Wolves v West Ham United

Words cannot describe how a important a game this is. In terms of recent results, West Ham have taken a turn for the better whereas we have taken the opposite turn but all that could change tomorrow. Win, and we should be out of the bottom three come 6pm on Sunday. Lose, and we're in a world of trouble and a draw won't do us favours either.

With Karl Henry's petulance leading him to being banned for three games, a void in the centre midfield needs to be filled and I hope Nenad Milijas will fill it as he has had his say in these relegation clashes on more than occasion, leaving Michael Mancienne to do all the graft. Steven Mouyokolo has completed his first 90 minutes in the reserves in the week and a fresh change at the back is always welcome in a bid to get our first clean sheet this season, maybe at Christophe Berra's expense? And if the first 45 minutes looks bleak, I'd like to see the fit-again Stephen Hunt jump off the bench and try and make a difference. It remains to be seen if Kevin Doyle will be 100%, if not, then I have full confidence in Steven Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake doing a job.

West Ham looks as though they're starting to turn things around, must be something to do with that Jewish-thing Avram Grant attended as they've been undefeated since. Thomas Hitzlsperger being out four months is a boost for tomorrow and the games ahead as he has a cannon of a left foot. Not much to shout about for West Ham other than the fact that Carlton Cole has not scored this season andif there's one thing we are quite renowned for doing, it's helping teams and players end their hoodoos. But Frederic Piquionne is someone to watch out for at this point and time.

My head says 2-2, but my heart says must and will win, and it would be nice to stick it to Messrs Gold and Sullivan.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward; Edwards, Mancienne, Milijas, Jarvis; Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher

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

KEY PLAYER: Scott Parker. Everything that West Ham does, he's at the heart of it. Was the best player on the field when we stuffed them in March.

WEAKEST LINK: Fresh on the England scrapheap, it's Robert Green and Matthew Upson, not to mention that they're out of form. Their declines could be our advantage.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 5/4; Draw 9/4; West Ham 11/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Fletcher (Wolves) 11/2; Obinna (West Ham) 11/2; Piquionne (West Ham) 6/1; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 13/2; Cole (West Ham) 13/2; Barrera (West Ham) 8/1; McCarthy (West Ham) 8/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 10/1; Hunt (Wolves); 10/1; Jones (Wolves) 12/1; Parker (West Ham) 12/1; Noble (West Ham) 14/1; Milijas (Wolves) 20/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1; Mancienne (Wolves) 33/1; Faubert (West Ham) 33/1; Upson (West Ham) 33/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Shaun Newton, Kevin Keen, David Kelly, Gary Breen, Paul Ince

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Nenad Milijas, come on down!

Three games, two midfielders unavailable, one question, which combination should we use for the next three games with Karl Henry, Adlene Guedioura and Michael Mancienne (ineligible for Chelsea) unavailable for selection? David Jones looks as though his mind is set on leaving, David Edwards has an amazing engine but nothing else, so that leaves a midfielder who last season shown glimpses of promise yet so much more to offer. Step forward, Nenad Milijas.

Milijas stepped into Molineux on the back of scoring 22 goals in the 2008/09 season for Red Star Belgrade and we all believed he would supply and score the goals from midfield. He made a bright start in his first few games by spraying passes and whipping in threatening set-pieces with that left foot but as we would start to find out, he hadn't lasted 90 minutes for us. Now I hear this urban myth about Milijas being a 40-a-day smoker and I can't help but think that if it is true, then no wonder why his endurance has suffered. But despite this, he has contributed so much to the first half of the season; the free-kick heading in by Andy Keogh at Wigan, the deliveries that gave Jody Craddock brace at Stoke, the ball touched on deftly by Kevin Doyle to claim our biggest scalp against Spurs, the opening goal that won us a then-crucial game against Burnley and who could forget his finest performance in the Wolves shirt capped off with a 30-yard screamer against Bolton? This is proof that a player doesn't have to last 90 minutes or run around all day to leave a footprint on a football match and all a player like Milijas needs is one killer pass and it could define the difference between a result and defeat. But Mick McCarthy believes that work ethic gets results, hence why he preferred fellow left-footer Jones in the second half of the season - not that I am disputing his beliefs because that's what kept us up and Jones played a major part in that.

