Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Liverpool 3

Eight months have passed since a stuttering Liverpool were well and truly trounced by Wolves under the animated guidance of Julen Lopetegui. As that well worn anthem “You’re getting sacked in the morning” rang out from the South Bank, little did we know that it would be the Wolves head coach rather than Jurgen Klopp who would part company with his club prior to the start of the new season. Pivotal to that February triumph were Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Adama Traore. But, like Lopetegui, they too are no longer on the Molineux payroll and with Liverpool having shrugged off last season’s crisis of confidence, the odds on another 3-0 Wolves triumph were slight.

But as the game went beyond the 80th minute mark, Wolves were battling gamely, still on equal terms. The unlikely prospect of a draw was getting ever closer until four minutes later they...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Brighton & Hove Albion 4

Back in 2002 Onora O’Neill gave a Reith Lecture in which she addressed the subject of Trust. The theme of her lecture was that in spite of the growth in regulation i.e. ever greater numbers of rules, laws, forms etc to abide by and fill out, standards of behaviour and how organisations function had continued to decline. BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Onora O'Neill - A Question of Trust That was over twenty years ago now and if anything the slide has continued, infantilizing Health and Safety edicts, banks who treat us all as money launderers or fraudsters and an electoral commission that now requires us to produce ID before we can vote being just a few of the ways in which trust incrementally erodes.

In an effort to make football a paragon of virtue the Premier League made its own stab at trust enhancement by introducing VAR...

With less than a week to go before Wolves start their Premier League season parting company with the manager – a man who arrived at the Molineux with the side bottom of the league and went on to save their Premier League status - is less than ideal. We were told when Wolves appointed Julen Lopetegui that he had been on Wolves’ radar for years, ahead even of the talismanic Nuno. And from the off his touchline animation left no one in doubt as to his commitment to the cause berating his charges at any hint that they too weren’t similarly committed. The football wasn’t great and he perpetually tinkered, but no one could doubt the effort as bit by bit Wolves extricated themselves from the mire. A more than creditable thirteenth place finish and the chance to rebuild hinted at sunnier uplands.

But as the cloying hand of fair play began to deny him promised new signings Lopetegui, not...

Ever since Titleist developed the Pro VI golf ball, the custodians of the game have been living a Faustian existence, allowing the golf ball to be hit ever greater distances whilst simultaneously trying to protect the great championship courses on which the game is played. These conflicting interests reached their nadir at the 2020 US Open played that year at Winged Foot’s West Course. The New York venue has a long association with the US Open having hosted it on five previous occasions and in 2020 the US Golf Association was keen that it match their desire to be fiendishly difficult i.e. narrow fairways, penal rough, lightning fast greens.

Unfortunately their preparation had failed to take account of one Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau. Known as “The Scientist”, for his analytical approach, DeChambeau had devised a strategy, based on three main elements, to beat the course;

1. Bulk up...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Everton 1

And so … the last home game of the season and the first where the mood in the stands was relatively stress free. You sensed it from the relaxed manner in which folk entered the stadium and on the field as players took the kind of risks that might not be attempted were Premier League survival still an issue. One of those who was trying a bit too hard was Adama Traore as he contrived to squander possession all too frequently such that I was beginning to tire of his flatter to deceive status. Then, with 34 minutes gone, he decided to prove me wrong as he collected the ball on the edge of the Wolves D. The afterburners were ignited and off he set gallivanting into the Everton half, three blue shirts trailing in his wake. Reaching the edge of the opposition box he fired an excellent strike which Jordan Pickford could only parry into the path of Hwang...

6th May 2023
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Aston Villa 0

Whilst the crowning of King Charles III was drawing a global tv audience, a few miles further north, a local football derby was consuming a slightly smaller gathering though possibly a more febrile one than that in Westminster Abbey. With the home side’s Premier League status still not finalised and, on the back of an appalling defeat away at Brighton a week ago, it was an odds on certainty that the Wolves faithful were in for a nervy afternoon. Which is how it panned out as the Old Gold fought hard to seal a narrow victory and finally put their Premier League survival beyond doubt.

The game had still to get going when Wolves secured a corner in the ninth minute. Its delivery was delayed by Aston Villa’s attempts to deny Matt Dawson a free run at the ball. The effort however backfired for when the ball was finally delivered it...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Crystal Palace 0

When, in 2011, Patrick Vieira finally hung up his boots following a glittering playing career, the move into management was a natural next step. His first role was as head of Manchester City’s Academy where he spent two years before taking the reins at Major League Soccer club New York City FC. He followed that with a further two years at Ligue 1 Club Nice before Crystal Palace came calling. The middle ranking south London club appeared to offer the perfect berth. A chance to develop a young talented squad of players whilst maintaining a relatively low profile. And up until Christmas 2022, all was going to plan. Vieira’s young side were fairing well and his physical presence, allied to a calm understated persona, made him a man to keep an eye on.

That was until the new year dawned and everything started to unravel. In his final twelve...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Chelsea 0

Writing in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago Matthew Syed penned an interesting piece under the heading “Spare us the do-gooding chancellors who can’t help meddling in our lives”. The basic premise of his argument was that we live in an age where all administrations want to fix things in the hope that they will improve the functioning of that thing we call society. Using the Jeremy Hunt budget as an exemplar he wrote “the more they prod, poke and interfere the more they increase the complexity and unpredictability of the system”.

Whatever the noble motives the results are invariably the opposite of what was intended. And in this regard I can think of no better example than VAR. Lauded when introduced as bringing about an end to human error in refereeing decisions it has if anything achieved the complete opposite. More time now is taken up...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Leeds United 4

All sides self-destruct. Brazil v Germany in the 2014 World Cup. Manchester United v Liverpool just over a fortnight ago. Wolves v Leeds United on the 18th March 2022, exactly a year ago to the day. 2-0 up and cruising at half time the Molineux faithful were in fine voice as they sang “Leeds … Leeds are falling apart …… again” to the tune “Love will tear us apart”. How ironic then that in the second half it was Wolves who did their best to emulate the Keystone Kops allowing Leeds to fight back overhauling the deficit and, in the process, inflict a humiliating 3-2 home defeat.

We didn’t know it at the time, but this encounter probably marked the beginning of the end for the Bruno Lage tenure. Of the nine remaining games in the season Wolves garnered a meagre five points from a possible 27. If that wasn’t bad enough they continued this form...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Tottenham Hotspur 0

A month on from what appeared to be a transformative win against Liverpool, Wolves continue to frustrate. The ten man heroics away at Southampton made the subsequent home game against struggling Bournemouth a three point banker. Sadly not, as nightmare defeat ensued. There then followed a wonderfully fluid first half performance away at Fulham which should have yielded more than the one goal that did materialise. One sensed it was an opportunity missed and from the moment Fulham equalised, halfway through the second half, Wolves were awful. I could barely watch the final ten minutes during which the Old Gold were certainly consistent if only in giving the ball away cheaply. This allowed Fulham plenty of good possession which, mercifully, they failed to use. Liverpool away on Wednesday were a different side to the one which visited...