Wolves Fans' Verdict v Villa: Horror show

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match?

Hats off to Steve Bruce.

He got Villa prepared just right for this match and has made Villa Park a fortress.

They didn’t have it all their own way in the first half, but he got them firing on all cylinders from the start of the second half and we didn’t respond.

The starting team was as I expected, but gave two causes for concern amongst our fans. Would Batth cope with the pace and strength of Adomah and Grabban in attack?

Secondly, would Bonatini end his goal drought and general lack of confidence?

The answer to both these worries was a resounding 'No!'

The first half was a really good game. Villa on top in the early stages and taking the lead after only eight minutes.

Chaotic defending by Wolves, where N’Diaye and Batth had the chance to clear from a corner, before Adomah managed to squeeze the ball through a further three Wolves defenders.

Wolves responded well though and I could sense a victory.

It didn’t take long for us to equalise. A superb ball from Doherty into the danger area. This time Chester failed to clear and Jota pounced to score. Game on!

We were slightly on top for the rest of the first half and it was becoming a very good game of football.

Not sure what happened at half time, but Bruce got it right and Nuno didn’t. We never got going at all. Two quick goals knocked the stuffing out of us.

I didn’t even think it was a foul for the free kick, but Chester was free to slide the ball home. Zonal marking? I just don’t get it.

Grabban got the better of Boly for the third and it was game over.

One more horror at the end when Bjarnason was allowed to skip past six (yes six) Wolves players before toe poking the ball past Ruddy.

A great goal for him, but a shocker for us to concede.

Villa deserved to win. They were faster than us with the ball and didn’t give us a moment when in possession.

The ref missed a stonewall penalty for handball, but that would not have changed anything to be honest.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Coady time after time was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball.

Boly was not his usual assured self and had chance to clear before the third goal.

Batth does not fit into our system. Villa appeared to target him as our weak link.

I’m not sure why Bennett is not playing. His inclusion coincided with our best run of clean sheets and fits into the back three much better.

Neves was probably our best player and Doherty also did well. I feel Neves is more effective alongside Saiss, which is hard on N’Diaye as he has been doing well too.

Bonatini is just not firing and now is the time for Afobe to start. We need to know whether he can recapture his own goal scoring, while on loan.

Cavaleiro continues to be our most dangerous player. I do not understand why he continues to be taken off. Jota did okay, but is not the player he was in Autumn.

So, a few concerns to worry us, but still plenty of things to be happy with overall.

Villa, Cardiff and Fulham are on great runs at present.

Can that continue? It’s going to be very interesting.

My top two - 1. Wolves 2. Fulham

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match?

As much as a 4-1 scoreline would indicate a hammering, this was far from it.

This was more a tale of clinical finishing. Villa had four shots on target and scored four goals. We dominated possession, but did nowhere near enough with it.

For the first two goals our nasty habit of not defending set pieces effectively resurfaced.

N’Diaye was beaten too easily for the opener while Batth’s wild, swiped attempt at a clearance only helped the ball toward goal for a scruffy finish in front of Ruddy.

N’Diaye was again at fault for the second when he lost Chester.

While not set pieces, the other two goals were a result of some generally poor defending on our part too.

Batth failed to close the ball down and put in a challenge for the third and neither Coady or Boly will be happy they allowed Grabban to get free to turn the ball home.

For the fourth, Doherty will be unhappy at how easily he allowed Bjarnason to get inside him and Neves’ attempted challenge wasn’t great either.

The toe-poked finish shouldn’t really be beating Ruddy at his near post and he’ll be cursing himself over that too.

The overall performance wasn’t particularly bad. We controlled the game and used the ball well, but didn’t create enough in front of goal.

There will be nerves creeping in again with the gap to 2nd and 3rd place shrinking, but we still have enough winnable games (particularly at home) to see promotion through.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Neves slotted back in effectively and controlled the game well in midfield.

Doherty got through a lot of work up and down the right flank again and did well to create the goal, but he will be disappointed with his contribution to the fourth goal.

N’Diaye failed to replicate his performance at Leeds on Wednesday and Grealish often got the better of him in midfield.

Batth may have played his last game for the club. His distribution was awful and he gave the ball away often.

Add in his poor defending for two of the goals and it wasn’t a great surprise that he was hooked for Saiss.

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match?

Football, you either love it or you hate it. After the satisfaction of three points against Leeds, I now feel lower than West Brom - and that takes some doing.

It’s not the fact we lost to Villa, it was the manner in which we did which grates the most. Especially now we’re going to have to hear about Aston 2018 as much as Vienna '84 for the next few months.

Hopefully Wolves winning the league and Warnock’s boys (or Fulham) getting second place will keep the high-pitched bragging to a minimum.

