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.

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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.