Wolves: Half-Season Review

Matt Jarvis: Played twice before moving to West Ham

Wolves' season so far has been the epitomy of the title of my blog - a rollercoaster. Starting off slowly, we lost a poor game away at Leeds, before facing two home games in a week against Barnsley (won 3-1) and Derby (drew 1-1). Neither game particularly set the world alight and it was evident that the squad were still feeling their way into the season. Our early season lack of form was not helped by the departures of Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis for a combined total of £22m. However, that was quickly reinvested back in the squad, with Solbakken signing Bakary Sako, Georg Margreitter and Razak Boukari - all buys totalling around £5m. With this new-look squad, Wolves travelled to early pace-setters Cardiff and, after a good early start with a goal from Sako on his league debut, Wolves collapsed and lost 3-1. But still Wolves were in and around the play-off zone heading into the first International break of the season.

Guedioura: Joined the list of ex-players to haunt Wolves

September resumed with Wolves starting a fantastic 4 match unbeaten run that saw them go into October joint top - sitting in 3rd place on goal difference. But after an unlucky defeat to Crystal Palace, Stale Solbakken's men hit back with a smash-and-grab late win at Blackburn to keep the pressure on the top sides. However, that was to be the last of the joy for Wolves fans as, after the next International break, a 2-1 defeat away at Huddersfield saw the start of a run of 9 games without a win - the Midlanders picking up only 3 draws in that spell. Included were some harsh results that were the work of some poor officials - particularly in the 3-3 draw with Brighton and the defeats to Watford (2-1) and Millwall (1-0). It was also in this spell where former players came back to haunt Wolves, with Mark Davies, Adlene Guedioura and Andy Keogh hitting crucial equalising or winning goals for Bolton, Forest and Millwall respectively.

Wolves all smiles again as they run riot at Ashton Gate

November had left Wolves in a mess. Suddenly there was a real crisis at Molineux. Fans were at loggerheads on social media sites, the manager's car was vandalised outside his home, and there were talk of players and manager falling out in team meetings. It was one of the lowest ebbs of 2012 for Wolves fans (and there's been quite a few). But Solbakken remained resolute, determined that while Wolves hadn't been a "November team", we would fight back and become a "December team". As the team headed into a potential relegation 6-pointer, it seemed the troubles of the past week had galvanised the team, with Wolves producing their most lethal first-half display of the season, smashing 4 goals past Bristol City in the opening 45. The eventual 4-1 win was followed up by a 1-0 win over Birmingham in the televised teatime clash at Molineux. A blip was suffered the following weekened at the Riverside as poor refereeing decisions once again cost Wolves late on in a 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough. But any hangover from that was blown away in another smash-and-grab (even more so than Blackburn) win at Blackpool where Wolves struggled to get any real foothold in the game past the 3rd minute. But despite this, a world-class performance from Carl Ikeme kept Wolves in the contest and for once, the referee did us a favour. An incredibly soft penalty was given to us and Ebanks-Blake tucked it away to give us a 2-1 win at Bloomfield Road.

So with Wolves at the official halfway stage of the season, and having played each team once, here's my summing up of the season so far:

Doing well at: Taking the lead. Wolves have scored first in 15 games this season, a massive 65.2% of matches. Only Cardiff have scored first more times (only by one more).

Must do better: Holding on to leads. Wolves have thrown away an alarming 17 points from winning positions - only Bolton have a worse record. With those extra 17 points, we would currently be a point clear at the top of the league.

Player of the Half-Season: Roger Johnson. Bakary Sako has got the plaudits for how many goals he's been involved in, but few can argue with Johnson's consistency and leadership skills. Finally he looks like the player we thought we'd signed.

Best Signing: Bakary Sako. Brought in for a reported fee of £3m, the French midfielder has been involved in 16 of Wolves' 30 goals (in League and Cup) since he joined, scoring 7 and creating 9

Worst Signing: Jermaine Pennant. The winger arrived on loan from Stoke with a huge reputation, but has failed to meet anywhere near expected standards. He's looked sluggish, lazy and disinterested and will be gladly sent back to Stoke in January.

Player I’d happily drive to another club in January: Ronald Zubar. Hasn't played since a horrific afternoon at Cardiff, but in his few appearances (plus appearances in recent seasons) he's shown that whilst his passion cannot be questioned, his ability most certainly can.

Position most needed to strengthen in January: Centre-midfield. This is actually a tough call to make, but with question marks still hanging over O'Hara's fitness, Wolves need to bring in a creative CM to link up with the strikers as Doumbia, Henry and Davis all sit too deep.

Final Position Prediction: 12th. A comfortable mid-table position and, although it may not be what some fans want/expected, it's the ideal building block for Solbakken to really make his mark on the side next season.