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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Wolves 2 - 1 Manchester City

It was the Wolves as we knew them as we clinched our first win in eight games and at times, it wasn't as tricky as the scoreline suggested.

But the first 20 minutes belonged to City, who had squandered chances through Emmanuel Adebayor and Mario Balotelli, but shortly after, Richard Stearman needlessly slid in on David Silva near the byline to give a penalty to the visitors, which was coolly converted by Adebayor. After the restart we started playing playing through some fantastic wing play and the chances came flooding in. Dave Edwards was denied twice by Joe Hart then the crossbar within a minute. But the equaliser came when Matt Jarvis' cross was deflected into the path into the one man you would want the ball to fall to inside the 'D', Nenad Milijas, who volleyed low into the bottom corner despite Hart getting a hand to it. And we looked like the team most likely to score the next goal, and that showed when Vincent Kompany persistantly fouled the sublime Kevin Doyle without getting a booking.

Second half started like the first ended, City looked as though they were lacking cohesion by the minute and it was costly as a poor Kolo Toure clearance from Kevin Foley's cross fell to Doyle, whose shot was blocked by Hart and Edwards kept composed and slotted in to give us the lead. After that, City threw the kitchen sink, forcing our backs to the wall, bringing Jo and Adam Johnson, who terrorised our left side. Whilst the defence were lofting high and long balls, Silva dropped deep for the ball and tried to make things happen, all to no avail as nobody wanted to know. Adebayor was wasting more chances and Mario Balotelli being a petulant drama queen wasn't helping the team. Our unity was epitomised when Michael Mancienne put in a magnificant tackle on Johnson in stoppage time before being mobbed by the rest of the team.

It was a great performance which shows that you can't buy team spirit. Next stop: Old Trafford. Piece of cake, according to Super Mick McCarthy, and why not?

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis (Mouyokolo 88), Edwards, Henry, Milijas (Mancienne 83), Hunt (Elokobi 65); Doyle

MAN CITY (4-1-3-2): Hart; Richards (Jo 83), Kolo Toure , Kompany, Boateng; Yaya Toure; Milner, Barry (Johnson 68),  Silva; Adebayor (Zabeleta 77), Balotelli

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Wolves v Manchester City

Today we face the third consecutive tricky test as big spenders Manchester City come to town.

We'll have Karl Henry back from suspension to give us more options in midfield but I suspect Mick McCarthy will pick the same middle three that served us well last season in Henry, David Jones and Michael Mancienne. Jody Craddock remains injured but Steve Mouyokolo's good performance at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup should give Richard Stearman's place a run for it's money and likewise for George Elokobi as he challenges Stephen Ward for the left-back slot.

As for City, Carlos Tevez, he has a dead leg and should be out for two weeks (between the lines, he's been given compassionate leave) so it's a chance for Mario Balotelli to make his first start since his absurdly big money move from Inter Milan. Dederick Boyata is suspended but Kolo Toure should back in after recovering from a hamstring, although it would be great if Joleon Lescott stepped in for the sake of a good ovation from us. It's worth noting that City have a dodgy track record away from home this season, losing to Sunderland and scraping a win at Blackpool.

I can't predict who will win, but it will be closer than it suggests on paper and the fixture last season.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES: Hahnemann, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi, Jarvis, Henry, Mancienne, Jones, Hunt, Doyle

MAN CITY: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Kolo Toure, Boateng, Barry, De Jong, Yaya Toure, Milner, Balotelli, Silva

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 4/1; Draw 9/4; Man City 4/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Adebayor (Man City) 9/4; Balotelli (Man City) 5/1; Johnson (Man City) 7/1; Milner (Man City) 8/1; Fletcher (Wolves) 8/1; Doyle (Wolves) 9/1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 10/1; Hunt (Wolves) 14/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 16/1; Richards (Man City) 20/1; Foley (Wolves) 50/1

KEY PLAYER: David Silva. The Spanish international is just starting to turn on the style.

WEAKEST PLAYER: Kolo Toure. Just returned from injury. Our chances should come if we test him early doors.

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Mark Kennedy, Joleon Lescott, Steve Daley, Dave Wagstaffe, Keith Curle, Paul Simpson

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Chelsea 2 - 0 Wolves

Petr Cech described Saturday's game as his busiest game since he joined Chelsea. Now if you thought he'd be saying that before the game, you are much entitled to laugh at the suggestion.

First half, we gave Chelsea a run for their money, we created chances but the shots we had were so easy for Cech to grasp hold of. We didn't allow Chelsea to get out of first gear, although they were pressing but the very few chances they had was thwarted by Marcus Hahnemann. But they did take the lead when Yuri Zhirkov pulled the ball back for Florent Malouda to tap in. But even after the goal, we looked threatening and we went in at half-time encouraged.

Second half saw the debut of Stephen Hunt and straight away he made a difference, almost scoring with a diving header only to be cleared off the line by Michael Essien. There was a bit more to come from Hunt as he was pegging Chelsea more and more back and a equaliser was more than certainly on the cards but our chances of a great draw was dashed by a great triangle move started by Salomon Kalou, who passed to Didier Drogba for Michael Essien to tee up Kalou to make it 2-0.

This is a performance that should set a standard for the rest of the season and get the team to start believing.

'Grobs'

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Chelsea v Wolves

Tomorrow we face the first big cheese of the season as we travel to Stamford Bridge and there's only gonna be one outcome.

