Manchester City v Wolves preview

If Wolves come away with anything less than a beating come 5pm on Saturday, I think we can all feel grateful. But against a ruthless Manchester City team, it's going to be one hell of a hard task.

The last time we came to what is now the 'Etihad' Stadium, we were involved in a fantastic football match. We went one nil up, City raced into a four one lead and then we scared the life out of them, coming back to four three with rare Geoffrey Mujangi Bia and Stephen Mouyokolo cameo performances to go with it.

There's a similarity to that game and the cup tie on Wednesday. It was the spell where every time City attacked, they seemed to score. They did that for three minutes forty two seconds a couple of days ago, and when we last went to City Tevez and co. turned it on and scored three in fifteen minutes. Mainly, it's because they have fantastic footballers who can at will tear us apart, but I also feel it's down to lack of concentration on our part. Once the first one goes in, that really breaks us down, westop doing what we were doing so well before that.

It's hard to predict what team Mick will pick and what formation we will go with. Will he make changes at the back? Will he bring in those that impressed in the cup, like Nenad Milijas, Adlene Guedioura, Stephen Hunt and even Sam Vokes? Will he stick with 4-4-2, or put an extra man in the midfield so that we don't get over run. I'm hoping Mick goes with that latter, because it's painful to watch when we clearly need some one else there, like last Saturday.

If there's one player I want in the side, it's Nenad Milijas. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Serbian and I think he deserves a chance in his proper position this time. Against Albion he played further forward, and had less effect than when he came on against Swansea and played the deep lying role. It also lets Jamie O'Hara play as the attacking midfielder and give him the freedom he needs. He's scored two good goals since playing there in the last two games.

I can see Mick going with this:

We need a performance from Johnson at the back, urgently

Hennessey

Stearman
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Henry
Milijas

Jarvis
O'Hara
Hunt

Doyle

I'd be happy with that, and think it gives us our best chance against this scary City team.

Hopefully we can gives them a scare ourselves, and show that this bad run of form is just a (bad) blip. Come on you Wolves.

Missing: £4m Premier League defender

After two clean sheets in the first three games it finally looked like we had sorted our defence. We had a new leader ready to push us on up the table. For those first few games, I really enjoyed watching (and hearing!) him. Since then, Roger Johnson has been barely recognisable. 

He looks a shadow of the defender that has been tipped for an England call up over the past year, looking clueless and shot of the confidence he brought to the defence when he arrived.


And while I was watching our game on Saturday I thought 'who is the real captain here' as I watched Karl Henry barking out orders and getting information of Mick when substitutions were made.

Come on Roger, sort it out

Karl was the only one who you can say had a decent game, never hiding, making incisive passes and making some excellent challenges at the back. In fact, you could say he has played quite well all season, which is why it seems crazy that he is the crowd's target for abuse often.

Like the team, Roger was much better in the latter stages of the Swansea game. He started taking a bit of responsibility at the back. It didn't come long after the ridiculous 'One Jody Craddock' chant, maybe he responds to that kind of thing?

There's no way he will be dropped for our league game at City, and he will also remain as captain. He does have some serious thinking to do until then, and let's hope for our sake that he has sorted himself out by the time we kick off at the Etihad Stadium.

Will Mick ring in the changes?

As usual, plenty of focus will be on Mick McCarthy's team selection for the lunchtime kick off tomorrow.

The way we set up will be huge against a Swansea side who will set out to frustrate by keeping the ball. It's the type of game where Wolves fans will start to lose their patience very quickly.

I see Mick going with 4-5-1 like last week but maybe with different personnel.

Right Back

While Richard Stearman has had a couple of decent performances at right back, I think his place may be under threat. While Zubar and Foley may be out of the game, Matt Doherty was excellent on his debut and has impressed in the reserves. It is the young Irishman's natural position, and this would be an great opportunity for him to break into the side.

Drop O'Hara? 

It's clear that Jamie O'Hara has underperformed lately, and that he could do with a break. Dropping him could give him the kick up the arse he needs to bring him back to the form we know he is capable of. I can see Dave Edwards being brought into the side, this is the type of game he excels in. He is a nuisance to the other team, and adds a goal threat.


