Sidwell plays the innocent

Recently I had an email from BetFair asking to contribute on my blog in return for some links back to their website. Here is one written by Adam McLaughlan.

Aston Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell has protested his innocence after his late challenge on Wolves' Adlene Guedioura resulted in the Algerian midfielder suffering a fractured tibia. Sidwell insisted there was no malice in the tackle and wished Guedioura a quick recovery.

 "Obviously, I went in to play the ball with no malice whatsoever. My intent was purely to play the ball and I'd just like to say again that I wish him all the best in his recovery," he said.

Sidwell had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when he went in late on Guedioura. Mark Halsey was well placed to see the incident but only deemed the tackle worthy of a yellow card. The injury came in time added at the end of the second half, just two minutes after Emile Heskey had scored the winner for Villa in what was a hard fought derby match.

Villa had taken the lead after 25 minutes through Stuart Downing, after the winger got on the end of a tantalising cross from Marc Albrighton. The goal was the least Villa deserved from a first half in which the away team dominated throughout. Wolves manager Mick McCarthy must have fired a rocket up his team during his team talk, because they came flying out of the tracks after the break. Brad Friedel was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers after the half time break and was forced into a number of smart saves.

Matthew Jarvis was the liveliest Wolves player in the second half, his movement causing the Villa defence plenty of problems. It was Jarvis who grabbed the equaliser just after the hour mark. The winger saw his whipped cross into the area evade everyone before finding its way into the corner of Friedel's goal. It was a deserved equaliser and the Wolves betting suggested they were heading for a deserved draw with the game coming to an end.

McCarthy will have been furious with the room Heskey was given in the penalty area with two minutes left on the clock. The big striker easily climbed above the Wolves defence to get his head on the ball which beat Marcus Hahnemann, giving Villa the three points.

Overall, Wolves can feel a bit frustrated by coming out of a game which they dominated large spells with nothing. However this season has seen Wolves looking stronger than they did in the last one and the football predictions suggest they should do well.

This squad looks more than capable of mixing it in the Premier League and should be able to achieve a mid-table finish come May.

Want to contribute to the blog? Get involved by using the contact me page!

Wolves 1 Aston Villa 2

It's getting a bit boring. Again we played well and lost, again we had the game in our hands and threw it away. Ok, we've been unlucky but we can't keep saying that, we need to make our own luck. We were rewarded with some good pressure with Jarvis' goal. He deserved that, and I'll be a bit disappointed if he isn't in the next England squad. Mr.Capello was there to see him skin his man and put in plenty of good crosses.

Ward was poor, the poorest I've seen him from. He was doing well until the 77th minutes at White Hart Lane this season but has fallen apart. Big George Elokobi came on and impressed. Do you think Albrighton might have not liked the look of him? He was certainly quiet after he came on.

We played very good football up until we get to their area, and I think that was the difference between the two teams. They created lots more, despite us having most of the ball. We need more service for Doyle and Fletcher because they will get us goals once we starting making chances for them. Another out and out winger on the right is what we need, but Kightly is injured and Hunt is nearly there. I think he might be on the bench against Wigan. 

Hahnemann - 7

Foley - 7
Craddock - 7
Berra - 8
Ward - 6

Edwards - 7
Henry - 8
Jones - 6
Jarvis - 7

Fletcher - 7
Doyle - 7

Subs: Elokobi - 8, Guedioura - 6, Stearman - 6.

I can't see the media starting a campaign against Sidwell and Villa, but that tackle was awful. How they've not had at least one man sent off is astonishing. Guedioura is out for a long time now, and you could tell it when it happened.

We simply have to get something next week, and the week after.

What are your views? Disagree? Comment and talk with other fans about it!

Week 6 Predictions - Win a signed Wolves football!

We're into week 6 and wolves1992 still leads the table. He didn't get the most points though, that was OldBeaut who got  78 points.

It's never too late to enter, all you have to do is comment below. Here is how to score points:

5 points for a correct scorer
10 points for a correct result
3 points for each correct scorer

Here are the fixtures:

Man City v Chelsea
Arsenal v West Brom
Birmingham v Wigan
Blackpool v Blackburn
Fulham v Everton
Liverpool v Sunderland
West Ham v Tottenham
Bolton v Man Utd
Wolves v Aston Villa
Newcastle v Stoke

Good luck

Unlucky, and undeserved: Spurs 3 Wolves 1

It's the sign of a good side when you leave White Hart Lane disappointed to have lost.

