World Cup 2010 - Group B Preview

Onto Group B, a group I am sure there will be a couple of shocks. The four aiming to finish in the top two are Argentina., Nigeria, Korea and Greece.

Argentina would naturally be the favourites, but with Diego Maradona in charge you can not be sure.

Argentina


Key men: Argentina have the best player in the world, and more. Lionel Messi has been unplayable this season, Carlos Tevez has had one of his best ever seasons. Not to forget Gonzalo Higuain and Maradona's son-in-law Sergio Aguero. Their squad is full of quality.

Story of qualifying: It was a strange one. They looked for a bit like they might not, Maradona looked clueless and his use of over seventy players while in charge wasn't helping his team's spirit. They sneaked through though, with winners from Palermo and Bolatti giving them two crucial wins in the final two games.

How will they do?: Despite their manager being completely insane, I think they have too many talented players not to get past the group stages. Even if the likes of Messi do not produce, they have many other players to rely on. 1st

Nigeria


Key men: Nigeria have quite a few English based players. Yakubu is a threat up front, Mikel will run the midfield and they have Joseph Yobo will marshall the defence. They have the lightning paced Obafemi Martins, who also played in the Premier League.

Story of qualifying: Nigeria topped their group by a point, finishing above Tunisia. They qualified in dramatic fashion. They had to win their last game against Kenya. They came back from behind, then lost that lead with ten minutes left but Martins scored to put them through,.


How will they do: They have some good players, and have the spirit. I think if they perform to their best abilities they can go through but I don't think they will.  3rd

 South Korea


Key men: The Korean's will look to Manchester United's Park Ji-sung, he will be their magic man. Ex-Wolves man Seol Ki-Hyeon will miss the world cup after a knee operation, but they have Bolton's winger Lee Chung-Yong who was excellent this season.

Story of qualifying: They qualified easily. They won their group to qualify for the eighth world cup appearance that contained arch rivals North Korea.

How will they do?: This is quite an open group, and I think they can finish in the top two if not win it. 2rd

Greece


Key men: Theofanis Gekas was the only player to beat Wayne Rooney's nine goal tally with ten goals. They have their inspirational midfielder Giorgos Karagounis who was their star player when they won Euro 2004. Celtic man Samaras will be Greece's other option up front.

Story of Qualifying: They were the top seed in their group, but failed to finish top. They were forced to beat Ukraine in the play offs,.they won one nil on aggregate in two very tight games.

How will they do?: Manager Otto Rehhagel will try to make them hard to beat. They have an ageing squad, and I think they will offer little in the tournament. 4th

Argentina and Korea to qualify. I do think that the second place will be a close one between Korea and Nigeria though.

World Cup 2010 - Group A Preview

The first of my World Cup group previews and I will be kicking it off with Group A of course!

This group contains the hosts South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France. The obvious favourites would be France, but they haven't been in the best form of late and only qualified courtesy of Thierry Henry's left hand.
Mexico played England recently and impressed, despite going down three one while in last year's Confederation Cup South Africa looked strong and competed well with the likes of Spain and Brazil. Uruguay qualified by one goal in the CONCACAF play offs against Costa Rica.

South Africa


Key Men: Steven Pienaar. Had a great season in the Premier League in 2009-10 for Everton. Was one of their best players and hardly ever has a bad game. He is skillful, and can create something out of nothing. Their captain Aaron Mokeona will be influential in defence and midfield.

Story of qualifying: As hosts, didn't have to enter qualifying rounds but joined in to make up the numbers. If they hadn't been hosts they would never have qualified. They did not even qualify for the third round, which means they have not qualified for the next African Cup of Nations.

How will they do: If the home crowds get behind them, and support them well they could cause an upset. However, I don't think they will. 4th.

Mexico


Key men: Cuauhtémoc Blanco is one of the best ever Mexican footballers, and he has a role to play in the squad despite being 37 years old. Another old(ish) player would be Franco, who has just been released by West Ham. They have young attackers like Giovani Dos Santos and Carlos Vela of Arsenal who are quick and will help lead that front line. Javier Hernandez, who has just signed for Man Utd will also be in and around the team.


Story of qualifying: Mexico finished second in the fourth round qualifying behind USA. They finished three points clear of Honduras and Costa Rica, and it was never easy for them. They sacked Sven Goran-Eriksson midway through the qualifiers and brought in Javier Aguirre, and they never looked back.

