Meet our new Wolves blogger

New Wolves blogger Tim Spiers explains how he became a Wanderer and gives his predictions for the new Premier League season.

My memories of the day itself are pretty hazy, but by 5pm on 9 November 1991 I had given my heart to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It was less Golden Palace and more Grey Scrapyard back then and we actually lost the game in question, a 3-2 defeat to Derby County.

But the intimidating roar of the crowd, camaraderie between fans, casual swearing, a flashy matchday programme, half-time sweets and of course God himself – Stephen George Bull. In short, I was hooked.

Fast forward 19 years and I've barely missed a match at Molineux since.

My team now plays in a grand stadium – soon to be a 30-odd thousand capacity theatre and, at the last count, is the 15th finest football side in the land.

Yes I'm Wolves through and through folks, so it's a pleasure to have been asked to share with you my thoughts on all things old gold and black for the 2010-11 season.

And seldom during my Molineux lifetime has there been a better time to be a fully paid up member of the Wanderers army.

To me it feels as if the pre-season mood amongst Wolves fans - not to be confused with expectation – has rarely been higher.

Our manager Mick McCarthy's early summer swooping, completed before most of us had an inkling that Con Fabio's overpaid, underperforming motley crew of prima donnas wouldn't be good enough to beat Algeria, was impressive in its execution and it appears the three Ms captured most of their first choices to boot.

Steven Fletcher looks like some player and if he and Kevin Doyle can receive ammunition from a fully-fit Stephen Hunt and Michael Kightly - not holding my breath on that front - then our goalscoring problems should be solved.

That's the theory, although with Wolves the reality is often something completely different!

But on the whole I think we've all got reason to be optimistic and I for one can't wait to see how it all pans out.

Now this may not be directly Wolves related, but it would be churlish to this week write a football blog without mentioning the elephant in the West Midlands football room that is Martin O'Neill's resignation as manager of Villa.

As much as I'm not too concerned with the travails of the 'other other them lot down the road,' it's hard not to be curious as to the latest goings-on at Villa Park.

Am I the only one who thinks Villa could implode now that their deadpan impresario has departed?

Villa supporters who so infuriated O'Neill by booing their team's opening day defeat to Wigan last year, or who mumbled and grumbled about the manager's insistence on not rotating his quality-not-quantity-based squad, may well be regretting their actions now.

Minor gripes in the grand scheme of things - as in the grand scheme of three successive sixth-place finishes, European jaunts and a cup final.

If Sven Goran Eriksson or Gareth Southgate end up in the Villa Park hot-seat, you can bet that a fair chunk of those moaners would gladly doggy paddle to Northern Ireland and back clad in an 'I love Paul Tait' shirt, complete with shiny blue conk, to ensure O'Neill's hasty return.

The timing of his departure is particularly peculiar, given that the issue of what to do with the prospective James Milner cash has been on the table for at least a couple of months.

Anyway, back to far more important matters, namely who should play right wing for Wolves against Stoke this Saturday?

The great football selection debate. Pub coasters and backs of cigarette packets may have been replaced with the somewhat impersonal format of Blackberrys and Microsoft Word documents, but there's no doubting we all love jotting down how our team's line-up should read.

Most of this Saturday's side picks itself but one surprising candidate for Kightly's vacant position has emerged in recent weeks – Greg Halford.

At times last season it was difficult to see just what attributes Halford brought to the squad, aside from his go-go gadget long arms routine.

And that alarmingly large tattoo on his right arm hints he's been planning an elaborate Prison Break-esque escape from the shackles of the Molineux dressing room for the past few months.

But, as Mick always says, a new season means a clean slate for everyone so I would be chuffed to bits if Halford managed to prove the doubters wrong and finally unlock that potential he's been harbouring since his Colchester days.

For the record, I'd go with this team on Saturday in a 4-2-3-1 formation: -

Hahnemann, Foley, Craddock, Berra, Van Damme, Henry, Jones, Doyle, Guedioura, Jarvis, Fletcher.

Add to that the injured quartet of Kightly, Hunt, Ronald Zubar and Steven Mouyokolo - not to mention fringe players Wayne Hennessey, Richard Stearman, Nenad Milijas and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and you've got the basis of a very strong squad.

Last season's Stoke game was one of the dullest in living memory and, perhaps in contradiction to my Halford comments a second ago, I sincerely hope we avoid a long-throw fest along the new Molineux pitch dimensions.

It's a decent fixture to start the campaign with, a local-ish derby and a game we're certainly capable of garnering three points from.

Right, I'm off to sunnier climes next week, so my regular blog will start properly in a fortnight.

To finish off my debut I've put together a few predictions for the forthcoming season, which can hopefully be erased from the world wide web come next May.

But only if they're wrong. So long folks!

Wolves: -

Heart says 11th or 12th but head veers towards 15th, which I would gladly take now.

Albion: -

The need for a striker of Premier League quality is about as garishly glaring as their new shirt sponsor.

Graham Dorrans aside, I just can't see where they've made big improvements from last time around so it'll have to be 19th and relegation for the Baggies.

Villa: -

At this moment I would say eighth. All depends on who their new manager is, but if they sell Milner and Ashley Young they could struggle to mount a European challenge.

Walsall: -

Unfortunately I predict a season of struggle for the Saddlers, but they will just survive by the skin of their teeth. League One has got a few decent sides in it this year and Walsall aren't one of them.

Birmingham: -

As much as it pains me to say it, Blues were brilliant last season. But can they do the same again? Unlikely. New £6million signing Nikola Zigic could be the fall guy as they drop to 14th.

Who will win the league?

Manchester United to pip a Cesc Fabregas-inspired Arsenal to top spot, with the Chelsea pensioners coming in third.

Who will get relegated?

Aside from Albion I don't think you can look much further than their fellow promoted sides Blackpool and Newcastle.

The Tangerines are already a bit of a joke in Premier League terms and another Derby is definitely on the cards there.

The national media's love affair with all things Geordie means they're being tipped for mid-table.

As everyone knows football was invented in 1992 and two fairly low-key Premier League campaigns render Wolves as fairly meaningless compared to a club whose blockbuster summer signings have been 35-year-old Sol Campbell, Dan Gosling and James Perch.

Got nothing against Newcastle but I doubt they've got enough strength in depth to compete.

Who will be the surprise package this season?

Here comes the big Nostradamus moment – Wigan to finish in the top half. You heard it here first. And, while we're at it, Doncaster to win promotion from the Championship.

Who will win the FA Cup?

Manchester City. Squad depth counts for a lot in the FA Cup these days and no one's 25 players will be stronger than theirs.

Which players will be hot for your club?

I've got a feeling Matt Jarvis is going to come to the fore for Wolves this season. Jelle van Damme could be one to watch, too.