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Bit of a mystery, really.

We have no injuries apart from Elokobi so no excuse there.

We strengthened the squad with Berra and Quashie. With Reid as well, we could afford to have rested Kightly.

More than ever, it seems a crying shame that we couldn't use the Mark Davies option.

I'm completely frustrated by what's going on at the moment. With the teams around us having not enjoyed the best run of form recently we should now be at least a dozen points clear with it in the bag. Instead we're doing what we did under Taylor, going into reverse! I don't know if it's pyschological, bad tactics, bad man management or what...but we seriously need to get a grip before we throw all the hard work of the first half of the season away.
So much is promised if we get up that we really have got to be fighting tooth and nail now in every game. Even if the football's not pretty we need to dig in and battle for every ball, chase every player down coming at us, and let the older members of the team use their experience to guide the youngsters.
Come on Wolves - you owe it to yourselves let alone your fans to deliver!

I think the fear of screwing things up has become a real albatross around the necks of the players. When performances fall away so badly then I would assume the players are afraid to play and think they will lose each game.

No-one wants to take responsibility in such a situation and they seem content to keep their heads down and hide behind mediocre, low risk performances. Once the language turns to needing that 'bit of luck' to change things around then the season is coming seriously off the rails.

Such circumstances call for clarity and strong leadership on and off the pitch. That's where the buck stops. If the club's mental state is directly addressed on this sunny break and some tough talking and hard listening (that's for you, Mick) is done regarding leadership and commitment then it might do the trick. If they just f*nny about with a football then nothing will change and the outlook is very grim indeed.

I think its nervs in a young squad. Man United have shown number of times that it's not just having good players but also how you manage pressure.

Look at Liverpool - they have some excellent players and were at one point almost 10 points clear of man United, but they have bottled it and not been able to handle the pressure...

I think the same thing is happening with our lads.

As fans I think we need to not put anymore pressure on them and get behind them...

There is no tactical flexibility we lay 4-4-2 with 2 wingers and thats it.If I was a championship coach Id have no concerns playing wolves as you noe exactly what you are going up against.Just double up on Kightly and especially Jarvis and stop wolves attacking.

dave jones learned this lesson the yr we went up, thats y he brought in irwin & ince these type ov players don't hide wen the goin gets tough we need an incey type ov player even mor so now as the squad is so young even wen ince was avin a terrible game he was always talkin on the pitch directing those around him helping them along, this is where mm has gon so wrong in keepin faith with the players that got us top b4 xmas fergie didn't think oh we won the premier league we must b gud enuf 2do it agen this year he went out & brought in more players thats 1 difference between a decent manager & a gud 1 never rest on your laurels plus he doesn't think oh he's my mate he's not that good but he works hard i'll keep playin him like a certain manager does !!!

We are rooted in the centre of midfield no creativity.We give the ball up to easily which puts undue pressure on our already shaky defence. We need a loan midfielder who can create. I would even taken Olif back. He is better than nothing

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Voted Best Overseas FAn 07/08/09

This is NOT difficult to work out!

When went on a fabulous early season run with Jarvis and Kightly running rampant and Iwelumo scoring for fun with SEB at one point as the support act!

Central midfield has some creativity, at least from set pieced from Jones and Henry was doing a good job breaking up attacks.

However, there were flaws we had some vulnerabilities in defence. Stearman is still finding his way, and Collins is simply always going to have 2 or 3 serious lapses of concentration in every other game. You simply have to hope that it is not going to cost a goal.

We also got seriously turned over by REading and Norwich during this period, so although we played some good stuff there was always an feeling that teams had a chance! Fortunately opponents were busy picking the ball out the back of the net!

Then Jarvo gets injured and we have 3 poor results. However, MM switched things around, got Carlos Edwards from Sunderland and Mancienne from Chelsea and we promptly went on another long winning streak.

Crikey! this was amazing. But as soon as Edwards was called back and Jarvis only just coming back from injury and Kites not on top of his game, and a goal drought from Iwelumo we started to stutter. I also think that Iwelumo has been affected more by his miss for Scotland than he makes out!

