Wolves Fans' Verdict v Nottm Forest: A wake-up call

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match? It was clear to me that the team are lacking in Vitimin B, so a week in Spain is just what is needed!

Seriously, fan reactions to our first league defeat since October is well over the top. The further away the players can be, from this hysteria, the better.

So we lost a game. How lucky are we that that is the fourth defeat in 28 games?

Forest came buoyed by a new manager who had them very well organised. We played our strongest XI and they are looking a little jaded. This shows that the squad depth is not really there (Swansea game showed this as well). There are some tired legs and if five days in the sun helps then it’s absolutely the right thing to do.

We started the game well, but my main frustration is that the pace of general play has become slow and cumbersome. What has happened to the exhilarating play of September/October? It’s now too predictable with opposing teams able to do their homework and cancel out any attacking threat.

The first Forest goal had been coming, but it was a cruel deflection through a crowded box, following a corner, that took it passed Ruddy. The second goal was well taken, but due to poor defending, as Osborn was left in the box with time and space to pick his spot.

Nuno was bold with his half time changes. I have no issue with Doherty and Douglas being replaced, as both were having poor games in terms of control and passing accuracy. It was then difficult to see what formation we were playing and I think it changed a number of times during the game.

I cannot understand how we then end up with a Gibbs-White in central midfield with Neves being replaced by Mir on 78 minutes.

We dominated possession without ever really testing their keeper. Forest also created very little but played the game out well.

We’ve been top since we played Villa and now have 18 games remaining. This could just be the wake up call that we need. The squad needs reinforcements now with a right wing back, a centre forward and an attacking midfielder needed. Not players for the future, but players who can come and play a part in these 18 games now.

Not much to ask then? Over to you Mr Thelwell.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Coady and Boly were the pick of the defence, though I’m still not sure how Osborn had so much space for his goal. Boly did little else wrong and just shades Neves and Cavaleiro for my man of the match.

Doherty, Bennett, Douglas, Saiss and Bonatini all had poor games.

Cavaleiro started and did well, but not quite the impact he has when coming off the bench. Neves played well but must have been frustrated by the lack of movement around him when in possession. Costa started well but faded during the second half.

A frustrating day all around. We are not getting players in the opposition box quickly enough. Hence the need for another striker/poacher and an attacking midfielder to make those ‘Dave Edwards’ type runs.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? Well, that’s it then. It’s over! We can’t create anything, Nuno doesn’t have a plan B, Bonatini is rubbish!

If you’d have heard some of the comments akin to this upon coming out of the ground you’d think we’d just been played off the park for the 10th game running. It appears that the scale of feeling among our fan base ranges from euphoric super-confidence to utter panic with absolutely nothing between them on the gauge.

In reality there are worries but no need to panic. It seems our biggest issue at the moment is that there are several players who look a little leggy and are lacking the sharpness they had earlier in the season.

The highlights of this yesterday were the five or six occasions when Doherty allowed passes to seemingly go straight through him and out for throw-ins, Bonatini standing motionless eight yards from goal as a Doherty knock-down bounced across the six yard box into the safety of the goalkeeper’s arms and when Osborn was allowed six yards of space in our area to take a touch and smash their second goal into the roof of the net while Saiss struggled to get over to make a challenge.

It’s been reported on several occasions that Nuno has made the fewest changes to his starting XI for league games this season and it’s perhaps time to shuffle the pack a little and get some fresh energy into the side.

At the back we still look generally solid but were undone by a deflected effort to open the scoring before Forest caught us cold while we were stunned from that effort to double the lead.

Other than that Ruddy had little to do. The problem was that their goalkeeper’s afternoon was very similar. We had plenty of chances in the final third but, to the frustration of many fans, the final ball was fairly terrible on most occasions.

Repeatedly we hit crosses against the first man or into the stands and, when we did finally get one right and get it into the area, there was rarely anyone on the end of the cross.

If there’s one thing we’ve seen already this season it’s that Nuno usually reacts to poor performances by sorting the side out and making sure it doesn’t happen again. I’ve got full faith in him to do so again after the toothless attacking efforts at Barnsley and again against Forest.

Keep calm and carry on.

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? It was disappointing that we failed to take advantage of the opportunity to extend our lead but hardly a disaster when you consider it was our first league loss since October.

Every side goes through a rough patch in form at some point and it seems we’ve reached that stage of the season.

Hopefully it’s just a blip and Nuno has a plan to help us bounce back from the last few lacklustre performances.

