, Jarvis and Doyle, altough Doyle looked exhausted by the last 10-15 mins, and should probably should have come off with the West Ham game on Tuesday night. Thought the tactical changes worked despite the equaliser – without the changes, we could have lost it. Crucial game Tuesday – can’t afford to lose it, even with Hull and Burnley sinking fast…
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Just had to post this one.
Wigan 1 Burnley 0
Portsmouth 3 Hull 2
So we are NOT returning to the bottom 3 at anytime during this weekend for a change and we are now 4 points ahead of both of them too.
BRILLIANT and SO refreshing.
Before anyone says it, yes I do realise we couldn’t go back into the bottom 3 once we got that point today but it feels so nice to be able to say we are still 4 points above it!!!!
Let me make it clear, I couldn’t give a monkeys what Wigan or West Ham (apart from Tuesday) are doing just as long as we stay above the last 3 teams in this league.
Also as a side result which doesn’t affect us directly but more personal to me, Stoke (Real Madrid) City lost at home to Spurs who we got 6 points off, PRICELESS. Monday morning will be SO good as I work with several Stoke fans and 2 Villa fans.
I would love us to beat Stoke at the golden palace, it would make my season (apart from if we stay up of course) given most of them think we are cannon fodder and an easy game.
Up The Wonderful Wolves.
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well we had the luck of last week and the luck of a own goal today so im not too unhappy. I loved the fact they we even got a point.
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Where are all those normally slagging off MM tonight? Skulking in a corner somewhere I suppose. Gutted at losing 2 points but at least 1 point is better than none. Bring on the next bunch of claret & blue. Were well on the way to staying up. Come on you WOLVES!!!!!
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iff we stay up or go down i dont think thick mick is the man for the job,and he should still be sacked and replaced by a decent manager like coppel.
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Where are all those normally slagging off MM tonight? Skulking in a corner somewhere I suppose. Gutted at losing 2 points but at least 1 point is better than none. Bring on the next bunch of claret & blues. Were well on the way to staying up. Come on you WOLVES!!!!!
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Brilliant effort, Wolves! Of course, some dodgy moments but also, both Villa goals could have been ruled offside and Petrov should have been off.
Elokobi looked much more proficient today and full of energy….. Ward more effective in midfield than at full back.
I think Mick was dead right to bring Guedioura off…he was on a red card and this wasn’t one of his better games ..some poor control and distribution.
But, for heaven’s sake, let’s celebrate…bring on the next claret and blues!!
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2-1 up with a few minutes left, and we draw 2-2 at one of the toughest places to play. A little disappointing not to hang on but still an excellent point & a great moral boosting performance. ‘First half season Wolves’ would have collapsed after going behind early on, but now with the 4-5-1 we have definately become hard to beat, but still are in it to win it at places we wouldn’t normally dream of getting a point.
Hull 2-1 up with 2 minutes left at Portsmouth…but LOSE 2-3. Devastating for them. I can’t see them recovering from that, and are now 4 points behind us, with less opportunites to get points & rapidly running out of games.
Burnley lose at Wigan in injury time…also devastating for them, and where will they be able to get points from if they can’t get any from the key relegation battles from against us and now Wigan. Only 7 games left for Burnley now.
Ok I’m going to look for chickens…I want to count them.
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Brilliant stuff today, great point.
2 more wins and a draw would take us to 35 points, which I think would easily be enough.
Bring on the summer, quality signings and a permanent slot in the Premier League!
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The manager,coach and all the players have given us one hell of a chance of survival this season.They deserve, and I hope will get, full support from all of us until the job is done.
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Well done to wolves great point against one of the better teams in the league. Well done to Wigan and especially Portsmouth. Also well done to John Spain for somehow still managing to get a negative out of the game by having a dig at MM and Henry. Good luck Tuesday boys. UTW.
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2 – what a fool you are.
Great point and results go our way and yet you still continue to slag Mick off.
Your mindless comments prove that you know zero about the Premier League and football in general.
