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Last Modifications 8th May 2000.
Match Reports 1999 - 2000 Season.
Review of Wolves vs Portsmouth 1 - 1.Today the start of the match was an emotional moment as we were allowed to bid Steve Bull a fond farewell. A tribute was read by John Richard's and Sir Jack then Steve Bull had his chance but was lost for words as 20,000 fans sang his name. This moment was only spoilt by a few stupid portsmouth fans singing.
First Half :-
We started brightly and so did portsmouth they looked a very different team than last year and were passing it about well and their number 8 was running the midfield. We seemed to be a different team as though none of them had played together before. There was a lot of slack passing and we looked a little vulnerable at the back as Curle was having an off game. Even, Lee Naylor didn't seem himself but he still did some sterling work at the back. We mostly let them play and sat back Flo was getting the headers in but no one seemed to be reading him. Then out of the blue Flo got a header in that hit the crossbar and bounced down and somehow didn't go in and they booted it out. Then a hopeful ball pumped up from portsmouth which got behind Curle who tried to chest it back Stowell but it fell at Allen's feet and goal to portsmouth. Later another ball pumped forward caught Curle out of place and Stowell had to come way out of his goal but missed it and it was down to Emblen to put in a fantastic tackle to save us going 2 - 0 down. The only consolation was that Sinton was playing well apart from that our centre midfield was missing Osborn. Robinson was trying his best but was playing with Sedgley who did absolutely nothing. The team was booed off at half time it was that poor.Second Half :-
We started brightly again with Sinton down the wing and muscat and Bazeley linking up well on the other wing. Some neat passing began to be played. Then a few intelligent balls played around the edge of portsmouth penalty area and the ball came to Keane who turned in a small area ran a few feet and bang another goal in front of the Stan Cullis. It was a class goal. We seemed to have more self confidence then and started getting into the game more with more dangerous crosses coming across from the wings and the bye line. There were few chances for portsmouth only a chance that muscat had to clear off the line. Then in the last 10 minutes we really stepped it up and seemed to be peppering the Portsmouth goal with loads os close chances. The closest being a header by Keane which just went over the top it seemed harder to miss. Corica cam on for Keane and had a good chance near the end as well.Overall then, a sporadic performance with a lack of invention from midfield. This must be due to the loss of Osborn but there must be somebody better than Sedgley to put in. A young kid or something could have done what he did today. It was a good job Emblen had a good day today with Curle looking rusty. Too many players having an off day and luckily we have Keane who can sparkle and cheer you up after the worst of performances.
Waster of the Match : Steve Sedgley (for the umpteenth time)
Man of the Match : Neil Emblen, but a close second for a brilliant goal is Robbie Keane.
Review of Wolves vs Wycombe 2 - 4.Well with Keano gone it was bound to be a strange night. But after consultation with other fans around me tonight's performance (?) goes down as being as bad if not worse than the match against QPR at home last year. In other words absolutely shite!
First Half:-
We never had a chance that I can remember. Wycombe were hoofing the ball down the wings and beating our defence every time. First goal deflected off Muzzy to go in on 11 minutes. Our defence was rubbish. Curle was slow, Naylor and Muscat had an off day. The midfield wasn't much better with Sedgley lumbering around not doing much, Robinson trying the best he could on his own and Bazeley playing too deep therefore playing with just Sinton playing on the wing. Sinton had a blinder. Every time the ball came to him he looked to go forward and he did everything a winger should do. He got to the bye line and got good crosses in and other occasions got good crosses in but there was no one good enough to latch onto them. Then Wycombe scored again in the 26th minute. That's it 0 - 2 at half time.The start of the backlash against keane's sale started with the chant of Where's the money gone !
Second Half:-
Wycombe scored again in the 59th minute 0 - 3. It all looked doomed. Until the last 10 minutes when Corica came off and Larkin came on and Flo went off and Emblen went up front and Simpson came on for someone ?. We tore them apart Larkin scored a cracker (71), Emblen scored a good diving header (89) and another just missed. But we let them score in the 85th minute so that was it really. Nearly taking the game to extra time. We didn't deserve it though and I don't know why Lee didn't make a change 10 minutes after the second half started. Something had better happen before saturday or else I see protests will begin. Oh well we can concentrate on the league !!!!! If we don't get relegated.Waster of the Match : Steve Sedgley (for the umpteenth time)
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton in a different class tonight, but a close second Neil Emblen.
Review of Wolves vs Walsall 1 - 2.This was Tuesday's match revisited. Somebody said to me how could a team get so bad after only losing one player but they have. The heads have dropped and if they're not carefully relegation looms.
First Half:-
I can't even remember a shot on goal. Walsall scored from a set piece when their player was allowed a free header in the penalty area and goal. Robinson scored when Flo flicked on and Robinson blasted it in. We had a great chance before half time but then they played a numb through ball that bounced ahead of Curle. Curle indicated to Stowell to pick it up he kicked it out straight to a walsall player cross comes in goal. Half time 1 -2. Team went in the dressing room to a round of boos.Second Half:-
Much the same we looked a little more lively but not much. Sinton was outstanding all match getting some really good crosses but there was nobody to reach them. Near the end Naylor came on for Corica with Bazeley pushing up to right wing and Sedgley came on for Larkin with Emblen then pushing up to centre forward. We looked most likely to score a goal when Emblen ran through the midfield anyway. It's probably easier to rate each player. They went back into the dressing room at the end of the game to what a load of rubbish ! and, Richard's what's the score ? aimed at John Richard's who is under considerable pressure. There was also a protest outside the Billy Wright stand afterwards not particularly surprising.
Tony Daley got the chant of :- Where were you at Molyneux ? The referee was atrocious he penalized us for minor challenges but let walsall get away with so may challenges from behind and letting the goalkeeper floor Larkin so that didn't help.Stowell :- Steady but was definitely to blame for their second goal
Muscat :- Off form, made a few tackles and roughed Tony Daley up which is to be admired.
Bazeley:- Did nothing
Curle:- Looked slow and injured done nothing since Man City
Emblen:- Was really trying hard
Osborn:- Looked unfit. Never really got forward.
Robinson:- Trying his best but with no support
Corica:- Again trying his best at least he was running at players
Sinton:- Absolutely outstanding. So many older players have come here to collect the money and laugh but he was trying all game and was really frustrated at the rest of the team at the end
Flo:- Won some headers did very little.
Larkin:- First full match tried his best but wasn't really getting the service he demandsWaster of the Match : Hard to choose from so many
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton in a different class.
Review of Wolves vs Huddersfield Town 0 - 1.This started off as a meet and greet for Ade Akinbiyi and the french defender Ludovic Pollet and the crowd was a little bit higher in anticipation of a better performance.
First Half:-
We started brightly and spent a lot of time in the Huddersfield half. Sinton was putting over some cracking crosses. The first chance came to Bazeley who headed onto the bar. Unfortunately the referee we had today was rob (rolf) harris. Huddersfield had about 3 chances in the first half most of these down to a bald headed hopeless linesman who didn't know what he was doing. This resulted in Huddersfield hitting the post and the chance bouncing out. However, wolves played very well at times. Sinton was bombing down the left wing and huddersfield couldn't stop him. Well apart from giving him a good kick which was never punished. Flo looked a better player, Akinbiyi was very lively until a Huddersfield player decided to stamp on him off the play guess what never punished. We at times swarmed forward and had numerous corners but just couldn't score. Our defence did look shaky again on the counter attack. Muscat and Naylor also didn't have very good games again today.Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
It started all so well again with Robinson being inches away from a cross which he only had to touch to go in. Then 5 feet away from the goal Robinson hit another shot that hit the cross bar.Then Emblen seemed to bundle into a Marcus Stewart (who has been known to make a dive occasionally) in the 60th minute and penalty to Huddersfield. Stewart couldn't miss. It looked like the only way huddersfield were going to score. Then rolf harris showed how utterly crap he is when Clyde Wijnhard lashes out at Curle (they had been having a battle all day) surely violent conduct we thought he's got to be sent off. Not according to Rolf Harris just a booking and go on Huddersfield carry on and see if you can get another goal. What a turning point this would have been. They would have been down to 10 men and their best striker would have been off and perhaps wolves would have been boosted and started to play again.
5 minutes from the end Flo had a shot at goal and guess what it hit the bar and bounced out. Just not our day but not helped by 2 of the most incompetent officials ever seen. I dare the Football League to set up some way of complaining about officials. They were so bad today they didn't see the ball go out of play when Sinton was running down the wing or hear or see the ball clip stowell's hand which they gave a goal kick for. Steve Bruce and his assistant were not best pleased and had a good jumping up and down session on the touchline.
In conclusion we were the better side and we lost. We played well at times and at other times there was no pace to the midfield and they couldn't seem to defend or get the ball back if the opposition had got it. Sinton was outstanding. Bazeley was on the right but he ain't a winger he's a right back and when he's in front of Muscat they are too alike. Stowell had very little to do so I can't judge him. Naylor was putting too many passes wayward but he also got 2 heavy knocks to the ankle and limped off at the end. Basically they were all average no spark of inspiration.
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton in a different class yet again.