How will they do? They pinned England back for long periods of the game last Monday, especially in the first half but weren't clinical enough. They found it hard to break down the English defence even though they weren't that good that night. I think they will just miss out. 3rd

Uruguay


Key men: They have to of the top scorers in Europe. Diego Forlan has been a revelation since moving to Spain a few years ago and Ajax captain Luis Suarez has been on fire in the Dutch league. If they can recreate their form in their group, they have a great chance.

Story of qualifying: They were pipped to a fourth qualifying spot in their group by Argentina, but overcame Costa Rica 2-1 on aggregate. If they come second and Argentina come first in their group, or vice versa, they will have their chance to gain revenge.

How will they do? They have two of the best attackers in the whole tournament, let alone their group and I see them doing well. 1st

France


Key men: The favourites of the group and finalists in the 2006 World Cup. They have some of the best footballers in the world, like Franck Ribery and Thierry Henry. Lassana Diarra has been ruled out, he would have been key and manager Domenech has oddly left out Arsenal star Samir Nasri and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. Nicolas Anelka will be their main forward.

Story of qualifying: Probably the most controversial games ever. In the play off second leg in extra time, Thierry Henry handled the ball and crossed for William Gallas to tap in. Irish players went mental, but the referee gave nothing. France went through as a result of this and many claim they do not deserve to be there. In their group, they came second to Serbia and performed below par.

How will they do? I think they will get through. Just. They have the quality the others don't and that alone could get them through. 2nd

The whole group will be tight, any of them could sneak through. Who do you think will go through? Have a guess!

*Note that this is not part for predicting in the prediction league.

MyWolvesBlog 2010 World Cup Prediction League

For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer, I will be running a prediction league. Anyone can get involved; you just have to follow these predicting rules.

Before the tournament begins I will give the low-down on each group, information about the teams and what to expect. Around that time, I will create an article where you will make your first predictions. You will be able to predict who you think will win the tournament and who you think will be the top scorer. For the teams, if you correctly predict a team from the top seeded group you will receive seven points. If however, you correctly predict a country from the second pot, you will receive eight points. A correctly predicted team from the third pot earns you nine points, and from the fourth pot ten points. The same rule shall apply with the golden boot, with what country the player is from will determine how many points you get.

Incorrect predictions will not go unnoticed, for each incorrect prediction you make, two points will be deducted. That means if you predict a player to win the golden boot and he doesn’t, two points taken away.

For the group stages, you can predict up to three things in a game. You can predict the result (which team will win/draw), a score, and scorers in the game. If you predict the result correctly, you receive three points. A correct score earns you four points and for each correct scorer two points. Of course, if you predict incorrectly you will be deducted two points but only one point for each incorrect scorer. In any game where a team from the second pot meets the third, double points will be awarded, with deducted points remaining the same. You do not have to predict on all three things, but a minimum of two is required.

After the group stages, only the second round will remain the same points wise. With penalties being a possibility, you may only include them in the result area. You get the same amount of points for each correct prediction. In the quarter finals, this shall change. For a correct result six points will be awarded, a correct score earns eight points and each correct scorer four points. In the semis and third place play off correct results will earn you nine points, a correct score twelve points and each scorer six points. In the finals, twelve points will be awarded for a correct result, sixteen points for a correct score and each correct scorer will earn you eight points. A bonus MOTM prediction in the final can get you twenty points. Throughout the knockout stages, the deduction system will remain the same as it was in the group stages.

To join in, all you have to do is predict in the article I put up for each game. I will put prediction articles for games one day, possibly two days, before that game. I will turn off the comments after kick off.

For the winner, I have not decided if there will be some form of prize.

  

If I have not made myself clear enough, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to comment and ask.

Five questions for: Rohan Ricketts

Through the wonders of Twitter, I managed to find ex-Wolves midfielder Rohan Ricketts. He then answered five questions via facebook. The Internet eh?

Rohan started his career at Arsenal, but when he was twenty left to join Glenn Hoddle at Tottenham. He became only the twelfth player to play for both sides and only the fourth to make that switch. He became a regular for Spurs in the 2003/04 season, but after Hoddle was sacked, and under Jacques Santini and Martin Jol he found appearances hard to come by. First, he went on loan to Coventry and then to Wolves (joining up with his old manager, Hoddle). He then signed for us permanently, in 2005 and made forty four appearances in two years. He left in 2007 and had brief spells with Q.P.R and Barnsley, while he spent a year at Toronto. He now plays for Diósgyőri VTK.


