Jamie O’Hara tipped to be key for Wolves
Wednesday 23rd February 2011, 11:30AM GMT.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy believes Jamie O’Hara has shown he can play a key role in keeping his team in the Premier League over the final 11 games.
McCarthy believes O’Hara’s outstanding first goal for the club at the weekend could be a taster for even more to come as his team’s survival quest heads for crunch point.
Wolves have little margin for error remaining as they prepare to meet a Blackpool side whose survival nerves were eased considerably by their defeat of Spurs last night.
But the sight of the player Spurs were willing to loan to Molineux exerting more influence as his fitness returns has been at least one source of renewed hope for the Wolves boss.
“He hadn’t had any games except for two in the reserves before he came here,” said McCarthy.
“He’s just got better and better but we knew he was a good player — it’s just through games he’s going to improve.
“He’s a terrific player and you can see that from the level he is at.
“He’s a Spurs player which is a different level to us — they’re in the Champions League and he’s been one of their players.
“He’s someone we can all learn from, in the the way he plays the game and the standard of player he is.
“He’s probably someone who runs a game and who prompts and probes but he’s also got a great left foot.
“His best position is probably in there behind the striker if we can get him the ball there.
“He likes playing there and is a clever player and knows how to get on the ball and keep hold of it.
“But he can also play alongside someone else in midfield and behind the play — he’s very talented. As a manager, you are looking for options and Jamie obvisouly gives us a number. He has the ability to do that and make a big impact here.”
The O’Hara impact is shared in the dressing room, too, with winger Matt Jarvis adding: “He scored a fantastic goal and he played very well on Sunday.
“He likes to get on the ball and he put in some great passes as well.
“I feel he can make a real difference to us.
“Since he’s been here, he’s shown what he can do and with the games we’ve got coming up, he’ll hopefully play a big part in them.”
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Quality player and great to hear that if we survive everything has been agreed for the transfer to become permanent. If this happened and we were to play 4-5-1 away from home can you imagine Miljas, Guerdoira and O’Hara in the middle, quality!
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Id take the armband off Karl,and give it to O,Hara.
He just seems to have that presence about him.
Also,taking the extra responibilty of Henry,may help him regain form
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Got to agree with comment 2 Beaconwolf.
Henry seems to be lacking that “bite”!
Perhaps the added responsibility of the captains armband is too much for him.
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“Wolves boss Mick McCarthy believes Jamie O’Hara has shown he can play a key role in keeping his team in the Premier League over the final 11 games.”
Well, you’d kind of hope that this is true of the other 16 or 17 players who are likely to turn out for us too, would you not?
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Henry out, Milijas and O’Hara in midfield, 2 wingers and 2 strikers against Blackpool please.
Blackpools best player, Charlie Adam, is out suspended for them on Saturday!!
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What a pleasure to hear someone talking sense on here Beaconwolf. Henry is not playing as well as he was so let’s think about ways of improving him instead of slating his every move. Taking the pressure of the armband off him MIGHT work, it’s worth a try.
I await the “he ay eva played well he ay” comments now!
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So we’re gonna beat Blackpool at home this week are we?
Think the Spurs result says we shouldn’t be so confident.
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i agree with beaconwolf (2) give jamie o’hara the captains armband and see where we go..oh nice thought aswelll that an agreement has been made that we can sign him permantly if we stay up
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Last season, O’Hara was superb for Pompey, down here. He is an excellent acquisition – just hope there are enough games left for him to work his magic.
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My midfield would be Hammill, O’Hara, Henry, Milijas, Jarvis with Henry sitting in front of the back four.
Play Doyle up front on his own.
The back four is settled with Elokobi, Stearman, Berra and Zubar.
I thought Steaman was Man of the match on Sunday showed great pace and awareness, covering across the back four.
The question for me is whether you drop Zubar for Foley? Zubar has looked very edgy in the last two games giving away free kicks etc
Elokobi has stepped up and now looks comfortable at left back.
