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- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Wolves boss happy with Nenad Milijas
Wednesday 3rd November 2010, 10:10AM GMT.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has hailed Nenad Milijas as ‘the player I bought him for’ and urged Jelle van Damme to follow his example.
Milijas has shown arguably his best form in the last two Premier League games against superpowers Chelsea and Manchester City.
And McCarthy believes the £2.6million playmaker is matching his undoubted craft with graft, after the penny finally dropped about the harsh reality of playing for a club like Wolves in the Premier League.
The manager said: “When Terry Connor and myself watched him, the way he’s playing now is what I thought I was buying.
“That’s what I need to see every week. Just because players have come here as big signings doesn’t mean they’re going to play.
“He’s earned his place because he’s got himself fitter and I think he’s grasped what it’s all about.
“I spoke to him on Monday morning and I don’t think he did grasp how difficult it was going to be at first to get used to the tempo of the Premier League.
“His mate Nemanja Vidic told him it’s tougher than you think. He knew last season he was left out because he didn’t play well enough.
“But he came back and he’s worked ever so hard, and, having got back into the team, he’s played well.
“All players can do is keep training properly and try to get in the team, and if they do, then try to maintain their place.”
McCarthy admitted some of his foreign signings have found it difficult adapting to being a ‘smaller fish in a bigger pond.’
But the Wolves boss believes the homesick van Damme can follow Milijas and Ronald Zubar in settling down.
The manager said: “It’s a point we’ve made to them – if you come from Red Star Belgrade, Anderlecht or Marseille you’re with one of the top teams in that country. They are dominating matches all the time.
“Coming to Wolves, you’re with one of the lower teams in the Premier League and it’s about getting used to a different mentality and it’s harder.
“You’re going to be defending on the back foot quite a lot so they’ve all found it tougher than they expected.”
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If you want to know how to get a player to settle in Mick, then give them a run of 6 games and see what they can do. 20 mins here and there does nothing to either assess a player or his confidence.
I’m not suprised Jelle is homesick, he hasnt had a chance to prove himself at all at the club.
You say one thing, and do something completely different, i.e. play your favourites no matter how poor they are.
The problem I have with you, is that the penny drops weeks after everyone else can see what the problems are, and what’s the solution.
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Great to have Nenad firing on all cylinders.
Everyone knows he has the talent required for the job.
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Great performances both at Chelsea and at home to Man City, let’s do it again against the debt-ridden Reds on Saturday.
Put one over your mate Vidic!!
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It’s nice for Mick to take the credit now but the logic is flawed. We have needed Milijas in the team since last season but he has never been given a chance. How can he then adapt so quickly when Mick, you have’t played him!?
Simply put players need to play, it’s the only way they learn. Go back to De Wolf, and he REALLY struggled but he was never dropped.
With Mick we will always see the ‘flyby’ purchases from Eastwood onwards. Give them a game, they don’t get it quite right so kick them out the team, and sometimes out of the club BEFORE they get a chance to change.
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And another point… would Milijas have even started if we hadn’t have lost virutally the whole of Mick’s preferred midfield to injuries or suspension.. i would hazard a guess, the answer is NO !!
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I think some fans fail to see this very basic style of man management. We’ve had people on here for weeks lauding Milijas as the answer, but its clear the holding back of the guy has been the making of him.
Im a fan of milijas, but trust in McCarthys ability to make players realise whats needed. If a Milijas or Van Damme are at 50% in our starting 11, and if we happen to be in a bad run, we will get torn to shreds.
Can anyone else really see any other formation than 433 / 451 going forward ? How many top four clubs / international teams now play this way, often with two holding midfielders ? The great thing about the midfield 3 that played against Man City is that both Edwards and Milijas have license to surge forward, yet both can play a holding role if the other is in attack – its a versatile formation.
Will be interesting to see how Fletcher fits in to this set up.
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Milijas is cream, and cream always rises to the top of the milk!
Class is what this is about, and he is class.
My big hope is that class is on show this weekend when he will be up against that friend,(Vidic) at MUFC.
2-1 the The Wolves fingers crossed.