How is the football going?
Football is going well for me as I am in good shape and can't wait for next season at my new club!


What was Mick McCarthy like as a manager?
Mick was very straight forward and very very honest! He new how to motivate a player and make him feel good if he needed to.

Who do you still talk to from Wolves?
I dont speak to any of the current players even though I know a few like Kightly, Wardy, Jody.

How do you think Wolves will do next year?
I think it will be hard for them but they will have more confidence I think. I would like to see them surprise everyone. The fans deserve it.

Who do you think will win the world cup?
I hope Brazil win the World Cup as they will entertain me along the way.


Rohan has a new podcast, RealTalkFutbol which you can see on twitter (click on 'twitter' to see)

Thanks a lot Rohan, and good luck with your new club.

Hopefully I will be able to do this with more footballers. If you know where I can contact any, don't hesitate in telling me!

Ins & Outs

I'm sure there will be many players leaving Wolves, and a few coming in. In fact, we've already signed two for next year, and let go or sold four.

 Ins

Mujangi Bia - Given another chance

Adlene Guedioura - A good bit a business. When we got him on loan we had an option to buy him and we took that option. At around £500k, that's incredibly cheap. For someone who has shone in his first few months in English football, he can get even better.

Geoffrey Mujangi Bia - Our other loan signing from Charleroi. Instead of signing Geoffrey permanently, we've decided to get him on loan for another year. I think that's a good idea, he impressed in his only Premier League start at Portsmouth and deserves another year. Will be a good player to have in the squad, especially as we are short of right wingers.



Outs

Jason Shackell - Has signed for Barnsley. We signed him in the promotion winning year, for £1 million. He only played around twelve games, three of them starts and the only bits I ever saw of him where when he went in goal after Hennessey was sent off at Preston, and on the tele when Mick brought him on to take a not so long throw in. I doubt we will have got very much for him. Good luck to him in the future.

Daniel Jones, Mark Little and George Friend - All released. Jones and Little came through the academy and both had a lot of promise. Little was a key member of the squad in Mick's first season, and I thought he might be good enough to play in the Premier League. Jones was man of the match in one of his very first games and Mick sung his praises. Could have been a solution to our left back problem when we were in the championship, but definitely not in the Premier League. George Friend was signed at the start of last season, and towards the end came in for the injured Jarvis and helped seal promotion. Hardly featured this season, only started at Old Trafford. Jones will probably sign for Bristol Rovers, Little for Peterborough and Friend for Exeter. All should do well in the future.

Jones - One of four who has left

I expect many more to be sold or released. Players like Halford, Iwelumo, Surman and Maierhofer have hardly featured and when they have played, haven't offered us enough to be top flight players. Hennessey and Stearman now have Premier League experience and might want to be playing first team football (both have been linked with moves to Liverpool).

Players coming in. We've been linked with many forwards. Fletcher from Burnley, Robbie Keane, Goodwillie from Dundee and Kris Boyd have all been mentioned. I think Fletcher might be a good buy, he's young and has been arguably Burnley's best player with twelve goals too.

The Belgian press have almost confirmed that Jelle Van Damme is signing for us. His manager and himself have said he will be signing with us. He's a tall left back, who is good in the air and previously played for Southampton in the Premier League (made six appearances). £2.5 million is the suggested fee. Not much has come from inside Wolves but they are good like that. They only tell us about signings when we have definitely signed them.

Who would you like to see join Wolves, and who do you think will be leaving?

Back in the day...

My age (fourteen, nearly fifteen), is probably the age when you have a childhood hero.

The best I've seen ever at Wolves

Of course, mine would be one of the Wolves players today as I never experienced GOD playing for Wolves, or when Robbie Keane was playing upfront with him. Going further back you have the Doog, Johnny Richards and Peter Knowles. If you are really ancient, you watched Swinbourne, Wright and Broadbent.

For me and many Wolves fans my age it would be Superman himself, Kevin Doyle. He sets a perfect example to kids and other players. He has no agent, he makes his own decisions. I'm sure an agent would have told him to sign for Sunderland or Villa, the other clubs rumoured to have been interested in him last summer. On the pitch, he is a complete forward. He wins it in the air, despite generally being smaller than those marking him, he holds it up and chooses the right pass. Not to mention his tireless running and annoying defenders. And when he gets the chance, he usually scores. Nine goals may not seem like many, but he has scored more than a quarter of our goals this season.

