So, after what seemed like an eternity England’s 2018 World Cup campaign finally departed the platform with the hopes of the nation riding on the shoulders of what is by any reckoning a young squad of players. Throughout the build up Manager Gareth Southgate had been at pains to dampen expectation a wake of rank failure having blighted the campaigns of previous incumbents to the role. Furthermore, the knowledge that barely 30% of Premier League starting elevens are comprised of English stock tells us that the raw material from which to build a world cup winning side is severely limited.

In an effort to negate this Southgate has devised a 3-5-2 system which the players understand and have bought into whilst simultaneously putting effort into building resilience, something which English sides at major tournaments have been distinctly lacking. So at last a degree of common sense, but...

Not since 1989 has a golfer defended his crown at the US Open Championship. Curtis Strange was the player in question, the course Oak Hill in upstate New York. To the list of those who have achieved the feat – Ben Hogan was the only other - can now be added the name of Brooks Koepke whose near faultless final round at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island New York saw him retain the title that he claimed last year at Erin Hills, Wisconsin.

The US Open has long been regarded as the golf major which presents the sternest of mental examinations. Those of a short fuse tend to struggle. It also tests every physical aspect of a golfer’s game any hint of technical weakness being brutally exposed. Yesterday this was laid bare on the greens where time and again Koepke’s nerve allowed him to hole a succession of clutch putts. By contrast the nervous timidity of playing partner Dustin Johnson’s putting...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Sheffield Wednesday 0

In the end the title was won at a canter. The nail biting climax to the season mercifully avoided. The hard work will shortly begin but if ever Wolves had a chance of gaining a foothold in the premier league, this season’s vintage has as much if not more than the previous two. I have always argued that promotion must be achieved with a team playing well and adopting a pattern of play which is both effective and well understood. In that regard Coach Nuno Espirito Santo has exceeded expectations and if there was a defining moment which characterised that he knew what he was doing it was in recognising the strengths of both Conor Coady and Matt Doherty and having done so, switching them from what previous managers had assumed to be their most effective positions. From that point on everything else fell into place and under his excellent...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Birmingham City 0

As I was settling down to dinner last night Frenchman Neal Maupay was not high on the list of shiny and new talking points. Some ten minutes later, just as I was polishing off a last strand of spaghetti son Tom received a text from his mate. All it said was “Congratulations!!” We neither knew its context until I thought “I bet Brentford have just scored.” As indeed they had, Neal Maupay the name on the scoresheet. “We have done it. We are up!” I exclaimed “. Pour me another glass of wine”.

Had young Maupay not scored last night the walk to the Molineux today would have been a nervous one. Promotion had still to be achieved. But as it was that self same walk was one taken with a spring in the step rejoicing in the knowledge that next year Wolverhampton Wanderers would be plying their trade in the Premier League. With goal number one...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Derby County 0

You may recall that last time out, following Wolves’ opportune win away to Cardiff, Bumble was starting his car. Well he’s just moved it up into third, following a flawless Wolves win against play off seeking Derby County.

With the chasing pack – bar Cardiff – all winning last night, there was no let up for Wolves as they chase automatic promotion from the Championship. Derby too needed a win if they are to secure a play off birth and they started brightly with a couple of early attempts on goal. But in minute six Diogo Jota broke free of the offside trap to collect a floated pass from Willy Boly. Cushioning the ball on his thigh and with back to goal in one movement he turned and dinked the ball passed Scott Carson into the Derby net. It was a delightful goal and set the template for the remainder of the evening. On 13 minutes Ruben Neves...

So ….. when the tented village has been finally dismantled and the tee markers are once again returned to their more forward positions, how will the events of the 2018 US Masters be remembered? Will they, for instance, rejoice in the coming of age of a much admired Texan born youngster who stood firm in the face of a concerted challenge from his less revered compatriots to claim a first major title? Or will they lament that the chasing pack, containing some of golf’s most wholesome individuals, were unable to prevent the pantomime villain from claiming the crown?

Life is not a fairy tale and not every story has a happy ending. But, then again that depends on where you are sitting. For Patrick Reed his victory at the 2018 US Masters is a dream come true and vindication of his 2014 claim – having become only the fifth player in history to win three PGA Tour events before his 24th...

Cardiff City 0 v Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Has Neil Warnock been overcome by a dose of piety? I ask the question in light of his post match reaction to the dramatic end to last night’s enthralling encounter in which Cardiff missed two stoppage time penalties. Somewhat overcome by the emotional roller coaster that he had just endured opposite number Nuno Espirito Santos could control himself no more, running onto the pitch in jubilant celebration and in the process omitting to shake Warnock’s hand. Clearly furious, the Cardiff boss disappeared into the stand, effing and blinding as he did so. When, some time later, he was asked what he thought of Nuno’s behaviour Warnock responded rather in the manner of an Indian Viceroy commenting on a servant “He has to learn that it’s not the way we do things here”. Coming from a man who famously reduced his Sheffield United side to six men in an...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Hull City 2

When in the 78th minute Ryan Bennett put the ball into his own net Hull City found themselves deservedly ahead. For up to that point the best one could say of the home side was that they had been lacklustre. Shawn of the defence splitting passes of Ruben Neves and the probing runs of Matt Doherty it had taken them a full seventy two minutes to create a first chance in open play, Benik Afobe feeding Helda Costa who fired wide. Even their opening goal in the 17th minute owed much to fortune when Diogo Jota advanced into the Hull box before checking his run. As he turned he slipped but his fall coincided with a challenge from Michael Hector who was deemed to have clipped the Wolves striker. Referee Darren England wrongly pointed to the spot from where Jota blasted home.

One might have thought that the goal would have settled Wolves but it was not...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Burton Albion 1

For most of the season The Billy Wright benefits from having its back to the prevailing westerly wind. But not today as an anomalous northerly blew into the stand from the front bringing with it a sequence of dark clouds whose cargo of snow was periodically dispersed amongst us. By minute eighty my feet were numb a combination of the biting wind and poor circulation. It was pretty grim but at least by that advanced time Wolverhampton Wanderers were on their way to three points and ever closer to automatic promotion.

To all intents and purpose this was a practice game for the Old Gold. They dominated possession from start to finish and should have scored more than the three goals that they did manage to convert. Furthermore the one goal conceded was a soft concession following a corner shortly before half time. It possibly prompted a...

Wolves 3 v Reading 0

It is nineteen months since Reading last stepped out onto the Molineux turf. For Wolverhampton Wanderers all was in flux. The owner had gone. The CEO had gone. The manager had gone. Chinese owners Fosun were now in charge aided by the super agent Jorge Mendes. But whilst the chairs on the deck had been moved they were not necessarily facing the sunshine, as a season of disappointment ensued. It’s been a lot better since but with Wolves somewhat stuttering since the turn of the year, the climb to the Premier League is proving a harder ascent than was envisaged back in the heady days of November. After the heavy weekend defeat to local rivals Aston Villa, struggling Reading offered an opportunity to get things back on track.

And as opportunities go it was one which Wolves grabbed with both hands dominating possession from the off, the only surprise being that it...