And at least there is still time to do something about it and bring in new blood to give us other options going forward which is where we’ve been lacking a bit of spark in recent matches.

Fair play to Forest, they were up for the challenge more than we were yesterday afternoon and were the better side for most of the game.

I thought we started well but just didn’t have that flair and pace that we know these players are capable of when attacking.

It didn’t take long for us to lose momentum and Forest took advantage of this leading to their first, incredible fluke of a goal. Can’t complain about their second which was well taken.

Thought we were better in the second half but I never felt we really looked in a position to take control of the game. We had good spells but then some shocking moments of terrible passing and giving the ball away would follow helping Forest on their way.

All in all not a strong Wolves performance but certainly not one that should be making us panic. Nuno, over to you!

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Not surely many really impressed yesterday afternoon with everyone seeming to be having an off-day.

Morgan Gibbs-White, coming on after the break, did however, look good and was at least trying to push us forward in the second half.

Natalie Wood

What's your verdict on the match? The best way I can sum up the match is frustrating but inevitable.

Before the game I felt we had to not only win but win comfortably. The past few weeks there has been a steady decline of performance and even though we kept grinding out results we were not playing to the standard we were used to.

For the first 20 minutes we played well and were in control of the game but like so many other games recently we couldn’t turn our domination into goals. After that we just got sloppy and lazy, even after going 2-0 down there didn’t seem to be any urgency in our play and to be honest half time couldn’t have come soon enough. The boos from some fans at half time were certainly not a sound I had missed!

I had hoped wolves would come back for the second half all guns blazing but it just wasn’t the case. There was no creativity, lazy passing and a continuation of a slightly concerning lack of power of front.

The fact that there wasn’t any chances to even comment on just about sums it up!

I think the classic Wolves fan in me wants to start panicking and see this be the start of the end (memories of 01-02 season) but ultimately we are nine points ahead of second...nine points!

We have undoubtedly the best squad in the Championship and now is our chance to respond properly and get back on track, showing who we really are. For this to happen I think a couple of things needs addressing ASAP.

Firstly it has felt over the past few weeks Wolves are trying to do too much, showboating constantly and playing with a level of arrogance – things you can only get away with when you winning every game comfortably. Forest played with 10 men behind the ball for most the game and that is what Barnsley did and no doubt what most teams are going to do from now on.

We are too predictable at the moment, too easy for the opposition to read. One of our strengths at the start of the season was the speed we could break – where has that gone? I think our play needs to be brought back down a few pegs and go back to basics. Secondly we need a striker, Bonatini is a great player at times but his form has really gone off the track recently and so far Mir hasn’t really set the world on fire.

We lost, we move on and we hopefully respond quickly. It feels like we have lost our mojo a bit in recent weeks- hopefully the injection of Marbella sun this week will do the trick.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? I have been desperate for Cavaleiro to start ahead of Costa, he always brings such a spark to the team when he comes on so I had hoped he would have the same impact from the off set but unfortunately it wasn’t the case.

Perhaps he is destined to be our “impact substitute” for the rest of the season. Costa on the other hand still looks off the pace, he seems to have lost a lot of confidence. One of the only positives of the game is be Morgan Gibbs White’s performance – it would be nice to see him feature a bit more.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? We will just have to put this mini run of winless games as our mid season “blip”.

A game where we largely dominated possession wise but in truth created very little as our final ball was missing.

We have relied on the overlapping players a lot this season and did so again today but Douglas, Doherty, Costa and Cavaleiro all failed when a good ball into the box was required.

Forest looked organised and were certainly up for it by breaking up our triangles and kicking everything that moved.

But here we are sitting nine points clear now just needing the blip to end and that could easily happen if we return to the speedy incisive football of December and before. Don’t panic!

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match? Well that was a very bad day at the office. The type of day where you put a staple through your thumb or you get assigned the company nerd, who wants to spend all day talking about Star Wars or comic books.

Everything that could go wrong did. Deflections, not tracking men, hitting the first man off a million cross and having the misfortune of inheriting Bobby M from the Premier League. I would rather have had Bobby Davro refereeing us…what an absolute joke this guy is and just goes to show how poor officiating is across the English pyramid.

The foul on Jota was pre-meditated and a lot more cynical than Batth’s sending off against Bristol City. You then had Forest’s timewasting tactics for most of the second half, which were duly noted by the pantomime dame in the middle. And guess what, mastermind Madley only added four minutes.