He is rightly being linked with the likes of Arsenal and Juventus, because he is good enough for a side like them. He wouldn't look out of place in any top four side. He's better than Eduardo at Arsenal. They are the same age, and Doyle is scoring goals in a lower team and in much better form.

Whatever player we sign, it wouldn't top keeping Doyle in the summer.

Who were your favourite players growing up?

Wolves Premier League Season Review

Here, I give an account of how I saw the season.

We started the season with high hopes, mid table looked a  possibility even though we all would have taken seventeenth. We were quickly brought down to earth after the opening day defeat to a West Ham side who I thought were destined for a top ten finish, how wrong was I. We had played well, had the majority of the ball but lacked that killer instinct. Sylvan limped off injured to add to our woes, as did Foley. Milijas looked a star, and Mancienne was brilliant. We went into the Wigan game a lot less optimistic, Keogh upfront on his own in the Premier League was a worrying factor. Yet, he scored the winner and we won our first ever away match. We came ever so close at Man City, and disappointingly drew with Hull at home. Another disappointing result followed at Blackburn, we lost three one. Wolves, as I have said numerous times this season, bounced back. We beat a good Fulham side two one and Doyle got his first goal of the season, as did Edwards.

Around the next month we began to see the emergence of Kevin Doyle. A record signing, injured for the start of the season but came on against Man City. After that, we saw what a good player on the ball he was, how he could win it in the air and his unbelievable work rate.Surely him and Ebanks-Blake would be the perfect partnership?


After the Fulham game, we faced Sunderland. What an odd game this was. Two nil down, one harsh penalty decision and one penalty not give to us. We came back to two all. We looked like winning but they took the lead, we were done on the counter twice more. It seemed like we were never going to get any luck, and the next game made it even worse. Portsmouth, had lost all seven games of the season must have looked down their fixture list and thought 'It's ok, we've got Wolves'. There was a horrible feeling that we would lose this (even if I did predict a win) and of course, we lost. Again, we should have had a blatant penalty but of course it wasn't given. Doom and gloom around everywhere. Wolves, again being Wolves, bounced back to draw impressively three times at Everton and Stoke, and at home to Villa. Then, we were cruelly beaten four one by Arsenal. We conceded two own goals, and another where the ref got in the way of our attack and led to them scoring. See what I meant about luck? It wasn't about luck the next two week though, probably the lowest point of the season. We were easily beaten four nil by Chelsea (we played 3-5-2!). Mick dropped Hennessey for the Birmingham game and brought Hahnemann in. Three minutes in, we were losing and in the first half played the worst half we played in the league all season.

Guess what? Yep, we bounced back. From looking completely sunk, the new relegation favourites overcame Bolton. The return of Nenad Milijas and his magical left foot put us back on track for Premiership survival. First he created the first goal of the game for Craddock, and then he scored our official goal of the season. He took Doyle's pass to the side a bit and then from 35 yards smashed it past Jaaskelainen. He carried on where he left of against Tottenham. His third minute freekick set up Doyle to put us ahead at White Hart Lane. We held out, and caused one of the shocks of the season. If that hadn't got us enough publicity, three days later we certainly got a lot. Mick made TEN changes, and caused a real stir throughout the Premier League. Arsene voiced his anger (his team head drawn with Burnley the same day, surprise surprise). Yet we got through it, and Mick was vindicated by his decision as we beat a tired Burnley side comfortably two nil.

After this, we had a bad spell which put us right back down there. An unfortunate defeat to Liverpool, a three nil loss at home to City and the crushing defeat at home to Wigan brought us back down to earth. Mick decided a change of system was needed. Sylvan had missed a glaring opportunity to put us ahead against Wigan and hadn't had the best of times. We changed to 4-5-1 and drew at home with Liverpool. After which Mick said that Kevin Doyle's performance had been the best ever by a centre forward at Wolves. It certainly was superhuman, which became a common feature of every game. After the Liverpool game we faced Hull. It was obvious that they needed the win more than us. We twice equalised and it ended all square. Next up, we wanted revenge against Birmingham. We led, and looked like getting another but who popped up to win the match for Birmingham. Kevin Phillips grabbed two more to add to his tally against Wolves.

