Midfield madness

One of the most interesting things about this summer is how Stale handles a midfield headache.

Currently we have SEVEN first team centre midfielders. When we went into the summer break, you'd have thought that maybe a couple (like Guedioura and Milijas) would have gone by now, but Guedioura is unlikely to go to a Forest side looking set to appoint Mick McCarthy and Milijas is said to be rated by Stale.

O'Hara - too good for this league if fit

We also have Karl Henry, one of the first names on the team sheet over the last few years and Jamie O'Hara, who travels to Ireland with the squad, who is almost back to full fitness. Then there is David Davis and Dave Edwards, both players I felt impressed in a difficult situation towards the end of last season. Finally, poor Eggert Jonsson, bought as 'one for the future', thrown in the deep end and barely seen again. I actually think he's a tidy footballer, who might be a useful Ward-style squad player.

But how does our new boss go about this 'problem' if we call it that?

He is said to be a 4-4-2 man, with two deep centre midfielders, two wide midfielders who tuck inside and a forward who drops off the other. So it's possible that five of the seven mentioned could miss out (or only two!) more if Stale decides to bring his own man in!

Davis Davis - never looked out of his depth for us

Does he play the likes of Dave Edwards or Adlene Guedioura wide? Both have done a job there for us under Mick, and played a part in some important wins but is that enough? Jamie O'Hara is an other option.

The same players have also take turns playing off a striker. Edwards has probably had the most success there, but O'Hara struck a decent partnership with Kevin Doyle before.


In the deeper positions, all of them can play there, to a certain degree. Guedioura starred there for Nottingham Forest last season in the Championship, will Stale have seen that? Karl Henry, David Davis and Nenad Milijas would appear to be the main three battling for that position though.

And Eggy, with his neat haircut? Maybe he can play at the back?

Perhaps we should just leave it to Mr.Solbakken.

What do you think our midfield will look like?

Wolves sign Nouble

We've made our first official signing of the summer!

Sadly it comes in the quite underwhelming shape of 20 year old forward Frank Nouble, who had been released by West Ham in May.

He's made limited appearance for the Hammers and been on loan to various clubs.

I sense Wolves fans won't be impressed, as the consensus is that he's quite a poor footballer but I think we need to make sure we give him the backing he need to progress here. He's strong and quick, and you never know, he may be the 'Vokes' of the 08/09 season. Someone who can come on and offer something different.

On Vokes, it wouldn't surprise me if he is the first forward to leave Molineux. As Nouble will come in as the young back up player (which is strange enough with Cassidy, Winnall and McLinden all looking to get a chance) I can see Sam leaving us for good. I've always rated him, and he scored some important goals but I think it would be best for him to leave. He needs more stability to progress into the good footballer he could become.

This could be the beginning of a busy summer, with the signing of Bjarn Siguardarson looking to happen halfway through July. Hopefully there are more ins than outs!

Fixtures released

Wolves will start their 2012/13 Championship campaign with a tricky game at Neil Warnock's Leeds! Ståle will have his work cut out, Elland Road being a tough place to go, but against a Warnock team will be a taste of things to come, him being the ultimate Championship manager (along with Mick!). 


After that we play Barnsley at home, and play our first ever game at Cardiff's new stadium following another home game against Derby. Not an easy start, but if Ståle has us ready by then then we could definitely get off to a good start. 


Derby games against managerless Birmingham are on December the 8th and April the 1st, both sure to be spicy games and in all likeliness on tele.


We finish the season with games against Charlton away, Burnley at home and finally Brighton away. 


You can get all the fixtures on the Wolves website here: http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/Fixtures?WT.mc_id=fixrel1806

Who can Ståle re-ignite?

It's going to be interesting to see who Ståle Solbakken rates, and even more so who he bins off straight away. For example, will he have the same love for Stephen Ward? When the going gets tough, will he bring in Jody Craddock? Most of all, there are players who badly needed this change, to get the Wolves careers back on track. Here are some:

Adam Hammill
On reading about the way Ståle's team likes to play, one thing came up plenty of times. He likes his wingers to drift in, letting the full backs bomb forward round the outside. Much like Michael Kightly, this will really suit Adam Hammill's style. We know he likes to bring out a trick or two, but we are yet to see him really produce in quality consistently in a match. We know, like other players in our squad, that he can star in this league.

Ronald Zubar
As painful as it was to watch Zubar as the season went on, I think he could have a role to play next season, if he is still there. His shocking positional sense and lack of defensive nous won't be shown up as much and as mentioned above, Ståle likes to have his full backs getting forward. With some decent coaching, it's possible that Ronald might, just might be an important player for us next season.

Ebanks-Blake is Wanderer's number 9

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
There is no better feeling than when Sylvan scores for me. The man who fired us into the Premier League has had a tough time in the last three years, showing glimpses of the striker we adore. Back in the Championship, he could become the main man again and given decent service, he WILL score goals.


Nenad Milijas
Another thing I picked up on reading through Copenhagen fans' views on Ståle, was that in his 4-4-2 system, the two centre midfielders sit very deep, allowing the other four to get on with he attacking duties. For technical ability, and a football brain Nenad is probably the best we have and I think he has thrived in the deep lying play maker role when we have attempted to keep the ball. A move back abroad wouldn't surprise me, but I'm a big fan of Milijas and think he would be way too good for the Championship.

Others like Adlene Guedioura and Jamie O'Hara could also be big players under Solbakken. Both will be desperate to win the Wolves fans back over and with their quality, could find a year in the Championship a nice confidence booster.

There will be ins and outs, but I get the feeling there will be players who are like 'new signings' for Ståle.

What has happened to Kevin Doyle?

"I won't make a rash decision on my future. Ideally I would love to be back playing in the Premier League but also I don't want to be relegated again. I would rather have a year in the Championship fighting to be promoted."

Things can change very quickly in nearly a year.
On July the 3rd last year the Internet went mad when Arsenal were heavily linked with a £12m move for Kevin Doyle. In an article about it, even suggested asking for £15 million for him. 


Now we will be lucky to get £5m for him and with him saying he doesn't want to play for a team in a relegation battle, it looks like he will be set to stay at Molineux for at least another year.


The question is, will we see the Kevin Doyle of old, or the one we've seen this season? 

he was worth every penny of the £6.5m we spent on him, as he hustled and bustled his way to keeping us in the Premier League in  his first year. In fact, watching Didier Drogba in the Champions League really reminded me of those performances from Doyler in 2009/10, Liverpool at home sticking out. The next started slowly for him but when he got going we improved as a team and looked set to stay up. His injury nearly cost us our Premier League status until the three Stephens (Hunt, Ward and Fletcher) fought to keep us up.

Since then, good performances from Kevin have been limited. The goals have dried up even more, and he has looked lethargic at times. Why? 

I noticed this season that Mick was careful with Fletcher, resting him (especially over the Christmas period). It seemed that he had realise what he had done to Doyle, burning him out and running him ragged on his own up front. His confidence dropped and he began to pick up more and more injuries. 

If Ståle can reignite him, and we can see him back to his old self then he will surely be too good for the Championship, and strengthen our chances of an instant return to the Premier League. He was a joy to watch as he twisted and turned defenders, pulling them apart and running them ragged. 

Let's hope Ståle thinks the same.