Your rants and those of ‘LA Moron’, ‘Idiot from Tenerife’ et al never fail to amuse me as you hammer away at your keyboard 15 minutes after the final whistle, blindly slating Mick.
He’s not going anywhere you pillock so either back him or stop with your drivel.
You and your ilk are an embarrassment.
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2 – it’s not you that’s the idiot.
It’s 4 (and me for not replying to the right person).
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A great performance by the lads. Certainly not easy playing against the likes of Young, Downing and Milner, but I thought generally we did a more than fair job.
4 points from the last two games have transformed our situation. Lets hope we can get something from the West Ham game on Tuesday.
Where have all the usually whingers gone?
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23 – I did wonder what I had said to upset you!!! LOL!!!
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Fantastic point, but we did get pretty lucky with the last 10 mins of the 3 o’clock kick off games!! Swings and round-a-bouts. There’s been a lot of stick recently about Henry from a few people on here and a few fans at away games I’ve been to in the North, but from what I saw on the streams (which were pretty awful today) and what was said on 5 Live, it sounds like he was immense today. Him and guy called Doyle who may actually be the first human being worth his weight in gold!
Up The Wolves!
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Fantastic performance today.
Karl Henry was awesome today – covered a huge amount of ground, broke down numerous attacks, cleared at a vital time when Marcus dropped the ball, fantastic tackle inside the box in the first half (and Stephen Ward as well!!) Were you watching Fabio?
Comments on the tv and in reports about Vila having an off day really annoy me.
They had an off day and looked ordinary because we made them look ordinary. Just like we have with a lot of other teams, when the luck has gone against us.
Petrov should have had a red, for example,
Great team performance, great team spirit, great support today. We can make it happen – good time to be a Wolves fan!
Best Wishes
David
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#27.
yes I agree with what you are saying about Villa having a supposed “off day”, and that we were the reason they looked “off”.
However I hate to say it but it’s the truth and a fact, teams like us who are new to this league rarely get the praise we deserve even when it’s merited. I’m afraid that is something we’ll have to put up with until (hopefully) we establish ourselves in the Prem.
Let’s see if we can cheer you up a little more.
West Ham have just lost to Arsenal 2-0 and that result means we finish the weekend in 16th place, how about that. Better still. We are playing the Hammers on Tuesday (Sky Sports) and although the game will be a tough one, a result from that one and we start to get into nose-bleed territory.
Come On You Wolves.
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I said on here yesterday about Ashley Young boasting that villa havent lost in 2010, and would win today. And AV fans on radio WM saying they would beat us 4-0,4-1,5-0,5-1, bet their not so cocky tonight. We played well considering they supposed to be a top 4 side, with a team of internationl players,proven in the PL. I said he who laughs last laughs longest well im still laughing. I didnt agree last week with bringing Mancienne on and i didnt today either,he doesnt seem to add much for my liking. I would sooner have put Big Chris on and put Doyle and Jarvis wide, and in the last 20mins took Doyle off as he looked dead on his feet and given Keogh a run. Still think Big George isn’t with it in the PL, he played Carew onside for his 2nd, as Ward didnt pick up Carew for the first, Berra couldn’t see Carew behind him but Ward did but couldn’t be bothered to get goal side of Carew to stop him scoring an open goal. Apart from them two incidents i was well pleased with the teams overall preformance and my m.o.t.m. was Dave Jones a player ive never taken too, but since his return i think he’s been excellent in every game,and also id like to praise Jody Craddock i think his ‘shirt number’ is upside down should be no 9 what a striker 5 goals and only cost us £1.75M cheap or what?. Lets hope we can get at least 1pt v WHU but keep an eye on the WEATHER as they cant play in the ‘Snow/Wet’ and when their ‘BEST PLAYERS’ are out injured ? I said id have settled for 5pts out of 9 against the 3 teams in Claret n Blue and before last Saturday and still will be come 10pm Tuesday. GREAT RESULT TODAY LADS. UTW FOREVER
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Overheard towards the end of the game: Fabio Capello asking “oo eez diz Jarveez?…ee-za bellissimo”
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Well Fellow Wolves People inside info…I had a conversation with Senior Capello… “Who are you here to see” He replied ” Well I’o wasa here to see the Villa players but perhaps i maight look again at Matt, he looksa gooda to mio”
Only joking great atmosphere after the first 15 I thought we would be blown away BUT Thanks lads will watch the games to-night but the good lady says” Andy said they were both off and if you are offside then you are offside” Comment Tomorrow.