Plenty of choices but now is the time for Mick to pick a settled team and stick with it.
UTW
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On a personal note, I will be looking forward to welcoming the fragrant Danielle Lloyd, other half of Mister O’Hara, to any of Wolverhampton’s excellent drinkeries for a pie and a pint. Obviously, that means the Newhampton. Aah, not long now until I once again feel its warm embrace…
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Karl Henry’s problem is simple, the media went for him big time at the start of the season and knocked his confidence. This was followed by a long lay off due to injury.
Yes he is limited going forward but is the best in the club at sitting in front of the back four, only Foley comes close.
We need him now so O’Hara and Milijas can push forward.
Plus playing two wide men mean’s we must have a holding midfielder.
UTW
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We have to win at least 4 games of the 11 remaining. Blackpool was never going to be easy but this Saturday must be the first. We can win any of our remaining fixtures if we play at our peak but the one’s that we are more likely to win are Blackpool, Everton, Fulham, Blues, Albion and Blackburn!
Now here is the dilemma for Mad Mick. We will not win the required amount of games with the line up from Sunday. I like Foley but he is not a winger, so Hammill or Hunt – when fit – must play or we play with a single winger. O’Hara and Milijas have to play and I daresay that irrespective of form, Henry will be first on the teamsheet. We will have to play SEB or Fletcher in some of the games or we will not get the goals. Wolves nearly always need at least 2 to be safe!
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I watched Blackpool beat Spurs yesterday. They are a much better team than us. They will beat us comfortably on Saturday as they did at their place. They play to win not just “not to lose” like we do. It is sad but our players are just not good enough to keep us in this league.
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I saw the Blackpool -Tottenham game yesterday on tv and tottenham created lots and lots of chances almost every time they got the ball forward.
I dont think i ever saw a result more missleading against run of play! 25-8 shots towards goal in spurs favour..
4 times they saved on the goalline, first they scored from penalty spot, second was an offside goal(cant believe the ref missed that on), third goal was a mistake by a spurs defender.
We must attck on saturday, please 2 STRIKERS ON!
I was impressed though by one of their forwards DJ Campbell, very quick player, watch out!
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IMO playing 2 wingers and one one striker seems a bit silly when it appears that there is only one to receive the subsequent cross.Why not play Nenad, Jamie, and Jones in midfield, with Doyle, Fletcher up top with Jarvis or Hammill switching between right and left.
Impressed with Stearman a little bit of patience has paid off.Also George is improving.Very interesting run in.
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14 & 15 did you two watch the same game?
wolwan79 – I went to the Blackpool game away and would dispute that they beat us comfortably? we let in an early goal and came back strong in the second half.
We shall see on Saturday…..
UTW
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Henry is dividing opinion. I think he’s not been good enough this season. People say we need a holding midfielder and that Henry is the only player who can do this for us.
Wrong. Milijas does it for his country and evens captains them! He isn’t blessed with pace but can tackle and is the best passer of the ball at the club.
Also, whilst I think Stearman has been our most improved player this season and has great potential, I think one of the key reasons why we have let in so many last minute goals is our lack of experienced players, especially in defence. As we HAVE to win at least 4 or 5 of our 11 games, I would bring back Craddock who is the only real player with experience.
I’d like to see us go for it on Saturday as we always play negative.
Hennessey
Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi
Hammil
Edwards
O’Hara
Milijas
Jarvis
Doyle
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We have to win on Saturday. Blackpool’s 7 point lead over us means we must beat them to keep them in the mix with us: that would be five teams fighting to avoid relegation. Anything less than a win is likely to see Blackpool easing away, thus making our task even harder. Sorry to state the obvious – but when you get twitchy, that can happen.
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Jamie O Hara is the sort of player the fans were promised by the management ,proven quality at prem level pity its taken so long for the penny to drop with Moxey.
