Wolves blog: The Bright Side

Wolves blogger Nathan Lloyd reiterates what is needed for the team to press on and stresses the need for a win ahead of the visit of Watford.

I've just double checked the Championship league table and no, Wolves are not in a relegation dog fight, we are still leading the pack.

You wouldn't think so though, if you listen to some of the gloom and negativity that seems to be gripping a lot of Wolves fans at present.

You may point out that in recent weeks that I have perhaps come across a little bit melancholy in my blogs.

Well my biggest concerns have been - and still are - that manager Mick McCarthy hasn't yet addressed the right areas in the transfer window and that our leaky defence (or defender) is costing us dear.

But I have every faith that Mick will understand the urgency to get it right and bring in a centre back that really could be the difference, between a title challenge and Wolves fading back into the play-off pack.

Neill Collins' performance against Reading doesn't need raking over again. He made a couple of vital errors and has paid the price.

If Mick can sign someone of the quality of Hearts Christophe Berra or Chelsea's Michael Mancienne before February 2, then Collins will hopefully get back to bench warming duties for the rest of the season.

We took the game to Reading in the second half and they certainly didn't look as good as they did at Molineux, when they gave us a right thumping. Back then I said that if we finish a place behind Reading we would be promoted, although I probably didn't need to be Mystic Meg to work that one out!

It seems we had almost lost the game before we kicked off at the Madejski Stadium. Mick had come out and foolishly lauded over the current Reading team, saying they were better than the Brazil side of 1970 - or words to that effect.

Add that to starting the game with both Karl Henry and Nigel Quashie in midfield and I think it was obvious that Wolves were perhaps giving too much respect to Steve Coppell's team.

We did deserve a point but we didn't get it, so we have to forget the Reading game and focus on the next two home games - a wonderful opportunity to re-establish a lead at the top of the table.

Although we have had a recent stutter, Birmingham by all accounts have been pitiful and their home attendances have reflected their current boring style of play.

Blues could well find themselves slipping back into the pack and their place taken by someone on the rails coming into form, as so often happens towards the end of the Championship season. Fingers crossed eh?

We all know that from now until the end of the season that it's probably not going to pretty. We might well have to grind out wins and draws.

I feel we need a fit Chris Iwelumo to come back in and lead the line. Andy Keogh is just too powder-puff for me. Yes he offers something a bit different, but he doesn't score enough and we can't afford passengers at this crucial time of the season.

Why doesn't Mick go back to playing David Jones and Henry in the middle, a system that served us so well earlier in the season, when we were putting numerous wins together at ease?

I'd been saying for a while that we should also bring Mark Davies back from Leicester and stick him straight in the team.

We haven't seen disloyalty in a Wolves player like that since Henri Camara. Loyalty in football is a rare commodity these days and Mark obviously didn't have the patience or the will to come back to Wolves and fight for his place.

I have it on good authority that he has tripled his wages at Bolton, compared to the contract that was on the table at Molineux.

So although he has bottled it, I wish him good luck and like Liverpool's Robbie Keane and Everton's Joleon Lescott, I will track his career past Molineux with interest as I'm sure most Wolves fans will, although some may not admit it.

I also don't think Mick did anything wrong with the transfer. What could he do? At the end of the day, we are top of the league and Mark Davies has had no influence on that position.

Anyway, Watford and Norwich are the priority now. Two massive home games against teams who have amassed 60 points between them this season, compared to the 59 of Wolves. Their fans really do have something to worry about!

There were glimpses against Reading that Wolves are starting to find some form again.

Jody Craddock will probably be back in the heart of defence and who knows, he could be that good that Mick might not need to shell out £3m on Berra or grovel with Phil Scolari to bring Mancienne back in.

I would like to see Iwelumo back in and Jones in the middle, don't think either will happen though.

With Birmingham facing a couple of tricky away fixtures and Reading away at in-form QPR, a couple of back-to-back home wins could really see the Wolves promotion train back on track.

We still need to believe. We might be all biting our finger nails as we get nearer the finish line, but being a Wolves fan would be boring if we had the league sewn up by now.

The opening day of last season and the Hornets scored two late goals, which got our league campaign off to a whimper. Fast forward to this Saturday and even though Watford are having a bit of a mini-revival with seven goals in two wins, I still fully expect Wolves to give them a 3-0 pounding.

By the time we play Norwich on Tuesday night, our squad will be completed for the rest of the season, except maybe for an unforeseen emergency loan player before May.

Perhaps I'm being over optimistic, but I can see us scoring another bagful against the Canaries, as news rolls in that Preston have beaten Reading and Palace have turned over Birmingham.

Enjoy the two games and cheer up. We are after all, top of the league!