Jody Craddock walks on water and apart from a few errors I think Carl Henry did well.
results will go for us.. That the luck we need and West ham has to be a Three pointer.. Crazey Dave
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gutted we didnt take all 3 points although b4 hand i wud of taken a point. cant help thinking that if we had good officials in this country we wouldnt even be in a relagation battle some absolutly disgustin officiating again 2day when are the boys from the fa going to sort these idiots out.
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Great result pity we didn’t win but the linesman was totallt out of it he couldn’t even keep up with the play and thats why Villa manage to get 2 iffy goals well done lads now for West Ham lets get all 3 points
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We did really well today shame we did not come away with all three points but I am happy with a point.There’s only one Jody Craddock etc etc.
Come on the Wolves
We believe in you! I do anyway!
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well done wolves….need to play milijas, he’s our best player….mick take off your loyalty goggles mate
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Great job today. Lucky Villa to get a draw. Before the game Id have settled for a point but gutted not to get 3. Where are all the whingers tonight? Skulking in a corner somewhere no doubt. Bring on the next claret & blue crew. Well done my boys!!
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empty seats my lord !!! empty seats.
Fantastic support, sang myself horse. Holte end the 12th man youre havin a laugh. same old villa fans, villa villa ( in high pitched voice ) not seen it tv but the first goal looked off side to me, might be because the lines man was 10 yards behind play. what do we expect with Battenburg as the ref. Well done lads, more of the same against the hammers,
come on !!!
p.s love the way George took the mickey at the end as well.
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Player ratings:
13 Hahnemann 8/10
06 Craddock 7/10
11 Ward 5/10 better second half shouldnt have beem taken off (Mancienne 64)
16 Berra 6/10
23 Zubar 6/10
32 Foley 4/10 missing for periods of the game
08 Henry 7/10 although tried to be fancy when he should have booted it
14 Jones 9/10 looking better with every game
17 Jarvis 8/10 quality performance, really matured
34 Guedioura 5/10 not his best performance
29 Doyle 8/10 continues to be our best player, good work rate, but lacked that drive of top top players to make scoring ops
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27 david,
got the train back and every villa fan i spoke to said no off day we were better, no lie.
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Very commendable performance.
Sat amongst the Villa fans in the North Stand,it was a testimony to our organisation and committment that the Home fans evidently felt so nervous and anxious.
Beginning to believe, in spite of myself!
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was the ref wearing burgundy glasses? hahahaha up the wolves southbank till i die
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The team did a great job today, three points would have been perfect, but one was good. I think that a second season is now a real possibility if the same level of performance and commitment can be kept up. Portsmouth’s result was a massive boost to us, and a I believe we can put at least another point between ourselves and Hull / Burnley at Upton Park on Tuesday.
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Would definitely have settled for a point before the game, that goes without saying, but with a little luck we could have had all three points.
We are perhaps starting to believe in ourselves and that we can compete and stay in this division.
If we can carry on like this, why not! We need to maintain that gap that is beginning to open up and if we can just match the sides below us now, which should be achievable, we can stay up and hopefully really strengthen the squad for next year. I think we will need to, as this year we will only stay up by virtue of there being 3 poor sides below us in the league and possibly the lowest points total required for a few seasons.
Well done to the lads today, but the owner needs to show he wants to invest in this club sensibly but with some ambition.
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Brilliant point lads and one point closer to safety! Nice to see that d-head Wordsley wolf still being his abusive self – weather must still be getting to him! John Spain, you’re spot on with your assessment.