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same old, same old, same old……..
Nothings gonna change so lets not get uptight about it. We just have to sit back and watch this pantomime unfold.
we have no choice.
Or do we?????? mmmmmmmmmmm
think about it?
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Portugal Paul said “Impressed with Stearman a little bit of patience has paid off.Also George is improving.”
I couldn’t agree more and that, in a nutshell, is why some of the reactionary stuff on here after every game is so ridiculous.
I’ve got a good feeling for 4 points from our next 2 games.
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John De Wolf
For god sake, your living in cookoo land matey!
you cannot leave Henry out
the formation you have picked is the logical one so you can guarantee it will not happen.
still, up the wolves ah…
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If we get forward in numbers against Blackpool we can create chances we just need to take them. The one thing Blackpool have are players who aren’t afraid to shot and can finish. We must have the worst record in history this season for shots on target. We didn’t deserve to lose at Blackpool, I hope we get a performance worth three points at home. UTW.
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I believed before WBA and Blackpool games that 4 points would be the minimum requirement. A win (not guaranteed) would see us on 28 points from 28 games and a real chance of getting out of it. A draw would keep us just about in contention. A defeat would leave us hanging by a thread. It’s a masive game. You can see Blackpool scoring at least 1 and maybe 2 goals. Our scoring record suggests we probably won’t get more than 2. It’s finger nail chewing time !
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I think our defence isnt too bad..the problem i see is that we are not attacking enough.
If we attack more we wont stress our defence as much.
2 strikers, i wanna see SEB and Fletch.
Attack is best form of defence(even in the end of games!)
We need to get on top of them, they have good offense bad defence..so dont let them attack..we are the home team!
UTW
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If we fail to get 3 points against Blackpool which won’t be easy they we can look forward to the Championship next season.
We can’t score enough goals, all the millions spent on Steven Fletcher, he hardly ever starts a game yet is still joint leading goal scorer. We have missed so many goal scoring chances in games this season we can hardly complain about being bottom of the league.
Most of Mick McCarthy’s signings have been poor and have not really improved the team to be able to consolidate our position in the Premiership. We are desperately lacking a few more quality players and that is something that should have been rectified in January but wasn’t. If we are relegated then I think it will be a few years before we get back to the Premiership especially with Mick McCarthy at the helm.
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Maybe a reason nobody is in the box during our crosses is Jarvis is too quick. He skins most defenders in every game, but that probably also means that our midfield cant keep up with him to get in and around the box for his crosses. On sunday he put in a few decent crosses in the first half but only doyle was in the box. Thats why i think if jarvis plays, we should have blake or fletch up front with doyle alongside them or just behind them. Then at least we would have 2 players in the box.
As for Henry i also beleive he hasnt been as good since all the media attention at the start of the season. In recent matches he seemed hesitant to put a tackle in, but if he regains the form that he has shown earlier in the season, he could be another player who can help us stay up.
I think we will beat blackpool if we make the most of our opportunities and dont just sit back like we did on sunday. When we go a goal up, most teams are going to go out attacking us, which means they will obviously leave more gaps, and there wont be a better time to get a second, so i think we need to keep exploiting teams even if we are a goal up. On sunday we wasnt even making use of counter attacks, we just sat back, even though it has worked against chelsea and some other teams, i think at this stage of the season and with our goal difference we need to keep attacking and finnish teams off.
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Jarvis has been off form for a while now, ever since the England talk.
I agree with some that the sub at the end of the WBA match was stupid.
I also think a Blackpool team without Charlie Adam is nowhere near as good and he is suspended for the weekend. Its a must win game and one I fully expect to win. If not then we fully deserve to go down.
I agree with a post above saying we spent millions on a striker and seems ridiculous he cant get a game most weeks. Our goal scoring isnt exactly the best of records afterall.
Wba, Wolves and Wigan are in serious trouble. I think West Ham will get out of it. Hope I am wrong.
