Wolverhampton Wanderers 4 v Leeds United 1

Two nil up at half time Wolves were cruising to yet another convincing home win. Goals by Barry Douglas, an excellent curling free kick, and a fine solo effort by the lively Ivan Cavaleiro, were just reward for a fine first half performance.

Then, with barely two minutes of the second half gone, a fine curling cross from Samuel Saiz was met on the volley by Ezgjan Alioski and from his left boot the ball flew passed John Ruddy into the Wolves net. Where once all was calm, now things were edgy, as the home side sat back allowing Leeds to gain a tentative foothold in the game. And with half an hour still to go twenty odd years of watching Wolves from the Billy Quiet prompted a Pavlovian “we are in for a nervous half hour”.

Almost immediately Ronaldo Vieira was dismissed for a second bookable offence and the tension somewhat subsided. Then...

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of England’s recent games against Germany and Brazil was the absence of that willing trier Jordan Henderson. I hold nothing personal against the lad other than his inability to show any flair or imagination when in possession of a football. He is the classic English default midfielder a player who you can count on to do a job without affecting the outcome of the game.

Ever since the retirement of Bobby Charlton in the early 1970’s English football teams have shown a stubborn tendency to shun those midfield players who were invariably described as “mercurial” even though they could do things with a football that others couldn’t. Rather than considering what they could do, they were judged for what they couldn’t which invariably meant an inability to tackle effectively or to track back and defend with sufficient vigour. Think Tony Currie who, in the...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Fulham FC 0

It seems like an age since Wolves stumbled across the line against a stubborn Preston North End unit. Since when England’s U17 boys have won the Football World Cup, Lewis Hamilton has claimed his 4th F1 driver’s championship and Prue Leith’s dyspraxic Tweet blew open the oven door on Ch4’s first Bake Off final. As for the Old Gold they caused a scare at the Etihad before going down rather tamely against Queens Park Rangers. However Tuesday’s impressive 2-0 win away at Norwich City got them back on track and it was thus with much anticipation that I wandered up the Newhampton Road pondering the evening’s game.

Fulham are regarded as one of the better footballing sides in the championship. If that is the case then they have a long way to go to match the skill and endeavour of Wolverhampton Wanderers as the home side once again dominated...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Preston North End 2

This was a strange game. With just under half an hour of the match remaining and three to the good Wolves were cruising to a comfortable home win. Goals by Ivan Cavaleiro and a Leo Bonatini brace had put them in the ascendancy against a Preston North End unit whose raison d’etre had been to spoil. In an effort to upset Wolves’ flow, the visitors had spent two thirds of the game tripping and pulling their opponents and for most of the first half it had worked.

But a deficit of three forced a change in approach and barely a minute after Leo Bonatini had bundled the ball into the Preston net a low cross from the right wing was headed in by Jordan Hugill. Ten minutes later Alan Browne collected the ball beyond the Wolves back line. Pulling it back from the byeline it was met by a retreating Conor Coady who could do no more than divert it...

Wolves 2 v Aston Villa 0

When in May Wolves ended their season with a 1-0 win over Preston North End, I suggested that Paul Lambert had done enough to be given an extension to his contract – at least until Christmas 2017. My reasoning was that it would give him time to build a settled team and create a method of play. But I also said that if by then he had achieved neither it was unlikely that he ever would.

We will never know whether that prophecy was correct because, before May was out, so too was Lambert, replaced by the Portuguese coach Nuno Espirito Santo. My immediate reaction was one of Gallic shrug resignation. He we go again. A new regime embarking on the discredited merry go round strategy to managerial appointments. “What” I thought “does this bloke possess that the previous dozen didn’t?”.

The answer, quite simply, is quite a lot. In the short time Nuno has been at...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Barnsley 1

Two years ago you may recall I made mention of a player recruitment system employed by Brentford FC known as mathematical modelling; i.e. where those who rank highly by the most number of passes completed, or successful headers/tackles made are selected ahead of others. Designed for clubs of limited financial resource it also goes by the name Moneyball, the title of a book written by the economist Michael Lewis about an American baseball team, which was subsequently turned into a film starring Brad Pitt. All this preamble is a rather roundabout way of saying that though they reside in deepest South Yorkshire, Barnsley FC is also an advocate of the Moneyball method.

It is nearly twelve months since Wolves last played host to Barnsley. On that occasion the home side lost 4-0, their Manager Walter Zenga displaying a worrying lack of clarity in both...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Bristol City 3

Had this been a boxing contest over ten rounds Wolves would have won on points. They edged all the extraneous numbers; possession 56% to 44%, shots, 21 to 12, shots on target 6 to 4 and even corners, 9 to 8. But in the only column that matters they came up evens a fact that they no doubt regret.

First off, in marked contrast to Saturday’s rather soporific affair, this was a thrilling contest. It had everything. Good football, honest endeavour, refereeing blunders, heated exchanges, a touch line scuffle and six goals. And from the off Wolves dominated affairs playing slick passing football the like of which I have not seen in a long time. Indeed after twenty five minutes of total domination I leaned forward and said the chap in front of me “Who are the team playing in Old Gold?” Two minutes later Alfred N’Diaye, who had impressed throughout...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Millwall 0

What price the soul of a football club? When in the 1990’s Sir Jack Hayward started pouring his millions into the bottomless well that was Wolverhampton Wanderers, diehard supporters thought nothing of it. Sir Jack, afterall, was one of them, a local lad made good who wanted to resurrect a once great football establishment. Had he applied the same due diligence to that which he allocated to his investments in the Bahamas, it is unlikely that he would ever have touched the Old Gold. But for Sir Jack it was more than just about the money. He had great affection for his home town and its famous football club and it was his way of “putting something back”. The Club retained its soul and in the process Sir Jack turned himself into saint.

Following Sir Jack was always going to be a big ask. But when Steve Morgan bought the Club for a nominal £10 in...

On a personal level Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a special place. In 1976 it was the venue for the first Open Championship that I attended. Those of you long enough in the tooth will recall that 1976 was the year of the drought and on the first day of the championship the weather did not disappoint. We arrived in Southport mid morning and after a brief visit to the practice ground sought out a suitable vantage point to view the action at the sharp end. Unlike many an Open venue Birkdale’s famous dunes offer natural vantage points and eventually we worked out that a position behind the 8th green allowed you to watch players hit into the green – before putting out – and then you could dash to the nearby 9th tee from where you could see them tee off. To this day the sight of Hale Irwin hitting a 3 iron down the ninth is seared into my memory. The ninth is long par four with a slight dog...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Preston North End 0

When in February of last year Wolves entertained Preston I concluded my piece with the following sign off “The Club is up for sale with an owner who has lost heart. Until that issue is settled Wolves are going nowhere”.

Only four weeks ago I repeated the phrase “Wolves are going nowhere” when they were thoroughly outplayed by Brighton. A lot, of course, has happened in the intervening fourteen months, not much of it very good. Steve Morgan would probably disagree, his sale of the club in June to the Chinese firm Fosun, at last providing the escape route that he had so long desired. As for the Wolves faithful here, finally, was the solution to a perceived lack of investment in the team.

Within days of Fosun’s arrival out went the unloved CEO Jez Moxey together with the respected coach Kenny Jackett. Given all that has happened since...