There was nothing really in the first half. Villa got off to the best possible start after Danny Batth decided to set them up for a scrambled goal and they continued to look dangerous from set pieces, but not from open play.

We slowly grew into the game and thanks to another piece of magic by Doherty, managed to get back into the game with a Jota finish that was nearly as scrappy as the first goal - not a great advert for the quality of the Championship.

From there, I couldn’t see how we were going to lose the game and I fully expected us to be able to pick them off on the break - just shows what I know.

Second half was arguably the worst 45 minutes of the season, compounded by some shocking defending.

Batth after my midweek praise, reverted to playing like a centre-half from Brierley Bullets.

Whilst Big Willy was superb at Leeds, his defending yesterday was average to say the least. First not stopping Grabban from scoring and then giving away possession for the fourth..

Villa deserved it for a high tempo 45 minutes, but it was no masterclass like we gave them at Molineux.

In fact, the game could well have changed direction if the blind as a ‘Coote’ ref spotted the foul on Doherty and the blatant handball from Neves’ free-kick.

I’m not saying we’d have definitely got back into the game, but 3-2 with 20 mins left is an all-together different kettle of fish.

The fact we’ve got Reading on Tuesday is a big plus for me. No time to stew on things and an immediate opportunity to put things right.

As supporters we have a big role to play. Now is not the time for our bottle to go and we should turn up to Molineux and back the team to play with freedom. We do that and they will deliver.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

For once I’m struggling to think of someone. I’d probably go with Doherty for his assist and a couple of other decent runs.

Douglas, on the contrary, had a game to forget, especially his cross into Row BB of the Holte End when in a good position.

Nuno isn’t immune from blame either. We seem to have a worrying knack of losing all shape when chasing the game.

I think we’ve only won one game when the opposition have scored first.

In terms of Tuesday’s game, there’s three changes I’d make. Afobe deserves a start for Bonatini, Bennett back in for Batth and the big one, Norris in for Ruddy.

The amount of goals per shots against the latter is too high for my liking.

Natalie Wood

What's your verdict on the match?

If you had to guess which team from Wolves and Villa were top of the league after our second half display, I guarantee you wouldn’t pick Wolves!!!

First half was a fantastic performance from both teams, a really exciting end-to-end game that was hanging in the balance at half time.

Defensively we didn’t look great and Villa found it easy to break through, but going forward we looked a threat.

Neves, as expected, had an impact and was a class above as normal. Cavaleiro and Jota were also superb, a real handful all throughout the first half.

I don’t think I’m alone in wondering how they didn’t play 90 minutes but Bonatini did.

Normally this season you see Wolves really kick on in the second half and take control, but it was the complete opposite.

We came out looking like a completely different team. No creativity, continual mistakes and a shocking defence.

It was the definition of a bad day at the office, nothing worked for us, players looked lethargic and clueless.

A worrying performance at the worst time of the season, but it is still in our hands.

We are a different team to the squad of horrors in 01/02 season that I’m sure will be in the back of many fans heads at the moment.

We have an opportunity to settle nerves by producing a much needed big result on Tuesday night.

If we can get six points from the next two home games (which we should) then things will look completely different.

Now is the time for Nuno to show what his team can really do! It’s not time to panic yet, but I’d say we are getting pretty close.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

I don’t really like bashing individual players, but Danny Batth looked very poor yesterday, he was the weak link in the team.

He lacked confidence, made stupid errors and continually passed back every time he got the ball, completely slowing down our play.

There is also a big difference between Captain Coady and Captain Batth. When Batth is captain there is no encouragement, no shouting.

When Villa scored their third, he just walked back with his head down - definitely not the leader we needed.

I’m not sure what Ryan Bennett has done to be dropped, but hopefully he will be reinstated ASAP.

Bonatini’s performances also have not been up to standard, I’m not sure what Afobe has to do to get a start?!

I would say it’s very clear we need a switch round up front. The goals (and shots!) have completely dried up. We have gone from wondering how many different goalscorers we would have each game to wondering where a goal will come from.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match?

After the Lord Mayor's show at Leeds we get an - ouch.

That second half was shocking. A loud Villa Park saw us on the back foot at the start, then a goal behind from a scrappy corner.

The omens then did not look good. We dug in though and got back in it with an equally scrappy goal following excellent work by Doherty.

The rest of the half was fairly even, played mainly from box to box.

Most of Wolves best moves involved Doherty and Cavaleiro. Neves was deeper than usual and N'Diaye was also holding in midfield although his passing was often too wayward.

Where we did struggle was when we got close to goal. All of our front three seemed reluctant to shoot - not the first game where we have failed this way.

Half chances were wasted and on the counter, Villa had enough pace to make us struggle. By the break we had already picked up two of our five yellow cards.

The second half saw us second best the whole time. We were unable to keep possession and Villa over ran us at times.

