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Wolves blog: No more square pegs in round holes

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Another week, more questions than answers...writes Wolves blogger Graham Large.

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The sense of optimism produced by Wolves recent run of 13 points from a possible 18 has quickly evaporated following Tuesday night's capitulation against Bolton.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to feel sorry for Kenny Jackett and his men, especially after they meekly surrendered a two-goal lead against the Championship's bottom club by conceding twice in the last nine minutes of the game.

The body language of everyone involved was dreadful.

The players seemed to think they could just turn up and the result would take care of itself, the manager made substitutions late in the game that invited pressure and the Bolton players could barely believe their luck when they were gifted two late goals courtesy poor defending and even poorer decision making.

The club's hierarchy were condemned earlier this week for failing to bring in a striker, and I can understand why. There's no disguising that there has been a lack of goals this season.

And last week, I spoke about how we needed a proven Championship goal-scorer to come in and fire the team towards the play-offs. However, this week, and particularly after watching on Tuesday night, I'm not sure that is where the problem lies.

A clinical finisher wouldn't have made much of a difference to the result because Wolves were failing to create clear cut chances more than anything.

On Tuesday, Bjorn Sigurdarson started up front at Molineux for the first time in over two years. With the exception of his assist for the goal – disregarding the fact he should have scored when the ball first came to him – he had very little impact on the game, partly due to the lack of service.

Adam Le Fondre, the alternative option, has come in for a lot of stick this season. Admittedly, he has been very disappointing, but it's hard for a striker to play well when the rest of the team is not creating chances.

Last season's attacking triumvirate of Nouha Dicko, Benik Afobe and Bakary Sako scored an awful lot of goals for Wolves. I think the fact they were so prolific helped mask deficiencies that existed elsewhere.

A constant criticism of Jackett is his tendency to field players out of position; a fault which ultimately saw their most valuable player – Afobe – leave for Bournemouth in January.

On Tuesday night, Tommy Rowe became the latest square peg in a round hole, when he was selected to play on the left-hand-side of midfield. Since Bakary Sako's departure, umpteen players have been utilised in that role, but very few of them have been out-and-out wingers.

Although Rowe has often been referred to as a utility player, he is clearly not a left winger. He drifted inside, altering the shape of the side and often leaving them without an attacking option on the flank.

Playing him there was completely detrimental to both Rowe himself and the team dynamic as a whole.

The opposite side of the pitch was just as bad with Rajiv Van La Parra back to his erratic best.

Van La Parra was on fire at the start of his Wolves career and I thought we had found a player of real genuine quality, but the tail-off since those first few games has been huge.

Admittedly he has been in and out of the team, and even cut adrift at one point, but he has never been able to deliver on a consistent basis. One good game in four; he flatters to deceive far too often for my liking.

But it isn't just about the personnel, the ineffectiveness also stems from the team's direct playing style.

Wolves have developed a penchant for sitting deep, absorb pressure and allow too much room in front of the penalty area, a flaw which has cost us more than a few cheap goals in recent weeks. Look no further than the defeat against Cardiff – a team with several players capable of scoring from distance.

And the long ball was very much in vogue on Tuesday – much to the detriment of Sigurdarson, who won a few headers but had no teammates close enough to latch on to them.

The football is as bad as anything served up by Dean Saunders; the only difference is the results are a lot better.

As the club's play-off hopes drift further into the distance, now is the time for Jackett to start working towards next season and going back to the tried and tested formula that was so successful in the past.

Namely, a settled XI with no chopping and changing, no more square pegs in round holes, a consistent formation and a more attack-focused playing style.

The likes of Carl Ikeme, Mike Williamson, Kevin McDonald and Joe Mason will form the backbone of the team for next season, so it is imperative that they are given as much game time as possible together to develop an understanding on the pitch.

The question is now; can Wolves regroup and get back to winning ways?

We'll find out at Reading.