Review of Wolves vs West Brom 1 - 1.The usual atmosphere for this game was electric. Lots of noise lots of hatred.
First Half:-
The first 10 minutes we were very bright and went at them. Emblen partnered Akinbiyi up front and didn't look to out of place. We played 3 at the back with Curle, Pollet and Sedgley. The midfield was very lively with Scott Taylor standing out as getting stuck in however sneekes was up to the same late nasty challenges as last year and hughes was doing the same. However, we had the best chances in this half and were the better team. The first was a goal mouth scramble that looked as though it couldn't miss but somehow got kicked out. Most of the first half was a midfield scrap which we remarkably were winning. On 40 minutes some neat interplay and Taylor puts across a ball straight to Akinbiyi and he scores only to be ruled offside. Then a couple of minutes later and Akinbiyi scores and he knew what this goal meant to us. Crowd went wild. Then a couple of minutes later and we had another chance but I guess they were looking forward to their half time cup of tea.Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
The second half was a different match. At times west Brom looked unstoppable and our midfield rolled over and died. We never looked like scoring again which we needed to do. They got more organised at the back and began to close down Emblen and Akinbiyi. However, there were 3 incidents which swung the match. Sneekes kept making nasty challenges and was already on a booking - should have walked. Hughes kept moaning and tangling with Curle, Pollet. Pollet and Hughes tangled Hughes didn't like the decision and butted Pollet and never got booked - should have walked also made 4-5 other book able offences and tried to incite the crowd after they scored. Our midfield also seemed less willing to go forward. I think Robinson, Osborn and Taylor just ran out of puff. So we tried to do our usual tactic of sitting back and defending a lead. Didn't work. A dubious play on by the ref when we could have done with a free kick and then WBA get a corner and a player steams in at the back post and scores. WBA also had 2-3 other good chances Stowell had to make 2 very good saves. So we could have lost but we could have won if only we'd shown a bit of attack. I think we should have changed it around after they scored. Took off Sedgley - Sinton on and took off taylor and put Simpson or Corica on and gone for it. I think we settled for a draw.Stowell - two excellent saves.
Pollet - looked on top and never really put a foot wrong.
Sedgley - steady didn't really look too bad and I would slag him off if he was.
Curle - steady again and didn't look as shaky as recently he has done.
Muscat - Didn't really do much, lost the ball too much.
Taylor - Tenacious, I though along with many others that the injuries he's had and at his age he was past it. He was the best player in the first half by a long way. As I said above I think he tired in the second half. Is he the ball winning midfielder we want ?
Robinson - again looked out of place in the second half. Had a battle with Sneekes in the first half though. Got some challenges in but wasn't at his best.
Osborn - dropped too deep in the second half. Didn't get many tackles in but played a couple of telling balls through to Akinbiyi.
Bazeley - drifted in and out but I don't thing he's a winger. He dropped too deep.
Emblen - great work rate as always, never stopped although his ability sometimes showed him up but you can't fault him. He's a trier and he tried a excellent volley if it had gone in we'd be comparing him to bergkamp
Akinbiyi - Kept on working and running and scared the hell out of their defenders at times beginning to look better. I think he is now settling in and his match fitness is getting better.No subs used, why ?
Man of the Match : Neil Emblen close were Akinbiyi and Taylor.
Review of Wolves vs Bolton 1 - 0.The usual showing of Bob Taylor and the hatred of everything Bolton. Atmosphere was low as there were huge areas of empty seats.
First Half:-
We want at them from the start which resulted in a neat move and goal to Akinbiyi. We were in shock and some people were still filtering in from being in the pub too long. The only change from last week was that Robinson was called up for wales. So it was Corica in up front alongside Akinbiyi and Emblen dropping into midfield. However, Emblen continued from where he started off last week and was bursting through well to support the front 2.
We played well in this half. Taylor also carried on very well where he left off last week. The typical midfield hustler. However, Bazeley and Muscat were getting forward more than usual. Nothing was getting past Pollet and he was winning every header. Even Sedgley didn't play badly. Akinbiyi was running all over the pitch with Emblen supporting well. The only weak point was Corica who was getting into good positions but getting knocked off the ball too easily.
Other chances were long shots and the best chance fell to Taylor who hit hard and low but the keeper saved well.Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
We did our usual trick. Bolton came at us and our midfield caved in a bit and we were defending on the edge of our penalty area. Osborn did very little and is becoming my new steve Sedgley in that he defends very little, most of his passes were backwards or towards a opposition player and he constantly ran back wards therefore leaving a hole through the centre of midfield, marking no one and when he did mark someone he stood 5 - 6 foot away from him. This led to bolton having a few shots on goal and a gilt edge chance falling to holdsworth who arsed it up. Stowell also had to make a spectacular save. The in the last five minutes we raised our game. This was the result of Simpson coming on for Corica and Naylor coming on for Taylor who was just running out of steam. Akinbiyi had another 2 great chances. Simpson shot over the bar when it looked easier to score and Emblen hit the post. So we got away with defending deep but Akinbiyi could have had a hat trick.We also had one of the worlds dodgiest linesman who gave 3 off sides against us that never were and a throw in to the other side that was ours. Just the usual dodgy officials we get at Molyneux.
Stowell - Didn't have that much to do. Made one great save and did his usual tick of not coming off his line enough.
Muscat - Still not his best but did get up the pitch more to whip over some crosses. He did get a knock to the ankle in the first half which slowed him down a bit.
Bazeley - Steady and again got forward more.
Curle - a few too many miss kicks when clearing the ball but defended well
Pollet - defended well. no header got past him and he brought the ball out intelligently and ran up to the half way line well.
Sedgley - Didn't play bad. Same as last week a few good interceptions/tackles.
Taylor - Cracking first half getting challenges in all over the place and up and down the pitch in style. Still not fully match fit so went off.
Emblen - Great display. Barging forward and tackling back and nearly scoring again.
Osborn - Bad day I thought and booed by the crowd. The weak link in midfield to me.
Corica - Great positional play but loses the ball too much.
Akinbiyi - never stopped working all match. Should have scored more today but celebrated his goal in style and came over to the Stan Cullis to cheer our singing to him.Subs
Simpson - Struggled at first to pick up the pace but them played some good balls to Akinbiyi
Naylor - Dropped into left back pushing Muscat into central midfield. He was only on for 5 minutes but got forward and got a few crosses in. I think this may be a good idea to have muzzy tackling away in the centre. He can also play a bit so maybe a idea for the future.Man of the Match : Ade Akinbiyi close were Taylor, Pollet and Emblen.
Review of Wolves vs Port Vale 2 - 2.Another meet and greet for George Ndah this time which attracted a few more people.
First Half:-
We started very brightly with just one change which was expected. Ndah replaced Corica up front and we had 2 proper strikers. But 5 - 3 - 2 it was. Sinton was back from injury but was keeping the bench warm. But to be honest it was all us in the first half. How we didn't score I will never know. The greatest pressure was in the last 5 minutes of the half when 2-3 chances went begging. These weren't half chances they were feet away from the goal line. The best falling to Akinbiyi who had a free header which went over the top. To be honest though vale were playing very negative. 10 men behind the ball and sometimes Ndah and Akinbiyi could not break this down. However, Ndah was very lively and broke the vale defence time and time again with his pace.Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
Then quickly after the re-start we got a corner (which we never score of) and it rattled about in front of the goal and Sedgley scored. That was it vale had to show a bit more and they did. They got there first shot on goal in the 59th minute. However, Taylor had a free header which again went over the top and Muscat had a vicious shot which their keeper had to stop. The in the last 10 minutes all hell let loose. Vale got a free kick they should never of had which led to a corner and a vale player stole in at the far post (surprise, surprise as this is where we never seem to defend on corners) and goal we could see it coming as vale committed more players forward and we seemed to turn from fluid players to standing stone players within 20 minutes. Then Sedgley made a mistake he should be shot for. The ball was just outside the penalty area and he was undecided to hoof it or give it back to Stowell to hoof but dawdled and rougier for vale stole in and 1 - 2. This from a team who only had 2 shots and one of them was a gift. Sinton and Robinson came on for Muscat and Taylor and thank god. Sinton ran at the vale defence and their number 2 tripped him up and penalty. Curle to take and converted it easily. 2 - 2. We were lucky to get the draw in the end but it should have been about 3 or 4 nil to us. Still Ndah and Akinbiyi look very promising.Man of the Match : George Ndah.
Review of Wolves vs Sheff Utd 1 - 0.First Half:-
The line up was the same even though the fans were clamouring for Sinton to play. Kick off was delayed due to the number of people trying to watch this game. This game was similar in nature to the Vale game in that we had a lot of pressure and Sheff Utd hardly had a chance at goal. Without Sinton there were still crosses coming from Muscat and Bazeley we just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. However, Sheff Utd did the same as vale and were quick to the ball and defended in number.Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
Again we had most of the possession and had several chances to finish Sheff Utd off. Again Ndah and Akinbiyi had chances the best falling to Ndah which he chose to shot when it looked a better option to pass to Akinbiyi. Even Sedgley nearly scored with a well worked free kick.
