Jelle van Damme moves back to Belgium with Standard Liege

Well, after the stories of homesickness and missing his family, you couldn't say that this wasn't on the cards but it's quite a shame because behind all these problems there was a trier who wanted to succeed. After solid performances in pre-season and van Damme's desire to be one of the leaders on the field, it looked as though that his shortcomings at Ajax and Southampton were becoming a thing of the past and we had a player of Premiership quality on our hands, even his early performances this season were promising, despite carrying a few knocks. However, that was set to change as in the last few games, the loneliness got the better of him and games passed him by, most notably at Tottenham when he failed to help out Stephen Ward thwart the right-wing barrage which almost single-handedly cost us the game, much to the annoyance of Mick McCarthy.

Jelle van Damme: Going home.

But still, in a way, everyone's a winner in this deal, we've got our money back from what we invested, van Damme will now commute nearer to his family and Standard Liege will have a good player on their hands, but I hope he has a role to play in this season in January because as mentioned earlier, he tries and the squad numbers are looking increasingly depleted. Come January, our shopping list could well contain one left-back and with that £2.5m to spend.

'Grobs'

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FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

One of the highlights of the footballing calendar arrived today as we've been handed a tricky tie away to Doncaster Rovers. 'Donny' have been consolidating in the Championship in their third season through playing football attractive to the eye and with one defeat so far at Keepmoat Stadium and key striker Billy Sharp coming back from injury, we will need to be at our best to progress. Maybe a game for a bit of tinkering too, perhaps? Mick McCarthy can be forgiven for the thought crossing his mind.

'Grobs'

Wolves 3 - 2 Sunderland

Winter had most definitely arrived and three points were due for an ever unlucky hard working Wolves side, and for once we did it! Wayne Hennessey finally got a chance in goal after some disappointing performances from Marcus Hahnemann and there was a first league start for Ronald Zubar at right back, with Kevin Foley being pushed up to the right wing in place of Stephen Hunt. Other changes were Nenad Milijas in for Karl Henry & Stephen Ward for Christophe Berra with George Elokobi playing centre back.

Few clear cut chances were created in the opening 45 minutes, the best being Kevin Doyle blasting over from 12 yards and a Kieron Richardson free-kick hitting the inside of the post. The big talking point was when Richard Stearman was given offside when scoring from a corner and I can say that from seeing replays at half time he certainly wasn't and couldn't be, but in the end it didn't matter.

Ex-Manchester United trainees David Jones and Phil Bardsley do battle

Five minutes in and Wolves took the lead after Craig Gordon parried a Matt Jarvis shot straight into the path of Foley, who smashed home with his left foot to make it 1-0. For some reason we decided to sit back and let Sunderland pile on the pressure & not long after a knock on from the substitute Asamoah Gyan fell onto Darren Bent to equalize. The game was back and forth from here until the end and next goal went to the visitors again with Danny Welbeck heading home with 13 minutes to go and quite a lot of the home fans leaving thinking 'here we go again'. Now I'm not that stupid and my patience was rewarded in the final 10 minutes, first off Hunt scored from another Gordon save off a Elokobi header then super-sub Sylvan Ebanks-Blake got the winner with a great strike from a Doyle knock on, sending the crowd home happy for once.

Our defence still looked shaky (missing the experience of Jody Craddock), Hennessey couldn't do anything about the two well taken goals and had a decent game, Zubar didn't look like he'd been out two months at all, man of the match for me. Milijas & Jarvis yet again were superb in midfield and Doyle played well on his own but the subs were the difference today.

With West Ham winning as well this was vital to keep us close to the pack above, surely its a sign of our luck changing?