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What last night proves is that clubs supposedly in freefall towards the trapdoor still have it in them to get a surprise result against one of the bigger teams. What were you all saying yesterday about 38 points definitely being enough…?
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Keithr21
‘most of Mick McCarthys signings have been poor’??
Other than Hennessey and Craddock I think McCarthy signed the rest?
The squad may not keep us up but they are worth millions more than we paid for them.
IMO only Fletcher and Hunt would sell for less than we paid and we might get our money back in the Summer (not discounting that Kightley may never come back).
Players like Jarvis, Doyle, Henry, Ward, Elokobi, Stearman, Berra, SEB, Jones, Edwards etc may divide opinions but they are worth more than we paid. Plus Hennessey cost nothing and would sell for £6M plus.
You can knock Mick McCarthy on lots of things but has made shrewd signings ever since he arrived.
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Having got Jamie O’Hara in, you can now see the difference in class of midfielders i.e. Jamie and David Edwards who is a player ive always liked, full of running works his socks off ( as do the rest of the squad ), but then you see O’Hara play and the ‘gulf in class’ is there for everybody to see. Its ok having these players who as Mick says ‘put a shift in’ but you need skill from the top end of the League where Jamie as come from, he’s head and shoulders above anything we’ve got. the sort of players we should have bought early in the season? Id sooner only sign 2 players with class, than 4 average Championship type players. I heard Ian Holloway talking on 5live today, he said ‘he’s never been on a better trip than the one he’s been on with Blackpool this season’ He lets them go out and play without fear, yes they will lose games,but they always go out to WIN their games whether it 3-2. 4-3. 5-4 the players are not afraid beacuse their Manager played without fear and manages without fear? Just the opposite to Mick who goes out every game NOT to lose, 1pt being better than none? You can see it in the team formation he picks whoever the opposition is, or where they are in the League table, he says he’s not a negative manager i beg to differ. Holloway thinks well everybody said we will get relegated so lets go down fighting playing ‘free-flowing football’ which up till now as done them more good than bad,cause they are now 12th in the BPL, and Wolves yes still in the bottom three, with all our so-called better players than Blackpool’s journeymen and nobodies????? We bought a £7.5M STRIKER who scored 14 goals last season for a team who got relagated, so play him give him 90mins on the pitch not on his arse on the bench. UTW:
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Apart from the away point, I thought the highlights on Sunday was Wolves back line. Superb. Stearman MOM …. and just what has happened to George !!
We now know that Blackpool is a must-win game especially with Charlie Adam suspended. We also know that Ian Holloway’s style is gung ho and time after time we read and hear how weak their defence is.
Problem is where do our goals come from ? Doyle is too often on his backside and Jarvis couldn’t hit two barn doors ! If we don’t bring Fletcher and/or Seb into the starting line up there is something seriously wrong.
Now I know you read our posts avidly Mick, so don’t give us a 4-5-1 on Saturday or I’ll withdraw to The Feathers before half time.
14)Wolwan 79. Is it that new itchy scratchy Baggy top that’s getting you all bitter and twisted ? Cheer up you’ll win a home game back in the Championship.
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freddeno – I agree. If we have the ball in theyre half, they arent going to score. If we go a goal up, its ok being a bit more cautious and leaving the defence back, but we need to continue to press the oppositions defence, especially as the game comes to a close and the opposition goes all out attack. They will leave huge gaps at the back which we could exploit. To be honest, i think we have a decent defence considering the amount of chances albion had on sunday and they only managed to score 1, if we play a little more attacking, our defence wont need to defend against so many chances, and therefore hopefully we could keep a few more clean sheets.
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MMs prefered back 4 of Zubar-Stearman-Berra-Elokobi with Hennesey in goal is not good enough for the Championship let alone the Premiership.No big money buys among them and clearly investment was needed.Although we do not score enough goals we would survive if we had not conceded so many last few minute goals which have cost us 10 points which is the difference between survival and relegation.