Up The Wolves
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Lets hope Milijas can keep up these good performances. Its fantastic knowing that if Milijas drops in form, we have another midfielder in jones that could come in and play well. Maybe Jones being dropped will help him find the form he had at times last season. All we need now is Hunt to be firing on all cylinders, and we should start climbing the table, within the next few weeks.
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i’ve always believed nenad was a very good midfielder and all last season i was really wanting him to get his chance because i knew he would play well. i guess he just needed that extra bit of hard work and fitness and he looks like he’s coming good. I just hope he keeps his place in the team now.. i would personally like to see a 5-man midfield of Hunt, Jones, Henry, Milijas & Jarvis on saturday with edwards and mancienne on the bench! stears is playing well so he should keep his place alongside cristophe. its great to see our players doing well and its great to have so much competition for places!!! UTW!!!
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I HOPE YOU ARE READING THIS EBANKS,MAKE NOTE YOU NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT,WORK HARDER AND SCORE GOALS AND THEN YOU CAN BE IN THE 1ST TEAM.BECAUSE I’M SORRY ALL YOUVE DONE THIS SEASON IS LOSE WEIGHT ,WORKED HARDER AND SCORED…..GOALS.MMMMM I’M A BIT CONFUSSED MICK WHAT ELSE DOES HE NEED TO DO
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I’m glad we are finally starting to see “Ned” in the team. He is obviously our most creative outlet, and his fitness will hopefully improve with the more games he plays. So now, we might get 60-70 good minutes out of him, if he continues to play, we might get the full 90 and our attacking play will always be the better for it.
He was Brilliant on Saturday, always picking a pass and getting it out to the wingers as soon as he could, he doesn’t need that extra touch like DJ does.
Hopefully this can e the start of something great now our squad are returning.
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At last Mick, so please play him more frequently. Up The Wolves !!
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We also know Mick is partly playing him because of injuries,suspensions and other things off the pitch.
I am pleased he is getting his chance.
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Lets all watch as the anti-Mick crazies come on here spouting their uneducated drivel……………………
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Alex rae – Now that is the funniest post I’ve read. I presume you are actually joking? Holding back a player for a year, is the making of him :) Wow.. I would give Sir Alex a ring, because he throws all his new players straight into the team. Maybe he should have held back Hernandez a year though, that would be true man management I guess :)
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Hopefully MM is going to show some consistency with respect to Milijas. He had a good game against Manchester City and should start against United and Arsenal. He needs to bed into the midfield and know that his Manager supports him. Despite the good result we desparately need to develop some creativity and service for the forwards. Then we need our forwards to take their chances and finish. Jarvis is getting it done – increasingly he is supplying service from the wings but gets little encouragement from our forwards who are not taking full advantage and striking with real conviction.
If Doyle, Fletcher and EB do not get on a run soon it will be hard for our defense not to get frustrated. Its time to fire on all cylinders!!!
COME ON YOU WOLVES!!!
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10. Lee: i completely agree about sylvan. he has done nothing wrong! MM said everyone would be starting with a clean slate this season and Ebanks-Blake had a great pre-season and played very well at the start of the season (as good as anyone), scored 2 goals and earned us points. and now he’s not in the side. MM didnt give him a chance last year either. i think if he would have kept in the side last year and gave him time to adjust he would have found his feet! what has he got to do???