'Geesus'

LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hennessey; Zubar, Stearman, Elokobi, Ward; Foley (c), Mancienne (Ebanks-Blake 80), Jones (Hunt 63), Milijas, Jarvis; Doyle. Unused subs: Hahnemann, van Damme, Fletcher, Bent, Davis. Booked: Ward, Elokobi

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Onuoha, Ferdinand, Mensah (Elmohamady 83), Bardsley; Richardson, Henderson (Malbranque 55), Cattermole (c), Zenden (Gyan 55); Bent, Welbeck. Unused subs: Mignolet, Angeleri, Da Silva, Riveros. Booked: Mensah, Richardson, Cattermole

STATS (courtesy of Daily Telegraph)

SHOTS ON TARGET (OFF TARGET): Wolves 7 (7) - (5) 6 Sunderland

CORNERS: Wolves 11 - 5 Sunderland

FOULS: Wolves 11- 10 Sunderland

POSSESSION: Wolves 54% - 46% Sunderland

REFEREE: Michael Jones



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Wolves v Sunderland

Today sees us welcome another potentially tricky side in the form of Sunderland.

We come into the game almost down to our bare bones in the central defence after Christophe Berra picked up five bookings, Jody Craddock and Ronald Zubar are still well off match fitness so we'll have to depend on Steven Mouyokolo and Richard Stearman for the second home game running. With Karl Henry out with knee ligament damage, that element applies for the central midfield too with Dave Edwards and Adlene Guedioura unavailable so if a five-man midfield is selected today, there's not much choice but to field Michael Mancienne behind left-footed schemers David Jones and Nenad Milijas. But with us needing three points badly, will we even play five in the middle?

Resident draw specialists Sunderland come to Molineux with Darren Bent fully fit to give Steve Bruce the chance to pair him and Asamoah Gyan, which will enable the chance for Danny Welbeck to supply more chances for the front-line. Titus Bramble is out so they will fancy their chances a lot more. Sunderland have only once won away from home and that was at Chelsea for those of you who have just been rescued from a remote island. This time last season saw the start of their slump after a bright start, the best form of hope we can cling on to.

In the form our visitors are in, we should be content with a point but we must pick up three points by hook or crook, but against a Steve Bruce team, how rare is that when we only got the better of him twice in 15 games?

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Mouyokolo, Elokobi; Jarvis, Milijas, Mancienne, Jones, Hunt; Doyle. Subs: Hennessey, van Damme, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Ward, Davis, Bent

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Onouha, Turner, Ferdinand, Richardson; Welbeck, Henderson, Cattermole, Malbranque; Gyan, Bent. Subs: Mignolet, da Silva, Bardsley, Elmohamady, Riveros, Zenden, Angeleri

ODDS (with William Hill) (view more odds)

WIN: Wolves 13/8; Draw 11/5; Sunderland 17/10


FIRST GOALSCORER: Wolves - Steven Fletcher 6/1, Doyle 13/2, Ebanks-Blake 7/1, Milijas 10/1, Jarvis 12/1, Hunt 14/1, Foley 40/1 Sunderland - Bent 9/2, Gyan 9/2, Welbeck 13/2, Henderson 14/1, Zenden 14/1, Richardson 16/1, Turner 33/1

KEY PLAYER: Asamoah Gyan. Fitted into the team really quickly and started firing the goals, more to come with Bent returning I'd imagine, but hopefully not today.

WEAKEST LINK: Lee C(l)attermole. Three red cards this season. Been a while since his last one.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Neill Collins, Alex Rae, Jody Craddock, Michael Gray, Don Goodman



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Nice striker Mamadou Bagayoko joins on a week's trial

You could say it shouldn't be Mick McCarthy's priority right now but the Malian could be a far sight better than Marcus Bent as Sam Vokes recovers from injury. He hasn't been getting much action this season as he's recovering from long-term injury but before it struck, his goalscoring record has been pretty decent.

Just a trial, boys and girls.

'Grobs'

Karl Henry Out For Two Months, Defenders On Comeback Trail

Nobody wants an added casualty to our busy injury list and losing our leader and hardman for two months is a kick in the teeth and some will see this as a blow as others will see it as a blessing in disguise. Maybe this could be an opportunity for our other holding midfielder, defender-cum-anchor Michael Mancienne to come out of skipper's shadow. Like Henry, he can win a tackle and unlike the skipper, he can travel and spray the ball about forward-thinking intentions, whether he is up to the job without Henry's presence remains to be seen.