I’m not trying to say the ref cost us the game, he didn’t. Karanka’s men were well marshalled and capitalised on poor defending to score two crucial goals and then they saw the game out comfortably.

Nuno – for the first time this season – got it wrong. Subbing a jaded Doherty and a poor Douglas made no sense whatsoever as we lost all of our shape and it forced Cav back into a more defensive role.

At first I had to pinch myself that we didn’t have 10 men, as the new system kind of felt like that level of desperation. Now whether the two wingbacks should have been rested on Wednesday is another question, but the issue we have there is that we don’t have much cover in that department which sometimes forces our hand.

It was one game too far for the Irish Cafu, who has been relentless and magnificent for most of the season. However, yesterday he looked like he’d travelled to Molinuex straight after finishing a 12-hour session with some last-night moves in Gorgeous.

There’s no need to panic. We’d have all ripped your hands off to be nine points clear near the end of January and with the chasing pack all looking inconsistent at best.

At the same time, we shouldn’t overlook some issues that are emerging. Lack of cover for our right wing back is one issue and, as much as I’m pleased Gibbs-White’s development, he’s not ready yet to come on and change or control the game.

Then we have the striker problem. Bonatini has added so much to the team so far this season, but the last few games he’s not getting into positions where he can score and that is worrying. I think we need a more explosive alternative that can give defenders a different type of problem and Rafa Mir isn’t it so far.

There’s always going to be a blip and the mark of a Championship winning team is how you come out of it. I have no fear that Nuno and Jeff will address the issues and the team will return stronger from the two-for-one cocktails in Marbella. The fans also kept with the team yesterday. The Wolves pack is stronger together.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? For the first time this season I’m struggling to think of anyone who came out of the game with credit. I’ll probably go with Boly, who might just have scored a seven.

Not sure what Saiss has done with his hair, but the sooner he gets rid of the Justin Bieber look the better as he’s had a very poor last three games. Somebody get him Just for Men quick!

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match? The less said about that the better. Losing was not such a shock, given our recent form, but our overall performance was. Every outfield player had a poor game.

I expected so much more. Jota looked to have got his mojo back at Swansea so - give him the ball and the rest would follow surely. An early cross / shot just evaded Cavaleiro and the post which suggested the omens were good. Plus, a strong ref showed three yellow cards early, that would hopefully work to our advantage.

Doherty must have been released 10 times in good positions but only twice did anything of note come from it.

By the break we found ourselves two down thanks to our sloppy play at the back. Very unlike us. We have given the ball away in our own half before, but virtually without exception, managed to recover and not concede. Not today. A corner and throw-in were not dealt with for their goals.

Nuno has not surprised us often with team selections but where did the idea for the two half time subs come from? The only two who had started the midweek game, Doherty and Douglas were replaced. Not what any of us would have thought of, yet there was logic in it if he thought they were tired. To abandon our tried and trusted formation so early was unexpected.

Momentum did swing our way as we looked to attack at every opportunity. Little went our way and a continual stream of errors meant we didn't threaten to score. Countless crosses failed to beat the first defender. No one won a free kick close to goal to provide a set piece to work with. We went offside too often

The game was more open and the tempo much quicker but, if anything, it was Forest who looked more likely to score on the break than we did.

So, a bad day at the office. Very poor individually and collectively.

The table shows we are nine points clear so our world has not collapsed. Just one goal in four games is a worry for sure.

Imagine if we had fought back to lead 3-2 only to let in two late goals and lose 4-3. That must have felt much worse. See Elland Road.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Ruddy was ok. Hard to criticise or blame him at all.

I would struggle to give anyone else more than five out of 10.

Doherty and Douglas only lasted a half but their play was full of errors. Doherty in particularly, because of how much of the ball he had.

Boly and Bennett each looked less reliable than usual. Coady did his best to cover those around him, man of the match.

Saiss played mostly wide on both flanks but behind the wing backs. He played the ball around but not in a creative way and needed to be further forward centrally.

Neves played several diagonal passes but he was too deep to be a goal threat himself. Surely his neat footwork and eye for a killer pass would be more productive near the penalty box than in the centre circle.

Cavaleiro did a good job of proving why he is better coming off the bench than starting games. His passing frequently left us on the back foot and his crosses were poor.

