Following the closure of the January transfer window, Wolves picked up 30 points from the remaining 16 League games, including stirring wins against WBA and then top of the League Preston.  While this form over the course of a full season may not guarantee automatic promotion, it would certainly have a team there or thereabouts.  On top of this, after almost 4 years of trying to sell the club, Sir Jack and Jez Moxey finally found an appropriate buyer in Steve Morgan, who would finally give McCarthy the money he has been crying out for.  2 or 3 quality signings it was thought, and we will be up automatically.  And McCarthy has spent money.  In has come Freddy Eastwood, Matt Jarvis, Michael Gray, Stephen Elliot and Darren Ward, with relatively little moving in the opposition direction.  From the outside, it looks like we have all the necessary ingredients for promotion, a manager who the fans have 100% faith in, players who never give up BUT have that extra bit of class when needed, and most importantly in some eyes, an owner with money, who has made all the right noises since coming in.

But, why isn’t everybody convinced?  It’s not due to a lack of faith in the manager, but maybe a lack of faith in the new signings.  It was painfully obvious last season that the defence and forward line needed strengthening.  Freddy Eastwood came in to everybody’s delight, and has the potential to be, to coin a phrase, our ‘fox in the box’, something that was definitely missing last season, when, especially towards the end of the season, chance after chance appeared to be spurned.  Stephen Elliot also joined, but to a more mixed response.  There’s no doubting he is a quality player, especially at Championship level, but his injury record is more than slightly worrying.  Maybe it’s an overreaction from a club who has all too often seen exciting new signings have their Molineux careers blighted by injuries, but the doubts are there.  Gray should add stability, and an experienced head, but is he really any better than the departed Jackie McNamara?  Finally new signing Darren Ward has been relatively successful in the lower Leagues, but played just 20 times for a Crystal Palace side that finished in a disappointing mid-table place last season, and has by all accounts been slightly off the pace in pre-season.

In addition to these signings, there are fears that McCarthy does not know his strongest starting-11, or that he does, but they are quite different to the fans starting-11’s.  In yesterday’s friendly v Reading, the final game before next week’s kick-off against Watford, McCarthy fielded a back-4 of Collins at right-back, Breen and Ward as centre-halves and Gray at left-back.  This differs greatly from the views of most fans, who see Collins as a centre-half, and a good one at that. Breen continues to split the supporters, but appears to be ‘undroppable’ by McCarthy, and in all likeliness will start the season paired by the unconvincing Darren Ward.  These are both likely to be ahead of last seasons captain Jody Craddock, who is now ‘alright’, Collins and Edwards.  It’s noticeable that last seasons terrific run of form in February and March appeared to coincide with Breen’s suspension and the new pairing of Rob Edwards and Collins.  However, Collins will start at right-back, ahead of local lad Karl Henry, who normally is a central midfielder, but impressed greatly in the fullback slot before injury prematurely ended last season.

But, don’t let me put too much of a downer on you. We go into the season with an exciting young team, especially going forward where any two of Keogh, Eastwood, Elliot and Bothroyd will expect to put away the chances created by the likes of Kightly, Jarvis, Ward and Gobern.  Our central midfield is looking as strong as it ever has, with Potter, Henry and Olofinjana all looking to build on last season, with Mark Davies looking to make up for the disappointment of last season by cementing a regular place in the team.  Defensively, we don’t look 100% convincing yet, but the players do not know each other games yet, and time spent both on the training field and on the pitch will only further these understandings.  And of course, I can’t write a feature without mentioning last season’s monster, Matt Murray who seemed to win more awards than Titanic.  While he may be missing for the start of the season, he is more than ably deputized by Welsh international Wayne Hennessey, who impressed in both playoff games against WBA last season, and for Wales against Czech Republic in the summer.

Oh, and finally, one more thing. If we are to challenge this season, please Mick, can we have someone in the team with the ability to stick the ball in the net from 12 yards? It is much needed

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