The game was still missing that spark and it was obvious people would shout for Sinton to be introduced. He was introduced in the 66th minute for Scott Taylor which everyone booed as Osborn did very little. However, Sheff Utd seemed scared of him immediately and he ran at their defence. Finally on the 88th minute he ran to the bye line a cross over to the far post and Emblen ghosts in to score with a header. We just had to hold on for a few minutes until the end to win a match which again we wholly deserved to win.
It should have been 2 or 3 though. A word about the ref as well he allowed some very heavy challenges by Sheff Utd and curtis woodhouse got away with just getting booked for 3 very heavy challenges.Man of the Match : Neil Emblen for the goal but a close second George Ndah.
Review of Wolves vs Grimsby Town 3 - 0.A blustery day and a day we knew we were without Ndah (Injured) and Pollet and Muscat (Suspended).
First Half:-
We started our usual bright selves. It was inevitable that a tactical change had to be made. So it was out with 5 - 3 -2 and in with what looked more of a 4 - 4 - 2 (hurrah). Curle and Sedgley central defence, Naylor - left back, Bazeley - right back. Midfield - Osborn, Emblen, Taylor and Sinton (double hurrah). With Akinbiyi and Corica up front. Now personally I would have put Emblen up front and put Robinson in midfield. Anyway it started as it meant to go on with the tactic being to give Sinton the ball and he to terrify the opposition defence. This he did from the start unfortunately he got kicked a few times but Sinton ran down the wing threw a ball across and Akinbiyi headed it in (goal number 1) after only 5 minutes. We were in shock. We continued to have nearly all the possession but couldn't get the ball in the net. Sinton kept terrifying them and throwing crosses across but half the time no one got on them. Corica having the best chances. The before the end of the half Osborn made a challenge on Groves on the edge of the Grimsby penalty area. The tackle was fine but Groves took a disliking and kicked out at Osborn nearly kicking him in the head. we expected a stiff talking to but no Red Card straight away. Grimsby down to 10 men. That gave them something to reflect upon at half time.Then as they walked off to have their half time cup of tea a punch up between Lever (grimsby) and Sedgley where everyone else joined in started this got broke up by stewards/referee's/managers and the stretcher bearers.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
1 - 0 at Molyneux is never safe and we expected a grimsby fight back and that is what we got. You would think we could use the extra space provided by the ten man opposition but at times you thought we had ten men. Grimsby had a bit more poise and ran at us more and looked like they could score but unfortunately they weren't as good in defence. We still had plenty of possession though and Sinton was still making the grimsby defence look like donkeys but Akinbiyi was virtually playing on his own. Then colin Lee made the astute decision to take Corica off and put Robinson on and push Emblen up front (I told you so) in the 68th minute. This changed everything. Emblen had 2 cracking headers just skim the cross bar. He unselfishly set a shot up for Sinton that skimmed the upright. Basically we looked a different team. But wolves are wolves and we were still worried they might get an equaliser especially as we were making the same mistakes of coming out from an opposition corner way too slowly. Then Sinton again worked a good cross and Akinbiyi scores (goal number 2). The Akinbiyi went for it and we continued on for another goal instead of sitting back which we were doing until the second goal. Then right at the death Sinton took a corner which taylor whipped over for Akinbiyi to head in (hat trick 78th minute). The crowd in the Stan Cullis went wild and Akinbiyi saluted the crowd and did the usual kiss the badge thing (89th minute) in front of the stan Cullis. What a day. But to be honest Lee Naylor had a on and off day, so did Bazeley, Sedgley was slow (no change there), Curle made a couple of mistake even Scott Taylor didn't have his best day. But Sinton was just class never stopped running all match and took corners which made a difference because we had then decent delivery of corners. Akinbiyi never stopped running and Emblen in the last 25 minutes again never stopped running. All in all it was a great game of football for even a neutral observerMan of the Match : Inevitable really Ade Akinbiyi (ooooooooooooo Akinbiyi) a close second Andy Sinton (there's only one andy Sinton).
Review of Wolves vs Swindon 1 - 1.It's been a bit of a long gap since last seeing wolves (14 days). I think this rubbed off on the players. This was a low key match with very little atmosphere and a low crowd and everybody predicting an easy win.
First Half:-
Wake up this is wolves we never do well against lower league opposition e.g. Lost to walsall, scraped a draw with vale and several other examples down the years.
This was one of the worst half's of football I have seen for a long time. The whole team looked as though it was suffering from jet lag.
We reverted to 4 - 4 - 2 with Pollet back from suspension lining up alongside Curle in central defence. Bazeley right back, Muscat left back, Emblen and Osborn central midfield, Sinton left wing and taylor right wing, Corica and Akinbiyi up front.Swindon weren't very good but wolves were worse. Emblen had the best chance of the game that was in all the way until Talia pulled off a fine save. For wolves there were only long range shots to count and most straight at the keeper. But on 28 minutes Iffy Onoura ran into the penalty are losing his marker when he was adjudged to have ben upended when in reality he performed the most theatrical dive ever seen with the defender never even touching him. This was the start of another absolutely shite piece of refereeing (?). He let swindon get away with about 10 hand balls in the first half. They also saw fit to barge straight into Sinton when they felt like it without a single booking. But apart from that it wasn't a very dirty match. Therefore at half time despair.
Sinton was the only highlight with his crosses and jinking but even swindon began to work him out and put 2 men on him. Akinbiyi was trying and Corica looked lively at times.Half Time - 0 - 1
Second Half:-
We improved well we couldn't get worse. I think colin lee must have given them a severe rollicking. We had nearly all the play in this half I would estimate about 40 minutes. But the ball just wouldn't go in the net. Emblen had a fine shot saved. Sinton had a shot come off the cross bar. Another chance was headed off the line. Another chance was saved by Talia stretching out a arm at the right time. So a change was needed. Flo came on for Corica in the 70th minute. This was harsh on Corica who displaying his usual faults of not making challenges and jumping out of the way when one came in was lively. His understanding with Akinbiyi was poor though. But it defied judgement because Osborn was absolutely rubbish. His set pieces and corners were rubbish, he is now doing the same trick of when the opposition have the ball of running back to the edge of our penalty area leaving a huge hole for the opposition to play in. He is now (in our little part of Molyneux) becoming a bit of a waster. Especially when you compare his performance with taylor or Emblen. Emblen didn't have a good game but he had chances that came a hell of a lot closer than Osborns and he tries 100% he runs around, he was winning headers and all over the pitch. Once Flo came on it was obvious that the ball was going to be pumped up front and the game picked up after this. Then in the 80th minute COlin Lee finally saw what we saw and took off Osborn only to put Sedgley on. I think he needs to see a doctor after this decision. However, not long after this Sedgley had a chance but I think he forgot that he was supposed to shoot. In the last ten minutes we could also see players running straight past Sedgley as he tried to catch them up (he never did). Then luckily scott Taylor passed to Havard Flo in the penalty area unmarked and he smashed one in the top corner. So 1 - 1 it finished. Most of this game is best forgotten about. But Osborn was dire, even Pollet had his dodgy moments, Muscat had a dodgy game jet lag ? or maybe that he is not a left back, Bazeley also didn't look like a right back and when up the other end of the pitch got dispossessed by swindon every time. Stowell only had a few catches to make, Curle had a battle with Onoura in the second half and was steady, taylor was steady, Emblen well 100% but didn't do as well as he has done, Corica tried today but showed his usual faults and Akinbiyi and Sinton just had a game on their own in some kind of third dimension hoping the rest of the team could match their skill and effort.Ballerina of the match goes to : Iffy Onoura - Curle had a few words with him in the second half and they had a few scrapes and then he got subbed by a 40 year old.
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton for wolves but I think Frank Talia gets man of the match.
Waster of the Match : Simon Osborn - not a play maker, what he is doing now could be done so easily by anybody else.
Review of Wolves vs Man City 4 - 1.A cold friday night. This was a however not a great turnout for a clash with the top league team due to it being on television. Most people I spoke to before the match were predicting a loss. Even a draw would be a good result considering our recent performance.
First Half:-
Team was re jigged a bit and lined up 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat (right back - hurrah), Naylor (left back - hurrah), Pollet, Curle, Bazeley (right wing), Sinton (left wing), Emblen and Osborn in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. This was a attacking formation with Emblen supporting the front 2 and 2 proper wingers.
We started the brighter as we always seem to do at home and Osborns cross was nearly matched by Branch.
Then Sinton whipped over a cross and Emblen was well placed to get a great header in which hit the cross bar and hit the man city keeper then Akinbiyi followed up to score number 1 after 5 minutes.
Wolves continued to dominate the half with Oakes having very little to do and every chance we went forward we seemed to look like scoring with the Man City defence looking fragile. The next best chance came to Taylor (of Man City) whose shot hit the crossbar. This being a crucial miss as it would have equalised the scores. However, within minutes (on the 18th minute number 2) Akinbiyi held the ball up on the left to get a cross into the penalty area which Sinton got a touch on for Michael Branch to show a fine finish. It was just like a cup match. Every player was battling away against their designated marked player and we were breaking forward quickly instead of at the slow pace we normally do.