Now fast-forward to the World Cup, pre-season and now. Milijas has travelled with the Serbia squad to South Africa, and having only played once in the tournament, he needed a break and had to catch up on fitness with the rest of the Wolves squad, in order to do that, McCarthy has only started him in the two Carling Cup games, which he has dispatched a penalty in each, also lasting 120 minutes in both games in the process, which would easily show signs of his fitness improving, which is a priority, irrelevent of how good or bad he performed. Should Milijas play on Saturday, the other central midfield void wouldn't need filling as the tenacity and mobility of Mancienne would be the perfect foil for Milijas for spray passes at will.

Should he be given the chance to start, whether he'll last 90 minutes or not, Milijas sure won't disappoint. After all, he is from Serbia, underestimate him, and we will murder ya.

'Grobs'

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International Watch: October 2010

Thank heavens it's done with. Back to some real football. So how did the Wolves boys fare?

England Under-21s (beat Romania over two legs 2-1)

Michael Mancienne played in both games at right-back as he captained his side to qualification to Euro 2011 finals via playoffs.

Belgium - Kazakhstan (a) W 2-0; Austria (h) D 4-4

Jelle Van Damme played 80 minutes against the number one exporter of potassium. Unused sub in the 4-4 draw against Austria.

Republic Of Ireland - Russia (h) L 3-2; Slovakia (a) D 1-1

Kevin Doyle played 70 minutes before hobbling off against Russia. Worrying times. Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley were unused in both games.

Scotland - Czech Republic (a) L 1-0; Spain (h) L 3-2

Christophe Berra and Steven Fletcher got accustomed to the bench once again.

Serbia - Estonia (h) L 3-1; Italy (a) Match aborted after 6 minutes due to crowd trouble

Nenad Milijas warmed the bench up again.

Wales - Bulgaria (h) L 1-0; Switzerland (a) L 4-1

Wayne Hennessey pulled off a great performance against Bulgaria but was powerless to stop the Swiss' onslaught. Dave Edwards was a peripheral figure in the two games as he lasted 70+ minutes in both games.

In other international news, Marcus Hahnemann is contemplating calling it quits from the USA squad. Fingers crossed.

Aside from Doyle, everyone looks as though they've come back unscathed. Let's hope their backsides ain't too numb for Saturday.

And what good was playing Ashley Young then bringing on Shaun Wright-Phillips? Closer eye on the gold shirt with number 17 on the back of it when your next visit to the city please Fabio.

'Grobs'

Do You Remember Ludovic Pollet?

Wolves 24-7 doesn't only talk about the present and the future, but we also like to reminisce about past, good or bad times. So without further or do, we open a new feature called 'Remember...?' Every month, Wolves24-7 will go to the past and remember the good and bad players who donned the gold and black shirt. This month, we look at a centre-half who has had more injuries to his face than I've had hot dinners, Ludovic Pollet.

In August 1999, Robbie Keane was sold to Coventry City for £6m, enabling Colin Lee to use the funds from the sale to bolster the squad in other areas. Out of the players he signed from the spree, Pollet - or 'Ludo' as he was affectionately know to us - proved to be a snip. He arrived from French side Le Havre on loan in September 1999, making his debut in 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town and a few solid displays and a month later in the centre of defence alongside ex-England man Keith Curle, he was snipped up for what would turn out to be a shrewd £350,000. Pollet's form continued so impressively that a Sunday newspaper wanted to stir some fiction suggesting Arsenal were interested and tabled a £1m bid for the Frenchman. This did not deter him as he went on to be voted Player of the Season for the 1999/2000 season.

However in his second season, despite solid performances - which saw him score against West Brom - and gaining the captaincy for a couple of games, 'Ludo' struggled with injuries, mainly due to his bravery, putting his body where it hurts, but his face more so as he suffered a broken nose, gashed eye and half a dozen cuts to the facial area during his time here. And due to the form of Paul Butler and the emergence of academy star Joleon Lescott, Pollet had to resort to injuries and suspensions to his competition to get his chance to play and he only managed to make seven appearances in the 2001/02 season as we wasted a golden chance to gain promotion to the Premier League -nonetheless he did a job. He rarely featured in our promotion campaign a season later, resorting to only League Cup appearances and the emergence of another youth product in Mark Clyde pushed Pollet further down the pecking order so he spent some time on loan at our friendly neighbours Walsall.

'Ludo' was released in June 2003 making 78 appearances and scoring 7 goals for Wolves and returned to his native homesoil with USL Dunkerque for three seasons before retiring. He remains at the club as an assistant coach.