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21 & 22 thanks for your constructive comments. As you seem to be waiting for my mindless posts, think you should read again as you don’t appear to understand. Fact we did very well today, and I commented on some good performances. Fact we are exposed on both flanks, fact we cannot defend the ball through the centre, Berra & Craddock. Fact Doyle cannot go on without some support, fact we will not score enough goals without forwards to win matches, fact we will not win matches without taking the initiative when we are 60% into the game. Fact Henry is not good enough for the role he is playing.
Fact without winning matches we will not stay up.
In case you don’t read this properly, well done to the team.
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A well deserved point from a resilient bunch of lads.
Congratulations to Mick and the boys.
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good result today. Jones was different class and so was Doyle as always. Dorrans scored a free kick for albion today. Anyone else think we should put a bid in for him just to annoy some albion fans.
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27 David. Notice how every team supposedly superior will blame an off day when they play us and fail to roll us over. Its pretty clear with 4-5-1 Wolves are born again hard to beat, but no-one could possibly give us credit for it. I do, & I’m loving what I’m seeing right now. Good times indeed!
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Great point. With the exception of Arsenal we have now played all the top 7 twice. Majority of remaining games are winnable. Bring it on.
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Agreed – 27 –
Vanilla started off like a steam train and we managed to turn it around…what a fantastic delivery from Jones. UTW
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Well deserved point
Come on put some support behind MM as well as the players—People tend to forget,like it or not, HE IS THE TEAM.MM = Main Man :)
We moan about red cards not being given when Berra almost threw it all away in last minute?(penalty?)
Well we played our socks off,got a deserved point.
Watching MOTD (i did watch the match as well) it was pointed out that Doyle wasn`t getting enough support up front.Quite often midfield just did`nt get into the box fast enough sometimes just jogging in! IMHO I think that`s an area that needs addressing.
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Great performance from the lads, but mick really needs to be honest with himself, stephen ward is awful, also everytime we take a new attacking midfielder off guderia, we invite to much pressure on ourelves as its been een in the last few games, apart from that i think we now have a great chance of staying up, roll on tuesday for west ham where another point wouldnt be a bad result either.
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Karl Henry is playing outstanding, how can you critise him? He’s a Wolves fan who continuously plays with his heart of his sleeve. He never loses the ball and his tackling and break up play are immense!
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AGREED THEN Matt Jarvis for England–Good comments apart from one or maybe two IDIOTS
Crazey Dave
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villa fan son in law says ashley young,s best game for ages. But i bet he could not believe the space he got from our very poor full backs,Ward,Zubar,Elekobi not good enough.Their wingers must have got 30 crosses into our box.Also the second goal should have been headered by Berra before it was allowed to bounce he,s done this before and it cost us a goal then.But overall agreat performance let down again by a poor linesman
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Well done, lads! Big Marcus, you’ve proven you need to be recognized by Bradley, and have your passport stamped for South Africa! I remember playing against you in men’s league, when you, a young 18 year old, back-stopped for (Seattle) Marathon FC. After beating us in state segment of National Cup, playing like a grizlzly-bear on steroids, I told Chris McDonald, your Seattle Pacific University alumnus, “that guy can make it in England!”. You proved me right and more so; you’re playing for my one and only forty year love affair with my Black Country Beauties! Come on you Wolves, we are staying up!
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Fan-blooming-tastic
great performance by all and we really should have taken all 3 points.
WE ARE WOLVES !
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Disappointed not to get the win but a well deserved point. The linesman was clearly a boggies fan. WE ARE STAYING UP SAY WE ARE STAYING UP!
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I agree with the poor refereeing decisions we have had all season.Pleased with the result lets hope for the 3 against West Ham.Message for Mick …as a psychologist. Stop the questions, they suggest you are uncertain ,listen to the post match commentaries from other other managers…always positive responses. we should show no sign that we are expected to struggle.Its not if we stay up. Its we will stay up.This attitude will be reflected in the teams confidence. We Shall not be moved..wolves in the premier for all time .
