By Tom Bason
October 9 2013

In another poor performance at Molineux, Wolves crashed out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on penalties. In a game where Wolves barely threatened the Notts County game, it was no surprise that Björn Sigurðarson and Kevin Foley failed to hit the target from 12 yards, while James Henry saw his penalty beaten away by Notts County goalkeeper Fabien Speiss. 

- Wolves lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, albeit one with lots of changes due to a mixture of injury, international call ups and general resting. Kevin Foley and George Elokobi came in from the cold, while youngster Ethan Ebanks-Landell partnered Richard Stearman who must be aiming to keep his place for the Coventry match. Further forward, Zeli Ismail seems to have completely withdrawn from the firing line - this is even more apparent with left back Scott Golbourne seemingly Bakary Sako's replacement on the left. Upfront, Jake Cassidy, still searching for that first goal, replaced Kevin Doyle. In some ways, this game was annoyingly placed, as Aaron McCarey and Anthony Forde would surely have been considered for starting berths had they not been on international duty. 

- The first half was pretty none existent from a Wolves point of view, with only four Carl Ikeme keeping the scores level. I think the big problem was upfront. In Wolves' last game at Molineux, we played Griffiths and Sigurðarson upfront, both of whom are advanced strikers. This resulted in there were large gaps between the forwards and the midfield, meaning that when Jack Price and Kevin McDonald did get on the ball they either had difficult 40 yard balls to the forwards, or were forced backwards or sideways. It didn't change until Kevin Doyle came on and we had a link between the midfield and forwards. I could pretty much have just copied and pasted bits from that report into this one as we had exactly the same problem. In the first half we had just one move that was worth mentioning, but this happened when Griffiths dropped off and played a delightfully slipped ball through to Scott Golbourne. 

- If that makes it sound like Golbourne contributed anything going forward, I'm misleading you. Our left side was almost embarrassingly poor. I'm not really sure how it's happened, but Elokobi's technical ability seems to have regressed. He's always had the touch of a pub player, but last night he had the touch of a pub player who's just had a skinful. If I say he was woeful, I'm being kind. And it wasn't just that he looked out of place going forward; defensively he was beaten time and time again. Unsurprisingly, when you play two left backs on one flank, neither of whom are particularly adventurous going forward, not a lot is going to be created on that flank. Saying that, the right hand side wasn't much better, with Henry drifting inside without really contributing, but with Foley not really using the space that was created, there was a complete lack of out ball; the forwards were isolated and wide men ineffectual.

- At halftime, Kenny Jackett took off Elokobi, bringing on Sigurðarson. Personally, I'd have kept the same XI on, but thought a switch to a back three (Stearman, Ebanks-Landell and Elokobi), with Foley and Golbourne as wingbacks. Henry could then have moved inside and acted as the link between the midfield and defence. But, instead Jackett kept the 4-4-2, but with Henry moving to the left and Sigurðarson on the right. Sigurðarson’s tendency to drift inside and play further forward than a normal midfield did provide that link to certain extent, but he isn't the sort of player who will link play in that way, and trying to do this from the flank obviously has its drawbacks. On the other side, it was Henry's natural inclination to drift inside, and it was when Golbourne moved into this space that we had the best move of the second half, with Golbourne's effort flashing across goal. 

- Jackett's second change was to take off Cassidy for McAlinden. Cassidy, considering his goal scoring record at this level is a player who is in desperate need of a goal for Wolves. Last night was his twelfth game for Wolves, and he is still yet to score. This is obviously putting him under some pressure, although it isn't really that important (Thierry Henry went eight games without a goal at the start of his Arsenal career), but it goes without saying that strikers need goals. And I fear that Cassidy is soon to be overtaken by McAlinden who appears to be a better footballer. Last night, McAlinden tried to get himself involved in the build-up play more than Cassidy did, dropping off and providing that deeper focal point. His link up play with Griffiths seemed better than Cassidy's as well. So often in the first half, Griffiths and Cassidy seemed to be on completely different wavelengths, whether it be Griffiths shooting from miles out when Cassidy was screaming for a pass, or both of them challenging for the same header and neither of them getting near the ball. Incidentally, I reckon Robert Taylor played twelve games for Wolves without a goal, and Tomasz Frankowski 18. Can anyone name any other strikers who went longer before finally scoring?

- Defensively we were poor, even in the second half as Golbourne dropped back into defence. Notts County had three or four excellent chances to score and once again the defence was indebted to Carl Ikeme for even getting us as far as penalties. Notts County seemed happy to shoot from distance; some shots appeared to be 35+ yards out. I don't have a problem with allowing these shots, if anyone thinks they can beat Ikeme from that far out, fair play to them. It'll have to be some strike. But, I was frustrated by the ease at which Notts County's forwards seemed able to wander through our central defence. It seemed that none of the defenders (Elokobi aside) had particularly poor games individually, but as a unit they didn't function particularly well. Richard Stearman was captain for the night, but he didn't seem to be doing enough to get the defence organised. Sometimes you need to see the defence without them to realise how much cajoling and talking that Danny Batth and Sam Ricketts get through during 90 minutes. If Stearman wanted to use last night's performance as a spring board to be recalled into the first team on a more regular basis, he will be disappointed. Alongside him, Ebanks-Landell did ok, but I think would have benefited from playing alongside a more commanding partner. From just a brief look at him, he appears to have decent pace, and on occasion played a couple of nice balls forward. But, I'd like to see more of him before clarifying my thoughts. 

- Our penalties this season have generally been poor, although Griffiths is bucking this trend having now sent his last two hard and low into the side netting. Sigurðarson and Foley's penalties weren't disastrous; they just got their angles ever so slightly wrong. But to miss three out of four is so frustrating for everyone involved. 

- Finally, and I really don't like doing this, but on October 20th I'm running my first half marathon for MacMillan Cancer Support. I get nothing for writing these, so if you feel you could spare a quid, my JustGiving page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Bason

Wolves 0-0 Notts County; Notts County progress on penalties

Discussion started by Wolves , 09/10/2013 15:30

Wolves
09/10/2013 15:30

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:19:19:04:06 by toomb.

Reply Quote Report

Cheshire wolf
09/10/2013 15:51

Don't worry Tom - I enjoy enjoy reading your reports so I'll give you a tenner to run the race. Hope it goes well for you.

Reply Quote Report

toomb
10/10/2013 09:48

Many thanks Cheshire - that is most kind of you, and far more than I expected anyone to donate.



toomb's twitter

Reply Quote Report

wolverina
13/10/2013 20:59

Hi - I'm in the US at the moment but I'll send you something
Not back till 19th. You've enabled me to keep up with matches wherever I am so its my "thank you".

Reply Quote Report

wolverina
19/10/2013 14:06

Just donated + Gift aid. Good luck tomorrow!

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net