Again, after a match with Birmingham, we looked in trouble again. Our bounce back ability showed as we defeated the odds and overcame Spurs. We completed a shock double with a brilliant eighteen pass goal. A player who emerged from that game was Adlene GuediouraCarlisle set us up nicely for another big game in midweek at West Ham. And what a game it was. Surely the best performance of the season, we won three one. David Jones masterminded a win that almost saw us safe. We followed that up with draws against Villa and Everton, and lost in the last minute to Arsenal. Things were looking much better.

We pretty much sealed it with three straight draws (Stoke, Fulham and Blackburn) and it was Ebanks-Blake late equaliser against Blackburn that kept us up.Though the next week we put in a lacklustre performance at Pompey and lost three one. Mick went 4-4-2 for the last game of the season, and we put in a brilliant end of season performance. Doyle got his ninth goal of the season and Adlene Guedioura scored the goal that won the match and himself a permanent deal at the club.

Top Scorer: Kevin Doyle - 9
Most Assists: Matt Jarvis  - 5

All in all, a great season. Well done Wolves, got what we aimed for.

Wolves 2 Sunderland 1

That's more like it!

After the disappointing defeat at Pompey, we needed a good performance to give the fans something to cheer about. We put lots more effort, and the game turned out to be a pretty decent one.

Like the new kit?

It was a high tempo game, we knocked it about well and despite going behind look comfortable for most of the match. There was a little spell where Malbranque hit the post and we came under of pressure but I think we deserved the win.

I was surprised to see Kevin Doyle stepping up to take the penalty. This was another chance for Ebanks-Blake to boost his tally, but I suppose it doesn't matter. Doyle has nine now, and I hope next season he will better that for US. There are rumours linking him with Juventus now!

Jarvis again gave his full back plenty of problems. It was his burst of speed past Hutton that got us the penalty. He was confident today, and almost scored from a really good effort. It was the man on the other flank though that I thought was our best player. Adlene Guedioura has certainly done his chances of playing for us next season no harm at all, I expect him to be in South Africa too after his performance. He doesn't usually play on the right side of midfield yet he looked comfortable there. He had a real battle with Richardson and often beat him. His goal was superb after Zubar's fine interception.

Doyle and Ebanks-Blake did well. Doyle was his usual self and Sylvan was good, bringing others into the game. Our defence was solid throughout, I did wonder if Mick would take Craddock off for a standing ovation but he didn't.

Hahnemann - 7

Guedioura - World Cup bound

Zubar - 7
Craddock - 7
Berra - 7
Elokobi - 7

Guedioura - 9
Henry - 8
Jones - 7 (Edwards - 6)
Jarvis - 8 (Foley - 6)

Doyle - 8 (Iwelumo - 6)
Ebanks-Blake - 7

It was a good way to end the season, well done to the boys and I await MOTD tonight.

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!

Wolves v Sunderland Preview

I will remember that game at the Stadium of Light for a long time. It was another one of those Wolves matches where one of our better performances combined with some bad luck and moments of madness.

It was a really good game, painful at the end, but a good game. And hopefully this Sunday's game will be a good one. I'm sure Wolves will want to put last weeks defeat behind them and end on a high for the fans. It will be a good way to sign off and push us up the table.

Will Mick make any changes? The players didn't seem all too bothered last week, and this could be a chance for the fringe players to stake a claim for a position in next year's squad. I expect Geoffrey Mujangi-Bia to start again. He was very good and unfortunate to have to come off. If Jarvis is fit, he could play on the right. Maybe Mick will play a youngster or two. Danny Batth won young professional of the year, and Scott Malone has been impressive at left back for Southend and England under 18s. Adlene Guedioura and Nenad Milijas will be pushing for a start. I'd really like Mick to give Milijas a full game to show his talent and creativity. Adlene will want to secure his place in South Africa with a good performance, he will probably come in for Mancienne or even Kevin Foley, as he did play right midfield last week.

Whatever team Mick plays, I expect them to give the home faithful something to cheer about. We haven't won since the West Ham game and while we have only lost two in nine, it would be seven without a win should we draw or lose.

Hahnemann

Zubar
Craddock
Berra
Elokobi

Foley
Guedioura
Henry
Jones
Mujangi Bia

Doyle

2-1 to Wolves. Doyle double takes him into double figures.

And let's hope the new Wolves home kit is good, I was quite impressed by the away one.

Wolves unveil new away kit

As you can see on the left, Wolves new away kit is black (with gold bits)! I wanted the away kit to be like this, they came close in the championship year with the black and luminous green. It's not too flashy either and I will definitely be getting it.

What do you think? Would you have rather had a different colour?