'Grobs'

Wigan Athletic 2 - 0 Wolves

Where do I start? This is a game that we've known for a while we shouldn't lose. Wigan are one of the most inconsistent teams in the Premier League & have been for a couple of years. This year, they look like relegation fodder. Though they've gone and beat us 2-0, whilst playing worse than they did in the corresponding fixture last year - which we won 1-0 courtesy of an Andy Keogh header. Andy Keogh, a player we've sent out on loan, then brought in the fabulous Marcus Bent - whom we bring off the bench like he's our saviour. Personally, I'd prefer Keogh. Bent was ineffective, and probably always will be. Not that he wasn't a decent player at one point...but not now. But I'm rambling. Let's go back to the beginning of the match.

Wolves started brightly enough, Wigan looking suitably rattled as we got the game under way with some decent passing. Then, for an inexplicable reason, 11 minutes in Karl Henry - yes, the same Karl Henry, influential captain who has been under the cosh of late for his tough tackling displays - takes out Wigan's Jordi Gomez after the ball has gone. Why? The official explanation is that it was just a mis-timed tackle. Maybe it was, though as well as every fan of every other club in the Premiership, some Wolves fans are starting to question the motives of their captain. The tackle was not the worst in the world, but on another day it could have seen Gomez stretchered off with a broken ankle. Gomez experienced near flight on his way back down. We all know Karl likes to put himself about on the pitch - he's said so himself, and fair enough. Every club needs a tough tackling midfielder. But the problem from a Wolves point of view, is, with Henry's sending off, we had to play the majority of a match - one that we ought to have had a good chance of winning - with just 10 men. Our bright start went down the pan, and the match turned into a scrappy affair. It serves to show how bad Wigan are - they didn't take advantage of their extra man all first half.

Come the second half - Wigan came out all guns blazing. Still, thanks to Marcus Hahnemann's hard work in goal, it took an excellent free kick from - you guess it, Jordi Gomez, to break the deadlock. Wolves never looked like scoring - we didn't register even one shot on target all match - compared to Wigan's seventeen. A better team than Wigan would have hammered us. On 85 minutes, Hugo Rodallega scored to wrap it up for Wigan, as Christophe Berra's sliding attempted clearance came off him and ended up in the back of net.

This was one of the most inept performances from Wolves in recent times. People are right when they say something needs changing. Though things may have been different if Karl Henry had kept his composure.
 

Neil 'Nes' Hodgkiss

LINE-UPS

WIGAN (4-4-2): Al Habsi; Boyce, Gohouri, Alcaraz, Figueroa (Stam 60); McCarthy, Thomas (Diame 74), Gomez, N'Zogbia; Di Santo (Watson 85), Rodallega.

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward (Ebanks-Blake 82); Edwards (Bent 82), Henry, Mancienne, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher (Elokobi 52). Sent off: Henry (11)

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Wigan Athletic v Wolves

The first Premiership showdown this Saturday sees us return to the scene of out first ever away victory in the Premiership as we travel to Wigan.

We will have to give the same kind of attacking performance just like we finished the game with against Villa. Wigan conceded 79 goals last season so there should be no reason why we should go for the win. If Mick McCarthy's got to make substitutions to chase a win then he's gotta stick Kevin Doyle, Steven Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in a front three. One change we could make is Stephen Ward paving the way for George Elokobi, impressed me last week.

Wigan will look to recent impressive away results for inspiration as they look for their first win at the DW Stadium this season. However, to do that, they must rely on a defence that has conceded an average of more than two goals per game last season to stop our front three from adding to their creditable tallies. One omen Wigan fans could pine for is that when Hugo Rodallega scores, they would go on to win in most matches and that could provide more motivation for Jody Craddock and Christophe Berra to stop him.

I predict a 3-1 win to us but I would be happy to take any win just to stop the rot and ease the pressure of winning the next game against West Ham before four big cheeses back-to-back. This is a must-not-lose game to say at the least.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WIGAN (4-5-1): Al-Habsi; Boyce, Gohouri, Stam, Figueroa; Alcaraz, McCarthy, Diame, Thomas, N'Zogbia; Rodallega

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi; Edwards, Henry, Jones, Jarvis; Doyle, Fletcher

KEY PLAYER: Charles N'Zogbia. A handful at Molineux last season. Kevin Foley and Dave Edwards will have to double up well to stop him.