Too often we were exposed as a back three rather than a five. A series of fouls provided them with opportunities to put us under pressure.

Our high line left a large area to cover - that clichéd corridor of uncertainty.

We got caught and went behind. Before we had time to bounce back things got worse. It was Batth's turn to be outpaced, and being on a yellow he could not foul.

The cross from the byline was not cut out by Coady, while Boly let Grabban get ahead of him to make it 3-1.

A bad goal to give away and the game was lost at that point.

Within fifteen minutes we'd made all three subs but none made any positive impact. - a Villa sub did however. Doing exactly what our forwards failed to do, shoot from the edge of the box, and score.

Defensively, you could point be finger at several players for that one.

Understandably downhearted we looked a pale image of the side who finished the Leeds game. Good management will be needed to ensure the next week has positive results.

No doubt non- believers will start the negative bandwagon rolling. Some teams are on a good run, but over the last 36 games, we are on the best run of them all.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Ruddy had four shots on target to face and they all ended up as goals. Only with the fourth could he have done much better.

Douglas and Doherty supplemented the front three by hugging the touchline. Maybe at the expense of supporting the defensive three.

Not sure anyone deserved more than a 6/10, but Doherty was probably our MOTM. Douglas was less reliable with his set pieces than normal.

Usually we are full of praise for our central three. Today though Batth, Coady and Boly were all below par.

None of them looked as sharp as usual and passing was often hurried and wasteful. Although it did not look a problem midweek, perhaps Bennett would have provided more strength today.

Neves saw plenty of the ball in the first half. His passing was from deep and usually sideways. It helped us keep possession, but rarely posed a threat to Villa.

Defensively, too often he failed to prevent runners carry the ball past him.

N'Diaye worked hard but often looked out paced. On another day his high rugby tackle might have seen a red. I had expected him to stop Grealish having so much time on the ball.

The front three were poor today.

Cavaleiro made three good runs with good footwork, but none ended in shots on goal. His passing went astray too often as well.

Bonatini, often he was not the front man, coming deep to help link midfield, but that just meant he was behind the play when we did get forward.

Jota continues to look nothing like the player of 2017. He insists on taking an extra touch when well placed which is so frustrating and means the opportunity goes.

Nuno frequently surprises with his substitutions when we are losing. Saiss for Batth did not seem to make sense or help.

Afobe and Costa made no impact at all. Both came on at 3-1 when the game had been lost.

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match?

Very disappointing defeat, it’s more annoying how we lost though because every goal we conceded was easily avoidable.

Villa punished us for our mistakes, more so in the second half but individual errors and certain players not being good enough played a part too.

The first half we didn’t do too badly, Villa Park isn’t exactly an easy place to go and to be 1-1 at half time was positive.

Then we just capitulated in the second half. We barely threatened their goal until Costa came on which by then was too late and we gifted them goals.

As good as Villa were second half we could have stopped the goals but the defending was so lacklustre.

It wasn’t as if we got bombarded all game and battered, Villa took their chances so from that aspect it’s not too worrying.

We’ve also got to remember that Villa and Fulham away are both two very tough games, neither of them have lost at home in the league since early November/late October so that goes to show how strong they are at home.

They’re both in real good form and we’ve caught them at a bad time.

Now that doesn’t make us a bad team at all, we are in first place because we deserve to be, the league position states that.

We still have the best away record in the league and if we are to beat Reading and Burton at home this week then we’ll have the joint best home record with Cardiff.

I know Leeds are poor but we showed that we are a good side by winning how we did and I am confident that from our remaining games, we will pick up enough points to at worst finish in 2nd place. But I still believe we’ll do enough to win the league.

I know how good this team can be and I also know where some weaknesses lie. It’s not as if we’re top of the Premier League, of course our team can improve vastly.

I’m sure that over time we will see the team get better and stronger, but for where we are now, the squad is certainly good enough to win this league.

Me, like a lot of people probably over reacted a bit last night about certain things, it’s never nice losing, especially to a local rival, especially in the manner we did.

If we don’t manage to pick up maximum points from both Reading and Burton this week then I will completely understand people being even more annoyed than yesterday.

With no disrespect to either team, we are more than capable of winning both of the games this week comfortably, but we need to go out and do the job required.

If any teams below us drop points then that’s good, but as long as we do what we need to do then we’ll still be top of the league.

With regards to yesterday, I genuinely believe Nuno got some parts of his team selection wrong.

Not only that but I also feel as though his subs came too late and the Saiss for Batth one was very weird.

Nuno is a fantastic manager, but like a lot of top managers, he does seem very stubborn at times. That’s his style and I understand he’s never going to change it no matter what.

Also, I do believe that with that mindset, you lack a plan B when things aren’t going your way and end up panicking in certain situations, meaning you will make rash decisions.