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No 1 . Top post and absouluty spot on ,I have the same problem with Mick
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I dont always agree with everything MM says?, but on this matter i do, most of the league’s these players have come from are far easier to play in than the English PL. But i dont think you need all your players to be in mick’s words ‘Grafters’?, we’ve got plenty of those in our squad. But you also need’skilful’players in you squad. And you will find that lots of these types of players are not grafters, and Ned comes into that bracket IMO. But if fully fit and playing well, he would always be in my team, he has such great vision and an excellent wide range of passing, and also as a very good eye for a goal. I would just like to change subjects and go back to what i said a week or so ago, about getting Gus Poyet in at WWFC, i think he’s proving to be an excellent ‘Young’ manager, who could do a top job for us as ‘First Team Coach’ with TC under him and MM, with a view of grooming him to eventually take over from MM. If you look at ALL the Top teams ,they have some Top x Pro’s alongside their manager, look at Spurs youv’e got Joe Jordan/Clive Allen/Kevin Bond. At Man City they have Brian Kidd/David Platt. Yet with NO disrespect meant TC was never a Top class player?. But ive said before ‘Footballers’ get fed up very easily with seeing the same face day-in-day-out, and hearing the same ‘tactics/ideas’ ,so why dont WWFC look to bring GP in, if you’ve watched Brighton play ,they play some ‘excellent quick one-touch’ football, and have only let in 8 goals this season? and GP was a Class player who plied his trade at the Highest Level for many years?. UTW
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Even when Milijas played badly you could see that he had quality. Without a doubt, he needed games to make the adjustment MM was looking for. But I agree with #5 – had the injury situation been different Milijas would still be out in the cold. We need to remember Though that we are still in the relegation zone and until we start climbing the table then we need to contain our excitement. Be optimistic by all means, and support the team – definately, but lets not get carried away. I worry that a 0-3 setback at Old Trafford could turn the mood of these comments again. And for the record, the central defence is still not that convincing.
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Simple!
Drop Ward – play Van Damme.
Ward tries hard but no class, Van Damme obviously has class i.e goal against Fulham, would Ward have scored that?
Zubar is more difficult now Foley is playing well, but see how it goes, again Zubar has real class.
We do need to start playing class and we have it. It works Milijas is proving that.
I will give Edwards his due, he is better now he’s not expected to be a winger.
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Why don’t we chalk van Damme up to experience and let him return to being a big fish in a little Belgian pond? He clearly is not the kind to respond to psychology – heck, on the evidence shown thus far, he’s not the kind to respond to anything – so if he hasn’t got the heart for it then why stand in his way? We could pick up Jlloyd Samuel in the transfer window on the cheap, an entirely capable replacement.
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I think most supporters recognize that on balance Milijas is a more skillful player than Jones.
The problem has always been a combination of fitness and mental application. Too often I’ve seen him play well for some of the game and then drift out of it for long periods.
If he continues to play as he did on Saturday then he has got to be first choice.
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Looks like the penny has dropped with Mick,pity he couldnt have seen what the fans have been telling him for ages.Hopefully next up will be Guaderiora when hes fit and that would be a good midfield.Now try fixing the defence with Myokolo and Zubar.
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you lot make me laugh . you sit at your computers making out you know more about pro football than some one who s spent a lifetime in the game and not only that … you think you know more about individual squad members than someone who spends most of the week training with them . dont get me wrong .. no ones happier than me to see milijas come good but the truth of the matter is that he was nt fit enough , and anyone who saw his games in the reserves or in the league cup will tell you his performances have been average or poor .
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It is rubbish to suggest that Milijas has been badly managed. Anybody who went to Stoke away last season could see that he possessed the talent but he has had to get himself fitter to adapt to what is needed in the team. A very important point is that Jones came in, instead of him and could not be dropped. After a good start to the season, Jones has rightly been dropped and his level of performance could be to do with him being linked with lesser teams like Blackburn and Newcastle!
As for Van Damme, I like the look of him but I believe that he is not fit enough to last 90 minutes and his attitude is totally wrong.
After Saturday’s performance, any player will be very unlucky if they are dropped and that includes the ‘hated by some’ Edwards, Ward and Stearman!
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10) When get selected in a League Cup game against Notts County, actually do something in the game.
Yes he had a decent start and played well second half only in the Man Utd game but as I see it for the next two league games SEB and Fletcher won’t get a look in!
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no1 your talking out of your a hole. Van damme has had plenty of chances to impress and he has failed to perform at a consistent level. He is clearly going through a tough patch playing him when hes playing badly is not going to help him or the club is it. He needs to settle down get his fitness right and work hard then his performances will come. He will be a good player for us should he get his act together. Although i feel he will be gone in january tbh.
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I can’t believe some of the criticisms here. I love the fact that Milijas is starting to really settle into English football. Last season he struggled, Mick has done what is needed and worked with him to get him at a level where he is ready for first team football. The fact that Milijas has come back well in the last couple of games is a full endorsement of the methods Mick has used. The player, the manager & the coaching team should all take credit when it is due.
