Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 v Rotherham United 0

Amongst all the bluster and gnashing of teeth at last week’s announcement of the £5.1bn deal to televise the Premier League was a comment by Tom Peck in The Independent. “Why should we resent players their wealth?” he wrote. “The Premier League unlike most institutions in this country is ruthlessly meritocratic. Why” he continued “do so few posh people make it as footballers? Because it doesn’t matter who you are or who you know. It matters solely how good you are.” At face value Peck is right. Very few posh people do succeed in football but I would argue that the reasons for this are not quite as black and white as he would make out.

As a little lad I was a good footballer good enough to represent Wolverhampton Schoolboys throughout my time in secondary education. Good enough at one point even for Bill McGarry to come knocking at my...

Wolves 1 v Reading 2

Pick the bones out of that then. But where to start? How about the referee, Keith Hill. Not good. Is that euphemism for poor? From the off you could tell from Mr Hill’s gait that an athlete he is not, an impression barely improved on by his manner which was both fussy and lacked presence. Never has shaving foam been applied to the pitch with such bravado and extravagance and never have substituted players (Reading) been permitted to stroll off the pitch in the blatant pursuit of time wasting without reprimand. If anything is guaranteed to raise the ire of the football supporter it is gamesmanship - bordering on cheating - and in that regard Reading gained top marks and Mr Hill gained none.

So we have done the ref, what about the Wolves. Regrettably, also poor. As has been the pattern of recent games plenty of possession with far too little to show for it...

I always feel a little uneasy when an England Captain starts spouting that his team has “learned from their mistakes” as if the mere fact of saying it will instil the players with a degree of self belief that doesn’t actually exist. This was Chris Robshaw interviewed ahead of last nights Six Nations opener against the much loved Welsh.

Then again I feel very comfortable when a Welsh Captain claims “We are happy to be favourites” in the belief that the psychological advantage bestows a winning mentality, when in reality it shouts “pride before a fall”. Such was the lot of Sam Warburton following last nights 21-16 defeat at the Millennium Stadium against a resurgent English unit.

The English and rugby (indeed most sports) are a funny lot. Within the British Isles we select our teams from a population treble that of the combined populations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Given this...

Wolves 0 v Charlton Athletic 0

Picture the scene. It’s a drab Wednesday morning in October and Jez Moxey is meeting with his marketing team brainstorming revenue raising ideas. There’s a whiteboard on which have been written some fairly prosaic suggestions when all of a sudden one of the team pipe’s up. “How does this sound. We’ve got spare capacity in the ground. Why don’t we offer a season ticket for the second half of the season and as a hook to land the catch how about giving every season ticket holder the chance to bring a guest in for free. They’ll be that impressed with the football they’ll sign up the next day”.

There’s a saying in TV that you should never work with animals because of their inherent unpredictability. Well that premise can now be extended to include eleven men in gold and black for as puppy dogs sales go, this one failed to hit the mark. If portions of last...

Wolves 2 v Blackpool 0

I blame Sir Jack. It’s an odds on bet that I would not be sitting here writing this if the man affectionately known as “Union Jack” Hayward had not put his hand into a fairly deep pocket and taken a punt on a sure fire investment known as Wolverhampton Wanderers. I sense it would have been 1993 when my father returned to the office following a lunchtime tour of the new Billy Wright stand, waxing lyrical about an Executive Club where you could have a meal before the game, a coffee at half time and seats in a prime spot on the half way line. “What do you think?” he asked with a mischievous glint in the eye. “How much?“ I asked somewhat incredulously "we can’t afford it”, which only served to spur him on in entirely the opposite direction. He bought two tickets and I’ve not left since.

It’s probably fair to say that given how much Sir Jack put into his hometown...

Wolves 1 v Brighton & HA 1

You may or may not be aware that Brighton & HA featured in the news recently though for issues other than the performance of their players on the pitch. A group of sociology students from that fount of academic excellence, Varndean College, (I know I’d never heard of it either) were encouraged to study the behaviour of, or as Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times described them, “uneducated, illiterate, right wing working class-scum”, by mingling with Millwall fans at close quarters during their game against Brighton a couple of weeks ago. Rod was less than enamoured with the pretext on which this research was being conducted deeming it to be yet another example of how those entirely disconnected from the working class roots of the game are attempting to ridicule it - and by implication sanitise - by demonstrating that it is indeed followed by folk whose arms drop...

Wolves 1 v AFC Bournemouth 2

Who’d be a referee heh. Rarely praised when they’ve had a good game, vilified when not, they are always fair game for a verbal shellacking from the cerebrally challenged whose view of proceedings on the pitch, is not always the most objective. In the main most fans recognise that it’s a difficult job and thus tend to give the man in the middle a modicum of leeway when the odd blooper is made. Where they are less understanding is when a crass decision is made, one which ultimately changes the course of a game. Such was referee Mike Jones’ lot today.

It would be wrong to say that this game hinged on Rajiv van la Parra’s dismissal in minute 55 for a clash of heads with Steve Cook. For up until that point Bournemouth had looked a more than capable side, the trio of Matt Richie, Harry Artur and Callum Wilson posing a constant threat whenever they were in...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Nottingham Forest 3

These are strange and slightly troubling times at Molineux. Ten points from the last ten games, an attack firing blanks, a defence leaking goals and the Club’s best left back (Scott Golbourne) not even on the bench. The confidence that was garnered from a rousing promotion season has now all but evaporated and Wolves find themselves at a pivotal point in their season. For the first time since he arrived Manager Jackett will be feeling the pressure of the expectation that he has created.

As for the game this was an encounter which both teams needed to win, their records coming in to the match poor and somewhat denting seemingly good starts to the season. After an opening quarter in which nary a chance was created the game opened up although it was the visitors who looked the more dangerous. On 29 minutes Carl Ikeme parried a fine...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Birmingham City 0

I am sorry that Lee Clark has gone. I know, it’s a sentiment that will not endear me to folk in and around Small Heath. But his departure means that no longer will I be able to listen to his wonderful Geordie accent an antidote, if ever there were one, to the lazy Brummy lilt. Perhaps it was the hard vowels that finally did it for him; that and the small matter of an 8-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

Into Clark’s shoes has stepped Gary Rowett, one time Birmingham defensive stalwart and - until last week - Burton Albion manager. Five days (if it were actually that long) may be a long time in politics but it doesn’t offer much time in which to prepare for the cut and thrust of a local derby against high flying Wolverhampton Wanderers. But all credit to the boy. Not only did he raise spirits, following that record defeat, but he also made his...

Wolves 2 v Middlesbrough 0

Saturday’s defensive frailties, when three goals were shipped in the final third of the game to give Millwall a point, will have focused minds. Richard Stearman and Scott Golbourne were the casualties as Manager Jackett sought to shore up the defence by bringing in Ethan Ebanks-Landell at centre back and moving midfielder George Rowe to left back.

On paper it worked. But at times, particularly during the last fifteen minutes of the first half, the Wolves’ defence looked less than assured having to rely on keeper Carl Ikeme to deny the visitors a deserved opening. By this time Wolves were one to the good, Bakary Sako’s impudent penalty giving them the lead on the half hour following a foul on Nouha Dicko. But, bar that single effort, Wolves had struggled to mount any real threat during a half somewhat hampered by the fag end of Hurricane Gonzales.

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