Then before half time just as Man City were getting a few chances a mix up in wolves defence and the ball fell to Kennedy for Man City who whipped across a ball in front of goal and Goater tapped in 2 - 1. Here we go again we thought. Man City had 5 - 10 minutes of possession and we thought it was going to be 2 - 2 at half time. But no again some good work on the right wing by Akinbiyi to get a cross into the penalty area for Michael Branch to show a fine finish from a tight angle (number 3 - 41st minute).
There was still time for a bit of action With Pollet getting booked in the 44th minute and a scuffle afterwards. Bazeley got a good shot in and Oakes had a low save to make from a free lick. But at half time wolves were in the ascendancy. Up front we looked very dangerous with Branch and Akinbiyi's pace and Emblen was supporting. Osborn and Bazeley were getting forward and Sinton was getting forward to get his crosses in. Pollet and Curle were unshakeable at the back making Man City's defenders look very average.
It was a fantastic half of football and a position we haven't been in for a long time. However, we expected Man City to come at us at the start of the second half to try an pull it back.Half Time - 3 - 1
Second Half:-
The second half was much of the same with wolves having most of the possession. Man City went at us but Pollet and Curle held firm and never really looked threatened.
Osborn was getting tackles in and looked a different player than the last few weeks. Every time he got the ball he looked to get it forward quickly instead of always passing it back.
Bazeley game more into the game and play was mostly down the right wing with Sinton doing less but still getting challenges in and tracking back. But it was Bazeley and Muscat on the right wing who were outnumbering the Man City defence to get the crosses in.
Then in the 55th minute Joe Royle made 2 changes as he saw his side still was not making the breakthrough. However, soon after Osborn played a quick ball out to Bazeley for Bazeley to cross in the Penalty area for Muscat to get a good left footed shot in and goal 4 -1.
wolves continued to dominate but sat back a bit more as the Man City heads dropped. A few clangers were made in defence in the last 20 minutes by Wolves defence but this match was more about watching one of the best performances for a very long while. Branch was taken off after 85 minutes to the crowd chanting 'sign him up' and a standing ovation. Corica came on. Then a couple of minutes later Sinton came off and he did look obviously tired and Taylor came on.
It was hard to judge the second half because it was similar to the first half apart from we the fans finally had time to enjoy ourselves at the end with mexican waves and songs aimed at the Man City fans e.g. it's just like watching man Utd (as before the game they kept singing were top of the league) instead of biting our nails expecting a last minute equaliser or winner from the opposition.
I have chosen a man of the match but to be honest it was a rare occasion when we played as a team and no one player could be singled out as very good or very bad.Man of the Match : Michael Branch if I was forced to make a choice he was like a breath of fresh air up front BUT closely followed by Keith Curle, Ludovic Pollet, Ade Akinbiyi and Darren Bazeley who looked outstanding in the second half at right wing where before he has been marked out the game.
Waster of the Match : Robert Taylor for Man City (new signing for £1.5 million) who got nick named sumo, who ate all the pies and so on I think you get the picture.
Review of Wolves vs Birmingham 2 - 1.Another cold friday night. This was a however not a great turnout for a clash with a local rival due to it being on television.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Pollet, Curle, Bazeley (right wing), Sinton (left wing), Emblen and Osborn in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front.
This game started slowly which was strange for a local derby. We sat back too much and let birmingham have too much time in the midfield. We were second to everything and looked a minute slow to everything. It was going to be a niggly local derby. The main reason for this being the fact that birmingham didn't really have any out and out wingers or strikers. There were 8 defenders in the team. There was a lot of pushing and shoving from the birmingham team which the referee allowed to go on.
As soon as the 3rd minute the defence cocked up and let birmingham have their first chance when hughes nearly got onto a cross. Purse then had a free header in the 9th minute. Then a defensive cock up and more slack marking and O'conner got a shot in that was well saved by Oakes only for Hughes to follow (16th minute) and put it into a empty goal. After seeing it again the goal was off side anyway. 5 minutes later Brum had a free kick from and Osborn tackle for which he got booked just outside the penalty area which Oakes had to save. Birmingham caused more defensive panic and Curle, Pollet and Naylor were all guilty of very serious defensive blunders. Their attacks were mainly down the left hand side. However, after they scored they dropped back and attempted to defend a lead. Our first real chance came to Emblen who jinked very well past 3 birmingham players then had a shot which went well wide. Bazeley had the next best chance after a corner the ball came out and he had a shot which was just going under the bar which poole had to make a good save. We seemed to be waking up and getting more into the game. Another cross came across which just escaped the birmingham defence and Akinbiyi found himself on his own on the left hand side of the penalty area and should have really got a shot on target but skied it wide. However, after this in the last 10 minutes we got more into the game. Emblen had a free header from a corner that he couldn't keep down. Just as I thought we weren't going to score only from a penalty the wolves goal came. Sinton squeezed a cross in from an impossible angle and branch got in front of the goalkeeper who dropped the ball and Akinbiyi headed in (39th minute). The goalkeeper complained about obstruction but he wasn't he came out and tried to catch the ball but dropped it. We carried on going forward until the half time whistle went.Half Time - 1 - 1
Second Half:-
Well Colin lee must have put a rocket up the players because we played a lot better second half. We seemed to wake up and finally realise the battle was going on in the midfield. Emblen and Osborn were pushing on. Muscat and Bazeley were linking very well on the right hand side and more crosses were coming from the right hand side. Osborn improved a lot because he looked very poor in the first half but got stuck in. After 3 minutes Emblen got another header in. Then one of the most controversial moments on the 50th minute wolves, denied a possible penalty when Gary Rowett tripped Simon Osborn from behind in the penalty area but instead of staying down Osborn tried to get a shot in this probably denied us a penalty. After this birmingham came up our end and dyson for birmingham had a clear shot which went wide. Luckily another corner and Pollet rose high from a corner in front of the goalkeeper to head in a great goal. There was also a incident when Akinbiyi got the ball of johnson who then fell over but while down stuck a leg up and tripped Akinbiyi up who would then have been one on one with the goalkeeper. Sending off we thought no other option but no just a yellow card. This was a great example of the inept officiating of the match. There was 2 blatant hand balls by birmingham that the referee missed. There was 2-3 off sides by wolves that the linesman missed. Oakes had to make a save on the 73rd minute as we sat back again and let birmingham have the last 10 minutes of the half. Most people blame the manager for this syndrome of sitting back but he was jumping up and down with john ward waving players forward.
This was a good half of football being end to end stuff. At first we had more control going for the winner but once we went up birmingham came back but didn't have enough up front to really threaten.There was some argy bargy at the end with Martin Grainger going to have a go at Muscat but being kept away by Martin O'conner then Muscat came towards the Stan Cullis and the referee had to keep Grainger away from muscat then when muscat was on the way to the tunnel o'connor had to keep Grainger away from muscat. Johnson also got involved.
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton but close for me was Darren Bazeley for did a lot of work on the right in the second half and linked up perfectly with muscat.
Review of Wolves vs Norwich City 1 - 0.A bumper crowd of 25,000 (surely it was more) brought out by the holiday fixture and a rare sight of queues for tickets. This was also the game that Colin Lee tried to cancel because of Flu. It also saw the 3 fattest officials this year..
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Pollet, Curle, Bazeley (right wing), Sinton (left wing), Emblen and Robinson in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. The only change being Robinson due to Osborn injury and Sinton back from the flu. However, Colin Lee stated that Sinton still had flu and Michael Branch chose to play because he wanted to show what he could do.Norwich started strongly with a very attacking formation with a lot of work being done on the right wing attacking Lee Naylor who was coping well with Pape Diop. A much improved performance from lee even though the boo boys did get on his back after a couple of mistakes in the first half. Norwich had a couple of corners but never threatened to score. Norwich seemed to be playing hoping for a free kick or corner for Iwan Roberts to get his head on. From the start it was also blatantly obvious that Muscat was earmarked for a kicking.
It was a half which saw wolves have most of the possession but couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. Sinton was outstanding linking well with Naylor and whipping in crosses and corners. Muscat and Bazeley were doing the same on the other wing. Emblen had 2 headers which he missed, Akinbiyi had a few chances and so did branch. Branch also guilty of just missing the target from a Sinton cross. Carl Robinson also saw a chance cleared off the line by Matt Jackson.
Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
Wolves started the brighter with 2 corners at the start of the half nearly forcing goals. It just looked like we were never going to score. Then in the 57th minute a cross from Akinbiyi to branch forced the defender to make an error and the ball headed goal wards for branch to tap in with his knee. They all count.After wolves scored Norwich obviously turned up the heat and gained a couple of corners straight away which had to be scrambled clear. They then bought on a couple of substitutes and wolves were at it again sitting back and trying to soak the pressure somehow the midfield disappeared and Norwich won everything. There were more goal mouth scrambles for the next 15 - 20 minutes.
Lee Naylor had to head out a header that had got past Michael Oakes. Typical nail biting wolves finishes.
Then Flo came on for Branch (who got a standing ovation and sign him up chants) in the 81st minute. Branch had chased everything but had not held the ball up as well as he has before but considering colin lee though he might not play did very well. Flo somehow roused Akinbiyi into action and possibly because Norwich had pushed everybody up. Akinbiyi broke 3 times in the last 10 minutes and could have scored from any one of the opportunities.