MM was looking for alternatives with the available personnel, and has looked again at loans.He also looked at getting more action into central midfield by starting with Edwards as a box to box man, and whilst he gave some good performances and he is a bit more dynamic that Jones, he does not offer the distribution or the set piece threat that Jones offer!

Also without anyone in the team who can genuinely cause concern if teams are sloppy and giveaway freekicks it tends to mean they have licence to lean on you outside the penalty area! This is one of the reasons I think things have got a bit more difficult for Iwelumo. Although teams have shut off his supply!

I think MM has done quite well to keep things on the road in difficult circumstances. THis is certainly the longest we have been top even under Jones. Which means apart from the season we went up THROUGH THE PLAYOFFS, this is one of the best seasons we've had so far for decades!

Footie is all about IFs: If we could have kept Mancienne, If we could have kept Carlos Edwards, If Bristol would have sold Elliot to us, or QPR their midfielder whathisname again? or we could have got Sinclair on loan, or if Kightly was playing through some storming form!

This is the toughest part of the season we have just gone through!

However, we have 13 games left! We are still top at least for another few days. This is where we have to step up.

STOP SHIPPING GOALS
BECOME DIFFICULT TO BEAT

Boost Iwelumo's confidence!
But give Vokesy his go! which MM is doing anyway!

Get Jones fit or go into the loan market. Is there any quality premier league central midfielder who could do a job for us! Unlikely but you never know.

Try to get Mancienne back on loan.

GET BEHIND THE TEAM!

Because of Molineux's disastrous redevelopment, which started the club's decline back in the late 70s, the ground is not the fortress it once was, but we should do all we can to make the place as hostile to the opposition as we can! and getting allowing the opposition to get us grumbling about our players is what every visitor to Molineux tries to achieve. It is well known!

That's it! It is going to be a huge ROLLERCOASTER! We might make it through Automatic. WE might just miss out! or we might continue to fall back into the playoffs, and then we have the nightmare of that knockout!

Don't you just love being a Wolves fan? NO! me neither!

Re: Final position predictions please
Posted by: O.S.B (IP Logged)
Date: 27 January, 2009 12:28


IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE PLAYERS !,IF THEY HAVE MORE BOTTLE THAN THEIR MANAGER WOLVES WILL BE PROMOTED.

this is my quote from jan 27th and nothings changed,if the players can overcome the pressure of the situation better than our manager can then we can still do it,if they continue to blow up under pressure like mm has the were foooked.

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WWW.CLUELESS-MICK.COM

Excellent well thought out post oldngold which, for me, goes a long way to explaining our success/failure.

Love the last comment

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Quote:

oldngold
This is NOT difficult to work out!
When went on a fabulous early season run with Jarvis and Kightly running rampant and Iwelumo scoring for fun with SEB at one point as the support act!

Central midfield has some creativity, at least from set pieced from Jones and Henry was doing a good job breaking up attacks.

However, there were flaws we had some vulnerabilities in defence. Stearman is still finding his way, and Collins is simply always going to have 2 or 3 serious lapses of concentration in every other game. You simply have to hope that it is not going to cost a goal.

We also got seriously turned over by REading and Norwich during this period, so although we played some good stuff there was always an feeling that teams had a chance! Fortunately opponents were busy picking the ball out the back of the net!

Then Jarvo gets injured and we have 3 poor results. However, MM switched things around, got Carlos Edwards from Sunderland and Mancienne from Chelsea and we promptly went on another long winning streak.

Crikey! this was amazing. But as soon as Edwards was called back and Jarvis only just coming back from injury and Kites not on top of his game, and a goal drought from Iwelumo we started to stutter. I also think that Iwelumo has been affected more by his miss for Scotland than he makes out!

MM was looking for alternatives with the available personnel, and has looked again at loans.He also looked at getting more action into central midfield by starting with Edwards as a box to box man, and whilst he gave some good performances and he is a bit more dynamic that Jones, he does not offer the distribution or the set piece threat that Jones offer!

Also without anyone in the team who can genuinely cause concern if teams are sloppy and giveaway freekicks it tends to mean they have licence to lean on you outside the penalty area! This is one of the reasons I think things have got a bit more difficult for Iwelumo. Although teams have shut off his supply!