Again, it's the manner of which we have lost the game that is annoying. Ten minutes before and after Van Der Vaart's penalty, we had the possession and looked most likely to score. It's a silly tackle by Ward, but he had no protection then and for a lot of the match. No one gave him any support, Van Damme started walking and Mancienne turned his back on Ward who makes the wrong decision.

The second goal was hard to watch. It's not a good pass by Ward, but the ref gets in the way of our player and they are off on the attack. We fail to clear, and it falls from the deflected shot to Pavluychenko. There's not much to say about the third.

It was a good performance, we played some great football and were unlucky not to get a penalty on three occasions. Gallas' foul on Jarvis is unbelievably blatant, and Assou-Ekotto has clearly handballed. Not to mention Gallas' other foul on Fletcher.

Once again, Karl Henry was impressive in the middle. He did well to link up with Jones in the middle on played in some superb passes behind the full back. Mancienne did well to hold the midfield together, as Jones and Henry moved forward and it was certainly a better performance than last week.

If we keep playing like this, we'll start to pick up more points. We are gonna need some from the next three, as the four after are going to be very tough.

Hahnemann - 8

Foley - 7
Stearman - 6

Craddock - 7
Ward - 7

Jarvis - 7
Henry -8
Mancienne - 7
Jones - 7
Fletcher - 7

Doyle - 8

Hopefully, we have shaken off the 'dirty' tag and can look forward to the cup game against Notts County.

I was in the observer this week in the verdict, you can see it Here

Tottenham v Wolves Preview

This is one of the best times to play Spurs.

Evidence shows that after European games, they come back tired. Their defeat at home to Wigan, a side who had conceded ten in two games before that, shows that anything can happen. Add to that, they've got a few key players out. Their Mr.Consistent, Michael Dawson, is out with a bad injury while last season's top scorer Jermain Defoe is also out. Their play makers, Modric and Van Der Vaart are doubtful and 'Arry might have to rest a few others after a tiring night in Germany.

On the wings, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon pose a real threat. I'm confident Stephen Ward can handle Lennon once again and Foley with the help of Jarvis or Van Damme can halt the man of the moment Bale. In his appearances against Wolves, Peter Crouch has been ineffective but he's in great form and he can score all types of goals. Craddock and whoever partners him will have to be wary.

It's looking like it will be Richard Stearman. Mick has praised him for his hard work in training and he could be rewarded. Stephen Mouyokolo will just miss out but could have a place on the bench but I believe it should be Michael Mancienne. He didn't have the best of times in midfield last week but I think he is a good defender who will give us pace at the back.

It looks like we will play 4-4-2 again and why not? We beat them last year with it at their place, and unless they play 4-5-1 we won't get overrun as they will probably play two more reserved centre midfielders. Up front, let's hope Ebanks-Blake and Doyle can conjure something up to give us something to hang on for. Sylvan can pop up with a goal at the unlikeliest times, and you'd expect Doyle to get his first goal of the season sooner rather than later.

Team:

Hahnemann

Stearman - A second chance

Foley
Craddock
Stearman
Ward

Jarvis
Henry
Mancienne/Jones
Van Damme

Doyle
Ebanks-Blake


Spurs are a good side, but hopefully we can be their bogey team again this season. 1-1.

Week 5 Predictions - Chance to win signed Wolves football!

Err. Sorry to say this but you guys did pretty rubbish!

Again, wolves1992 got the most points of the week and extended his lead at the top of the table. Can anyone stop him?

Here are your fixtures:

Stoke v West Ham
Aston Villa v Bolton
Blackburn v Fulham
Everton v Newcastle
Tottenham v Wolves
West Brom v Birmingham
Sunderland v Arsenal
Man Utd v Liverpool
Wigan v Man City
Chelsea v Blackpool

Just comment below and predict. Good luck!

Gutted: Fulham 2 Wolves 1

I forgot what it felt like to lose. And to lose it the way we did felt sickening.

Overall they probably deserved to win, they had a lot of the ball and we were defending a lot. We were quite unlucky though, both goals were deflected and caught out Hahnemann who could do nothing about them.

Jelle Van Damme looks a steal at £2.5 million, he's a constant threat and took his goal well. Doyle is looking like his old superhuman self and up front with Ebanks-Blake looked dangerous. I can't see how Fletcher is going to get a proper look in at the moment.

Now, Zamora's injury. It was VERY unlucky. How they can say it is a foul however is a joke. He cleanly gets the ball but Zamora's foot get's trapped. Let's all hope that Bobby won't be out for too long. Karl Henry put in another good performance, he's getting a bit of a reputation for no real reason though he won't care.