On the plus side, Ronald Zubar had his taste of football since his ankle surgey last month this afternoon in the reserves against Arsenal. Kevin Foley's been doing well at right-back but 'Zubes' can play in other defensive areas and to have those options available again is great news. Jody Craddock is another defender on the comeback trail after returning to training yesterday after nursing a hip injury. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the defensive went to pot in the veteran's absense and he should not rush back, especially when the defence is playing like it has been.

'Grobs'

Blackpool 2 - 1 Wolves

There is no point denying it any more, we are buried in deep feces and all through a game that we could've and should've won. And before we go on Wolves 24-7 can only base this match on the highlights on Match Of The Day have shown and the live text commentary on Sky Score Centre.

As the line-ups came out, most of us were at a loss as to why Nenad Milijas was dropped for David Jones. Maybe due to the latter's tenacity and graft being a reason for that decision but there should be no qualms about Michael Mancienne replacing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake as we were playing away from home. Blackpool took the lead in the third minute when Kevin Foley uncharacteristically got outsmarted by Luke Varney in our right-back position rasped a 30-yard volley into top corner past Marcus Hahnemann, who had no chance in hell of getting anywhere near the ball. Midway through the first half, we made a tactical substitution with Foley coming off for Milijas to put introduce some inagination into the midfield. But that wasn't working straight away and minutes before half-time the hosts doubled their lead. David Vaughan swung in a corner which Hahnemann couldn't get to due Varney holding him down and getting a touch for Marlon Harewood bundle in over the line. Although Mark Clattenburg should've given us a free-kick, Richard Stearman should not have given Harewood that much space to move. Wolves heckled off at half-time and rightfully so.

Luke Varney: A handful man in more ways than one gets his shot away.

Second half, Stephen Hunt made way for Ebanks-Blake and Milijas' influence was immediately evident when he won the ball in the middle of the park and struck a low shot which was tipped onto the post by Richard Kingson. Shortly after we had two penalty appeals within a minute, both turned down by Clattenburg who seems to take a dislike to us in recent games. But we battled on and battered them Tangerines and tested Kingson through Matt Jarvis and Ebanks-Blake but there was no way past the Ghanian international until the late stages of the game. With five minutes of normal time left, George Elokobi's cross was met by Kevin Doyle at the far post for his first Premiership goal this season but it was all too late. The goal was only scored because Ian Evatt - who had a really good game marking Doyle throughout - had to neglect his duty and walk an injury off on the touchline. Once again, a good second half performance, no points to show for it, nasty habit.

Mick McCarthy said before the game that this could well be definitive and he could be right, but we've been in this position before this time last year and got out with back-to-back victories. But it's Sunderland next and in their recent form, who would fancy dodging them?

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

BLACKPOOL (4-3-3): Kingson, Eardley, Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey (Carney 89), Vaughan, Adam, Phillips (Taylor-Fletcher 65), Campbell, Varney, Harewood (Sylvestre 65). Unused Subs: Halstead, Ormerod, Grandin, Edwards.

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann, Foley (Milijas 29), Stearman, Berra, Elokobi, Henry (Fletcher 60), Mancienne, David Jones, Jarvis, Doyle, Hunt (Ebanks-Blake 46). Unused Subs: Hennessey, Ward, Bent, Mouyokolo. Booked: Henry, Berra

STATS (courtesy of Daily Telegraph)

SHOTS ON TARGET (OFF TARGET): Blackpool 4 (5) - 9 (9) Wolves

CORNERS: Blackpool 4 - 11 Wolves

POSSESSION: Blackpool 44% - 56% Wolves

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg

Blackpool v Wolves

Tomorrow, we head off to Blackpool in the hope of that we grab a win away from home for the first time this season in what could be a 'do or die' moment in our season.

Christophe Berra got through a full training session this week and should take his spot in place of Steven Mouyokolo. After being picked off with 4-4-2 by Bolton, we must go back to the tried and trusted 4-5-1 formation, Blackpool may not have the most glamourous players in the division but that doesn't mean that they can shock people and play football because they have. The left-back position is becoming increasingly problematic so could it be time to try the talented and determined yet home-ridden-minded Jelle van Damme? Otherwise it's got to be a unchanged side.