Sinton got involved in some argy bargy with Pape Diop at the end of the second half that wasn't even sinton's fault.
At the end Muscat rushed up to the Jack Harris to jump on Oakes but more a reason was that the Norwich supporters were in that a stand and had been singing songs about him and due to most of the norwich team trying to hack him down with studs up 2 footed challenges.
Man of the Match : Andy Sinton but close for me was Darren Bazeley, Kevin Muscat and Ludovic Pollet who kept Iwan very quiet.
Review of Wolves vs Sheff Wednesday - FA cup 4th round 1 - 1.A low crowd of 18,000. But with 7,000 wolves fans the atmosphere was excellent as usual from the away following. The Sheff wed crowd were so quiet it was like a morgue.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Pollet, Sedgley, Bazeley (right wing), Sinton (left wing), Emblen and Robinson in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. The only change being Sedgley because Curle could not pass a late fitness test.The first 20 minutes was virtually all Sheff wed. Wolves seemed to be giving them too much respect and let them play the ball around. Sheff wed were also very quick on the counter attack after a wolves corner they could be in wolves penalty area within a minute. This being down to Niclas Alexandersson. Sheff wed were also unbeaten at home since september. So Sheff wed looked more likely to score. The best other chance for Sheff wed came from a corner where Naylor (on far post duty) headed off the line. Nolan had a chance who blasted wide when it looked easier to score.
The goal itself came from a training ground routine. A free kick on the edge of the area was floated to the far post and headed across the goal and Alexandersson tapped in. The defending from wolves was atrocious. However, the free kick seemed very harsh on the challenge that it cam from and probably should never have been a free kick. Muscat had to dig the defence out of panics on a few occasions with Pollet and Sedgley not wholly at ease with sibon and de bilde. The battle mostly being lost in midfield with Emblen and Robinson second to everything and Sheff wed being so quick we couldn't live with them.
After this wolves seemed to wake up and had most of the possession for the next 25 minutes or the rest of the half however you want to put it. Sheff Wed seemed to be happy to sit back a little and take the 1 - 0 and this is probably why we came back into the game. Our best chances came from corners and we had 3 in quick succession but we couldn't get the ball in the net. We seemed to have more of a chance of scoring from set pieces than open play. Branch looked the livelier up front but Akinbiyi had been suffering from a knee injury. However, the ball needed to get through to the front pair to make more of a difference.
By half time I'd say it was all square between the 2 sides and being only one down if we had a go at Sheff wed I thought we could come back.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
We started the half the same as we finished the first. Sheff wed made one change at the start of the half with cresswell coming on for de bilde.
However, Sinton seemed to get more into the game cutting across the pitch also Muscat seemed to be getting forward more. Pollet and Sedgley seemed more assured I don't know why perhaps it was because Sheff wed were sitting back especially after the arsenal encounter when Sedgley cocked up we were all worried about him. Branch also found more space and started running down the flank more. The big difference was that we were playing towards the wolves end so every time we got a corner or free kick there was lots of wolves noise. I also said to a friend that nearly every goal at Molyneux has been scored kicking towards us as a joke.Just past the hour mark and Wolves won a corner. Bazeley took the corner and took it short and got a return pass. The cross and reached the far post where Branch and Sedgley went up for the ball and it was Sedgley who headed goal wards. The ball hit the upright, half way up, and bounced in towards the goal but Srnicek got across and swung an arm at it to clear the ball away. Some wolves players though it was a goal and other carried on playing. Most of the wolves fans thought t was a goal and started celebrating. Muscat admitted in an interview that he looked towards the linesman who
had his flag raised to signal a goal. After the game there was much discussion as to whether it was a goal. I couldn't say without seeing TV coverage. And even now I don't know whether it is or it isn't as the whole ball cannot be seen to cross the line. Anyway it was 1 - 1 and were back in the game.
The wolves fans stood up for about the next 10 minutes and were singing their loudest it was just like we were at home.After this it seemed to wake Sheff wed up and they started to get into the game more and they realised they had to go for a win instead of defending a lead. Therefore, Sheff wed probably had more of the play in the final 20 minutes of the second half. but this time we defended better and although Sheff wed had a few corners the only time they looked likely to score was when Pollet made a rare mistake and cresswell went through on goal but Sedgley got the tackle in.
Akinbiyi got a knock in the second half and limped around for about 5 minutes after but it took until the 85th minute for colin lee to realise he wasn't playing at his best and Flo came on for five minutes and he ran around and won a few headers and didn't play badly. However, a lot of the wolves team in the final 10 minutes looked tired.
Overall with the possession we had probably a fair result although Sheff wed will probably keep going on about how it shouldn't be a wolves goal but they should have never had the free kick which led to their goal. On the day they didn't look a premiership side and looked no better than some of the teams we have met this season in the first division.
At the end the whole team with colin lee and john ward came across to clap us and Muscat stated in an interview that the team were encouraged by being able to here the wolves crowd cheering throughout. A few Sheff wed fans clapped us on the way out for our excellent atmosphere as there was none from the Sheff wed crowd.
Oakes :- Didn't have a lot to do but his kicking was good.
Muscat:- Had a shaky start but came more into the game and had one of his better games defensively.
Naylor:- made a couple of mistakes which the boo boos got on his back for but didn't have a bad match.
Pollet:- A steady game didn't really shine out like he normally does.
Sedgley:- Probably the most improved player. I've slagged him off a lot in the past but today he didn't look bad.
Bazeley:- Had a good game I thought. A candidate for man of the match as he was virtually the only real winger in the first half.
Emblen:- Made to look slow and out of his depth at times. Didn't really get forward and support the front 2 as he usually does. Probably one of his worst performances this year.
Robinson:- similar to Emblen but got more into the game near the end. Today I think we needed that touch of class in the central midfield someone with a bit of flare and missed a Emblen type player.
Sinton:- Didn't see much of the game for long periods again he had more of a game near the end.
Akinbiyi:- He tried but looked unfit near the end should have been taken off earlier. He has played a lot better than this. Perhaps he needs a rest to get over this niggly injury.
Branch:- Didn't do much at first but then got into his stride and looked very dangerous at times when running at their defence and made their defence look average. Surely we must buy after this another decent display I would think 1 or 2 premier teams near the bottom of the league might wish he was in their team.Man of the Match : Sedgley I think but for his goal and for a better performance than usual but again like at blackburn away today was more about a team performance.
Review of Wolves vs Charlton - 2 - 3.A low crowd of 18,464 one of the lowest of the season with large swathes of Molyneux empty this was effected because Charlton were in the bottom of the john ireland.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Pollet, Sedgley, Bazeley (right wing), Sinton (left wing), Emblen and Robinson in the middle and Branch and Flo up front. But Curle was on the bench and Flo played instead of Akinbiyi because he was suspended.Charlton started better and looked the more dangerous through Shaun Newton on the left wing. Mark Kinsella was bossing the midfield and making Emblen and Robinson look like donkeys. Rufus at the back was unshakeable and was easily dealing with everything we threw at him.
The surprise of this half was that we scored first on the 18th minute. This was completely against the run of play and it was Flo. This was from a well taken Bazeley corner but even then Flo needed 2 efforts to get it in.
After this it was all Charlton and it was inevitable they would score several more. Charltons first came from John Robinson swinging over a cross from the right and Richard Rufus was on hand to head the ball home. The defending was atrocious there were several Charlton players unmarked 1 -1 (41). Just when I thought if we can just survive until half time. Then 4 minutes later and it's 1 - 2 Kinsella's corner from the left was met by Martin Pringle at the near post and he put his header past Oakes. Another badly defending set piece we just don't seem to be able to cope with them.
At the end of the half I wouldn't have been surprised if it wasn't about 6 - 0 to Charlton.
Half Time - 1 - 2
Second Half:-
Curle came on from Pollet who was blatantly injured. Robinson and Emblen were very slow in midfield and Robinson looked injured this was to be confirmed after the game.However, it was Charlton who went further in front with Shaun Newton's cross from the right converted by the head of Robinson at the far post to give the Addicks a two goal cushion in the 71st minute.
This was just after Robinson was finally replaced by Corica.
Wolves though were right back in the game five minutes later as Sinton's corner was flicked in by Pringle under pressure from Sedgley to set up a thrilling final 10 minutes. In the last 10 minutes it was all wolves and it looked as though we might sneak a draw (although not deserved).
Steve Corica seeing his effort deflected over and Flo fired into the side netting and a Sedgley effort headed off the line by Chris Powell and a blatant penalty area arm lock/sandwich between 2 players on Flo.
Also grating was that the referee (Eddie Wolstenholme) was complete crap. He gave Charlton all the decisions. He let Charlton waste about 5 minutes in the second half by them kicking the ball away and doing the slowest substitutions in football history. Then only added about 4 minutes at the end of the second half when about 9 or 10 would have been better. He also made sure every player went off the pitch after injury and wouldn't let Sinton back on one time a real jobs worth.
However, Charlton were the far better side and rank with blackburn as probably the 2 best sides we have seen.
Man of the Match : Sedgley put in another creditable performance but nobody really shone out. The back 4 and Bazeley were the only one's to come out with credit.
