Woeful Wolves Give Posh Perfect Christmas Present

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 Peterborough United

(Tomlin 17, Rowe 43, Gayle 69)

Tommy Rowe celebrates putting Posh 2-0 up at Molineux

Wolves' players were clearly in the festive mood at Molineux this afternoon - handing Peterborough United all 3 points with an abject, pathetic attempt at a performance infront of a frustrated home crowd. Right from the first whistle, Peterborough's gameplan was evident - keep it tight and simple at the back, pressing Wolves into unforced errors, and then look to hit us on the break. And it was exactly from that the first goal came. The warning signs were there when Dwight Gayle went close twice early on, but Wolves didn't learn and just 5 minutes later, the ball was lost in the Peterborough half and they instantly came at us quickly. The pace of Newell down the left meant he skipped past Foley like he wasn't there before lifting the ball into the middle of the box, for Tomlin to volley home off the underside of the bar despite Ikeme getting a touch. From that moment on, the mood around Molineux changed. Wolves appeared edgy, and you could feel the sense of déjá vu in the stands. Instantly, Peterborough seized on this and took control of the game, playing some impressive passing football and pressing Wolves further back. And it was through this that their second goal came. After some neat passing work on the right-wing, the ball eventually made its way to the box where Posh continued to pass it calmly, before Tommy Rowe finally slotted past Ikeme. In between the two goals, Wolves had several oppotunities from corners, with Roger Johnson, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Ward all denied by a mix of Olejnik and blocks on the line. But at half time, boos rang around Molineux and the fans were apprehensive about what the second-half would bring.

Bobby Olejnik comes up trumps in a crowded penalty box

The answer was... more of the same. Solbakken took the brave step at half-time of replacing Ward (who was having an absolute shocker) with Sigurdarson and going 3-4-3. But Peterborough had a 2-0 lead to protect and, unlike last Saturday against Bolton, they made themselves impossible to break down right to the final whistle. They used their 5 in midfield to effect, stopping Wolves penetrating into the final third and being forced to look out wide for options. Then, as in the first half, when the move broke down Posh looked to hit us on the break. And it was exactly that that brought along their 3rd and final killer goal. With Wolves not really going anywhere, Posh broke away down the left. A decent ball in found nobody but it came out to Mark Little who was steaming in from the right. When it looked like he was going to shoot, he kept a cool head and slipped it to Gayle who finished easily to make it 6 goals in 7 games. The comparisons with him and Craig Mackail-Smith are increasingly beginning to look like they have some foundations to them. But from Wolves, it was again a performance devoid of invention or desire as we kept possession and passed it around without going anywhere. Indeed, it was Posh who had further chances to score, but neither Tomlin, Gayle or Rowe could quite add even more gloss to the scoreline.

Zakuani kept Ebanks-Blake in his back pocket all day long

Before I focus on Wolves, I'm gonna give Peterborough the credit they deserve. They came to Molineux and executed their gameplan to perfection. I said all along that they would beat us and I am, of course, disappointed to have been proven right. Despite my love of Posh, and my tolerance of them beating us, I wasn't expecting such a rout. I've seen some embarassing comments from Wolves fans on Twitter tonight, saying how Posh are "the worst team to come to Molineux this season". I personally think that's an absolutely disgraceful claim to make. They outplayed us. Yes, we were appalling but they made us look it with their defending and ability on the break. Their 3-5-2 caused us all sorts of problems, as we were heavily outnumbered in midfield and it showed. Dwight Gayle, who has now signed for Posh permanently, looks a quality player and his pace and ability to drift around meant that Berra and Johnson were given a torrid time. As I predicted, Tomlin's ability to pick up little pockets of space and his vision caused us no end of problems, with Henry struggling to really pick him up. George Boyd's passing opened space up for Posh to work in, and Albion youngster George Thorne went about his job quietly but efficiently in midfield. At the back, Zakuani exhibited Johnson-like leadership and calmness to ensure Ebanks-Blake didn't get a sniff, while Little and Bostwick did an excellent job at keeping Sako quiet all game. All this result has done is further increased my belief that Posh will stay up and with two huge 6-pointers coming up for them, this result (particularly the clean sheet) will give them the confidence needed to go forward. All being well, they'll find themselves back at Molineux next season, and hopefully we can get ourselves a nice little bit of revenge too.

O'Hara: A welcome sight for Wolves fans

As for Wolves... well where do I begin?! Clearly Wolves players enjoy their Christmas dinner a little too much, as this Boxing Day defeat was not a one-off. We've only had 1 Boxing Day win in the last 15 seasons, and the slow feel to this one indicated that was not set to change anytime soon. What disappointed me was the lack of atmosphere from kick-off. I'd told my Peterborough friends about what a good atmosphere the South Bank can create, and yet today was just flat. Then, of course, when things started to go wrong, the mood turned very ugly, with Jermaine Pennant jeered off by the South Bank and chants of "You're not fit to wear the shirt" after the 3rd goal went in. Today was similar to the Millwall home game earlier this season, and even brought back memories of the 5-1 thrashing by Albion last season. Players seemed disinterested - with Sako and Ebanks-Blake being the main culprits, while Ward (Despite only playing 45 minutes) had probably one of the worst games of his Wolves career. He keeps playing the ball long and it quite simply does not work for us. He may well have exposed himself today as the weak link for us. It says a lot too that our best chances came from set-pieces, particularly corners. There was a lack of ingenuity in open play, not helped by the huge gap between the midfield and the often isolated Ebanks-Blake, despite the fact Doyle often dropped deep to try pick the ball up. The return of Jamie O'Hara - whilst I'm not his biggest fan personally - was welcomed by fans and there is hope amongst them that he will prove to be that link betwen midfield and attack. But so far, it is only one defeat. A disappointing one, with a humiliating performance, but still only one defeat. To call for Solbakken's head is pointless and embarssingly fickle - given how many fans were loving him after 3 wins in 4 on Friday night. But with this result coming so close to the January window, it'll be interesting to see what Stale decides to do as it is quite clear we are severely lacking in several key areas - most notably at the moment out wide and up front.

Wolves struggled to get to grips with Peterborough all game

It's never going to be easy supporting Wolves - even if we had billions of pounds we'd still do it the hard way. But we're stuck with it and all it brings. Today was just a blip (hopefully) and we need to all dust ourselves down and look ahead to a crucial game Saturday. This season was always going to be a transitional one, but sadly every time we win a run of games, our fans begin to forget that fact. What today has taught every single Wolves fan though is that we must never underestimate the opposition, especially in the Championship. Today we did that, and ended up producing our worst performance of the season so far. I'll continue to have my soft spot for Posh and will continue to look out for their results - I hope with all my heart they stay up. They've certainly showed in their last 3 games that the passion, desire and even the quality is there for them to do so, so good luck to them for the rest of the season!

My Wolves MOTM: Tongo Doumbia. Looked, at times, to be the only player wanting to run at people and drive us forward. Was often closed down in the second-half and forced down blind alleys, but signs that he is pretty much getting back to his best. Just needs a lucky break to give him a goal.

Wolves In A Word: Embarassing

In Stale We Trust.