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No 53 Welsh Wolf, I fully endorse your comment Karl Henry is a local lad who gives his all every match, thats why he’s played every match, what a bargin £100,000 he would be worth £5M minimum in todays prices. He breaks up so much of the oppositions breaks with a toe here a toe there, ive always agreed on here yes he does pass back to often but you need to look at the bigger picture just watch him and see how much graft he gets through. One last comment on another appalling referee in the so called best league in the world yet we’ve got the worst referee’s too. Mark Clattenburg was as bad again yesterday has he was for us v Tottenham H, it seems to me that these’s refs seem so friendly with the established teams, and given ALL the 50/50 decisions,they seem to think its them we go to watch. Dream on Clattenburg your still rubbish and always will be.GOOD LUCK FOR TUESDAY NIGHT LADS.UTW, but beware if its snowing/raining or they’ve got 4/5 players injured they will call the Game OFF AGAIN
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Great performance from Wolves.
The substitutes were confusing. Wardy should have been replaced by George then Mancienne coming on for whoever.
Bad refereeing decisions denied us victory.
I’m a McCarthy fan, he is doing very well with the players he has. Keep it up. Can’t wait for the ‘Live’ match on tele vs West Ham, even though it starts at 0245hrs in the morning here.
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Still a way to go but with the current form of Hull and Burnley we’re in as good as we could’ve hoped for after the last two games.
Also, credit to Pompey, 9 points deducted, nothing to play for, all the players at risk of being sold, nothing to play for and they do us that MASSIVE favour on Saturday. Incredible team spirit. If I see a Pompey supporter ths week I will buy them a pint.
Whatever the outcome of the season Doyle has been a revelation. He has been the difference for us in terms of buying time for the team and game in and game out putting in an incredible shift. Easily the best player we’ve seen at Molineux for the past 5 years.
Big game at West Ham on Tuesday, it’s about as good a time to play them as we could hope for.
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An excellent performance, a great show of character to come back form a offside looking goal to Jody Craddock receiving a great lay-off from Zubar, of course he went for goal and didn’t supply the finish, super Jody did and now the 34 year old is one behind Doyle to be top goal scorer. Before that it was a brilliant delivery from Jones, he has been excellent since his return, although previous games I would say his set-pieces weren’t this good at Villa Park, I must admit I feared he would be taken off at some point. I still fount myself annoyed to see Jarvis taken off again, but despite my criticism of Mick’s substitute on that one, big George Elokobi did okay when he was brought on.
The team’s second goal wasn’t the same lucky own goal as at Burnley, Guedioura’s shot looked destined for the corner flag until hit Clarke Carlise and hit the back of the net, this one was the case of making your own luck. Jones building the play, finding Jarvis and a return ball, for which, number 14 went hunting for, that created the problem for Milner and then we turn things around to lead 2 – 1. Villa’s late equaliser had also a hint of offside but certainly the first Carew goal was harsh on the wolves back four.
Villa were lucky to have 11 men on the pitch, as Petrov should of seen red, for a clear second yellow, sadly not given, overall, despite losing 2 points, a well earned draw and four points clear of the drop zone. Boosted by other results, I’ll take a point from Upton Park, one again, against a in form Everton and they all add up, we might just need another 8 or perhaps 9, finish on 36 or 37 should be enough to stay up, by the time we play Blackburn and Sunderland at home the visiting teams will most probably have nothing to play for.
This result and performance has certainly killed my doubt, we should stay up for sure.
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Great result yesterday, a shame we couldnt hold onto the 3 points. Big George played Carew for the 2nd goal, marginally offside u often see the decision goes with the striker. MM was berating Big George about his positioning for the goal, slack and lapse of concentration, you would have thought he would have learnt from the everton match. Anyway it was a great performace, Matt Jarvis, MOTM by a country mile!
Onwards to Talksport favourite team on tuesday night!
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14,16,36, niknaklady GROW UP.Great result but still a long way to go.
45,John Spain, Ignore the plonker only has one brain cell.Obviously jealous or our expat lifestyle.
