Time to stand up and be counted

Wolves blogger Tim Spiers believes it's time for the players - not manager Mick McCarthy - to prove they are up to the task of escaping relegation.

I'm sure I'm not the only Wolves fan experiencing an increasing sense of dread in the lead up to tomorrow's game against Sunderland.

They're all must-wins at the moment, but my mindset is less 'can't wait for the weekend, well up for this one' and more 'the world is going to end if we lose again – I just can't take this anymore!'

Yes, the old gold blood in the veins currently feels more like a curse than a blessing as we enter a period of undignified desperation for a win, just 14 games into the season.

I mean really, I'll do absolutely anything for three points.

Skydive from 15,000 feet, listen to a James Blunt CD from start to finish, swim with crocodiles, spend an hour in the company of Gillian McKeith - just name your price football God and by golly I'll pay it.

Last weekend's defeat at Blackpool was the low point of the campaign thus far and had me feeling for the first time that, maybe, we're not going to get out of this.

The result was made all the more galling by Ian Holloway's admission that his side's display was their worst in the Premier League, while every pundit under the sun rubbed it in by rightly judging us to be worth at least a point.

Nothing new there – we're used to plaudits but no points by now – it's just that the opposition were so obviously there for the taking.

Unmitigated frustration doesn't even begin to describe the emotions felt when watching Wolves in the past two months.

The statistics of nine defeats in 11 and four on the trot, no clean sheet, etc, are damning, but in reality performances have been worthy of a much better points haul.

Members of the 'Mick Out' brigade are starting to make themselves heard and those murmurs will only get louder if defeat follows on Saturday.

If you're short-sighted, possess memories which only stretch back three months and have a shameless disregard for the magnificent job the man I'm proud to call our manager has done since 2006, then, I guess I see where you're coming from.

Too many people have forgotten that we punched well above our weight last season with a young, developing squad.

Although Mick McCarthy is culpable for a few dodgy signings here and there, is often stubborn to the point of foolhardiness and occasionally makes baffling substitutions, it's erroneous to suggest that he is the sole reason for our precarious position.

The squad he's assembled, collectively and individually, is good enough to stay in the Premier League, that there is of little doubt.

We've all seen, at one point or another, that the vast majority of players are up to the task when playing to their potential.

The tactics used, something which football supporters give far too much credence to, have - Bolton aside - been spot-on, recently causing problems for some of the best teams in European football.

No, for me it's not the manager, it's the players. They've got us into this mess and now they're going to have to drag us out of it.

Time after time in recent weeks we've found ourselves in goal-scoring or goal-making positions in and around the box but, invariably, the wrong options are chosen.

Either it's a pass instead of a shot, a shot instead of a pass, an over-hit cross, a misplaced pass, a wayward strike off target or, worst of all, dithering hesitation.

We must be one of the best sides in the division at working the ball into dangerous areas, but from that point onwards the end product just isn't there.

And in defence individual mistakes have been ruthlessly exposed.

Stephen Ward's penalty madness at Spurs, Christophe Berra's needless foul at Fulham, Richard Stearman's own goal against Bolton, Steven Fletcher's misplaced pass at Manchester United and goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann's butter fingers last weekend at Blackpool, to name just a few, have thrown away valuable points.

You could churlishly argue that it's Mick's fault for buying the players in the first place, but I didn't hear many people complaining in the summer that the squad wasn't up to it, even more so after the first three games of the season.

No, on the whole he's bought well in the transfer market but he can only guide them so far.

When the players cross that white line it's up to them to take responsibility for the indecisiveness and lapses in concentration which are costing us so dearly.

Perhaps the burden of trying to repeat last season's heroics in a more competitive league is getting the better of a few of them.

On the slippery slope to sheer panic and anxiety for a result at any cost, those burdens will only become greater.

If I did have one piece of advice for Mick it'd be to freshen up the side to try and shake off that losing feeling, starting in goal where Hahnemann's form has notably tailed off of late.

The American isn't commanding his penalty area like he did so dominantly towards the tail end of last season and at times his distribution is awful.

Wayne Hennessey is itching to play and I'd back him to take his chance.

Stephen Hunt is another who isn't producing the goods who I'd consider taking out of the firing line.

At the moment he's not the player who Mick was so desperate to buy in January and, although he'll come good at some point and is undoubtedly short of match sharpness, we can't afford passengers.

It's also time to get our money's worth from Fletcher, who has been a victim of the fact 4-5-1 is the system which works best for us.

The man has touches of class and composure in his locker that we could seriously do with, so let's get in the team, put him out wide and see what he can do.

Right, here's the side which will win three points on Saturday.

Hennessey, Kevin Foley, Stearman, Steven Mouyokolo, Ward, Matt Jarvis, Michael Mancienne, David Jones, Nenad Milijas, Steven Fletcher, Kevin Doyle.

It's wickedly ironic that Sunderland should be the visitors on Saturday and football's scriptwriters have their quills at the ready for Mick's former club to leave him further up relegation creek without a paddle.

For his and our sakes, it's time for the players to prove they are up to the challenge of saving our season.