Refs cast a cloud over decent points haul

Depending on your sunny or sunless disposition, it was either a decent or a poor festive period for Wolves, writes blogger Tim Spiers.

Our supporters are often divided up into 'happy clappers' and 'numpties', with the former probably judging a great point at Arsenal, followed by a decent draw at Bolton and a real hard luck story against Chelsea to be a commendable return.

On the other hand the numpties had a field day with our inability to see off a terrible Trotters side, before castigating a rather insipid display against the poorest Chelsea team to visit Molineux in the Premier League era.

As for me, well when it comes to Wolves my outlook is generally somewhere down the middle of the road, although you lot are never shy to reprimand me if I slip too far either side of the dividing line.

I think a two-point haul is as much as we could have expected from what on paper were three tough fixtures.

Bolton was a must-not-lose game and although we should have earned a point against the worst Chelsea team to visit Molineux in the Premier League, the unexpected draw at the Emirates balanced that out.

Sadly the post-match recriminations from the Arsenal and Chelsea matches focused almost entirely on incomprehensible refereeing decisions.

Personally I'm sick and tired of talking about refs but it's unavoidable when the errors are so pivotal.

Frank Lampard can add himself to a list containing Jonathan Woodgate and Alex Song of players who should have seen red against us in recent weeks, while Nenad Milijas gets a three-game ban for what was barely a foul.

Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it – the standard of refereeing in the Premier League is atrocious and sadly that's just something we have to put up with.

What we, or more to the point Mick McCarthy, can do something about is the quality of the current squad and I would urge our manager to strengthen further in the next few weeks.

A 12-day break from the league gives the players an opportunity to regroup and for the manager to bring in fresh faces, because changes are definitely needed.

Any hopes of a comfortable mid to lower half of the table finish look to have been extinguished, particularly with the difficult fixtures we've got in January and a five-point gap leaving the bottom five clubs adrift.

But with a couple of key additions we could still have a strong second half of the campaign.

Two have come in already and McCarthy may have already snared the player who will make a big difference to our squad in Emmanuel Frimpong.

By all accounts the teenager has got the lot and he showed glimpses of what he's all about against Chelsea.

We've been crying out for a genuine box-to-box, tough tackling midfielder for what seems like a very long time and, as anyone who follows him on Twitter can testify, Frimpong is a bit of a character as well.

Hopefully he'll be the catalyst for a good run of form, however galling it is that we have to rely on a loaned kid from Arsenal to sort out our midfield.

So top marks to the manager for bringing him in, but midfield isn't the position which needs strengthening most urgently.

That mantle goes to the defence, where recruits are desperately needed.

We've apparently lodged a bid for Manchester City's Nedum Onuoha, who would be an excellent addition if we can stop him resisting the larger wage packet that QPR will probably be offering.

But even if we capture Onuoha I wouldn't stop there – we need at least two defenders, one of whom can preferably offer cover at full back, just as long as it's not Wayne Bridge.

The strength in depth in defence, let alone the standard of the four players who get selected most weeks, just isn't acceptable.

We should be looking at Stoke as an example of the quality needed – they have Woodgate, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Danny Higginbotham, Marc Wilson, Andy Wilkinson, Danny Collins, Matthew Upson and Ryan Shotton all vying for four places.

Oh and a top-class striker to ease the burden on Steven Fletcher, with Kevin Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake not likely to contribute enough, wouldn't go amiss either Mick so you'd better get shopping.

Either way let's hope the player we poached from Hearts ends up being a cracking signing, otherwise McCarthy – and I'm not yolking here – could end up with egg on his face.

Good to get those out of my system – welcome to Molineux, Eggert Jonsson.

The Birmingham FA Cup clash offers a nice respite from the league and gives several players an opportunity to stake a claim for a first team place.

It will be wonderful to see a fit and firing Michael Kightly in gold and black again, while Frimpong, Jonsson, Ebanks-Blake, Kevin Foley and Adlene Guedioura should all get run outs.

Interestingly, before last year's third round tie against Doncaster we were four points better off than we are now, having played a game more, but were just a point from the bottom of the league and a point from 14th.

This year we have 17 points from 20 matches but sit one place higher in the league, four points from the bottom and five from 14th.

Performance-wise nothing much has changed since my last blog before Christmas, although the tremendous battling defensive display at Arsenal was one to savour and proved that our fighting spirit is still alive and well.

However it's clear that with this current team, with most players still consistently underperforming, we're headed for a repeat of last year's rollercoaster end to the season.

Wigan away on May 13 is already looking ominously like the sequel to last season's Blackburn nightmare.

Happy New Year, you say?