Jota started well, got a heavy challenge but then looked increasingly frustrated. Either because he was crowded out and tackled or when the ball was not played to him early enough. His body language did not look good late on - playing more centrally be he was making runs and just not getting the ball. You could see his frustration with his colleagues.

Bonatini was often stranded in the box. When the ball was played wide (often) he was heavily outnumbered in the box.

Costa came on and was full of promise with his runs but the end product was non-existent.

Gibbs-White was a surprising choice as half time sub. Would N'Diaye have been a better option?

Mir was our last available striker to try and turn the game, but his influence was minimal.

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match? Bit of a wake up call yesterday. No need for panic yet though, we’re still nine points clear of second and 11 of third. Our first defeat in the league since QPR, 14 games ago so there really is no need to be panicking yet.

The performance at Ipswich next week needs to be far better than in recent games though. Nothing in football is won at this point, we may have been the best team in the league up until now but there’s still a lot of work to be done from now until May.

I didn’t think we were that bad in the first half personally but there was still plenty of sloppiness in our play. There were key moments yesterday that if they had gone our way, the game may have panned out differently but what’s done is done now. We need to make sure we’re ready for next Saturday, hopefully win at Ipswich and that could spark a good run again.

Jota has been on the end of plenty of rough tackles this season, well I say tackles but the one yesterday was more like assault. If you compare that to the one Batth received red for at Bristol City, the one yesterday was far worse.

The ref was poor yesterday, not his fault that we lost because we weren’t good enough to warrant a result. I don’t understand why referees get demoted when they do badly in their previous game, it makes no sense to me. Surely it would better just give them a week off rather than potentially ruining another game.

The FA demoting referees, are basically trying to say that one league is more important than another but that’s unfair because then they’re trying to undermine other teams, fans still pay money and go to watch these games so therefore it’s just as important. They’ll never come out and explain why they do it though so you’re just left in the dark and have to accept it.

Their first goal had a lot of fortune about it but the clearance away wasn’t the best from our point of view either. We should have been able to keep it at 1-0 until half time, especially at home so to be 2-0 down within minutes after the first, it was a bit of a shock to everyone. Good finish by Osborn but poor defending on our behalf.

The second half was pretty appalling for our standards. Nuno went for it massively with the half time subs but Costa especially, made no impact at all. Near enough all of the play went through him but his crossing was diabolical. He’d either slice it out for a goal kick or fail to beat the first man.

We can’t ignore the few problems that lie with us though. Just because we’re top doesn’t mean we can’t improve the squad or do things differently. We certainly need a RWB because Doherty looks knackered and yesterday he was off his game completely.

We need another central midfielder but someone who’s a lot more attacking than the likes of Neves/Saiss, something different to take the game to teams more, especially when we need a goal.

We also need another forward, Rafa Mir is still only young and to join in January it’s not always easy to fit right in, especially when a team is doing so well and with Bonatini not firing at the moment, maybe it will take the pressure off and give us more firepower in attack which we do need.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? It’s hard to pick who played well after a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home but I thought Boly was probably our best player.

He didn’t do too much wrong and especially second half when we had our wing backs as wingers. There was no cover on either side and he did well with a lot of attacks going down our left hand side.

Saiss was very poor yesterday. Ever since he’s gone all Eminem/Miley Cyrus with that blonde mess of a haircut he’s been terrible.

Next game, I would drop him for N’diaye because he did well in the two games against Swansea, especially in the first one. N’Diaye is more of a box to box and as Neves and Saiss both like to sit, changing it up in the middle could do us some good. Plus when N’diaye partnered Neves at Norwich, it worked a treat.

Bonatini wasn’t at it again yesterday, and hasn’t been for ages. He’s on a goal drought, his last one coming against Birmingham. It’s hard to rely on Rafa Mir who’s not long joined, still very young and he’s started quite slow himself so it’s difficult at the moment. Exactly why we could do with another forward in before the end of the window.

No idea what’s happened to Costa since coming back from injury. He does beat players with skill now and again but after he does, the next part is like a blur to him but last season he’d know what to do and would create magic. His final ball was absolutely shocking yesterday but then again so was everyone’s.

Onto Ipswich next week anyway, I, like everyone else I’m sure, believes that Nuno can turn this bit of a bad run around and get us back on track. Hopefully we can kickstart another good run and maybe losing yesterday could give us the kick up the backside we need.

With 18 games to go, nine points clear of second and 11 clear of third, there’s no need to panic just yet. We’re in the driving seat and it’s up to us to see it out and keep the top spot ours.