RichWolf, you criticise Mick for picking his favourites regardless of how poor they play, but by the sounds of it you wanted him to keep playing Milijas last season regardless of how poorly he played……… presumably because he’s one of your favourites. I’ll leave you to chew over the irony.
Filthy Wolf, I can’t believe you’ve dragged up the name Eastwood……….. firstly he wasn’t as good as we all hoped and his constant failure at Coventry prove that further. Secondly, he showed no appetite to improve his game and fight for his place (as Milijas & Zubes have done). Mick made an error in signing him for sure, but nobody really thought that at the time. He certainly did not make a mistake in not playing him & eventually selling him because simply, the lad did not work hard enough either in training or on match day.
The reason we have such a great team spirit is because Mick rewards hard work & that is exactly the way it should be. Good players aren’t afraid of that hard work, so if Van Damme goes the way of Eastwood then I won’t lose any sleep, it’ll tell me more about him than it will about Mick or Wolves.
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Well Mick’s worked on Mili’s fitness and defensive duties, great.
Maybe he’ll have a look at positive, quick passing and shooting with Karl Henry.
Only seems fair doesn’t it?
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no 4, eastwood kicked out before he had a chance, lol lol lol, rubbish player and still a rubbish player, over hyped pykey !!
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KentishWolf – ( I lived in Maidstone for over 30 years) – I fully endorse your post, every sentence of it. And credit to Milijas; he has just got on with things and, for me, shown real strength of character.
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27 – excellent post – very true about hard work, being talented or having skill alone does not make a good player.
Milijas had a good game on Saturday but he is by no means the saviour that some make him out to be as yet – he still needs to put more work in off the ball and make himself available for the ball with a little more dynamism when his own side have it – but Saturday was definitely a step in the right direction.
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You can only play 11 players at anyone time and so what matters is who you pick against who. The key is depth and I believe we have far more of it than West Brom and Blackpool have which will be there downfall after a long and busy winter schedule.
People are always trying to name the squad that should play on here but I have never seen 2 the same ever. No-one knows who a best 11 are and neither does Mick but is that a bad thing. Perhaps not. What happens if Doyle gets injured? Fleth will come in. Henry? then Mancinee or Jones. Craddock? – Staerman/Moyokolo. Almost every position is covered by someone on the same level or very close so we can pretty much carry on without any issues. Not many teams are like that.
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MM informed us that he had learnt from last season and we needed quality. He knows how the majority of foriegners struggle in there first year when the team is riding low in the table yet he still buys them. If he gets it wrong they will all need to adapt to the championship.Dont get me wrong i think Van damme,Guaderiora, Myokolo and Zubar are quality signings, we just need them to perform to there maximum now.
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1, 4 – complete and utter drivel. 23, 24 – well said! JVD has had plenty of opportunities and quite frankly hasn’t taken any of them Even in our pre season friendlies, when playing LB, he was worse than Ward! Get rid and bring in Kris Commons!
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richwolf64 – Sir Alex doesnt throw all his new signings into the team. Yes he can play most of them straight away, after all he usually buys the best from all over the world, but if you really think he throws all his players straight into the team, your deluded. Chris Smalling was bought in and is still not a regular, Nani is another player who fergie had the luxery of spending allot of cash on, and has only recently broke through into the team. As for Alex Rae’s Butler’s comments about Milijas, it was clear he was struggling for fittness last season, so who are you to say that keeping him out of the team for a while hasnt helped him.
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27 Kentish Wolf
I think the irony here, is you assume as I’m stupid as you, or Mad Mick.
I judge players on their ability, rather than picking a favourite, because he looks good in shorts maybe. You tell me.
I dont remember Milijas getting much of a chance last year. When I saw him play he looked superb, whipping in dangerous balls and scoring a fab goal.. Then, Mad Mick dropped him. Where you get Milijas played poorly from, I’ve no idea. Other than maybe when his confidence was at it’s lowest ebb having been dropped from a team for what I could see was no good reason., and then failing to get anywhere near the pitch other than as a sub or in the reserves with a bunch of academy kids.
What I am saying is, for you folks who don’t or have never played football, is that you have to have a run of 5 or 6 games to really assess a player and for a player to build up some confidence. You cant expect a player to come on for 20 minutes here , 20 there, and perform at the very top of his game.
