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.