Taking shape

It's taken until mid-January, but it finally feels like Woves can kick start their season.

It's always seemed to take us a while to get a fixed formation set, to get the players in the correct position's and for Mick to finally realise what we need. We need that more than ever now, with us trailing the team above us by five points, and four others breathing down our necks, it's quite remarkable that we haven't been in the bottom three this season.

Here is how I think we are going to, or try to set up from now.

I don't think there's any doubt that this man would be first choice keeper, Wayne Hennessey is vital to our survival chances. We can't afford for him to get injured, or sold because I'm not convinced Dorus de Vries has what it takes to play in the first team.

Oh Kevin Foley, how I have missed you. Mr Consistency showed his class in the cup game at Birmingham, looking infinitely better than Richard Stearman or Ronald Zubar have at all this season. Mick has hinted that he will start at Tottenham, thank god.

Roger Johnson finally looks like returning to form, with impressive performances lately. Injured his ankle in the cup, but should be okay at White Hart Lane where we are going to need a big performance from him.

You don't need to ask for a big performance from this man, he's given them week in week out all season long. Christophe Berra has shone lately, and has even been linked with a move away due to his brilliant form.

Stephen Ward completes the back four. Our player of the season so far, and though he has been a bit shaky lately continues to be a great outlet going forward as well as solid at the back. His partnership down the left hand side with Matt Jarvis is vital for us, when George Elokobi has played there we have seen Jarvo get less of  the ball and be less impressive.

It was a great sight to see Michael Kightly finally looking sharp and ready for first team football at Wolves. He's been so unfortunate over the last two and a half years, but I firmly believe that this time 'Kights' is ready to make an impact in the Premier League.

I was delighted when we signed Emmanuel Frimpong on loan, because he's exactly the type of player we've been lacking. Infectious, moves the ball quickly and can get about the pitch. He looks like he has the right attitude, and hopefully we can get the best out of him.

Karl Henry comes in for a lot of criticism from the fans, but I think he's been one of our most consistent players this season. He does a great job for us, and you can see he's improving on his attacking side of the game. In the Chelsea game he was excellent, moving the ball quickly. Maybe it was to do with having Frimpong next to him, he seemed less scared to go forward.

I'm not convinced that we have seen the very best of Jamie O'Hara,  but once he's fully fit I think he will be one of the players who benefit's most from this system. With two more defensive minded players with him in the middle, it gives him the freedom to get on the ball further up the pitch. We have seen he can get in good positions to score, so it's a case of using him effectively.

In Matt Jarvis we have one of the most dangerous wingers in the land. When he's confident, there's not a full back that can handle him. He is huge for us, and if he carries on with his recent form an England call up won't be far away.

12 starts, 8 goals. Has the best chances to goals record in the league. It's not hard to see why Mick is warning potential suitors not to bother bidding for Steven Fletcher. If we sell him, we are doomed.



So a 4-5-1 for me, with Frimpong and Henry holding, and O'Hara playing in front of them just off Fletcher. To me that looks like a decent side, as good if not better than the sides around us. It's not just the first eleven, we have Zubar, Stearman, Milijas, Edwards, Hunt, Hammill, Ebanks-Blake and Doyle all waiting to take their chance. All of a sudden our squad looks a whole lot stronger, and with time to make more signings could look even more impressive come the end of January.

Wolves 1 Chelsea 2

Everything seemed to be right today. The team selection, the tactics, the individual performances but there was one thing our manager wasn't counting on.

The ref.

One thing all fans want is consistency, but are we EVER going to get it. The FA set the standard but choosing not to rescind Milijas' red card, so when a harder, more dangerous tackle with the intent to hurt by Frank Lampard goes in, can we not expect a red card?

Of course not, because we are Wolves and they are Chelsea, or any other top five or six club. It's tough, and as we have gotten to know over the last two and a half years, you have to get our way around on an already uneven playing field with the money in this league, made worse by the horrible inconsistency the referees in this league show.

Guess who scores the winner.

On our team, I thought for most parts we were great. Aside from a slow start we got in their faces, passed the ball about well and looked dangerous when we had a go at them.

Chelsea players pretend to care about their manager

Our midfield trio of Henry, Frimpong and Edwards was strong and with O'Hara and Milijas out, and Eggert Jonsson signing too there is going to be a great battle for a places in our midfield. Henry was the pick of the bunch, harassing, intercepting and moving the ball quickly when we countered. He's often (fairly) criticised for this, but recently he has shown great improvement in that area. On his debut, Emmanuel Frimpong was steady and I think we can expect more from him. To be fair to him, he's only had one day to get to know our players and he will definitely have a good impact for us as the season goes on.

At the back, we were solid once again. Christophe Berra hardly put a foot wrong, where as Roger Johnson is getting better all the time now. He had a couple of mad moments but he was positive and even sent us of on a few attacks, which was nice to see. Stephen Ward had a mixed game, missing a huge chance at nil nil, but he made up for it by scoring a well taken goal. Some may blame him for Ramires' goal but I thought he was just very unlucky.

Up top, Kevin Doyle had a good game. He tussled with David Luiz and John Terry and gave them plenty to think about. He was unlucky not to score with the last touch of the match as Petr Cech made an outstanding save.