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Micks last sub was terrible at West Brom. Hammill on for Jarvis istead of unsettling the back line and saying come and have another go at us.
A point before the game was acceptable but you cant throw away points like that in our situation. 10 points thrown away in last 3 minutes this season. We would be almost safe if it werent for stupid errors and crazy subs. Then again maybe thats the difference between this level and the Championship.
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John de wolf – Thats a better team than we had out last weekend but I would take Edwards out of that and play 2 up front. Doyle needs someone up there with him.
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Geoff – So of the back 4 that “is not good enough for the championship”, 3 of them helped us win the Championship, the other 1 has played in the Champions League for Marseille. All 4 of them, although to a lesser extent Stearman, all helped us to retain our Premier League status last season.
Thanks for your well thought out & considered point.
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PeteNuts
42 points will be required.
The bottom 3 will continue to pick up points – no one will be cut adrift and it will go to the last couple of games.
Someone may find themselves 5 or 6 points clear with two to play and still go down.
Its a mad league so no one can predict where wins will come from, Blackpool won last night but may not win again for another 5 games?
WBA are in freefall but are capable of beating anyone, so are Wigan.
We need to go on a 5 game unbeaten run to get back in the pack.
UTW
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I think our best chance of winning on saturday will be if we score more goals than what Blackpool do. If we fail to do that then i think we will either draw or lose. I would perosnally play a 4-4-2 using a sweeper system with a 5 man mildfield and 3 strikers to allow more attacking options up front. Guess we will have to wait and see what happens on saturday.
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30) 38 points will just about be enough. The reason being the others fixtures. Wigan have got to play Man U and Man City, Chelsea and Spurs and will end up bottom. WBA have Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs and will be second bottom. West Ham have Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs and Man Utd and will fight it out with us for the third from bottom! It can be done but a Blackpool win is a must.
My predictions:-
West Ham 36 Wolves 38??????
WBA 35
Wigan 34
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@39 and 41
Of course, predicting the future is not an exact science or else we’d all do it on the Lotto every week, but I think that Billy’s prediction is going to be a ballpark figure, whereas I think BRW is putting too much faith in other teams being able to take absolutely nothing from their problem fixtures. This hasn’t happened for anyone all season, least of all ourselves: in this loopy season, why would it start now?
I’ve said it before elsewhere and been shouted down, but the fact is that as it stands, a point a game would see us in 19th place, and since I said it yesterday, one of the other strugglers has pulled 3 points further away. 38 points will not be enough and should not be treated as the figure of our salvation.
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I reckon the same team except Hammil in for Foley on sat, Blackpool are not great at defending and as long as we keep tight we will get chances
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#40 Sarah F
Until I read your post I was having a really bad day. Now my sides are aching from laughing.
Your statement that, ‘the only we can win is by scoring more goals than Blackpool’ had me roaring. My Missus thought I had finally gone off my head (quote).
Thank-you Sarah best post I’ve read in months!
Big win this weekend I think to settle our nerves.
Up The Wolves
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sorry if we do not win on saturday i think we
are down,but the one thing worse would be that
muppet mick will still be here and that are
very bad joke. but moxey you will have 8 less
season ticket holders as all my lot will not
buy next season if he still here, can believe
he still got a job here.
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It’s a sad reflection on just how poor our team is when we are relying on other teams to lose instead of just winning our games, then it will not matter what the others do!
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41 – brummierobwolves – so like me, you think Blackpool may well have done enough to struggle over the line, with just a few more favourable results. I agree with you in that it now looks like being a fight between the four teams you have named. I just hope your predictions come true. In footballing terms, what a tragedy that we Wolves’ fans have to live on our nerves time after time. There seems to be no such thing as relaxation for us.