Mick made some odd decisions. Taking Van Damme off changed the game. In the last two games he's been taken off at one nil and we've thrown it away. He may have been injured and forced to take him off but why Fletcher. That's three forwards in a 4-4-2, which didn't work and we looked like we didn't know what we were playing. Then he brings on Jones and we play him on the left of midfield. It's obvious that he too is still learning and hopefully will learn from this.

Christophe Berra, you twit. That could well be your last game of the season. I'd expect Mouyokolo (if fit) to come in and if he plays well he won't lose his place. Both stupid, pointless fouls and he will pay the price for it,.

Hahnemann - 7

Foley - 7
Craddock - 6
Berra - 6
Ward - 7

Jarvis - 7
Henry - 7
Mancienne - 6
Van Damme - 8

Doyle - 8
Ebanks-Blake - 7

Subs: Fletcher - 6, Jones - 6. Guedioura - 6.

We have two tough games, with Spurs and Villa coming up. But hey, we didn't lose to either of them last time and Spurs play in midweek which pretty obivoudly affects their league performances.

Fulham v Wolves Preview

Last time we came to Craven Cottage both sides were in completely different moods. Fulham had a game in Europe to look forward to while we were content to play for a draw, as that would help us along to safety.

Fulham, under new manager Mark Hughes have played out three draws. Bolton and Man Utd represented good results, but in their mind they dropped points at Blackpool.

We go into this game unbeaten so far this season, and I'm sure most of us would be pleased with a point but a win is not out of our reach. Kevin Doyle had two man-of-the-match performances for Ireland, looked fit and should be back to his best tomorrow for us. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake will rightfully keep his place, and I wouldn't put it past him to score another.

Jelle van Damme and Stephen Fletcher travelled with the squad. If he's fully fit, I'd expect van Damme to start, but Fletcher will sit in the bench until he's needed. Jelle will offer us a lot defensively, which is what we might need, but he is also a goal threat. He wins everything in the air, and on the ball he can be creative.

Fulham play a 4-4-2, so we shouldn't have to be worried about being over run. Henry will go about his job quietly, and hopefully snuffle out the likes of Murphy and Gera while Jones will need to up his game. He hasn't quite been at his best in the last couple of games, as we were involved in some physical encounters but he will be counted on to do what he does best.

I reckon:

Hahnemann

Foley
Craddock
Berra
Ward

Jarvis
Henry
Jones
Van Damme

Doyle
Ebanks-Blake

If you are going, make sure you get behind them. We can get something from this game, but Fulham are desperate for a win. Fulham 1 Wolves 0. Don't shoot me!

Prediction League - chance to win a signed Wolves football!

We're into the fifth week of the the MyWolvesBlog Premier League prediction league, and it's not too late to enter!

wolves1992 still stops the league, comfortably might I add but the person to get the msot points was Thomas Ross with a massive 85 points.

Add caption

Everton v Manchester United
Arsenal v Bolton
Fulham v Wolves
Man City v Blackburn
Newcastle v Blackpool
West Bom v Tottenham
Birmingham v Liverpool
Stoke v Aston Villa

My predictions:

Everton 1-2 Manchester United
Arsenal 3-0 Bolton
Fulham 0-0 Wolves
Man City 1-0 Blackburn
Newcastle 2-2 Blackpool
West Bom 0-2 Tottenham
Birmingham 0-1 Liverpool
Stoke 1-2 Aston Villa

Good luck!

Mick names his 25 man squad

Wolves have been the first side to name their 25 man squad before the 5pm deadline.

Marcus Hahnemann

Kites- Not ready

Wayne Hennessey

Carl Ikeme

Kevin Foley

Ronald Zubar

Richard Stearman

Jody Craddock

Christophe Berra

Steven Mouyokolo

George Elokobi

Stephen Ward

Jelle Van Damme

Karl Henry

David Jones

Michael Mancienne (on loan from Chelsea)

Dave Edwards

Greg Halford

Nenad Milijaš

Adlene Guedioura

Matt Jarvis

Stephen Hunt

Kevin Doyle

Steven Fletcher

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

Marcus Bent (on loan from Birmingham)

As you can see, there's no space for Michael Kightly. This might be a blessing in disguise for him and us, it gives him more time to get fit and prepared for life back in the Premier League. 

I would consider loaning him out to a Midlands Championship side. I'm sure someone like Forest would jump at the chance to have him for a while. 

What do you think? Anywhere you think we should have had more players, or less? Comment!