It's intresting to mention that the hosts' surprisingly successful season thus far has been down to the results on the road rather than making a fortress out of Bloomfield Road with their only win there coming against West Brom three weeks ago. Blackpool will be without Matthew Gilks, who this season has been difference between wither a result, a defeat or a cricket scoreline so Ghanaian international Richard Kingson will step in and Charlie Adam could well play through the pain in his knee. Good times.

A few cynical fans say that if we don't get anything from this game, we're going down, many others could well follow this theory if that's the case, but a win for us could see us within touching distance of 17th.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi; Jarvis, Milijas, Henry, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle. Subs: Hennessey, van Damme, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Jones, Mancienne, Mouyokolo

BOLTON (4-4-2): Kingson; Eardley, Evatt, Cathcart, Crainey; Grandin, Adam, Vaughan; Varney, Campbell, Taylor. Subs: Halstead, Rob Edwards, Keinan, Southern, Sylvestre, Phillips, Harewood

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Blackpool 8/5; Draw 11/5; Wolves 7/4

FIRST GOALSCORER: Blackpool - Campbell 11/2, Harewood 6/1, Varney 13/2, Adam 15/2, Eardley 25/1, Evatt 33/1 Wolves - Doyle 13/2, Fletcher 7/1, Ebanks-Blake 7/1, Jarvis 11/1, Milijas 16/1, Stearman 33/1

KEY PLAYER: Luke Varney. Once a journeyman, now one of the Tangerines' star players this season with his work rate. If our left-back position doesn't fly up straight then this man could exploit it time and time again.

WEAKEST LINK: Richard Kingson. Contrary to what has been said about him in Ghana's World Cup adventure, he remains unconvincing.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Mo Camara, Emlyn Hughes, Rob Edwards, Paul Simpson, John Burridge

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Do You Remember Michael McIndoe?

This month in 2006, we signed two wingers by the name of Michael, one with the last name Kightly, who is still a popular name despite his injury troubles, and the other was McIndoe, who we take a look back at and remember.

Before coming to Molineux, McIndoe set his stall out as a prolific goalscoring winger in the bottom two tiers of the Football League at Doncaster Rovers, being included in PFA Team Of The Year in 2004 and 2006 in the process. He felt he could go up another level and in July 2006, he did so and switched to newly promoted Championship side Barnsley for £125,000 and in the four months he was there he was a hit, scoring 4 goals in 18 matches.

When we came knocking at Oakwell, we were still rebuilding and just about getting by with homegrown Lewis Gobern and Daniel Jones occupying the wide positions with endeavour so some added depth to that area was welcome. McIndoe joined us just says before the loan deadline and at the turn of the year, we signed him permanently for £250,000 but all the talk and buzz around the ground was about the winger named Michael. As they arrived, change in form developed because of the quality of the widemen, mainly through Kightly, but McIndoe did his bit popping in with a couple of assists through his ever-menacing set-pieces. We never much success with converting corners into goals over the years but I fondly remember us scoring them more frequently when he was taking them. His open play game was pretty fine too, decent level of pace, good cross, doing the graft too but the goals were missing and his first didn't come until March in a scrappy draw at Sheffield Wednesday and his only other two came in a 3-2 defeat against Birmingham, where he missed a penalty to clinch a point and a hat-trick.

Michael McIndoe: Still chasing that 'big club'.

The end of his short stay in the summer of 2007 came as a shock to the club, just days after Matt Jarvis arrived from Gillingham. You would be entitled to think that he moved to Bristol City because he couldn't hack the competition but McIndoe insisted it was to further his prospects to play for Scotland, but that didn't stop him to have a dig at Wolves, stating "Some people see this move as a step down – they think of Wolves as a big club and Bristol City as a small club, but I don’t see it like that" as if he was suggesting that Bristol City were the bigger club and on at his first game back at Molineux in 2008, we beat his team 2-0 and timely reminded him that "this club's too big for you". Nice wee £150,000 profit we made on him however and two seasons later, we move divisions, he moves to Coventry City - a slightly bigger club from whence he came so he should give himself a pat on the back - where he flattered to decieve before falling out with new boss Aidy Boothroyd. Just last week he was farmed out on loan to MK Dons. So much for this unloyal swine's aspirations to play for his country.