Review of Wolves vs Sheff Wed - FA cup 4th round 0 - 0 AET Sheff Wed go through on penalties .A high crowd of 25,505 but surely more than this. Come on wolves you're not fooling anyone. A late kick off 8.05 due to congestion for the Sheff wed fans meant a late finish.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Sedgley , Naylor , Curle, Pollet, Sedgley, Sinton , Emblen and Robinson in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. But Osborn was back on the bench and Sedgley played instead of Muscat because he was suspended.As at hillsborough Sheff wed started the better and seemed to be passing it around our midfield but not threatening to score. Whereas we were trying to put everything down the left with Sinton double marked and the right hand side empty because Bazeley was at the back most of the time. We had the usual humped hopeful balls to branch.
However, the best chance of the game fell to Akinbiyi when Sinton dug the ball back across the box and Akinbiyi looked in front of the whole Sheff wed defence but wasn't flagged off side and headed the ball and beat Srnicek but the ball hit the upright and bounced out.
But this half was a half dominated by the man in black called Graham Barber who gave Sheff wed every decision. They must have had about 10,000 free kicks. Also there was a shout for a penalty when branch was upended on the edge of the penalty area but worse was to follow when Robinson was smacked in the head by a Sheff wed players elbow. No booking no free kick yet the Sheff wed payer tried to take robinson's head off with his elbow.
Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
It still looked like both side couldn't hit a donkeys arse with a banjo (or score). Wednesday seemed to get worse and we had most of the possession but couldn't do anything with it. This I think was due to Sinton getting more space and Bazeley making runs down the wing but our midfield still looked too slow.
However, a good chance was set up by Curle making a run down the right wing. He swung the ball across for Akinbiyi to get a shot across the front of the goal that just went wide.
Then on the 78th minute Osborn came on for Robinson who was slowing up after having received a few kicks. This seemed to make a difference as we started to play it more to feet. Osborn stayed in centre midfield and Emblen went down the right wing.
Osborn played the ball forward for Akinbiyi. He shot from a tight angle across goal from the right and Srnicek got a hand to it or else it was a goal. A very good save.
The only chance Sheff wed had was when a corner came across and Naylor on far post duty had to head it out.
Neil Emblen almost snatched a last gasp winner with a cross that was close to drifting into the net in injury time but Nolan read the play well and was present on the line to head clear from under his own bar, forcing the game to go into extra time
On the 90th minute Simpson replaced Sinton who again had taken a lot of knock and went off holding his shoulder. It was a surprise Naylor didn't go off as well as he was also the victim of several hard kicks throughout the game.
Extra Time.
Sheff Wed had the best chance. A corner was defended badly and the ball came towards goal and Pollet miskicked it straight to cresswell who blasted well wide.At the end of extra time Corica came on for Akinbiyi so that Corica could take a penalty as Akinbiyi didn't want to take one.
Penalties:
Well Akinbiyi stated he didn't want to take one so Corica came on to take one and so it was.
Curle up first. Straight in.
Sedgley: Scored.
Simpson: Well saved by Srnicek
Branch: Missed just wide of the right upright.
Corica: A bit worried about him but took a well taken penalty.
But all Sheff wed had to do was score their last and they did and that was it. This was at about 10 to 11 at night.It was a even match when you look at chances but wolves had more possession but our midfield wasn't up to the task of creating a little bit of magic. Akinbiyi and Branch worked hard up front and Curle and Pollet dominated the defence the same as Atherton and Walker at the other end.
Men of the Match : Curle and Pollet. Bazeley also was up and down like a yo yo.
Review of Wolves vs QPR - 3 - 2 .A low of 20,000 after the cup exit meant a more subdued atmosphere and crowd.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Sedgley and Osborn in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. Osborn was back after injury and Muscat back after suspension.QPR started the brighter (what is about away teams at Molyneux) but this was largely long balls to the 2 tall strikers who didn't do anything with it. We also were doing the same humping long balls for branch and Akinbiyi to chase. Then wolves tried to pass it to feet and use the flanks and started putting balls behind the QPR defence and started to get on top of the game.
Then after 20 minutes Osborn had to come off. He had a harsh challenge committed against him which resulted in a free kick but wasn't moving his leg freely and went off clutching his thigh. Emblen came on to instant effect.
Emblen ran up the pitch for a wolves corner which he flicked on and Sedgley was unmarked to thump the ball in the back of the net (22nd minute).
Then a good through ball by muscat got round the back of the QPR defence and Branch chased hopefully and tried to chip the keeper who made contact but then the ball dropped to branch's feet and goal (23rd minute).
Before the next goal Emblen also had a good chance but fired wide. It was all wolves with several corners and wolves seemed to be camped in QPR's half of the pitch.
Akinbiyi was given the ball wide on the right and thumped in a shot just like tuesday but this time it beat the keeper (29th minute). It was a very well taken goal from a tight angle.
From then on it was all wolves and looked as though it was going to be 6 - 0. QPR were very poor. There defence looked very shaky and very prone to the ball along the floor behind the defence. Their keeper also did not like coming for crosses.
Half Time - 3 - 0
Second Half:-
QPR made a instant double substitution to have a go at us because that is all they could do. For most of this half this is what they did and wolves had very few chances.
The warning signs were there because QPR pushed up more and Oakes had to make a fine save on the 52nd minute from a shot by Slade.
Wolves best chances in this half were when Bazeley set off on an excellent run with one two's with Branch leading to a Muscat shot fiercely wide.
A Sinton corner dropped on to the head of a startled Sedgley and bounced away from goal instead of towards it. Emblen had a shot from long range which flew into the goal keepers hands.But this half was QPR's.
Gavin Peacock got the first goal for QPR (why does he always score against us) in the 79th minute after he came on at the start of the half. He lobbed over advancing keeper Michael Oakes from close range after fellow substitute Steve Slade's cross. Then, with a minute to go Slade slotted the ball into an empty net after Oakes had denied Richard Langley with a great save. We were hanging on for dear life. Luckily the whistle blew and we got away with a 3 - 2 victory.
In the second half we just sat back and thought we had the game won. Emblen ended up as a central defender and Sedgley was appalling he was just no where for most of the second half he might as well have not been on the pitch. So we had the 1st half and QPR had the second.
Late on Robinson came on for Branch just to run down the clock really.
Men of the Match : Bazeley - did another good job on the right. Curle and Pollet also did not do much wrong and Akinbiyi and Branch chased and did as much as they could.
Review of Wolves vs Crystal Palace - 2 - 1 .After only getting a point at walsall a win today was vital.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. Curle back after suspension.
However, it was nice to see Jolean Lescott on the bench for the first time.Palace had the first 5 minutes of play. They were passing it around a lot but not looking like they were going to score.
Then Branch got the ball and ran at the palace defence heading for the bye line in the penalty area when he is tripped by a palace defender. No booking, no penalty.
Wolves immediately had another attack with Bazeley again providing a curling cross which was met by Sedgley but his header flashed inches wide of the far post.
Branch also combined well with Bazeley to surged toward the edge of the Palace area before unleashing a low left foot drive that was easily saved by Digby.
A couple of minutes later we get a corner which is whipped across and the keeper comes out and but only manages to punch it out and Sedgley comes flying in to head a good goal (15 minutes).
Unfortunately, palace have most of the play in this half and were passing the ball around us but never looked to threaten a goal. They had a few half chances but the best chance they had was when one palace striker looked through on goal and Curle had to make a brilliant tackle. Muscat had to make several timely interventions. But it looked as though the wolves defence could cope. The only save Oakes had to make was when a shot came across the ground which he pushed out and luckily the palace player rushing on couldn't get to it.
The worst scare came on 31 minutes when Palace scored only to be ruled out due to an offside.
We continued to get the odd attack with Sinton picking up the loose ball and striking a shot into the side netting when he perhaps should of done better.
Branch showed his pace when a perfectly weighted pass from Sedgley sent him racing clear down the right he delivered a low cross that was just too strong for the on-rushing Akinbiyi. But one of the best chances for Akinbiyi. He was inches away from connecting for a sure fire goal.
So although palace had more possession every time wolves attacked through Branch we did it with pace and looked like scoring.Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
Without chance for people to sit down after going the toilet. Wolves go straight at crystal palace.
Branch was clattered on the edge of the penalty area which wasn't given but wolves have a corner which is headed towards goal but not quite cleared properly and Pollet is there to thump it in. He then looked overjoyed at scoring and jumps on Muscat. Then strolls back towards the Stan Cullis with Ludo, Ludo ringing in his ears.
After 52 minutes Akinbiyi made his worst miss. Branch dispossessed Linighan and left the fat defender trailing in his wake before delivering a perfect centre that found Akinbiyi unmarked in the six-yard box the striker failed to capitalise as he headed over the bar when it looked easier to score.
Branch never stopped running at the Palace defence and a later burst was only ended by a blatant foul by Austin with the Palace defender somehow escaping a caution. From the following free kick Sinton curled a free kick in which went a whisker wide with Digby beaten.
Soon after Branch rounded Linighan again but his low cross to Akinbiyi was just cut out by Digby with the keeper going full-stretch to gather the striker's cross.