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Yes great result Sat. against Villa in which on paper was the second hardest game left of the season (after Arsenal away). The Hammers on Tues. night. I hope we are not deflated after our recent efforts as its important NOT to lose this one. They turned us over at home at the start of the season and I think they are a much better side than their position. Have to go 4-5-1 again don’t we? They are free scorers at home.
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Well done lads,unlucky when 2 offside goals beat you.There was a few instances of lack of cncentration in defending but overall a good result.Keep this up and we will be safe.
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Excellent result, didn’t expect it but chuffed to bits with a point.
Why do we switch off during the last ten minutes, albeit that both goals were offside we gave ‘em enough room to park a bus, very naive defending.
A little gamesmanship for the Stoke game, pull those touchlines out to the max, time we wised up a little.
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Aint it an amazin coincidence how many “superior” teams have “off Days” when they play the Wolves?
Didn’t seem like Villa was having an off day for the first 15 minutes, lucky to have two offside goals allowed and VERY lucky to finish with 11 men…
And how is an Own Goal bad luck if the player behind you is going to score it anyway if you miss the ball?
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TOMWOLF – I take it you are being sarcastic.
Henry is terrible. He made one decent tackle and that was that. His ditribution is terrible. 9 Times out of 10 he plays it square to a player and immediately puts that player in trouble.
Also, He never supports the attack, which even Paul Scholes , also a holding midfielder and now close to pensionable age, manages to do.
He’s worth what we paid, 100k.
I think you need to look at the bigger picture. The guy is terrible, sorry mate.
I thought Ward was absolutely dreadful as usual. Completely and constantly out of position and continuously backing off players. Elokobi looked like absolute quality in comparision.
Finally, Foley was poor again, but I can’t blame the lad, he’s played out of position.
On the positives, Jody was great and Jarvo looks like the real deal in the premiership to me now. Jones and Doyle were also outstanding.
Mad Mick, drop your love children and replace ward and foley, please!
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4 points from last 2 away games, regardless of who we play thats all that matters. The next game is big, but only in terms of getting points on the board. Forget West Ham, they wont go down, its staying ahead of the drop zone as it is now that matters. 4 points with a better goal difference. So 2 wins away from us when we lose 2 out of the last 8 matches………. looks good to me.
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We’ve had to sacrifice our attacking instincts in order to become hard to beat, but it’s become absorbing to watch. If a midfielder or two could’ve attacked the box whenever Doyle held it up we could have scored a couple more against Villa.
4-5-1 is effective, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t start next season playing it – if we’d had it in place at the start of this season, who knows where we’d be in the table? Certainly a lot safer.
However, we desperately need a Prem-quality left back. Ward is one of the weakest around, and Berra is constantly caught out in the centre. He is not, for me, Prem quality…SPL quality, yes. Mancienne or Stearman to take over and partner big Jody. Being harder to break down in midfield, and hard to beat in general, is no use if the defence is continuously flaky.
Time for West Ham to have an ‘off day’! Three points from Upton Park.
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Good performance from Wolves – We missed Gabby but you fully deserved a point. Why do Wolves fans keep moaning about Karl Henry?
He was your best player.
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Morden, It is all about opinions and in my view Berra has done well this season,much better than I thought he would. Ok he has missed a couple of high through balls which have cost us,but he has won a lot of headers and tackles.I also think he works well with Craddock.It is interesting that Jody recently stated that Berra was the best defensive partner he has played with at Wolves.Also a report in last weeks Sunday Times after Burnley specifically named Berra and Hahnemann as key to our survival chances.Do you really think Mancienne or Stearman would win more headers than Berra?
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Question, why is it when ever we get somethng out of a game it is because
the other team under performed???
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Well it’s been nice to give my keyboard a rest. Don’t worry though all the ‘Mick won’t get us / keep us up’ muppets are still there poised to make a comeback. All the ones who said we couldn’t score a goal playing 4-5-1 and that none of the players were any good (oh yes except Doyle who’s OK I suppose). Soon it will be ‘we only stayed up becuase it was the worst Prem ever’ and ‘we should still get a new manager for next season we were lucky to stay up’. See you soon Wolvesmod and friends.