Care to join me in a little snigger, anyone?

'Grobs'

Matt Jarvis Not In England Squad

Contrary to one of our previous posts, Matt Jarvis did not make the England squad, despite Fabio Capello being at Molineux. After omitting the international hopefuls from his original squad, I've come to the logic that he might have attended the match to watch Jlloyd Samuel, only to find out that he wasn't playing and is already been capped by Trinidad and Tobago. Seems as though that we are going back to the Graham Taylor years where the Carlton Palmers of today are getting in the side!

Also, this will be the last time that we take Express & Star's Wolves correspondant Tim Nash's word as gospel after decieving us and fans alike. Hang your head in shame, Mr. Nash! P.S. Next time you say Jarvis is in the England squad, check a reliable source such as BBC Sport before jumping the gun.

'Grobs'

P.S. We would like to congratulate old Wolves boy Jay Bothroyd for making the preliminary squad. He was a good technical player for us, but a right lazy git, hence why he left. Well done Jay, but that's the closest you're ever gonna get to the squad.

Wolves 2 - 3 Bolton Wanderers

So, after a run against the top 4 teams it was time for some easier games, starting off with an in form 6th placed Bolton. Things weren;t looking good when Christophe Berra pulled up in the pre match warm up, meaning Mouyokolo would make his full league debut.

Surprisingly we went 4-4-2 for once but when you concede goals inside the 1st minute you're screwed. A Richard Stearman own goal from a cross meant we were on the back foot from the start but gradually worked our way back into it throughout the opening 45 mins. Jaaskelainen made 3 great saves, one identical to the goal Milijas scored in the corresponding fixture last season, with him this time pushing the ball round the post.

Matt Jarvis and Nenad Milijas (our 2 best players again) conjured up a couple of good quick set pieces, one being from a corner that Nenad clipped onto the bar but truth be told Wolves were not doing enough to break down Owen Coyle's impressive Bolton side. In the 62nd minute Kevin Foley kept the ball from going out of play but gave it straight away which led to a great individual goal from Johan Elmander, maybe the 3 players around him should have done better though. Then just 5 minutes later the game was all but over when Stuart Holden stroked the ball into the back of the net with ease, causing a mass exodus from the disgruntled home crowd (0-3). Just like the week before when at home to Spurs, Bolton decided to sit back when 3 up and it almost spelt disaster for them. Foley made up for his mistake with a great goal from a Jarvis pass a couple minutes later, then from a Jarvis corner, Steven Fletcher (on for Stephen Hunt) headed home making it 2-3 with over 10 mins to go. Mouyokolo should have made it all square in injury time but his header went inches wide meaning we lose at home again and the gap between us and 17th place grows.

A lesson to be learnt from this match is we can't handle playing 4-4-2 in this league, we need the extra man in midfield or we'll lose the battle in the middle all day long. Points are needed as soon as possible, beginning with the trip to Blackpool this weekend, where I can see there being goals galore, so I'll predict a 0-0.

'Geesus'

LINE-UPS
WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Mouyokolo, Elokobi; Hunt (Fletcher 66), Henry, Milijas, Jarvis; Doyle, Ebanks-Blake. Unused Subs: Hennessey, Van Damme, Ward, David Jones, Bent. Booked: Hunt

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Lee, Muamba, Holden, Taylor (Petrov 82); Kevin Davies, Elmander (Klasnic 74) Unused Subs: Bogdan, Mark Davies, Moreno, Blake, Alonso

STATS (courtesy of Daily Telegraph)

SHOTS ON TARGET (OFF TARGET): Wolves 5 (6) - 5 (7) Bolton

CORNERS: Wolves 12 - 3 Bolton

FOULS: Wolves 10 - 10 Bolton

POSSESSION: Wolves 54% - 46% Bolton

REFEREE: Peter Walton

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Wolves v Bolton Wanderers

Well, that's the hard ones out of the way, now bring on the easier games, starting with arguably the most improved side this season in Bolton.