I think MM has done quite well to keep things on the road in difficult circumstances. THis is certainly the longest we have been top even under Jones. Which means apart from the season we went up THROUGH THE PLAYOFFS, this is one of the best seasons we've had so far for decades!

Footie is all about IFs: If we could have kept Mancienne, If we could have kept Carlos Edwards, If Bristol would have sold Elliot to us, or QPR their midfielder whathisname again? or we could have got Sinclair on loan, or if Kightly was playing through some storming form!

This is the toughest part of the season we have just gone through!

However, we have 13 games left! We are still top at least for another few days. This is where we have to step up.

STOP SHIPPING GOALS
BECOME DIFFICULT TO BEAT

Boost Iwelumo's confidence!
But give Vokesy his go! which MM is doing anyway!

Get Jones fit or go into the loan market. Is there any quality premier league central midfielder who could do a job for us! Unlikely but you never know.

Try to get Mancienne back on loan.

GET BEHIND THE TEAM!

Because of Molineux's disastrous redevelopment, which started the club's decline back in the late 70s, the ground is not the fortress it once was, but we should do all we can to make the place as hostile to the opposition as we can! and getting allowing the opposition to get us grumbling about our players is what every visitor to Molineux tries to achieve. It is well known!

That's it! It is going to be a huge ROLLERCOASTER! We might make it through Automatic. WE might just miss out! or we might continue to fall back into the playoffs, and then we have the nightmare of that knockout!

Don't you just love being a Wolves fan? NO! me neither!

Bang on!!! My vote for post of the year!!!!

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Voted Best Overseas FAn 07/08/09

Some excellent points there oldngold which would explain a stutter where things were not going as well as they were. Lets face it good runs dont last forever. But a loss of form or a couple of players should not turn a team of world beaters sweeping all before them into bottom of the table fodder. 7 points from 9 games (20% of a league season) is the equivalent of 36 points a season which will usually see any team finishing rock bottom.

Having surrendered a comfortable lead in a period where our main rivals have stuttered badly I dont think it is enough just to "become difficult to beat". What we have to do now is start winning again unless our sights are now on the playoffs only.

McCarthy has to find a way of firing up these players to raise their game again. It should not be that difficult to get a team who are top of the league to lift their game in an attempt to hang onto their league leader status. On Saturday exactly the opposite happened. Burnley were not that good otherwise they would have buried us.

Whilst I agree Stourport! football is a crushingly simple game and the first and most important thing is to not let in any goals. That means being difficult to score against which translates to difficult to beat! Don't underestimate this!

I think we refocus on the basics. Covering, marking, tackling, tracking back, along with lots of possession practice where you just focus on keeping the ball in smaller and smaller areas of the pitch.

If they do this in La Manga, whilst letting off some steam, relaxing and rebonding, they should come back refreshed, recharged and hopefully well organised and difficult to score against. Hence, when SEB finds the net again we should WIN! it is that simple!

I don't think scoring goals is the problem. And if you are well organised at the back and teams find it difficult to score, they have to try harder to score slowly stretching themselves and taking more risks. That usually opens up opportunities.

i think MM should at this stage do two things if he possibly can
1.bring in a couple of quality loan players "i think that is almost impossiblethough"
2. he should have the team working very closely with a sports performance pyschologist, because the only logical answer for this complete loss of form is nerves and anxiety from the fear of losing ..
there is a lot at stake now and we desperately need to overcome the psychological barrier that is stopping as play..

The Championship is a tough league and with the benefits that the prem brings always will be. Latter half of the season the pressure is cranked up for most teams to try and get into the playoffs or to avoid relegation. Add to that, you don't need any motivation when your looking to get a scalp off the top of the league teams.

So the run is going to be tough with all teams battling - we are going to have to compete with the same fighting spirit moreso than the pretty football and hope we can do better than our rivals.

As an aside point though, we kept 19 clean sheets last season (I think) but were criticised for boring performances and not scoring. It seems logical to me that if you concentrate on your defence then you'll lose something from attack and vice versa. (Newtons Law action/reaction )

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