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we are down
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we dow again sorry lot mmmmmmmm
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o’hara is a quality player, he has all the attributes you want from a midfielder, defensively and attacking. he’s always there to try to stop the other teams attacks and also gets forward with the intent on finding the net or setting someone else up. he’s good at free kicks (better than nenad anyway) and just give mm’s 100% into every game. i feel we’ve lacked in the midfield all season so have had to go back to 4-5-1 for us to have a strong enough midfield to cope with most of the teams in the league, i feel with o’hara you can revert back to 4-4-2 due to the quality he has in midfield which frees up a place for a striker. i also feel we are at an advantage (not due to adam being suspended for blackpool) but for the form hennessey has found in recent weeks.
gotta go 4-4-2 saturday with hammill and jarvo out wide.
utw
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Its so difficult to predict how many points we will need to stay up. Even though the teams around us have got a few tough matches to play, this season has seen the lower teams snatch points off the higher teams, so who knows if they will get the points. On the other hand, the higher teams usually start winning the majority of their matches towards the end of the season, so hopefully the likes of man utd, Arsenal, Manc city and chelsea will all go on decent runs now, preventing the teams around us picking up more points.
Even though blackpool got a win yesterday, it was theyre first win in 7 games, if they carry on the season on that form, they will reach around 36 points. West brom have won 1 in 11 games with 3 draws. If they continue that form they will be on 34 points. wigans last 11 has seen them draw 6 and win 2, which would see them on 39 points. West ham have drew 4 and won 3 from theyre last 11, which would see them on 38 points. We have won 4 and drew 1 from our last 11, which would see us on 38 points. Baring in mind allot of those 11 games were against the top teams, if we cant start performing against the teams around us we could do even better.
Obviously these teams will not all continue theyre form, but I think 38 points would be close and may just see us safe. All of these teams have put a group of results together apart from us, we need to get a few results on the bounce in these last games, which i think requires a change of tactics against the lower teams, as our current performances against them has not been good enough.
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Sir Billy Quiet
I would agree that his signings for the Championship were very good.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said of his recent signings.
Whilst the club may make millions on some players they will loose on others, ie Jones for nothing in the summer.
I have never criticize any player on this board for not giving 100% effort but we are lacking the extra quality that is needed to survive in the Premiership without constantly just trying to avoid relegation.
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Sarah f should.be the manager with that much knowledge
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Hopefully we’ll play 4-4-1-1 on sat with Seb and Fletcher up front, i know Doyle works, but he is not he finisher that the other two are! This is a must win game!!!!!
Keep the faith….
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No2 beaconwolf I think you may be right take the armband off Karl and give it to Jamie, will give Karl chance to regain his form I’m sure he will.
Petenuts you and your Fragrant Danielle Lloyd, bet your missus doesn’t know about your obsession with her.if there is a missus…..
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It is me or as the writing gone funny on here???very little perhaps I need specsavers… or is it old age
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well well quote”Karl Henry promises more surprises” hes been learning to pass forward.
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Sir Billy Quiet Henry would better sitting on the bench.
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I agree entirely with post 10 (Sir Billy Quiet). I think that with that 5 man midfield we have enough quality to score goals whilst Henry still gives the defence some protection.
Blackpool are very attacking so I think we need that holding midfielder role which Henry does. I personally rate Henry but must admit that he is totally out of form at the moment. The problem is that I dont see any other option than Henry unless you think Foley could do the job better. hmmmm not sure about that but no matter, I doubt Mick would drop Henry anyway!
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so its henry this week then, its foley one week, ward the next zubar after we are allways looking for a scape goat, i disagree henry is our problem, 11 games left and why change the captain now? who else could take up the armband, the only other player i would want to captain is either craddock or hahnemann or milijas and i’m sure he’s speaking fluent wolverhampton now.
craddock is not fit and hasnt played for awhile, o’hara looks a class player him and milijas work well, that free kick was genius!!! but o’hara isnt match fit either yet.
i think the team has been patched up most of the season, which has confused our players, playing out of position, what we need now is to pick a team and formation and stick to it for the run in, we have 25points 11 games left anything can happen in the football, we need 13points i dont care how we get them, we dont want good performances yet no results, i rather win ugly than not at all.