After another valiant effort against a big side, will Mick McCarthy go for two up front or stick to what he knows is successful and keep a five man midfield against a good footballing side? All will depend on whether Kevin Doyle can play with a broken hand and Dave Edwards can shake off a tweak in his thigh. Stephen Ward is struggling to overcome a gash to the leg from a reckless challenge from Cesc Fabregas so George Elokobi will be most likely to step in.

You have got to be impressed with Bolton this season. Owen Coyle's inherited a squad full of good quality players that Gary Megson couldn't get the best out of and has them playing good attacking football. Topscorer Johan Elmander was a handful when he came off the bench last season and is starting to show his quality under Coyle so it's good news that he's fighting a virus. Gretar Steinsson is suspended after already picking up five bookings.

I'll have to predict a narrow win to us. Bolton have the last four away games on the bounce and we need to pick up the points now, and how!

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi; Jarvis, Milijas, Henry, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle. Subs: Hennessey, van Damme, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Jones, Mancienne, Mouyokolo

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Knight, Cahill, Robinson; Lee, Holden, Muamba, Petrov; Kevin Davies, Klasnic. Subs: Bogdan, Taylor, Mark Davies, Moreno, Blake, Cohen, Alonso

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 7/5; Draw 11/5; Bolton 2/1

FIRST GOALSCORER: Wolves - Steven Fletcher 6/1, Doyle 6/1, Ebanks-Blake 15/2, Hunt 9/1, Jarvis 10/1, Milijas 14/1, Stearman 50/1; Bolton - Davies 13/2, Klasnic 15/2, Petrov 10/1, Taylor 12/1, Lee 14/1, Holden 16/1, Cahill 25/1

KEY PLAYER: Lee Chung-Yong (that right?). The Korean winger was a right handful at the Reebok last season and is looking like one of Bolton's standout players.

WEAKEST LINK: Paul Robinson. The former Sandwell man has a bit of a hardman reputation and is pretty card prone.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Mark Davies, Mixu Paatelainen, Nathan Blake, Terry Wharton, Hugh Curran

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Well done Jarvo!

Nearly two months ago, we looked into the possibility of Matt Jarvis being called up to the England squad [link].

Back then, it looked like an outside chance with competition being stiff on the wide berths. But eight games and a couple of good full-backs - Gary Neville, Micah Richards, Ashley Cole, Bacary Sagna just to name a few - left terrorised later, Jarvis finds himself in the provisional England squad, with the proper set to be announced tomorrow evening.

Ironically, should he make an appearance at Wembley next Wednesday against a rebuilding France, he could be facing Bacary Sagna for the second time in a week. And as well as that permutation happening, Gillingham will get a sum of money for the role they played in Jarvis' rise to international level and hats off to Paul Scally for putting that kind of faith in him.

Fellow Wolves fans, there's more reason to watch an England match with enthusiasm than watch another home nation flop.

'Grobs'

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Wolves 0 - 2 Arsenal

Another top team and another case of us failing to convert our good play/chances in to goals. Michael Mancienne in for Stephen Hunt was our only change, quite surprised with this at the time but it didn't matter anyway.

Pretty much as soon as I sat down we were 1-0 down from a Maroune Chamakh header after 39 seconds, not the way to start against a team like Arsenal. Stephen Hunt came on soon after for Dave Edwards due to a thigh strain which set us up better on the wings, only problem being that Hunt likes to play on the left but Jarvis is miles better on that side than the right. Truth be told it should have been game over after 15 minutes but Marcus Hahnemann kept us in the match despite his poor form of late with a couple of decent saves. Gradually we got back into the game and stopped Arsenal from playing their style and came close with a Kevin Doyle header going just over from a set piece.

