Now is the time for action at Wolves

Wolves columnist John Lalley believes the joy of Survival Sunday must be tempered by a willingness to solve the problems that led to a season of struggle.

In the final analysis, which ultimately is the only one that matters, and after living on our nerves, we survive to fight another day.

The incongruous images of a delighted Wolves dressing room with players dousing each other with bubbly and singing wildly at the top of their voices, belied the fact that we had just lost a game that, from the outset, we gave ourselves no chance of winning.

Nobody seemed to have prepared our players to guard against the substantial airborne threat that Blackburn would inevitably pose and the outcome was the most harrowing 45 minutes that we have endured all season.

Had goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey not bailed out Kevin Foley to prevent Jason Roberts from planting us four goals in arrears, the final outcome may have been absolutely gruesome.

It was truly alarming to see how inept Wolves contrived to be in a match of such seminal importance and, had that horrendous opening half cost us our Premier League place, the wound would have been entirely self-inflicted.

Mercifully, fate decreed that it would conspire not against us but against Blackpool and Birmingham sparing us to prepare for a third consecutive year of Premier football.

And regardless of our weaknesses and shortcomings, so glaringly exposed on Sunday, for a club sustained on such a limited budget as Wolves, this is a considerable achievement.

Having floundered in the bottom three for week after soul-destroying week, it was a considerable show of character to extricate ourselves at such a late stage of the season.

The April debacle at Stoke gave every indication of a malfunctioning outfit, devoid of direction and ready to chuck the towel in.

Quite how the manager and players managed to fashion such a defiant response against a confident and slick Albion intent on sending us towards oblivion, I still can't fathom, but under the severest pressure, Wolves at the critical moment delivered big time. It was a remarkable effort.

Albion's season had been revitalised by the appointment of boss Roy Hodgson and many believed that, in retaining manager Mick McCarthy at Molineux, Wolves by postponing the grasping of the nettle were likely to end up being worst stung by it.

Come last Sunday evening, the perception that the Steve Morgan and Jez Moxey axis had been guilty of manifest cowardice was expunged by virtue of a single point.

Close it certainly was but, ultimately, the right call was seen to have been made. The three top men at the helm at Molineux have all stressed the sense of unity and purpose that permeates through the club, at times the message became a touch repetitive and just a little too self-satisfied for my liking.

Their ringing endorsement of themselves seemed to strongly suggest that, whatever our fate this season, their mode of operation was sacrosanct and like a certain political lady of years gone by, they were not for turning.

Avoiding relegation has certainly saved them a whole lot of grief and they deserve a heck of a lot of credit, but now is the time to seriously address our weaknesses.

The stated policy of securing on extended contracts a group of young and ambitious players is not only laudable, but sensible.

Having the likes of Hennessey and Matt Jarvis tied to the club protects our interests and ensures a proper return for the club in the transfer market, should a parting of the ways become a reality.

But the evidence of this campaign has been abundantly clear - without some significant reinforcement this close season, the nucleus of our willing but limited squad will again struggle to survive next season.

Spirited resistance only has a restricted shelf life and Wolves have all but exhausted this option.

Any sensible retrospectives of this year would do well in avoiding the warming reassurance gleaned from the adrenaline pumping wins against Chelsea, City and United and instead focus on the limitations exposed by the likes of Wigan, Everton, Fulham and Blackburn.

The ease with which such run of the mill Premier clubs could raise their tempo and leave us floundering in their wake was frightening.

The long standing deficiencies in our defensive unit were hideously exposed by Blackburn during that catastrophic first-half, to have allowed such frailties to drift on for so long without remedial action does not strike me as proactive management.

This area of absolute priority simply cannot be allowed to continue operating on a wing and a prayer policy any longer.

To move forward and justify the magnificent redevelopment plans instigated by the owner, Wolves must face head-on the failings that restrict us.

Survival was achieved in dramatic circumstances but this season has been a genuine disappointment. The euphoria of relief should be consigned to the past immediately, let's plan for our future on the pitch as positively as we are off it as a new Molineux takes shape.