Wolves blog: Boro and out

I took a lot of stick in my last blog by some Wolves fans, who were unhappy that I had candidly expressed my nervousness at the football served up over the last month or so.

For having an opinion, I was told to stay away from Molineux, called a negative idiot, a boo-boy and even an Albion fan. You know what? I loved it.

Perhaps I was, and still am, a little worried that we might not make it, but then isn't that what football is all about?

I make absolutely no apologies for my opinions, but maybe I should try to relax and enjoy the ride a little bit more than I am.

But I don't expect that my blogs will now just become happy clapping, sycophantic or public pleasing. Just what would be the point?

We have played some exhilarating football this season and it has been a joy to be at the Championship summit for so long. Yet recently we have started to wobble, when we could have almost had this league sewn up by now.

It's no coincidence that since Michael Mancienne's departure back to Chelsea, we are shipping in far too many goals and we can't seem to keep a lead for toffee, as was illustrated at Ashton Gate.

If manager Mick McCarthy believes that plugging the defensive gaps with Jason Shackell or Neill Collins (who I think he has taken me off his Christmas card list) is the long term answer, then our season could be in danger of fizzling out.

I'm not going to turn this into chapter 74 of the Neill Collins character assassination story, but I will never be convinced that he is a player for this level of football.

The Nigel Quashie signing from West Ham doesn't exactly fill me with any great confidence either and seems to have split the opinion of the fans.

In a time when our centre of midfield is screaming out for some creativity, why bring in a player that surely will only compete against Henry in a defensive role? I don't think he is any better than we already have.

It has been said time and time again, but most fans I talk to would love to see Mark Davies back at the club from Leicester - and competing against Dave Edwards and Dave Jones for that second spot in the centre of midfield.

There was a rumour in a certain newspaper this week that Bolton could come in for him for a pathetic fee of £650,000. I know it was just more transfer speculation designed to fill a few more column inches, but I can't see Mick letting a player of his quality go and I wouldn't have thought Mark would want to go and be embroiled in a relegation battle.

With Stephen Hunt looking like he could be on his way, Jay Tabb has joined Reading and was a player who really impressed me when we played Coventry. He is a player I and a few others would loved to have seen sign for Wolves.

A central defender of real quality won't be an easy find in the transfer window, but I feel this must surely be Mick's top priority. What are your thoughts?

Up front, we have perhaps been a little one dimensional with our style of football when Chris Iwelumo has played and, while he isn't firing on all cylinders, it's an ideal opportunity for Andy Keogh or Sam Vokes to step up and prove their worth.

Keogh has shown some decent form in the last couple of games, which I never thought I would say. Although I would prefer to see Vokes partner Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in attack, most feel that Keogh does warrant his starting place.

Moving on to the weekend and the FA Cup and a lot of fans have lambasted Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, for honestly stating that he will field a heavily weakened team against United on Saturday.

Spurs have already reached one cup final and their main aim this season is to avoid relegation, so I think Harry has got his priorities spot on. Hee is also right when he said that his missus could have scored THAT goal against Portsmouth!

Like Harry, I have absolutely no interest in this weekend's cup game against Middlesbrough. I simply don't want anything to detract from this season's main aim.

Fans will argue that if we win on Saturday, then we will go into the Reading game on Tuesday brimming with confidence.

OK, I would probably agree. But my worry is that let's say we beat Boro and draw a plum tie against one of the top four Premiership clubs.

Do some players then go into the league games before that fifth round tie and play at 80 per cent, so they won't be injured or perhaps they duck out of an important tackle and are not booked and subsequently banned for the game?

We are not blessed with a squad deep in quality. Apart from the strikers and maybe our three central midfielders, we don't have adequate cover if key men like Matt Jarvis, Richard Stearman and Michael Kightly to pick up a knock.

Remember the Cambridge cup game last season and how costly that became, when Kightly came on as a substitute and subsequently missed the rest of the season with an ankle injury?

If you could pick one, what would you rather have - a win on Saturday or three points at the Madejski on Tuesday night?

We don't get many seasons where we get to February and only need to win around 10 of the remaining 18 games to probably see us promoted, but that's where we currently stand.

I'm still positive that we can get the points we need to see us through to the end and the promotion we all crave.

I've no doubt we are in for an all mighty scrap between now and the end of the season, but wouldn't it be great to win the league before May? Then maybe I will get back to writing some fluffy blogs.

In next week's blog, will Mick ever play a different system to 4-4-2?

Have a great weekend.