Comment for Bunley fan website

So, I've been asked to comment on the upcoming match this weekend by @cstanworth86 to contribute to the Burnley fan website @NoNayNeverNet, so here goes:

Firstly, my weekend's match predictions:

Brighton 1-2 Leeds United
Bolton 2-2 Cardiff 
Watford 0-1 Leicester
Birmingham 3-1 Ipswich
Burnley 2-1 Wolves
Charlton 0-2 Middlesbrough
Crystal Palace 1-0 Blackburn
Derby 0-0 Blackpool
Huddersfield 2-0 Bristol City
Hull 0-0 Barnsley
Nottm Forest 3-0 Millwall
Sheff Wed 1-1 Peterborough

Now then, on to my early preview of the weekend's match at Turf Moor:

Wolves have suffered a bit of a blip ever since the most recent International break. Whilst before the stoppage we had a run of 4 wins in 5, since returning to League action we've played poorly, dropped points late on, and just generally not looked up to speed. Fitness has been a real problem for us - particularly in the second half. This is a worry ahead of the weekend as Burnley will surely look to exploit Charlie Austin's movement and pace against a rather sluggish back 4 this weekend. We can deal with balls in the air fine - as shown against Blackburn a few weeks back - but when faced with low balls across the box at speed, or pacey widemen/frontmen, we do struggle. In essence, if Burnley turn our defenders, we're in trouble.

I think whichever team scores first will dictate the way this game goes. Solbakken likes Wolves to get the ball on the ground and pass it, but we do appear to lack a certain directness at times. Against Charlton, when it was 1-1, we had good spells of possession but weren't really going anywhere with it. It's a long-term project though and we will improve given time. Solbakken will probably approach the weekend using a 4-4-1-1 system, with Doyle and Ebanks-Blake alternating between dropping deep and staying forward. Whilst Pennant and Sako are two high quality wingers, they do both tend to stay rather narrow and haven't yet shown real desire to take full-backs on and beat them.

It will be a tight affair, and a lot will hinge on the opening 25 minutes I reckon. With the appointment of Sean Dyche at Burnley, he'll have them coming out of the starting blocks quickly, so if we can survive that we might just get something out of the game. Would also put money on Sam Vokes scoring - ex-Wolves players have a habit of scoring against us!

Prediction: Burnley 2-1 Wolves

Failure To Launch

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Charlton Athletic

(Sako 12, Wilson 58)

So, another day, another disappointing draw at Molineux. In all honesty, this is the game the promised so much, and delivered so very very little. We have a fantastic record at home to Charlton, losing just twice in our last 26 meetings there. Our last 4 games against Charlton (both home and away) have seen us win 2-0, 3-2, 3-1, 2-1. So the expectation was that we'd win, everything promotion-wise (although I feel it's too early to think about that) would be back on track, and the mood around Wolverhampton would be much brighter this week.

Sako celebrates his goal (Photo credit: @kelly_wolves)

The reality was very different. We didn't really turn up for the whole 90 minutes. Played some pretty passing football but it was all in our own half (incidentally, Charlton actually dominated the possession stats, with around 55% of the ball). Indeed, even our goal was quite slow in terms of build-up play. Now this isn't a problem for me, I can see what Stale is trying to do. But there are times when you just want us to go for it and put the pedal to the metal. We have two top quality wingers in Pennant and Sako, but neither of them seem willing to take on their man - both spend the game in very narrow positions. Especially Sako - I love him to bits and he's quality, but he's quite lazy too. He's the sort of player that has to play though, because you know he has the quality to change the game. I do, however, have to question the decision to bring on Sigurdarson for Ebanks-Blake at half time. Siggy and Doyle clearly don't fit as a partnership. It's like playing Doyle and Keogh. Or, as I put it to my Mum after the Bolton game - like ordering fish and chips and getting just double chips. You're basically getting more of the same thing, rather than something else to compliment it (i.e. SEB as part of a big-man/little-man style).

Wilson equalises for Charlton (Photo credit: CAFC)

But anyway, as I said while we passed the ball neatly at times, we never really looked dangerous going forward. Indeed at the back we looked rather solid in the first half too. So much so that the game looked like it might be similar to the Sheffield Wednesday one, in that we just passed it around the back in the second half and weren't troubled, but likewise never threatened going forward. However, as per usual the second-half troubles kicked in. We began to sit deeper, we lost our composure and started going aimlessly long, giving the ball away in bad areas. A Charlton goal was always on the cards - though having said that, they never hugely threatened us either. We were hardly under siege, but you just knew they would score. And once they did, there was only one side that looked like winning it. And they should have really - Rob Hulse missed an absolute sitter on the hour mark, and Johnnie Jackson should've scored his header 2 minutes from time.