Nor can you expect to get a really good view on a players ability if he’s just comming off the bench.
26 – Van Damme has impressed me, what little of seen of him. Not Least, given the fact the life long defender has played on both wings as a midfielder, completely out of position and not the position he was bought for!
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Just to re-iterate here, there is not a cat in hells chance that Milijas would have played if we hadn’t lost our midfield due to suspension, a loan player being unable to play, a broken leg and an injury.
This is Mick taking credit where credit isn’t due. He simply doesn’t have the vision to play the player that some of us can see. To suggest it was down to fitness is absolute rubbish. It was down to the face we were down to our bare bones in midfield.
For those who criticise Van Damme. He played at both Centre Half and Left Back for Anderlecht. He was bought to play either of those roles for Wolves.
He hasn’t played competitevely in either role since he’s arrived. He’s played left of midfield and right of midfield ( bizarre I know)… If you seriously think a left footed defender can play in midfield and sparkle then guys, there really is no hope for you.
Play him in the role he’s accustomed to and I’m sure he would do a good job. To say its down to attitude or fitness is absolute rubbish.
I’m sure if Bully had been played at left back for the last 5 years of his career ( like ward has found himself ) he wouldnt be the legend he is today.
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15)Richwolf64. WRONG ! Have a look at Man Utd’s ‘ reserves’ and see just how many of them Sir Alex is consistently NOT playing in the first team. You can’t pick out one, Hernandez, to justify your point.
Negative. Milijas showed in glimpses last season that he had something special, but, very often he struggled and at times was an embarrassment to the team ethic. Most players coming on as a sub would use it as a chance to break into the starting line up. Not Milijas. Do you remember his performance against Blackburn last season Aaaaargh !
Positive. He’s shown in the last couple of games exactly what we all hoped for. He could be the making of this team. Let’s hope he continues i such fine form. Has he given up the fags. Anyone know ?
We all have opinions about who should play and who should be on the bench. Some of the squad have been playing really well. Edwards, Stearman, Foley etc. They can’t all start. Going to be interesting over the next couple of games to see just who is up for it.
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Thanks for the childish insult RichWolf, I appreciate it !
Maybe, just maybe Mick was basing his choice to leave Milijas out because of the overall contribution he was making to a match over 90 minutes (or however long he was on the pitch for), rather than just the odd cross or “fab goal”.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Milijas, and the fact he seems prepared to have worked hard to improve his chances of first team football mean I have even more respect for the chap. But in the 2nd half of last season Mick put together a good strong side is this league and kept us up….. Milijas last season, just didn’t give what we needed……. the last couple of games have shown an indication that this year he might be able to give us a bit more.
Mick has done a great job, I find it hard to believe that Wolves have fans that will criticise him for getting the best out of a player that struggled to adapt initially.
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Loving the snarls about who should be first choice…. reinforces the great post by 30 – JJ. Our strength in depth will be a great asset come 2011.
For what it’s worth I would stick with the same starting 11 and get USA to practice his kicking :)
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Rich Wolf – Who said a year ?
Did you see Milijas in the world cup ?
No – because he started poorly and was dropped. That’s two professional managers that diagree with you.
The problem with our Nenad is that he celebrates a good performance by getting back on the Marlboro reds. This season he’s been held back. You must have read McCarthy saying since this season began that Milijas was getting closer and has been in his thoughts.
I think you’ve taken my comments to the extreme, and refuse to give others credit – i.e McCarthy this season for now geting the best out of him, and our players last season for keeping him out of the team when we lost 2 games in 13.
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30) I agree that now the long term injured are coming back we have got strength in depth and cover. Here is how it looks based on Saturday’s line up and the cover!
Hahnemann (Hennessey)
Foley (Zubar)
Ward (Elokobi)
Henry (Mancienne)
Stearman (Craddock)
Berra (Mouyokolo)
Jarvis (Mujangi-Bia)
Edwards (SEB)
Doyle (Fletcher)
Milijas (Jones)
Hunt (Van Damme)
Injured – Guedioura, Kightly
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43 – Alex Rae
You are making me laugh Again. You dont think that maybe he didnt figure in the world cup was the fact he hadn’t had any competitive football for nearly a year?