Chelsea have scored 45 goals in the 9 league games (you do the math to find out the ratio) at Stamford Bridge and despite the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they still have plenty of goals in them through the medium of Florent Malouda, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and the in-form Nicolas Anelka.
 

As for us, we're down to our bare bones in midfield, so much so that we had to call back David Davis from a loan spell over the road at Walsall. With Karl Henry and Adlene Guedioura out and Michael Mancienne ineligible, the three midfield men most likely to start are David Jones and Dave Edwards with what I would believe would be Nenad Milijas in the holding role. Jody Craddock will be a great miss but I hope Richard Stearman can kick on from last week's performance.

The outcome is inevitable. It's like an arranged marriage. There's no getting away from it, no matter how much you dislike it, but we'll have a go for the hell of it.

'Grobs'
　
POSSIBLE LINE-UP

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Ferriera, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Essien; Kalou, Anelka, Malouda

WOLVES (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Milijas, Jones, Edwards, Hunt; Doyle

KEY PLAYER: Florent Malouda. Supplier and a scorer of many goals.

WEAKEST LINK: Er...

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Dave Beasant, Carlton Cole, Michael Mancienne, Jim McCalliog, Bill Barraclough

ODDS (with William Hill)

WIN: Chelsea 1/7; Draw 6/1; Wolves 20/1

FIRST GOALSCORER: Anelka (Chelsea) 3/1; Malouda (Chelsea) 7/2; Kalou (Chelsea) 4/1; Essien (Chelsea) 5/1; Ramires (Chelsea) 12/1; Fletcher (Wolves) 16/1; Doyle (Wolves) 16/1; Cole (Chelsea) 20/1; Terry (Chelsea) 20/1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 20/1; Hunt (Wolves) 25/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 25/1; Stearman (Wolves) 40/1; Foley (Wolves) 80/1

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Four Horsemen Of The (Premiership) Apocalypse

Eight games, six points and here come the Four Horsemen Of The Premiership Apocalypse and I'm not talking about Conquest, War, Famine and Death, but Ancelotti, Mancini, 'Taggart' and Wenger. To kept the results respectable or even withstand any chance of getting a measly point, we must set our stall out - 4-5-1, men behind the ball and get forward whenever possible - like we did in the latter half of last season. Let's take a quick close glance at what could be the top 4 come May.

Chelsea (a)

Even with the absense of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, they should win with no need to move to top gear. Way too much firepower with Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Flourent Malouda still at large.

Manchester City (h)

Their away form has been rather unconvincing so far this season and should Carlos Tevez not be available for selection, then they could pay the price for their over-reliance on the Argentinian striker.

Manchester United (a)

They've not been the most convincing this season. However Old Trafford is quite a fortress and after West Brom grabbed a draw there, 'Taggart' will look to make sure more points aren't dropped at home to smaller sides.

Arsenal (h)

Like Manchester City, their away form hasn't been the best season. And with the absense of Robin van Persie and (potentially) Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal can be a ordinary side on a bad day. Play our cards right and test whichever keeper Arsene Wenger chooses to put out and we could get summat.

But all in all, points at this stage, points should be considered as a bonus as our priority is to finish these next four games with our pride and confidence intact, otherwise we might not turn up for the more winnable games after.

'Grobs'

Wolves 1 - 1 West Ham United

So apparently this was a must-win game to us fans, to the manager and the players I do not know.

David Jones for Karl Henry was our only change but after two minutes Jody Craddock went off injured down the tunnel and on came the fragile Richard Stearman. Apart from one save, Rob Green is one of the worst keepers I have seen down here for a long time and it was his mistake that led to the opening goal. He parried a cross from Stephen Ward straight into the path of Matty Jarvis who volleyed first time into the back of the net after ten minutes. We were on top throughout the first half but didn't convert the possession into chances and were made to pay for it in the second half.

Eight minutes in, Victor Obinna was took down by Kevin Foley and the useless Mark Clattenburg gave the Hammers a penalty (couldn't see whether it was or not from my view) that Mark Noble put away with ease. From then on for the last 40 minutes or so of the game West Ham were on top and really should have won with the chances created. We didn't have a clue what to do apart from give Jarvis the ball but we can't solely rely on him throughout the season. Kevin Doyle seems a completely different player to last season, he never gets in any scoring positions and gives the ball away too easily. I'm also afraid to say that me and a lot of the crowd think Mick McCarthy is starting to lose the plot. A 4-5-1 formation at one to the bottom teams is stupid and to take Steven Fletcher off with half an hour to go and replace him with a supposed left-back Van Damme (who doesn't even want to play for us) and play him on the right-wing is a joke. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake finally came on in the 88th minute but never had a chance to do anything. The match finished 1-1 and the fans vented their frustrations at the end with a chorus of boos.

Wolves, this is just not good enough and with our next four league fixtures of Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h), Manchester United (a) and Arsenal (h), we are in serious deep shit and are gonna be stuck down there for a good while. Is it time for a change?

Colin 'Geesus' Hodgkiss

LINE-UPS

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock (Stearman 3), Berra, Ward; Edwards (Ebanks-Blake 88), Mancienne, Jones, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher (van Damme 66)

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green; Jacobsen, da Costa, Ben Haim, Gabbidon; Dyer, Parker, Noble; Boa Morte; Obinna, Piquionne

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