Earning their Spurs

"We played far better than just effort and commitment" - that was the assessment of Mick McCarthy after the 11 men of Wolves impressed the watching nation against the 12 men of Tottenham on Sunday evening.

Whilst I wouldn't be surprised if the FA were to slap me with a charge of improper conduct for that comment, it is the case that yet again, Wolves are left cursing some appalling refereeing. It shocked me how poor Mark Halsey was - I usually rate him as the second best ref in the Prem. But he has yet again bottled key decisions at Molineux. In September, he failed to send off Stephen Warnock for two bookable offences - Warnock later set up Heskey's late winner. In November, he failed to send off Cesc Fabregas for a shocking lunge at Stephen Ward. And then in March, he screwed up big time by not sending off Alan Hutton for his foul (and resultant penalty) on Nenad Milijas. According to what Halsey told Sky Sports at half-time, he didn't see it as a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Well if a player being 4 yards out from a near open goal isn't a "clear goal-scoring opportunity" then quite frankly, I don't know what is!

Then came the disallowed goal. Richard Stearman cleanly went up and challenged for a cross and indeed won it. The ball ended up bobbling into the back of the net, whilst Gomes hauled Stearman to the floor (pictured right). Mark Halsey appeared to spot an infringement by the Wolves centre-half and, despite originally appearing to give the goal, he then blew up for the free-kick. This is despite the linesman not flagging and indeed beginning his run back up the pitch, as if giving the goal. But what infuriated me, and many other fans, is that Halsey appeared to give the goal, then disallow it, then there was some confusion as to whether he'd given it again before finally disallowing it. But thankfully the players didn't get too caught up in whether the goal should have stood - instead they continued to push and push for the equaliser that we eventually got with only a few minutes remaining. It was that battling, 'never-say-die' quality that gave me such pride, to go along with my referee-directed fury at the final whistle.

But the whole point of this blog is to look at the match and the performance of Wolves players. I would like to start by saying that the players showed a fantastic mix of passion, commitment and quality that should, if we continue in that vein, stand us in good stead for the rest of the season. I thought Karl Henry showed a true captain's performance yet again. Getting back to his better levels, he snapped away at Modric and Jenas, won tackles, anticipated passes, and kept possession well, as well as spraying some lovely passes out to Jarvis on the left. Yet still he was criticised by those sat around me almost every time he got on the ball. I seriously don't understand it. It's like he can't do right for doing wrong.

Another of those who often divides opinion but was fantastic yesterday was George Elokobi. The one standout moment for me being his tackle on Pienaar - taking the ball and all of the man. When Gareth Bale came on, he initially gave big George a truly torrid time, but the big full-back regained his composure to eventually shut out the Welsh winger as it was the men in Old Gold who looked most likely to finish on the winning side by the end.

Indeed, while it was a central-midfielder and a full-back who were two of our better performers, it was another central-midfielder, and the other full-back who were arguably our two poorest performers. Stephen Ward, this time occupying the 'O'Hara role', put in one of the worst performances I've ever seen from him - and that's saying something! He offered nothing, shied away from tackles too often, gave away possession far too cheaply and indeed it was his stupid backheel that put us on the backfoot, putting us into trouble and leading to the 3rd Spurs goal. It is amazing to think that he could be chosen to replace Jamie O'Hara, but I suppose given the circumstances of us having around 5 central-midfielders unavailable can't have helped that fact. I did find it funny though that I was sat there praying for Ward to come off... then about 3 minutes later, Mick takes Ward off and brings on SEB. Brilliant!

As for Foley, I felt first half he struggled when up against Modric. Often the Croatian playmaker dragged the former Luton man out of position, leaving space for Tottenham to push Stearman further and further back. Foley's passing too was often wayward and he struggled in the air at times. But second half I felt he was much better. He held the ball better, his passing was a lot more clinical and he was often the one furthest back providing support for Stearman in particular.

Stearman struggled too at times against a rejuvenated Jermain Defoe. He was at fault for the second goal as he backed off and off, allowing Defoe to run half the length of the pitch and eventually get into position to score a cracker of a goal. Indeed, I felt both centre-backs were poor at closing down throughout the first half - giving Spurs numerous chances to put us under pressure. But second half, they both stepped it up a notch (apart from for Spurs' 3rd goal). Question marks too over Hennessey's positioning for the first 2 goals but, like Stearman, he's been one of our (and indeed the league's) top performers over the last 5-6 games and so it would be harsh to slag them off too harshly.

I also feel somewhat obliged to stick up for young Adam Hammill, the £500k January signing from Barnsley. Again, all around me, people were slagging him off. I disagree. I think he performed quite well against a very good left-back. Delivered in some fantastic balls in to the box, and linked up well with Foley and Milijas. The future is very bright for this promising Scouser. And I was delighted to see Matt Jarvis get back to his best again - a stunning cross placed perfectly on to the head of Steven Fletcher.

The match was a fantastic advert for Premier League football - open, attacking, committed. But it was also a truly fitting tribute to Dean Richards. A top defender on the pitch, he was a gentle giant off it. The tribute pre-match was handled superbly by all at the club (and indeed Spurs fans) and I hope his two young boys are able to appreciate in the years to come just how loved their father was by all in football. I'm sure the big man was smiling down on Molineux on Sunday - he certainly will have been after such a wonderful match.

"We played far better than just effort and commitment" - indeed we did Mick. And I have a feeling that, if we play like that for the remaining 9 games of this topsy-turvy, incredible Premier League season, then we'll have another 38 heart stopping, ardenaline-pumping matches of football in what is quite easily the best league in the world.



(photos courtesy of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/Gallery/0,,10307~2309321,00.html)