You are clearly as blinkered as mad mick.
41 – Touche. I was merely recipricating your own insult :)
Any maybe just maybe, Mick only played Milijas because, and I quote ‘He was down to the bare bones in midfield’ ?
Maybe, you give too much credit, after all, we are 19th in the premiership with a quarter of the season gone.
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You can take the credit Mick,we moaners have been telling you to play him for weeks,but you can pretend it was your idea..Iff you want a bit more credit,give Jelly a regular start.
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Get back to the championship where you belong aye boing boing
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23. london loyal wolf top post, i agree with most posts on here, any player needs a run of games to gain confidence and show what they are capable of, but ultimately if that player cant cut it at this level the coaches and management are the ones to decide and ultimately fall or stand by thier decisions.
lots of players, down the years may have or not been given a fair crack of the whip, and gone on to other clubs and succeeded or failed.
niel collins was awfull for wolves last season but is a regular for leeds,
united suffered a couple of midfield injuries last night and hopefully we can take advantage
utw.
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Richwolf64.You have dominated this thread with your self opinionated nonsense. Milijas: “when I saw him play he looked superb” you either didn’t watch Wolves too many times last season, or, you were too busy below stairs tucking into Jez’s ‘Fan’s Feasts’ . He was far from fit, Stevie Wonder could have seen that. Now he seems to be, let’s find out what he can do over a run of games and if he can last 90 minutes.
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RichWolf, i do agree that Milijas is back in the side in no small part due to the injuries/suspensions of others, but that is just the way football is. One players loss is anothers gain.
It is still Mick who has created an environment in which Milijas (amongst others) has wanted to do well. The fact that Milijas has had to work hard & wait for his chance will stand us & him in good stead as the season moves on. I won’t heap all the praise on Mick, as i said in my first post, the player, manager and coaching staff deserve credit in my opinion.
& my last point is, you complained that Mick was too quick to write off Milijas last season, how about we give Mick (and his squad) the whole season before we judge, rather than just a quarter of it ?!
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richwolf if you do go to the games do you have 1 or 2 many pints of the banks,s before because i think you got your beer goggles on mate, we all know milijas has got a bit of class but you need more than that in the premier league and i think ned has finally realised this, van damme is a left back but has played left midfield for anderlect and a soon as he stops throwing his dummy out and gets his mind right he,s going to be a good player for the wolves. and another thing you said mick played van damme right mid when he came on the last time even though he.s left footed, but did,nt jarvis and hunt swap wings to good efect in the last few games.I guess your one of those Mick haters but think where we were 4 years ago to where we are now, its a complete transformation enough said.
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any body that watches know that muppet mick
does not like any player who can play football
only people who put a shift in.milijas must
recrete come here,player of the year/captain of
his country,champion league going to the world
cup, and then come here and does not get a chance,60 min in world cup as he had not played any football.but the likes of ward/elokobi/berra/ just pllay even when they are no
good.
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richwolf64- Milijas did figure in the world cup, and evidently played very poorly. You dont choose to play a player for the world cup who hasnt played regularly all season, and then drop him for exactly the same reason. He was dropped, because his performance wasnt good enough, and someone else came in to try and do the job, just like Jones came in and performed fantasticly well, when Milijas was struggling to finnish 90 mins.
Pedro- yes because Mick regularly comes onto this site for tactical advice. The only reason Mick would ever come onto this site is to laugh at all the idiots who think theyre managers. after all thse are the same people who are judging him on 10 games this season, and not the previous seasons where he put together a squad, kept us in the championship, got us promoted, and kept us in the prem. But i suppose he didnt use any tactics to do any of that.
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Help me out, can anyone tell me what goals Doyle has got to sacrifice, when he hasn’t scored any!?. Because that’s what Mick says he might have to do!.JtH.
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Rich Wolf. Please answer my point about our run of 13 games with 2 defeats at the end of last season. If Milijas had been part of that starting 11 and had been withdrawn for another midfielder during that run, people would have exploded – and quite rightly.
Laugh all you like old chap, but how can you criticise him not being included last year when the starting 11 were doing so well.