Another good chance started with Bazeley and Emblen combining to feed Akinbiyi who in turn sprayed a pass to Sinton. The wingers low cross-shot was then turned goal wards by Akinbiyi with Branch toe poking home from close range only to see a linesman flag cut his celebrations short. If Akinbiyi had put it away perhaps it would have been a goal.
A minute later a ball is hoofed up the pitch and Curle shouts as Pollet was close but the ball bounces and Oakes only comes half out and the ball falls to Martin who puts the ball virtually into a empty net. This was a gift and a messy gift. It should have never happened. All it needed was a shout and Oakes could have had the ball easily.
This picks the palace confidence up and waves and waves of attacks start.
We have a good last 10 minutes with chances falling to Akinbiyi and others.
Akinbiyi beat Digby to a through ball from Sedgley only to see the toe poked effort cleared by Linighan near the goal line.
To conclude, we should have won the game easily. There were too many easy chances spurned. But we tried to do it the hard way and defend for long periods. So as a game of football to watch it was like watching paint dry at times. Most players had bad days. Oakes couldn't kick properly, Muscat could defend but some of his passing was atrocious, Bazeley often sat too deep, Sinton hardly saw the ball, Sedgley can't control a ball to save his life and both he and Emblen drifted too deep too soon and were often too slow to catch the players up who they were trying to mark and Akinbiyi just had too many easy chances but couldn't put one in.
The only 2 players who equipped themselves well were Pollet and Branch. Pollet went off to cheers of Ludo, Ludo. Surely the 2 bargains of the season.
Men of the Match : Pollet outstanding job at the back and scored, Branch ran his legs off and just couldn't get that goal.
Review of Wolves vs Tranmere - 4 - 0 .A very low crowd with Tranmere only bringing a few hundred. Fans probably spent their money on cup tickets. This meant atmosphere was non-existent.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Sedgley and Taylor in the middle and Emblen and Akinbiyi up front. Branch was out with a hamstring injury so Emblen was shifted up and Taylor regained his centre midfield slot. Sinton passed a late fitness test. Petterson was on the bench after signing on loan from Portsmouth to back up Oakes as Stowell went into hospital. Just think how Flo felt after Emblen is picked before him ?The Merseysiders were Wolves' equals for the first half-hour. Wolves couldn't seem to stay onside and some of the pass and move was not quick or good enough. We seemed to be missing Branch and that bit of pace and skill to get past the defence.
With ten minutes of the half left Wolves finally found a way through. Naylor made his way forward and drew 3 Tranmere defenders towards him which left Sinton one on one with a Tranmere player Sinton was then able to cross from the perfect position on the bye-line ten yards infield. The cross looked to be aimed at Emblen but he missed it but Akinbiyi was behind him and he headed the ball down into the ground to bounce up into the net. This seemed to gee Wolves up.
Akinbiyi had an extra yard of pace and Wolves started to look good. Emblen picked up a good Akinbiyi pass only to shoot just wide.
Taylor burst into the box behind the defence but instead of putting a good cross in he spurned the chance by choosing to hit a very weak
shot at the near post side netting.Just before half time Phil babb is penalised and a rare free kick (the referee gave us nothing all half) is awarded just outside the penalty are. Lee Naylor steps up to take and places a beauty in the top corner on the 45th minute just before the half time whistle is blown. Perfect timing.
Oakes had to make one save when a Tranmere shot along the ground bobbled a bit and Oakes had to reposition himself to make a good save.
Half Time - 2 - 0
Second Half:-
Tranmere pushed up more in the second half and relied even more on their offside trap. However, they did not really have many chances. They just had a few long range efforts. Wayne Allison was their only presence up front.
However, this is wolves and if they let Tranmere get a goal it would lead to a nail biting end.
However, on 69 minutes the win was secured. Wolves got the ball wide on the flank with some neat interplay between Muscat and Bazeley. But Bazeley then came up to Andy Thompson. Bazeley cut into the box and got past Thompson to put in a shot a curler that just went inside the far post for another excellent finish. Another good goal.Not long after Thommo was replaced to a standing ovation.
This seemed to let the floodgates open with Emblen winning every header and all the breaks coming down the right hand side.
On the 88th minute Taylor exploited the space down the right and he crossed superbly, low into the box for Akinbiyi to tap in from close for his second
of the night.This led to our biggest victory this season after playing poorly for the first the 30 minutes.
Emblen did his best up front winning more headers than Flo ever could, Naylor had his best game of the season coming forward more and scoring a great goal and Taylor made a difference in the centre adding a bit more bite and running. Sinton didn't do much and faded as the game went on but probably suffering from his injury even Sedgley mixed it up a bit in the centre in the first 30 minutes when it was needed.
Men of the Match : The Whole team I think everyone did their job. It was a must win game and we won.
Review of Wolves vs Nottm Forest - 3 - 0 .A big crowd for a midlands derby. The away end was sold out so a crowd of 24,440. So there was a bit of tension in the air before the start. This was diffused by a minute's silence for Sir Stanley Mathews who died this week.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Naylor , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. Branch was back after injury with Taylor the victim and Emblen dropping back to centre midfield.Forest won the first 5 minutes having a few corners but then one episode turned the whole match. This also gave an indication of how Forest were going to try and stop us playing.
For no reason that I could see Vaughan started to punch Akinbiyi, to which Akinbiyi reacted and head butted Vaughan and leave him needing treatment for his nose. The decision for the referee was easy (after consultation with the linesman) he could only either book both or send both off. One for starting it and the other for retaliation. He chose to send both of them off on 7 minutes. 10 men either side.
However, this was not the end of it. Neither player really went off the pitch. Vaughan went first but Akinbiyi would not go he stood their pointing at the linesman. Curle and Sedgley came over to get him off the pitch and Akinbiyi ended up striking Curle. It took John ward to come over and drag Akinbiyi off the pitch.Before this incident started the referee had already given us a free kick near the line on the right hand side of the pitch. Bazeley swung it over and Pollet headed another good goal at the far post after the ball had been nodded on to him.
A quick Forest reply ensured, with Oakes having to go down to gather at the second attempt from a Rogers free-kick.
However, it was quickly evident that Forest aimed to kick us up in the air from this point onward and this half became very scrappy.
A good half chance fell to Branch who failed to control a through ball by Muscat that could have played him clear, then Bazeley scuffed a shot tamely through to Beasant.
But Wolves increased their lead in the 19th minute when Bazeley exchanged passes with Muscat on the wing and then curled home a stunning left-foot drive into the top right hand side which left Beasant absolutely motionless from just beyond the corner of the penalty area. It was a sight to behold to see Beasant just look up and see the ball float past him.
This should have been it. Game over 2 - 0 up against a team without one defender.
Prutton was booked for a wild tackle on Sinton before Forest's nightmare first half turned even worse in the 25th minute.
Naylor was brought down by a nasty studs up 2 footed challenge that left him writhing in agony awaiting treatment for a foul by Louis-Jean that was to earn a booking. Beasant did the sporting thing by kicking the ball towards touch so the physio could go on, but Branch sensationally chased the ball and just about kept it in play and cut in from the left to slide it under the advancing keeper with a brilliant curling shot.
Beasant was livid and chased after Branch, who didn't seem to know whether to celebrate his goal or feel guilty about it. A bit naughty from Branch but perhaps reacting to the nasty challenge that was committed to one of his team mates (who lives down the road from him) and Beasant should really have whacked it into row Z instead of tapping it along the ground.
There was another mass dispute between the two camps, continued between Platt and Ward on the sidelines long after play had restarted with Wolves sitting on a remarkable 3-0 lead for the third time in four home matches.
The match got nastier.
The Forest players lost all discipline and Lester was lucky to escape punishment when he clearly kicked Muscat's legs from underneath him as the defender watched a harmless ball go out of play.
Forest had a couple of chances through Harewood who twice brought diving saves from Oakes from 25 yards. However, Harewood himself had been guilty of a few crunching tackles.
But there was unbelievable bad feeling between the teams and, after Dawson had been booked for a scything challenge on Sinton, another ugly set-to ended on the touchline without any cards shown.
Branch was the target of most of Forest's anger and was diplomatically taken off to be replaced by Taylor in the 40th minute. A very good move because most of the anger was focused on him and he could have been seriously injured.
Prutton as brought down Emblen with a clumsy challenge and he had already been booked and committed a few other crunching challenges so this challenge led to a yellow card and then a red one.
With dismissals and substitutions, no fewer than six players had started the match had failed to last the first 45 minutes.
Rogers was guilty of an awful tackle on Sinton in the sixth minute of injury-time and was booked.
After that the second half could not live up to it. However, many people around could not feel any remorse for Forest as it seems they had come today with the main aim of kicking up in the air Branch, Akinbiyi and Sinton. And unfortunately the referee was wise to this and they suffered the punishment.
Half Time - 3 - 0
Second Half:-
There was very little to say about the second half. It was obvious words had been exchanged between managers/referee and players of both sides to calm it down. If it hadn't it might have turned into all out war.
Most of this half it was wolves using the one man advantage. There was virtually no attack with branch and Akinbiyi off. Emblen was on his own up front. However, we were skinning them down both flanks. With Naylor and Sinton down the left and Muscat and Bazeley down the other.