Once again though, I must ask questions about our fitness. We look tired in the second half, as if we're just trying to get through to full time. I don't know whether that's a mental tiredness, or physical. But something has to be done. I personally find myself asking questions of Tony Daley yet again. We have one of the best fitness suite's of any football club in the country, yet our players always look tired. Are they being overworked during the week? Or are they underworked fitness-wise and as a result are sluggish and lagging behind their fitter opponents? It's a project though, and I'm sure if Stale is unhappy he will, in time, bring in his own fitness coach and regime. Something also needs to be done about the sitting back in the second half. This is, I believe, just a result of last season and will eventually be fixed. It may take all of this season to fix, but it will be fixed.

The fans need patience. That's tough when supporting Wolves, I know. But Stale is building something here and it will take time. Still sticking by my "3 years to get promoted" mentality. But I've already said enough about the fans tonight on Twitter. This blog is about the match, and whilst it was disappointing, it's another point and we move on to Burnley next weekend. UTW.

My Wolves MOTM: Tongo Doumbia. He was a presence in midfield throughout with his running, and always looked to build attacks with some clever footwork and vision.

Wolves In A Word: Uninspiring

In Stale We Trust.

New Beginnings

Wow... haven't been on this blog in ages (clearly). How times have changed huh?!

Firstly, Mick McCarthy was sacked on the morning of the 13th Feburary 2012, less than 24 hours after the worst day in my life of supporting Wolves - a 5-1 HOME defeat to West Bromwich Albion.  Once sacked, Steve and Jez made an absolute dog's breakfast of trying to appoint a new manager, having Alan Curbishley (who I so desperately wanted at Wolves) in the bag twice, and then going after Gus Poyet, Brian McDermott and one or two others, before finally settling on Steve Bruce. Contracts were drawn up, and Bruce was all set to be unveiled on the morning of Thursday 23rd February. However the backlash to this rumour on social media sites from Wolves fans was harsh. Many (including myself) were furious at the idea of Steve Bruce as Wolves manager. So around 10/11pm, Morgan reportedly contacted Bruce's representatives and pulled out. So then we were left with Terry Connor in charge for the final 13 games of our Premier League season. Suffice to say, apart from a 2-2 draw in his first game at Newcastle, Connor failed miserably, suffering two 5-0 defeats (away to Fulham and at home to Manchester United). We were relegated by the soon-to-be (and worthy) Champions Manchester City on the 19th April in the pouring rain at Molineux. It was painful, but soon the question arose - just who would be the man to guide Wolves back to the big time? Some were suggesting Connor would get it, given his favour with Jez Moxey. Other names were thrown in - Paolo Di Canio maybe. Gianfranco Zola was another one. But, totally out of the blue, Wolves announced that Norwegian Stale Solbakken was about to become the club's first foreign manager in its 123-year history.
 
So, that somewhat brings us up to the present day. As for why I'm re-starting this blog, I simply wanted to capture the first season under Solbakken's reign, and my first real season in the Championship. I mean, I was old enough to remember plenty of our previous years in this division, but this is the first year I'm doing almost every away game. So I feel I'm in a greater position to comment on the season and write about matches.

Sadly, I have started this rather late - as it is now the end of October. But we've had a decent start under Solbakken. After 1 win in his first 4 League games, Solbakken's side clearly needed time to gel. But since then... boy have they gelled! After the early-September International break, Wolves won their next 4 League games on the bounce, keeping 3 clean sheets along the way. A blip at home to Crystal Palace signalled the end of that wonderful run (Wolves could've gone top with a win), but the side bounced straight back to beat Blackburn away 1-0. Not bad for a side that had 11 first-team-quality players missing for various reasons. After yet another International Break (they come round ridiculously quickly and it ruins our momentum) results haven't been great. A 2-1 defeat away to Huddersfield Town was followed up by a 2-2 draw at home to Bolton, with ex-midfielder (and forever cheat) Mark Davies popped up with a 90th-minute leveller.

So, what next for Wolves? Well it's a home game against Charlton Athletic on Saturday. Always been a fan of Charlton myself, really like the club. And I'm a huge fan of Chris Powell, both when he was a player and now as a manager. He really impressed me with the way his Charlton side romped to the League 1 title last season, especially for such an inexperienced manager (reminds me of me on every Football Manager season. Guess that's a good sign for the future hmm?) It will be a tough game on Saturday. Charlton are a little iffy on the road, with only 2 wins away so far this season.They have picked up decent points away at Leeds and Birmingham City, but it's a game that - with no disrespect to Charlton - we should be winning. We have a good record against Charlton. We haven't lost to them in our last 4 meetings, stretching back to 2003/04. I'm anticipating a good test, but one that will ultimately see us come out on top.

Prediction: Wolves 2-1 Charlton

So, I'll be back after the match this weekend to sum the game up. This is certainly gonna become a regular blog, I'm determined haha.

#fwaw