The second half was much more open with chances at either end. Straight from the kick off Wilshere lost the ball in his own box that led to a Jarvis cross of which Milijas connected to but was blocked brilliantly then Fabregas should have scored after a Henry mistake but stroked wide of the post. When Doyle gets a goal this season I'm pretty, pretty sure he'll get ten for the season, he came so close twice but for the outstanding Lukasz Fabianski and a shot that shaved the post after a great run, he failed yet again. Andrei Arshavin hit the post up the other end from 20 yards out as the match continued to go back and forth. Controversial point of the match came when Cesc Fabregas caught Stephen Ward after the ball had gone, Mark Halsey gave him a yellow card when it should have been a straight red. Again is this the big teams getting favours from referees like Gary Neville against Stoke a few weeks back? I don't know but the chants of "if that were us, you'd send him off" were more than likely correct. Back to the match, Steven Fletcher came on for the injured Ward & Sylvan Ebanks-Blake for Mancienne as we continued to pile on the pressure and go all out for an equalizer in the final few minutes. Just about at the end of the four mins of added time Berra's left footed shot was saved and we got done on the counter with Chamakh scoring again. We didn't deserve that at all.

Our man of the match goes to Nenad Milijas, he's getting better and better each match and he'll set up and score a few the way he's going. If only luck was on our side for once we'd of picked up at least 3 or 4 more points so far this season but got to be happy with 3 points from the top 4 teams when I didn't think of getting any at all. If we play like this against Bolton, Blackpool, Sunderland, Blackburn, Birmingham, West Brom and Wigan we'll start climbing up the table and everyone will be happy by Christmas time.

'Geesus'

LINE-UPS

WOLVES: Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward (Fletcher 88); Edwards (Hunt 8), Mancienne (Ebanks-Blake 79), Henry, Milijas, Jarvis; Doyle

ARSENAL: Fabianski; Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy; Song, Wilshere (Denilson 67), Rosicky, Fabregas, Arshavin (Nasri 90); Chamakh (Bendtner 90)

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Wolves v Arsenal

So this it. The last of the big cheeses in succession and even if we do lose, three points from the last three games isn't a bad return and another point would always be welcome in this last one.


Well, after such a good display at Old Trafford, you'd think there'd be no changes. You could be proven wrong tonight after Stephen Ward's bad form was capped off with a right stinker and should welcome a change a left-back. George Elokobi to step in maybe? Should Mick McCarthy opt for 4-4-2, it's no question that Sylvan Ebanks-Blake should be the striker to play alongside Kevin Doyle, but who'd you drop in midfield? Stephen Hunt would make a good case but he's trying to settle and gain more match fitness.

Arsenal will seek a backlash after their debacle against Newcastle on Sunday and they'll have to do it without the suspended Laurent Koscielny and possibly Samir Nasri and Arsene Wnger won't be rushing Robin van Persie. Andrei Arshavin will be expected to be called up after not starting in the last game and whilst Aaron Ramsey - the star in last season's fixture - might be out, but tonight could be a cue for Jack Wilshere. Personally, I would like to see what the fuss is about.

But then again, which will Arsenal turn up? The one that can play the free-flowing attacking football which has earned them acclaims or the lacklustre one with a defence as leaky as the stories about Wenger's affair and a slapstick goalkeeper? Both are entertaining for different reasons but whichever one turns up will decide what we finish the match with.

'Grobs'


POSSIBLE LINE-UPS


WOLVES: Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi; Jarvis, Milijas, Henry, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle

ARSENAL: Fabianski; Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy; Arshavin, Fabregas, Song, Wilshere, Walcott; Chamakh

ODDS (with William Hill)

WIN: Wolves 5/1; Draw 11/4; Arsenal 4/7

FIRST GOALSCORER: Wolves - Steven Fletcher 8/1, Doyle 8/1, Ebanks-Blake 10/1, Jarvis 12/1, Hunt 14/1, Milijas 16/1, Stearman 33/1: Arsenal - Chamakh 4/1, Bendtner 5/1, van Persie 5/1, Fabregas 11/2, Walcott 6/1, Song 16/1.