I’ve seen it a couple of times where he’s changed tactics and players when to me it hasn’t quite added up.

Saying that, I understand that being a manager is completely different pressure to just a fan saying what they’d do.

Considering we have had a rough patch, a lot of managers would do the same and sometimes you question yourself and make decisions you wouldn’t normally make.

Nuno is still a great manager and without him we wouldn’t be where we are, I love his style of play but everyone can improve and get better and I’m sure Nuno will learn from his own mistakes.

Tuesday’s game at Reading is so important now, we can’t afford to drop points in that one or against Burton. As a fan it’s going to be nerve racking of course because of the gap that we did have has been reduced by a lot and we can’t really afford anymore slip ups.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Doherty and Neves were probably our better performers but no one really stood out and had a good game.

Neves wasn’t as sharp as normal or at his best, but he retained the ball a lot and if you re-watch the game back you will see that he rarely gave the ball away. Whenever he did get caught in possession it was because he won a foul.

Doherty did superbly for our goal, cheeky little nutmeg on Taylor and a teasing ball which Jota decided to finish this time round.

Yes he couldn’t miss, but with some of the chances he has missed in recent games, I wouldn’t have put it past him to have somehow messed it up.

Everyone else was either poor or below average for me. Douglas from open play just isn’t that good, defensively he gets beaten a lot and without his set pieces he wouldn’t be as good as people make out.

I love the guy and without his free kick and corner specials we wouldn’t be first place, but I still believe that Vinagre is better than him in open play.

I’m not even going to criticise Boly for Grabban’s goal. Yes, he got beat to the ball but Danny Batth made so many errors leading up to it. It could have easily been prevented long before the ball reached the Villa striker.

Ruddy doesn’t convince me at all. The goals were all defensive errors so I wont blame him too much, but coming out for balls he’s started to punch them and it’s so panicky.

I believe Norris deserves a chance. If Bennett can get dropped for one mistake in however many games he’s played then Ruddy can be dropped as he’s made a lot of errors this season.

N’Diaye was poor yesterday, misplaced so many passes and Grealish caused him and our whole team problems.

He’s been one of our better players recently, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dropped on Tuesday and the return of the Saiss/Neves partnership come back.

Costa came on and did more in 15 minutes than any of our forward line. Just a shame that he wasn’t introduced earlier. Hope he starts on Tuesday, but not sure who should be dropped out of Jota or Cav, neither of them were great yesterday.

How Danny Batth still gets game time for Wolves is beyond me. He isn’t good enough to be at a team challenging for promotion and yesterday proved that.

He’s way out of his depth and I can’t see him playing again for us after he got replaced for Saiss.

No idea on what he was doing for the first goal and the third goal was terrible, no composure whatsoever to head the ball to a teammate or bring the ball down.

Instead he just headed it straight to the opposition and then he was too slow to get back and didn’t even attempt to block the cross.

He shouldn’t have started anyway, he had it easy on Wednesday and to be honest I have no idea why he was even brought in, Bennett had hardly done too much wrong, it’s not as if he’d been poor for a number of games.

Bonatini also, no goals in 16 games which isn’t good enough for a striker. No way will he be good enough for the Premier League so I hope we don’t sign him.

He has no pace and all he does is come deep to link up play in the hope he’ll drag defenders out and leave gaps for the inside forwards.

Against Terry and Chester that won’t work, both have enough experience and know how about them to not get dragged out by it.

Afobe would have been a much more logical starter as I believe his pace would have caused them far more problems.

He must start on Tuesday, scored at Leeds and he deserves to have a go from the off instead of getting 20-30 mins here and there.

It’s not as if Afobe can’t link up play, he’s also willing to run in behind and stretch the defence.

Him and Batth basically made it 11 vs 9 because they offered nothing and in fact made it easier for the opposition by playing like they did.

Rant over, onto Tuesday where we need to win, couple of home games to get us back on track might be exactly what we need at the moment, hopefully get some momentum and confidence back.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match?

Aaaah the good old rollercoaster ! After the destruction of dirty Leeds in midweek we ourselves were destroyed by Villa in a second half performance that must rank as our worst of the season.

After 45 minutes I was asked if I would take the point as the teams went in all square. My reply was an emphatic "no" as we had most of the play up to then and seemed to have the beating of our Brummie friends.

But then a collective disaster as we couldn't defend and our normally strong reliable and fast midfield and attack looked weak worried and slow.

Even then we could have had two and should have had one penalty which may have changed the game.

With seven of the bottom eight still to play and our promotion rivals starting to play each other, everything is still very much in our own hands.

Two wins this week and some of the worries will disperse. Believe.

Who played well – and who didn't impress?

Only Matt Doherty played anywhere near his potential, but Nuno is no fool and knows this was not the true Wolves.