Ive already said Im a Milijas fan. Im pleased he’s back in the side – I can just understand more readily than you the reasons why he was out of it in the first place.
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mick you need to stop playing your favourites rubbish like ward edwards henry henry and ward are the week links in the team play van damme milijas should of been playing a long time ago but he was dropped for another favourite mancienne who isnt a centre midfield although he works hard and does a job there and dropping flethcher and not playing ebanks when u told him to lose weight work harder and find the net and when he does start scoring and working harder u drop him i cant get my head round it and i bet u craddock walks straight back into the team as much as i rate him stearman has proved his worthy there and cannot be dropped and for god sake why buy myouklo when youre gonna leave him in reserves and mick last season castillo was immense at breaking the play up for us but again a favourite replaced him and hes dissapeared of the face of the earth im afraid to say ye great peformance against man city but what was mick doing with the subs mick needs to be gone if we stand a chance of playing good football and getting higher in the table
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COUNTESS No. 14, On the subject of spouting drivel, thanks for getting the ball rolling. So glad to live in the realm of free speech.
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If I sit here every day and predict snow tomorrow, chances are I’ll be wrong. Eventually though, I’ll be right. If I then announced that I was right all along, I’d be an idiot. If I also claimed that my prediction actually caused it to snow, then the men in white coats wouldn’t be far behind.
The fact that Milijas is now looking like the player we all hoped he’d be doesn’t mean McCarthy should have picked him all along. And if anyone thinks that McCarthy has been influenced by comments on this message board, then I suggest a reality check.
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is it just me or does anyone else think there i smore to this or these situations than meets the eye?
I have a feeling that in training they dont pull thier weight and thats why MM keeps going on about it. maybe they think they are good enought o go straight into the team and MM insits that they must ‘put in a shift’. . .
is thats the case then its not fair on the others that try hard to get in.. . . .
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK.?
cant be as simple as MM spending loads and not playing them. nobody can get away with trhat – the cahirman / owner – would not be happy spending money if that was the case. . . .
MM is a guy who keeps his internal politics internal. i would not be suprised if this is the case. . . . this is my hypothesis!!!
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58
Superb post, but that will confuse too many on here!!
Truth is milijas has done very well last two games & long may it continue, but the fact is that the man who works with him day in day out knew when to put him in coz that’s what our club pays him lots n lots of money to do, so let him do it eh, coz overall he does a pretty good job, let’s face he aint got too much wrong since he’s been here, yes he might confuse us now & again but overall he’s done the biz.
Why we have ‘experts’ like richwolf64 looking for a villain from within is beyond me.
KTF
Wolvesforever
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Perhaps MM is right to claim the praise for playing Nenad now and not earlier. On the other hand RichWolf64 does have more than a fair point.
Perhaps Nenad knew he´d have to adjust to the rigours of the Prem and took plenty of time to do his bosses bidding, with both boss & Clip standing by him, waiting patiently for him to become the player they thought they´d signed.
If that´s so, who was it exactly who didn´t quite know what the Premiership demanded? What insight does our manager have? And what, the player?
I for one saw Nenad in the World Cup and I wasn´t impressed, although I desperately wanted to be.
We saw on Saturday how a manager can make a couple of grave errors of judgement which can cost his side the game.
How many Man City fans are now calling for Robertos head?
I´m no happy clapper, I´m another of those who wish Mick would cease to play Ward at left back.
If it´s true that when he signed him (he was supposed to be a striker, right?)) he thought he was “one for the future” (read it in the E&S) was it really as a LEFT BACK? That, I seriously do not believe nor understand.
And tell me too, why did we sign Bent if we had a striker in waiting in Wardy? Go on, tell me, all you MM believers.
It´s things like this, about our manager and his decision making that I can´t get my head around. Does that make me negative, a moaner?
I read criticisms on this site of the current managerial regime and wonder if those of us who have doubts, questions & reservations should dare voice them.
But I´ll continue to do it regardless.
I´ve been a Wolves fan since I was seven and we beat Blackburn 3-0 in the Cup Final. I think I´m entitled to have a say, without being considered a moaner or a doom sayer.
I think we could do with a change at the end of this season, wherever we end up.