Interview with a Sunderland fan

With the final game of the season coming up I was fortunate enough to find Lee Wilkins, a Sunderland fan, to talk about his and our team.

How would you describe Sunderland’s season?

This year, Sunderland actually have a net spend of around £10-15 million; so considering we finished 15th and 16th in the past 2 seasons and are on course for a 11th/12th placed finish then I have to say it's been a good season. The derbies have been a huge miss however but with them back up this year (congrats to them by the way) then the derbies are back! Great at the start; poor in the middle and ok in the end...its better than being poor all three parts; hopefully next season is a top half finish...we need to progress slowly but surely.



 Who would you give the Sunderland player of the year to?
It has to be Darren Bent. To come here and to score 25 goals (24 of them in the league) and being in the running for the England squad is fantastic! For him to be constantly scoring whilst we were on that winless run for 3 months or so shows us how valuable he has been and, without him, we will be in Burnley/Hull's position -- down!



You had a dodgy patch in the middle of the season, and you looked like you might be in a relegation battle. You picked up but is Steve Bruce the right manager to take you forward?
Absolutely! There has been some doubters during that period and rightly so, but ever since the 4-0 win against Bolton at our place we have looked the 'real deal' again...Brucie will only leave us for Man United in my view...so hopefully we will have him for a while! With Brucie and God Niall Quinn as our chairman, I firmly believe we can eventually get to that top 7...


What do you think of Wolves season, and how did you see the game at the Stadium of Light?
Wolves have had a good season, to come up and survive pretty comfortably with a couple of games to go is a job well done in my book, I've always liked Mick McCarthy so it's nice to see him doing well there, I hope to see Wolves have a mid-table finish next season...the game at the SOL was a strange one in all honesty; when we gone 2-0 up I went to the toilet, came back it was 2-1; went back down a few minutes later for a drink, came back up and it's 2-2, I couldn’t believe it! Then we came back to win 5-2: that game was strange, you deserved a draw definitely (perhaps even a win) so for us to win 5-2 is a bit odd. I am not complaining though



If you could take any Wolves player to Sunderland, who would it be?
Has to be Kevin Doyle; Doyle + Bent would work well together I think and with Jones going in the Summer most likely...don't be surprised if he puts a bid in if he fails to get Zamora. Although, a special mention does go out to Dave Jones who looks like a good midfielder of what I have seen of him


And finally, what is your prediction?
A score draw; both sides nothing really to play for, we get an early goal, and you get an equaliser with about 20 minutes to play...a bit of a boring game; 1-1...If anyone will win it however, it will be Wolves; our away form is still pitiful despite a 1-0 win against Hull (who were just SO poor)!



Thanks Lee!

Portsmouth 3 Wolves 1

That was odd. I watched through the wonders of online streaming, and we definitely didn't look like we deserved to lose three one. Ok, three bad bits of defending but if James hadn't been in such fine form we could have had a few.

Should Elokobi be rested against Sunderland?

Sylvan couldn't carry on from where he left off last week. Two bad misses but it doesn't exactly help his confidence when he doesn't get to start after scoring. Add to that he brought Iwelumo on before him. While he did a lot better, Big Chris just isn't good enough and I hope our Plan B isn't to lump it up to him next year.

Hahnemann should have saved the second and third goals. It wasn't his best game, that's three goals in two games he has been at fault for and I'm sure he won't be happy with himself. We shouldn't have given them so much time to shoot, it was all to relaxed. But who can blame them? They have worked tirelessly this season and they obviously didn't care that much about the final result. I'm sure at home next week there will be a more improved performance all round.

Mujangi was bright. He was our most dangerous player in the first half and he looked confident. He won a lot of free kicks and gave the right back a few problems. Mick says it was cramp which caused him to take him off, hopefully he will be fine for the Sunderland game.

It was good to see Kevin Doyle back to his superhuman best. He looked tired in the recent games but looked bright and was unlucky not to have had two more. I'm glad he got a goal because it means he beats what Camara (our top scorer in the previous season) got in 2003/04.

Hahnemann - 5

Zubar - 8
Craddock - 7
Berra - 7
Elokobi - 6

Foley - 6 (Guedioura - 6)
Mancienne - 7 (Ebanks-Blake - 6)
Henry - 7
Jones - 7
Mujangi Bia - 7 (Iwelumo - 6)

Doyle - 8

Have a look HERE (scroll to the bottom) or buy the Observer. It's the second time I have been part of 'The Verdict'