WEAKEST LINK: The entire back four. Ali Al-Habsi looks like a good keeper, but he sure ain't no Superman.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wigan 5/4; Draw 11/5; Wolves 23/10

FIRST GOALSCORER: Rodallega (Wigan) 13/2; Fletcher (Wolves) 13/2; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Boselli (Wigan) 7-1; Di Santo (Wigan) 7-1; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 15/2; N'Zogbia (Wigan) 8/1;McCarthy (Wigan) 12/1; 9/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 14/1; Jones (Wolves) 14/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Henri Camara, Tony Dinning, Paul Cook, Andy Mutch, John Pender, David Connolly.

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Matt Murray: A lifetime's worth of memoires in such little time

Matt Murray said his farewells at the Villa game during half-time and it would be cold for Wolves24-7 not to give the great man the tribute that he so deserves for the good times he has given us during his injury-ridden career.

In September 2002, and after a one long season sitting on the bench, Murray grabbed his first long-awaited opportunity to shine away to Wimbledon after Michael Oakes failed a fitness test on a rib injury. I remember listening to the game on the radio and as the game progressed I was more intreagued by his ability, reading glowing reviews from newspapers, even more so on the second visit to Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. I finally got to see Murray in the flesh at Molineux in a defeat to Reading, a game renowned for it's dire performance, but I was in awe of this gigantic, lean figure who made jaw-dropping saves and had amazing control of his penalty area, and from there on in that season, despite the big signings of Paul ince and Denis Irwin, I declared Matt Murray my favourite Wolves player at that time and hoped Oakes wouldn't get a look in. And he didn't as Murray played the remainder of the season and playing a big role in us getting promoted via playoffs. I remembered that penalty save at Cardiff very fondly, he left a big gap of the goal to his right and Michael Brown fell for it hook, line and sinker. If I have a chance to meet him in person, I have to ask if he meant to do that, but I'm sure did.

After conceding five in our Premiership game, Murray sustained the first of what would be a long list of injuries and setbacks whilst on duty with the England Under-21 squad and I was convinced to this day that had he and Joleon Lescott had been fit for that season, we would've stood a better chance of staying up. Murray briefly came back to show more glimpses of potential only to break down again shortly after and did not see any action until he was farmed out to Tranmere on loan on the back end of the 2005/06 season, before returning to us to play the last game of the season.

Murray was the same as we always knew him as he completed his comeback in Mick McCarthy's first season, which had a sense of overachievement about it and Murray played an instrumental role in that with stand-out performances including victory at Leeds and that all so memorable win against Sandwell Town. His displays looked as though caught the attention of newspapers cross the country, even England goalkeeper coach Ray Clemence took the time to observe his raw talent, but it was the closest he would get to the England squad. On the eve of the playoff semi-final, he broke down again and it was the last that we would see of him in action. He made a few more apperances as he was farmed out to Hereford in late 2008, where he broke down again taking a goal kick andmy head just conceded to the fact that he would never have a long successful career, but my heart was clutching at straws.

Matt Murray might be filed under 'England regular had he stayed fit' by some fans, but that will be overshadowed by the sensational displays he had given us in the gold and black. But 29 is no age for a phenomenal talent like him to retire. So young, too damn young.

'Grobs'

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Adlene Guedioura out for 6 months

Such a crying shame about this because we don't have a central midfielder who can offer the forward-thinking qualities that he has. He will be missed so much more than most of us will eventually realise. Whether we will see him again this season when the winter 25-man squad is announced remains to be seen but it's still such a blow. Steve Sidwell for me put in a genuine challenge for the ball, but he was late. But at least Guedioura is looking on the bright side of things and sounds determined to to play for us again.

We wish you a speedy recovery, Adlene.

'Grobs'

Wolves 1 - 2 Aston Villa

They say a defeat in football can be a real kick in the teeth. To put it in cookery terms, this match contained half a tablespoon of Villa, half a tablespoon of Wolves, with a pinch of misjustice.

First half belonged to Villa with Marc Albrighton leading the onslaught, ripping Stephen Ward apart to the point where he had to come off after half an hour. But we had our chances through David Edwards, how I knew in my heart, would miss. Steven Fletcher and Kevin Doyle brought out good stops out of Brad Friedel. But just over halfway into the half, David Jones gave the ball away trying to ghost through two Villa men, the ball was sprayed wide to Albrighton who crossed to the far post for Stewart Downing to catch Kevin Foley napping and tap in from a measly few yards.