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Sarah F, you’re a genius!!!
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be very careful jamie ..
if you play really,really well you will lose your place to wardy !!
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TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS IF WE DONT WIN ON SATURDAY WE BASICALLY DOWN,MICK WE SICK OF EXCUSES,IT IS A PITY O HARA WONT STAY IF WE GO DOWN,THEN AGAIN CANT BLAME HIM,I DONT THINK WE WILL CATCH BLACKPOOL NOW EVEN IF WE BEAT THEM ,MICK LOOK WHAT A GOOD TACTICIAN CAN DO ON LESS BUDGET,MICK A WIN IS A MUST ,3 POINTS PLEASE,BLAKPOOL 7 POINTS AHEAD OF US ,NOT GOOD ENOUGH MICK,FLETCER AND SEB TO START 4 4 2,YOU CAN ATTACK BLACKPOOL,FOR HEAVENS SAKE GET YOUR SUBS RIGHT AT THE RIGHT TIME
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35) Geoff Bull.
Were you at the match on Sunday ?
I think not, otherwise you wouldn’t say that about our back four. TV highlights did NOT do them justice.
And when did “big money buys” guarantee good players ? there’s enough examples to flatten that argument…… anyway, remember most of the “big money buys” started off as “small money buys”
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40)Sarah
You’re a naughty wind up merchant aren’t you ?
With your 13 man tactical formation, I think we have a fair chance of scoring more goals than Blackpool and that could mean we do indeed win, Yipeee !
Just a minute this is a trick question ! If Blackpool score enough own goals we may get a draw or possibly lose, unless of course Ian Holloway decides to play his youth team.
I do hope Andy Gray and Richard Keys don’t read this site.
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Mick just aint got knowhow to keep us up hes not premier quality, he should be relieved of his job.
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I still think for all our remaining home games exept for maybe spurs we must play 4/4/2. We have to start scoring more goals and in my eyes the ones to do that would be fletcher and ebanks blake. Doyle in my opinion is not doing enough as a forward to warrant a place in the starting line up. Same goes for henry. I am not saying they should never play for wolves but i beleive you should play people based on form. Fletch and blake have better goals to minutes ratio than doyle. O hara and milijas would offer us a lot more in a 4 man midfield than henry would. Hammill should also start saturday as foley is not a winger. My team for saturday would be:
Gk hennessey Lb elokobi Rb zubar Cb berra, stearman(who is vastly improving) Lm jarvis Rm Hammill Cm o hara, milijas Cf ebanksblake, fletcher.
Although i think mick will choose a 4,5,1 with Gk hennessey Lb elokobi Rb zubar Cb berra, stearman Lm jarvis Rm Hammill Cm henry, o hara and milijas Cf doyle.
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Come in number 40 , your time is up :-)
( Stay ) Up the Wolves !
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38 – I agree, up to a point. Defence has been a problem for the last 3 years, though – including our promotion winning season (remember Collins?). It’s been more of a problem this season for many reasons, not least Jody being out (predictable, given his age) and a greater emphasis placed on scoring goals (our BIGGEST problem last year).
Hence big money being spent on Hunt and Fletcher, rather than on a quality centre back and left back (Lots of money spent on a left back, then sold for what he cost and not replaced!!!!).
So, the big question is are we, with the defence we have, good enough to stay up?
Well, in my judgement, unless there is a significant improvement in how we approach games I’d have to say no.
We’ll see…..
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“I think our best chance of winning on Saturday will be if we score more goals than what Blackpool do”!”If we fail to do that then I think we will either draw or loose”!!! Can’t wait to read your next post.SARAH F.(40)
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31,Sir Billy.If all of those players you have named were any good why are we in a continous relegation battle?.