We need and deserve a manager who has more than a little flair. Sad to say MM shows none.
He´s Ok in a limited sort of way but he should go to Barnsley and get them promoted to the Prem, they´d love that and him.
Maybe they´d find a soft spot for Terry Connor too. I just think it´s not this managerial pairs time for the Prem right now but it´s definitely ours.
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No.25.London Wolf Loyal.
agree.
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61, Ron
So, in your post, are you suggesting we change our managment team for the sake of it???
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No, Grace not just for the sake of it, for the sake of Wolves Premiership future. In my opinion MM is too limited for the premiership. He hopes we´ll score goals, he hopes we´ll do well. He doesn´t convince, me at all. That´s why I think he should go. He´s done well for us. I appreciate that but I fear with him continuing at the helm we´ll slide backwards. Also I don´t think experienced Premiership players want to come to the Mol because they don´t want to play for him, not only because of the wage structure. What experience does the man himself have of the Premiership?
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Ron
I’m not pro McCarthy either.
But in terms of experience he probably has about 2 & half yrs I guess, which is more than Mancini, Ancilotti, Coyle, Mcleish,RDM, Hughton, Martinez & Holloway & about the same as Grant & Pulis.
So experience shouldn’t be an issue, but overall you have to admit he’s done a decent job since he has been here, & yet again this season we ain’t played with a settled team yet what with injuries, suspensions etc.
I think we should allow him to get the team settled & then judge him & if at that point we are still struggling, I personnally would also agree with your concerns.
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Grace – I read your posts regularly and I have a disctint feeling most things are beyond you, not just my posts.
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Thanks Rich
Ditto
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Apologies Grace , I think I’m turning into a grumpy old man or something… I think we all want success for Wolves at the end of the day.. I just hope we can pull off a shock at the weekend :)
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Rich
I agree, Rio, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson, Rooney, Owen & Gibson all out & they have City on the Wednesday after.
Bet of the weekend Wolves to beat Man Utd still available @ 14/1, for a ‘two horse’ race, that’s ridiculous!!
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61) Rons Flowers. I’m an MM believer, so cheer up sleepy Jean.
He doesn’t get everything right, who does? but, he is certinly the best manager we’ve had since Bill McGarry (and for the record I go back to Stan Cullis and the golden 50s).
You ask about Ward at left back and I agree we should have done better in various transfer windows. MM lost Naylor and obviously decided Daniel Jones wasn’t the answer so Ward was definately put in as a temporary stop gap, which has turned into something more permanent. He’s actually had some good games there, but, is prone to mistakes every now and then which ain’t what we want. It would hve been interesting to see how he would have handled Adam Johnson who gave Elokobi a roasting (why didn’t Mancini play him from the start ?) Ward’s definately good going forward alongside Jarvis.
Neither Elokobi nor Hill have been the answer and with Malone on loan to gain experience, Ward is our best left back, unless either Mancienne or van Damme step up to the plate. The latter has problems, injuries and voices in his head. He seems the most likely, but, MM sees him on the training field every day. Does he not trust him ? Is he too pedestrian for wing back ? This position is a priority for January window.
Regards flair. I think MM/TC showed recently that they have got flair and with players coming back from injury Hunt Zubar etc I’m rather optimistic.
But this is football and you never know. However I don’t think it’s right for fans to be calling for MMs head without giving him a fair chance, especially after the four seasons he’s given us. Judge him in May.
Who was Wolves best left back then ? Gerry Harris, Bobby Thompson or Derek Parkin ?
For those magic years before he lost his England place I’d pick Bobby, but, it’s close.
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Great to see him back in the team but why has it taken so long for him to be back in? He gives us something different because he isn’t a grafter and if you ask me we don’t need grafters you need quality players who will work hard and thats where mick goes wrong? Even with result against city I’m still not happy with Mick. If you ask me 4 points out of 27? Is that good enough? No its relegation form and it needs to change and how will this change? By getting the idiot that has put us into this position and get O’Neil in.
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We already have a solution to the LB problem. When fit play Zubar at RB and switch the reliable versatile consistent & genuinely two footed Foley to LB. Problem solved. Van Damme has a choice knuckle down or leave.
UTW
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