KEY PLAYER: Cesc Fabregas. Vital. Without him, Arsenal are ordinary.

WEAKEST LINK: Lukasz Fabianski. Sums up Wenger's taste in goalkeepers. Test him with high balls and long-rangers and he'll be likely to fumble.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Alan Sunderland, Oleg Luzhny, Bobby Gould, Vince Bartram, Jeremie Aliadiere

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Manchester United 2 - 1 Wolves

Same old story. Late winner. Played well, got nothing. That's the story once again and it's beginning to become a very unwelcome habit.

First half, we played the ball around patiently and created chances. You could say we matched United that half. Nemanja Vidic deflected Nenad Milijas' shot just the wrong side of the post and Stephen Hunt failed to latch onto Matt Jarvis' telling inswinger and once again, we paid the price for near misses. Just before half time, a sublime pass from Darren Fletcher found Park Ji-Sung got away from Karl Henry with ease and slotted into the bottom corner.

But that harsh goal before the whistle didn't alter our mentality at the restart. But nothing much was happening in the game until the tale of two striking subsitiutions was told. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake instinctively took control of Nenad Milijas' tame shot and slotted the ball through Edwin Van Der Sar's legs to make it all all level and with ten minutes left, we squandered a chance. Steven Fletcher should've found the net when he was teed up by Michael Mancienne, some would feel that the latter should've took the chance himself. And Fletcher unoffically made himself scapegoat to some fans when he carelessly gave the ball away which saw Park cut inside Stephen Ward, who needlessly slid in in vain, and scuffed his shot into the bottom corner with a minute of stoppage time to spare. What's more annoying about the winner was that had he hit the shot full-on, maybe Marcus Hahnemann would've stood a chance of saving.

Another kick in the groin. Don't think I can be any more elborate than that.

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

MAN UTD: Van der Sar; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Obertan, Fletcher, Hargreaves (Bebe 10 (Macheda 74)), O'Shea (Scholes 74), Park; Hernandez.

WOLVES: Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Hunt (Ebanks-Blake 64). Edwards (Fletcher 65), Henry, Milijas (Mancienne 77), Jarvis; Doyle.

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Manchester United v Wolves

Today we return to the scene of perhaps our most controversial moment of last season as we visit Old Trafford and who'd have thought this time last month that we would fancy our chances?

United will be without Wayne Rooney (obviously), Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson and Nani, who is arguably their player of the season thus far. But despite these players missing, 'Taggart' remains spoilt for choice for options with Ryan Giggs returning and that certain little Mexican that did us in the Carling Cup. What team will be put out is anyone's guess but they will seek a win to keep up with Chelsea.

　
Same again for us, same absentees, same line-up (no ten changes, sorry to disappoint you national newspapers), same kind of stall and who's to say it will get us our first victory at the theatre of dreams for 30 years?
　
Like the last two league games and the Carling Cup fixture, we'll put up a fight. Our chances of coming away with something hinges on the chances we take.

'Grobs'
　
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

MAN UTD: Van Der Sar; Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra; Park, Carrick, Giggs, Obertan; Hernandez, Berbatov

WOLVES: Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Milijas, Henry, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle

ODDS (with William Hill)

WIN: Man Utd 1/4; Draw 4/1; Wolves 14/1

FIRST GOALSCORER: United - Hernandez 11/4, Berbatov 3/1, Macheda 9/2, Giggs 15/2, Park 8/1, Scholes 10/1, Vidic 16/1; Wolves - Steven Fletcher 12/1, Doyle 14/1, Ebanks-Blake 14/1, Jarvis 16/1, Hunt 20/1, Milijas 25/1, Stearman 40/1

KEY PLAYER: Javier Hernandez. Done us in the Carling ten days ago and is starting to look the real deal.

WEAKEST LINK: Central midfield. Will be missing Fletcher and will be made to look like paperweights, just like they were back in march.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Denis Irwin, Paul Ince, Darren Ferguson, Darron Gibson, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

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