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Martin O’Neill said his team were ‘superb’ after the game and he realised that we cut them off for long periods and considering they had two offside goals, he was overjoyed with a point.
Henry was quality, in the summer we do need a left back and I would go and get Danny Fox, Chris Eagles and Fletcher from Burnley, Sidwell and Shorey from Villa, job done.
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72 Mordonwolf
I think you are being unfair on Berra and Ward.
It was Jody Craddock who missed the header against Villa yesterday that lead to the second goal and it was Craddock’s mistake that cost us the goal against Man Utd.
As regards Stephen Ward you must remember two things
1) He’s a centre forward by trade who was told to play at left back and he’s done a bloody good job all considering.
2) Zubar is covered by Foley who is never more than 10 yards away from him. We are virtually playing two right backs. Ward has to single handedly cover an area of some 40 yards between him and Jarvis. Week after week he has to stop two opposing players running at him without any help.
Ward is fast, athletic and committed and idealy I think he should play further forward on the left with Jarvis on the right. He’s a better crosser of the ball than Jarvis and he would also give us an aerial threat at the far post from balls coming over from the right.
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No 71. Richwolf. No i wasn’t being sarcastic i have my view you have yours , i think Henry is an excellent player i did say he passes back to often. But having said that his overall game is very good.he along with Jody Craddock are my two players of the season so far, again thats MY views which im entitled to as are you too.
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In the unlikely event of Hull City winning 4 of the remaining 8 games, the survival target is 36 points (given the superior goal difference). I say unlikely because they have actually won only 5 of 30 so far. I can’t see Burnley or Hull getting more than 32 points so I am quietly optimistic that we are edging closer to the main objective- SURVIVAL. The rebuilding must then be done during the summer and there must not be any of the same delays and frustration that surrounded the January transfer window. Looking forward to the West Ham game tomorrow and a point would once again be a good result. WWFC forever!
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Holt End Ant, they moan about Henry cos certain so called fans have to have at least one player they can moan about! This season it is Henry, even though he was superb on Saturday. It comes to something when even the opposition fans can see he was our best player. KEEP IT UP HENRY, YOU ARE SUPERB!!
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Carl Henry is immense for us and will get my vote for player of the season. Someone said earlier that he’d only made one tackle, I think he meant that he made only one superb, world class tackle amongst all of the other tackles and blocks.
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hahahaha, Paul Scholes a holding midfielder, a player reknown for his tackling ability.
Go on, admit it, poor old Karl has had a decent season, no one will think any worse of you.
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82 – spot on. Karl Henry had an absolutely terrific game on Saturday.
Best Wishes
David
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One thing I’ve always praised MM for and thats the team spirit and commitment in the squad.
We showed a lot of that after going 1 nil down to villa, and were unlucky not to win it, but I was biting my nails at the end.
Hull and burnley losing made my weekend.
4-5-1 only works in attack if some of the midfielders like jones and guediora bust a gut to get in the box and get shots and headers in on goal.(Henry you stay back and protect the defense like you have been doing all season) Were getting better at supporting doyle but it is getting to crunch time and to win the 3 more games, we need more shots on goal, and better quality crosses and free kicks.
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Some of these linesmen (referee’s assistants??) need to be led by a seeing eye dog when officiating. Clearly Carew first was offside, the second qutie close to offside. Great effort though. If we continue playing with the confidence we have now we shall prevail and remain in the Premier.
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70
Clown, I’m amazed you can type.
Clueless
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Chris hoggard & Berkeley Wolves,
I take your point on Berra & potential replacements, but I feel that – with next season in the Prem in mind – if we are to improve on wherever we finish this season and ensure we aren’t marooned on 19 points for as long as we were (next season, there might not be teams as bad as Hull & Pompey propping us up), we need to be better in defence than we are now. That means a better centre-half and a better left-back, though their commitment to the cause is absolutely undoubtable. But I wouldn’t want Mick to stock up on more midfielders first. Villa reshaped their defence last summer and didn’t break the bank for it; neither did Blues, so I’m sure we can as well.
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