15, Freddeno WBA had conceded 2 or more in ALL OF their previous 10 matches so what did our tactical genious do He dropped a forward and put a right back in midfield,so sorry you can forget about 2 strikers on saturday.
MM is a negative manager who sets his stall to not lose rather than go for it which is why we are in serious danger of relegation,MM’S record in the prem speaks for itself 65 defeats in 102 attempts and Wolves away record just 5 wins in 63 speaks volumes.
Currently MM has a win ratio of 17.6% which needs to be closer to 50% over the remaining 11 games.I firmly believe that we have the attacking capabilities to survive BUT DO WE have a manager capable of doing it?.Next 2 games will go a long way to defining our Premiership status.
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#71 maltawolves
Yes, i think MM was afraid we would lose against wba + our bad away record + hodgsons first match.. we will never know what would have happened in that match playing 4-4-2 but we didnt create much…as i said before MM saw Balckpool-Spurs and if he after that game plays with one striker then i really cant understand how he thinks.
My fear is that he will drop milijas and play Henry and O’hara in midfield instead of milijas and o’hara, and play Doyle with either SEB or Fletch(My bet would be SEB)..i wanna see SEB and Fletch together..
We must take it to them and play some attacking football, not let Blackpool do that to us..i really think MM will go 4-4-2, i have that feeling.
Also i would play Craddock instead of Berra in defence, with Foley instead of Zubar at RB..Craddock could do something on corners andd is good passing the ball..
UTW
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42) At the end of the day our star player from Sunday thinks that 38 points is enough. 42 points no way. The four teams that are scrapping it out have not got it in their locker to accrue 14 or 17 points from their remaining fixtures!
3 points on Saturday is a must and Foley must not start on the right wing.
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This player is the difference of if we stay up or if we go down.
Very happy to hear he is taking charge in the dressing room and has the presence to drive a team on the field. We need some more drivers in the side. He will assist Hunt, lets hope they both on the same page.
UTW
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Hennessey
Ward
Berra
Stearman
Foley
Jarvis
O’Hara
Milijas
Hammill
Blake
Doyle
please Mick, drop Henry and play 2 up front against Blackpool.
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Yes, it is a crunch game and 3 points will be vital. I have looked at Wigan, West Ham, Blackpool and Albions run-ins which are particularly bad and we have every chance of staying up.
4-4-2 and a few changes to freshen things up:
Hennessey
Foley
Craddock
Stearman
Elokobi
Hammill
Milijas
O’Hara
Jarvis
Fletcher / Doyle (behind)
SEB
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Like Cornish Wolf, Post 40 had me in stitches. I agree, mate: It was the best post I’ve seen in months. Never let it be said that women don’t understand football, lol!
Apply for McCarthy’s job, Sarah. You’d beat him hands down. And I aint joking, there!
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@73
I’d trust a professional footballer with talk of tactics, skills and fitness all the live-long day, but I’d trust them a whole lot less on the matters of statistical likelihood and mathematics, which is what this boils down to.
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78) I was spot on last season and expect to be this time. Forget Blackpool as they are safe. Albion are more or less definitely down, unless they can get a win at either Stoke or Blues – unlikely. Wigan have too tough a run in I reckon. Blues, Villa and Everton are safe. It’s us or West Ham.
If I am wrong on 38 points not being safe, I will come and find you in the Newhampton and buy you a bottle of wine!
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@79
Ha! Now you’re talking my language. Tell you what, if I am right (actually, that’s not fair, you made an exact prediction – I’m going to predict that 41 will see us safe) then I will stop MENTIONING the Newhampton in all my posts. How about that?
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For the first time I agree with muppet. Jamie, a loan player is the only one I have seen actually shoot at goal from outside the box. He is a real asset, unlike that clueless nitwit which cost us £6.5 mill
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