Second half, we started better and did so throughout the half. Elokobi came on for Wardy and neutralized Albrighton and managed to bring Matt Jarvis into the game a bit more and it paid off when Jarvo put in a striker's dream of a cross, only for nobody to get on the end of it and bamboozle Friedel to make it all square. Before that, Stephen Warnock looked like and should have recieved a second yellow card for a second reckless challenge on Doyle and as much as it's great to see Mark Halsey back officiating, he had a good game, but he got this decision wrong and it was costly as proved later on. Just as though the game was heading for a draw, Downing sucked Richard Stearman inside, leaving our right flank vulnerable for Warnock to whip in the ball for Heskey to head home. As good a header as it was, Christophe Berra should have done a lot better. And just as if that left a bitter taste in our mouths, Steve Sidwell made a nasty challenge on Adlene Guedioura which left him in a heap and had to be carried off to the touchline as we finished the game with 10 men.

It's all good saying we played well, but it's the points on the board that do the talking. This is our third defeat in a row with the weekend's results elsewhere and table reading negatively, and we go to the DW next on Saturday and a win is crucial just to stop the rot before we retire to the international break.

'Grobs'

LINE-UPS

　

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley (Stearman, 73), Craddock, Berra, Ward (Elokobi, 39); Edwards (Guedioura, 81), Henry, Jones, Jarvis; Fletcher, Doyle. Unused subs: Hennessey, Ebanks-Blake, Bent, Milijas.

VILLA (4-4-1-1): Friedel; Luke Young, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Albrighton (Agbonlahor, 67), Petrov (Sidwell, 85), Reo-Coker, Downing; Ashley Young; Heskey. Unused subs: Guzan, Ireland, Davies, Bannan, Lichaj.

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Match Preview: Wolves vs Aston Villa

With the excpetion of two Molineux meetings ago, it is very rare that Midland derbies end in a whitewash or a battering and this will meeting looks as though it will be no different. Wolves have not beaten Villa for 30 years and this Sunday is a good opportunity to end the hoodoo.

We will need a much better defensive display than last week to withstand any chance of pulling off what would be a good result in Gerard Houllier's first Premiership match in charge of Villa. Christophe Berra looks set to regain his place after a one-match ban for the under-par Richard Stearman, Michael Mancienne should make way for the more creative David Jones and contrary to what a lot of fans have been saying, I think Stephen Ward will keep his place at left-back. Having the home advantage and yet to fail to score a goal in a match this season, we should go back to 4-4-2 with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Doyle up front whilst Steven Fletcher plays left midfield on place of the struggling Jelle van Damme.

A new manager's first league should be enough to fire up any team. Houllier favourite Emile Heskey will be seeking for a start after his performance turned the game around in Villa's Carling Cup win against Blackburn as Gabriel Agbonlahor stuggles to maintain his fitness and John Carew has been under-performing. Stephen Ireland - yet to impress - also faces a battle and Richard Dunne is out with a knee injury. Villa will also look for better success away from home this season after a drumming by Newcastle and giving the game away at Stoke.

This fixture last season was very much a game of two halves. We dominated the first whereas we started to look ragged second half as it wore on as Villa slowed the play down a bit. Credit to the Villa defence however for they snuffed out every cross that came their way and Richard Dunne and James Collins had Ebanks-Blake and Doyle's number. Same could be said for Berra with John Carew. Expect no different this time around.

Count on this game being a story of two sides cancelling each other out.

'Grobs'

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, Henry (c), Jones, Fletcher; Doyle, Ebanks-Blake

VILLA: (4-4-1-1) Friedel; Luke Young, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Albrighton, Petrov, Sidwell, Downing; Ashley Young; Heskey

VILLA'S KEY PLAYER: Ashley Young. The winger is starting to turn into Villa's standout player after moving into a free role between the midfield and lone striker.

ODDS (with William Hill) (see more odds)

WIN: Wolves 9/5; Draw 21/10; Villa 8/5

FIRST GOALSCORER: Fletcher (Wolves) 6/1; Carew (Villa) 6/1; Doyle (Wolves) 13/2; Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) 15/2; Heskey (Villa) 15/2; Ashley Young (Villa) 9/1; Jarvis (Wolves) 12/1; Jones (Wolves) 14/1; Downing (Villa) 14/1; Craddock (Wolves) 25/1

NOTABLE MUTUAL ALUMNI: Andy Gray, Paul Birch, Tony Daley, Michael Oakes, Peter Broadbent, Steve Froggatt, John Burridge, Gordon Cowans.

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