Outwide

Neither of our wingers had a particularly great game last week, so could both easily be dropped. We could do with the fight, and dead ball ability Stephen Hunt adds so I can see Matty Jarvis given a rest. He looks short on confidence, and like O'Hara maybe being dropped could do him some good.

Here's the team I think we might go with:

Hennessey

Doherty
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Hammill
Henry
Edwards
Milijas
Hunt

Doyle

An early goal would do a world of good, it would get the fans on the players side and maybe we might see the confidence we saw in the first few games. We desperately need a win, so I'm going with 2-1 to Wolves.

One of three

After hearing that Stephen Fletcher was a doubt for the game on Sunday the first thing that came to mind was, 'It's got to be 4-5-1'.  In fact as important as Fletcher is for us it could be a blessing in disguise, just for this game.

This looks like it is going to be a tight game with both sides desperate to avoid defeat to their closest rivals. With Peter Odemwingie also a doubt it means Albion are also more likely to pack the midfield. That's where the game will be won, and if we make a similar mistake to the one against QPR (in terms of selection and formation) the witch hunt will definitely be out for Mick.

But who comes in? Well for me it is one of a possible three.

Dave Edwards, Nenad Milijas and Adlene Guedioura.

All have their strengths and weaknesses, but it's a tough trio to decide from.

While Edwards brings enthusiasm and forward runs, he also lacks the quality. Milijas brings composure and keeps possesion but perhaps lacks the mobility and aggression for a derby like this. Adlene Guedioura (extremely impressive against Newcastle when he came on) has the grit, determination and skill yet the problem with him is discipline and the fear that he will do something reckless or stupid.

It's a tough choice, assuming Mick goes with a five man midfield.

What would you go with?

Four in a row: Wolves 1 Newcastle 2

A fourth consecutive defeat leaves Wolves sliding towards the bottom of the table.

Although we conceded two very silly goals, overall I thought we actually played pretty well. The first goal is hard to tell who should be stopping it, but for the second there was a number of errors that lead to it. O'Hara, Henry and Johnson all played their part. Jamie O'Hara was way to casual on the edge of the area, giving away possession while Karl Henry, who had twice recovered the ball brilliantly, played the ball to Stephen Hunt who was looking the over way. To cap it off, Roger Johnson is turned inside out by Gutierrez who then finishes. A lot for Mick to work on in that area.

Attacking wise, we were threatening but wasteful. 25 attempts on goal, one scored. There are a number of factors for that. Firstly, we were miscuing our headers, volleys and shots. Doyle dragged a couple wide, Fletcher and Johnson both had very good opportunities and O'Hara had several shots wide and blocked. Secondly the Newcastle defenders and keeper were excellent. All day long they threw themselves in front of the ball, while Tim Krul had an unbelievable game in goal.

Finally, the major talking point, the officials. I'm at loss to how Mark Halsey thinks Steven Taylor's challenge on O'Hara is outside the area. It was clearly inside, and to make it worse minutes later we were denied once again when Jarvis was tripped. And then the disallowed goal. It had never, ever, entered my mind that when Jarvis brilliantly headed Hammill's cross back into the six yard box that it had gone out of play. It's truly unbelievable. How can the referee be sure that it has gone out, if it hasn't? Overall, not just the the key decisions, the officials were poor.

Hennessey - 6

Stearman - 6
Johnson - 6
Berra - 6
Ward - 7

Hunt - 5
Henry - 6
O'Hara - 6
Jarvis - 6

Doyle - 7
Fletcher - 7

Subs: Guedioura - 8, Hammill - 7

It will be very interesting to see how we line up next week due to the impressive performances of both our subs. Adlene Guedioura in particular was excellent, playing well next to Jamie O'Hara in midfield. He won the ball, took players on and fed the ball into our attackers. He must be pushing for a start, the only question is who does he replace? We have seen him play well in the middle in a 4-5-1, but that would mean breaking up the Doyle-Fletcher partnership. In a  4-4-2, it seems unlikely that he would drop Karl Henry who had a decent game today.

Whatever we go with, we desperately need a result in a tough game at our nearest rivals.