Hennessey - 7

Stearman - 6
Johnson - 7
Berra - 8
Ward - 7

Hammill - 7
Henry - 8
Frimpong - 6
Edwards - 7
Forde - 6

Doyle - 7

Subs: Jarvis - 7, Fletcher - 7, Foley - 6

We have a tough set of games coming up, but if we can add some consistency to our performances I'm sure we can get some bonus points. If we can, it would put us in a great position going into February.

Chelsea v Wolves preview

When John Terry says you are one of the best teams they've played this season, you know you've done alright.

Unfortunately that means Terry, and Chelsea, will certainly not be underestimating us.

AVB prays Stephen Ward will be rested

This is a huge game for Andre Villas-Boas, anything less than a home win and well, I think he will get the sack. Luckily for him, they are playing the right team...

Except! Maybe, just maybe Mick will remember our performance last year at Stamford Bridge, and try to replicate that this time against a more fragile Chelsea? That game is one of my favourites, we may have lost the game two nil but we gave them a right scare and also played some brilliant football at the same time.

With O'Hara and Hunt suspended it means we have to make changes and who knows, they could be blessings in disguise. Hunt hasn't played particularly well for a while now, whereas O'Hara has been caught between two positions. It all depends on the formation we play. I think Mick may go with 4-4-2, and bring Fletcher in which is a good thing, but also leaves us likely to be overrun in midfield. Then again, it worked for Liverpool last weekend.

You'd expect Matt Jarvis to come in at left midfield. I was surprised he didn't start last weekend, we badly needed his pace and with him likely to come up against Ivanovic you'd expect him to cause a few problems. In the middle, it's a question of who goes with Karl Henry? Nenad Milijas you'd think lacks the mobility, though we have seen some top performances now and then from him there. Adlene Guedioura may give us the legs there, but does he have the discipline? Tough decisions.

It all looks set for Ronald Zubar to come in at right back. Assuming he's fully fit, he could be a real bonus for us. We've lacked his enthusiasm lately and his pace and power is something we lack at the back. If he's not, Matt Doherty would be the second in line. He definitely looks like a future first choice right back for us, yes he had some problems against City in the cup but he was left isolated out there by Doyle.

Fletch could return

Expected line up:

Hennessey

Zubar
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Edwards
Henry
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle
Fletcher

Like Everton last week, we have a good chance to frustrate the home crowd and put their players under even more pressure than they are under right now. If we try and keep the ball, and work it forward we may have a slight chance but sit back and give them the confidence to attack us and I fear for the worst.

I'll go for a 3-0 defeat, us containing them but getting tired and conceding a couple of late goals.

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.

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?

Make room for more!

Although we do not need to confirm our 25 man squad until September, there is a lot of talk about who fills where in our squad. 

With Hahnemann, Basso, Jones and Mancienne all departing, it leaves it at 21. Bring Ikeme back in, and it's back up to 22.

Who are the incoming three then? I'm not 100% sure, but I think we have to name a third goalkeeper even if he is underage and that is largely the reason why it looks like we are set to sign one. Up to 23 then.

We've been linked with a move for Roger Johnson

Then there is a space in the defence. God knows how many we have been linked with so far. It's well known that we are likely to sign at least one, if not two, centre backs. Up to 24.

With David Jones leaving at the end of his contract, it leaves room for another centre midfielder. This is an interesting one. We don't really know what formation we will play. Mick looks like he wants to make 442, and stumbled across a formula for it towards the end of the season. If we were to sign a centre midfielder, along with Jamie O'Hara would that mean dropping our captain, Karl Henry? Up to 25.

As many of you will probably agree, I don't think we will sign only three players. The left back position is another priority, but I don't think it would mean selling George Elokobi. It would leave us with only one definite left back (assuming we bought one) so I can see us selling at least one centre back and unfortunately, it looks ever more likely that Steven Mouyokolo will be that man. We may want to sign two centre backs, so would that mean selling another centre back, or a fringe player like Dave Edwards, Adlene Guedioura or even Michael Kightly?

Here's what a 25 man squad could look like for us:

Hennessey
Ikeme
GOALKEEPER

Foley
Zubar
Craddock
Stearman
Berra/CENTRE BACK
CENTRE BACK

Happening again very soon, hopefully

Elokobi
LEFT BACK

Hammill
Kightly
Jarvis
Hunt
Henry
Milijas
O'Hara
Guedioura
Edwards
CENTRE MIDFIELDER

Doyle
Fletcher
Ebanks-Blake
Ward

That also means no place for Greg Halford, Sam Vokes, Andy Keogh or Stefan Maiehofer who all look set to leave Molineux this summer. 

If we signed good, capable players there to add to a group of players with 2 years Premier League experience we would be looking at quite a strong squad. So if we did, what would be our expectations?

Because you know what, I don't think my heart could taken another season like last year's.

Wolves fixtures released

Wolves will begin the 2011-12 season with a trip to Ewood Park. Bring back memories?

I'm not very excited about that, can you blame me? When do we ever beat Blackburn, expecially away?!

We follow that game up with at home to Fulham, with their new manager Martin Jol and then we are away to Villa.

Happy days

It's not a terrible start, but it's not a nice one either. Our boxing day day fixtures sees us go to the Emirates to face Arsenal, and we finish away to Wigan.

The Black Country derby games will be on in mid October and early February.

Full fixture list here: http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/Fixtures/0,,10307,00.html

No one got the first fixture right, so we will have another competition for the shirt on Monday!