Wolves cruise to comfortable win
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 door. I was educated rather than posh but played in a side where that did not count against me. Our Town Schoolboy side was a good one and in my final school year a match was arranged against the Wolves Youth team for whom Wayne Clarke and Jerry O’Hara were playing. In terms of skill level there was little to discern between us. Where the lads from the professional sphere were superior however was in their fitness, their strength and their use of the Queens English at the lower end. Never have I heard swearing and abuse to match it and the prospect of endless days spent in the narrow confines of the training ground in the company of lads with whom I would have nothing in common swiftly ended any thoughts of a career in the beautiful game. Now you could argue “what a wuss” and you might possibly be right. But as Graeme Le Saux famously claimed, whilst playing at Chelsea, he had to hide the fact that he read The Times from his team mates because had they found out he would have been mercilessly ridiculed. So it’s an odds on bet that I am not alone in self selecting.
If we take the argument a stage further, the last England team to win a major world championship was the rugby side of 2003. That side was comprised of one or two educated, nay posh, boys. If we then consider why Germany’s football teams perpetually perform well I would argue that it is because they are made up of lads with O Levels. Now I’m not saying that those without O Levels can’t hack it at the pinnacle of the game. You need a balance, but English football’s “meritocracy” - based on an under representation of O Levels - is what will consign it to continuing failure. Something at least to ponder as you prepare to read today’s exciting match report.
The last time these two sides met there were ten goals in an end of season extravaganza. Then the margin of Wolves’ victory was two. Today it was five with the home side barely extended by Rotherham who, had they converted a series of good chances, could have made the game more of a contest. As it was, matters ended with Wolves dominant and still very much in the frame for a play-off slot.
The pattern of the game was set in the first twenty minutes with Wolves moving the ball around confidently all the while probing for an opening. Their dominance was rewarded when in minute 21 a nicely flighted ball from Kevin McDonald found Benik Afobe beyond the Rotherham back four. Bringing the ball down neatly he moved it quickly into his path allowing time to sweep it passed the advancing Adam Collins. Seven minutes later the home side made it two when Afobe turned provider, feeding Nouha Dicko who finished well from just inside the box. Somewhat stung by the turn of events in the 35th minute Rotherham hit a post when ex Wolves player Adam Hammill saw his searching forward ball deflected onto a post. Then with seconds of the half remaining Matt Derbyshire made a complete Horlicks of his volley when well placed with only Tomasz Kuszczak to beat.
Following the half time break the early exchanges of the second were won by Rotherham, Wolves seemingly unable to get the ball out of their own half. On 60 minutes Matt Derbyshire’s header brought a fine save from Kuszczak who parried the ball to safety. From the ensuing corner Wolves mustered a counter attack with the ball reaching James Henry on the half way line. Biding his time, his slide rule pass split the Rotherham defence finding Afobe with only Collins to beat. The young striker kept his head, dummying his way around the Rotherham keeper before slotting the ball into an empty net. The goal effectively ended the game as a contest and although Kuszczak made two further fine saves, Rotherham never really looked like scoring. David Edwards with a near post header and Bakary Sako with a right foot miss hit piled further misery onto the South Yorkshiremen whose supporters started to depart, helped on their way by the chant “Can we play you every week”.
Coach Jackett was understandably pleased by the performance coming as it did on the back of a lacklustre result away at Norwich. Whether Wolves are ready for promotion, however, is a moot point.
Wolves: Kuszczak 7, Iorfa 7, Batth 6, Stearman 6, Golbourne 6 Sub Hause, Henry 7, McDonald 7, Edwards 7, Sako 6, Dicko 7 Sub Doyle, Afobe 8 Sub van la Parra
Rotherham: Collin 6, Richardson 5, Arnason 5, Broadfoot 5, Fryers 6, Green 5, Hammill 6 Sub Newton, Smallwood 6, Milsom 5 Sub Sammon, Derbyshire 5 Sub Clarke Harris, Ward 5
Attendance: 20,336
Referee: Iain Williamson 8
MB