The best chance fell to Beasant who saved superbly low to his left as Taylor plunged in for a header to Sinton's pinpoint centre.
Wolves had plenty of chances to win 6 or 7 nil but a lot of the time in the second half we just played down the clock and passed it about and it was like watching paint dry. The crowd wanted the players to go for it but I think they showed a bit of sympathy for Forest.
Men of the Match : The Whole team I think everyone did their job. It was another must win game against a lower league team. However, Pollet and Bazeley must deserve special attention for a very good job.
Review of Wolves vs Ipswich - 2 - 1 .A big crowd for a glamour tie with a team at the top of the table. The away end was sold out so a crowd of 22,655.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Bazeley , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Robinson, Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Flo up front. Branch was back after injury with Taylor the victim and Emblen dropping back to centre midfield. Sedgley and Sinton passed a late fitness test but Naylor failed. Therefore Muscat dropped back to left back and Bazeley to right back. Taylor now joins the injury list so bodies were a bit thin on the ground. Subs were Jolean Lescott, Keith Andrews, Ryan Green, Paul Simpson and Andy Petterson.It was wolves who started the brighter perhaps trying to redeem themselves for 2 poor performances.
On the 4th minute Flo scored as much of a shock to us as it was to Ipswich. It was a simple goal as the ball was worked down the Wolves right, where Branch received a pass from Bazeley clearing from a Ipswich corner. Branch then crossed low to the near post. Brown was guilty of poor defending as he allowed Flo to turn near the corner of the six-yard and bury a low right-foot drive beyond Wright just inside the far post. It was a well taken goal by Flo.
The rest of the half seemed to be Ipswich. Robinson drifted to close to the centre of midfield leaving gaps down the right wing. Sinton was very quiet as he wanted to run forward but couldn't get the service. Most of the balls were hopeful punts upfield to Branch and Flo. The whole midfield just sat too deep (about 5 feet in front of the defence). Ipswich played there way around us most of the time.
Muscat had to run across the penalty area several times to make covering tackles.
Magilton then took careful aim under pressure from two defenders and his well struck 25-yarder was well saved by Oakes going down to his left.
Scowcroft let fly with a fierce drive from 20 yards that was fortunately close enough to Oakes for the keeper to dive and palm aside.
Johnson also had a few chances one on one with a wolves defender that he should have done better.
To sum up we had to defend most of the half with Oakes making a couple of fantastic saves to keep us in the game to deny Scowcroft, Jim Magilton and Matt Holland.
However, once again we had a Referee (Micheal Jones) and linesman (Eddie Walsh) who were utter shite. Ipswich won everything. They had so many free kicks on the edge of the penalty area for nothing challenges I lost count. Every decision went their way and we had nothing.
We were just lucky to be 1 - 0 up after Ipswich had about 20 efforts on goal. We had one and scored.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
Remarkably, the second half was only 90 seconds old when Wolves increased their lead from their second goal attempt.
Curle's long free-kick from inside his own half buffeted onwards and upwards by Emblen for Flo to again hold off his marker and this time find the corner of the net with a fine overhead kick from eight yards. Another very well taken goal.
Wolves seemed to have more purpose in the first 20 minutes of this half. Robinson seemed to realise he was supposed to be on the right wing. The midfield also had more space and was retreating out of our penalty area after Ipswich corners and at least trying to support the front 2.
In the last 20 minutes Ipswich again started to have loads of chances and passed the ball around very well. Although a lot of these were long range efforts.
This was after Ipswich bought on another striker for a midfielder.
The goal Ipswich had been inevitable with the amount of shots that they had had. In the 75th minute Clapham cut inside his marker and crossed deep from the right for Scowcroft to steer home a far post header.
After this it was backs to the wall for wolves again. However, the wolves defence held out.
Ipswich's did not and that was the tale for the day.
The referee made 2 enormous errors again in the second half. One was a throw in that should have been awarded to wolves that was so blatant it was unbelievable. The next was when Richard Naylor was clumsily tackled just inside the penalty area by Muscat. It looked like a penalty to us but the referee said no. But as he had given them so many free kicks for stupid challenges I couldn't feel sorry for them.
So it was an afternoon of finishing. Wolves 3 chances 2 completed. Ipswich 23 chances 1 completed.
Men of the Match : Pollet for some brilliant tackles, Oakes for some fantastic saves, Branch ran his socks off all day and Muscat had to make some good tackles and did a decent job on his wrong side.
Review of Wolves vs Crewe - 2 - 0 .It looked like a bigger crowd than normal for a mid week match. However, crewe bought very few fans. But it was friend for a fiver so a crowd of 20,444.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Bazeley , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Robinson, Sedgley and Taylor in the middle and Branch and Emblen up front. Branch was back after injury with Taylor the victim and Emblen dropping back to centre midfield. Taylor and Pollet looked doubtful but were patched up to play but Naylor is possibly out for the rest of the season. Therefore Muscat dropped back to left back and Bazeley to right back. Taylor filled right side midfield with Sinton left and Robinson and Sedgley centre midfield. Subs were Keith Andrews, Ryan Green, Paul Simpson, Havard Flo and Andy Petterson.Wolves so often Wolves won the ball in the Crewe half and constantly pushed forward. The running off the ball was not as good as it should have been and space was hard to come by. In fact Crewe had 11 men back for every corner and Crewe seemed to be cutting us out of the play through the middle. Sinton drifted infield on the left while Taylor never offered the same as Bazeley does when he is on the right side of midfield.
It was a bit frustrating because Crewe were so poor but we couldn't get the ball in the back of the net.
In the 13th minute the ball went floating towards the penalty area and a crewe player made the most blatant hand ball ever seen. Free Kick on the edge of the penalty area. A well taken kick worked between Robinson, Emblen and Sedgley resulted in Sedgley blasting it at goal. It deflected off a crewe player and in.
Wolves had a string of corners. Too many were over hit but those hit into the middle with pace looked promising. A couple of scrambles occurred, one fell to Robinson but he wanted two touches and the opening was gone. Sinton had a couple of efforts on goal but neither hit the target. On the right
side Branch looked to be in but his shot was blocked for a corner. The best cross of the half came when Branch had peeled off down the left side and hit a powerful cross for the open Emblen on the far post. Emblen's header hit the top of the post. Probably the best chance of the half to go further ahead.Crewe had one effort on goal when a swift passing move down our right side caused Oakes to dive smartly to his right from Colin Cramb to keep a good effort out. The other chance Crewe had was a half chance when the ball fell to 43 in the corner of our box, his first time shot went off at such an angle that if it had been left alone would have gone for a Wolves throw-in somewhere behind where the original shot was made from on the right hand side.
It should have been more than a one nil advantage but Crewe looked very poor and didn't look like scoring. Therefore, we weren't biting our nails as much at half time worrying about the opposition getting back into the game.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
The pace slowed in the second half which allowed Wolves more time and space to pass the ball around. One strange incident did happen when Pollet went down holding his leg but no one saw what happened. Apart from Pollet wouldn't shake the Crewe players (Tait) hand. Later on he tangled with Curle and Tait got booked.
Wolves had virtually all the play but were strolling towards the Crewe end. We just couldn't finish them off.
Little came on for Newby in the 60th minute for Crewe and for the next five minutes they went at us a bit but still never looked like scoring.
Then against the run of play for that part. Wolves got the ball Robinson played a through ball into Taylor's path just inside the area. Taylor just about managed to fend off a challenge and Taylor ended up one on one with at the goal keeper in the penalty area and shot well around the goal keepers finger tips. 2 - 0.
We had other chance Branch had a shot from an acute angle that flew over the bar. From a corner Robinson had an effort kicked off the line. The best
shot of the night came from a Muscat attempt that was hit as sweetly as could be from fully thirty yards, the keeper saved however.At the end of the day the second half was a professional performance where we didn't really break sweat. We had so many corners I lost count. There was also so many goal mouth scrambles on the penalty spot also. Crewe were very poor but we should have had more goals.
Men of the Match : Scott Taylor for coming back well from injury, Emblen - such a high work rate, Branch - ran all over the pitch, Sedgley - in the middle played well and acted as a play maker. Overall a good team performance.
Review of Wolves vs Stockport - 2 - 2 .It was a bigger crowd than usual as it was kids for a quid. However, stockport brought very few so it was a crowd of 25,052.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Bazeley , Curle, Pollet, Sinton , Neilsen, Sedgley and Taylor in the middle and Branch and Emblen up front. The only change being new signing Neilsen for Robinson. Akinbiyi came back from suspension but had to stay on the bench with Simpson, Petterson, Robinson and Osborn (back from injury). Therefore Muscat stayed at left back and Bazeley right back. Taylor filled right side midfield with Sinton left and Neilsen and Sedgley centre midfield.Half Time - 1 - 1
Second Half:-
Man of the Match : Difficult on such a poor performance but Pollet did very little wrong.
Review of Wolves vs Blackburn - 2 - 1 .It was just over the 20,000 average for this year as it was a big club in attendance and they were given the John Ireland Lower. Therefore, a crowd of 22,286.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Emblen , Curle, Pollet, Neilsen, Bazeley, Sedgley and Robinson in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. The only change from last weeks match against birmingham was Robinson in and Sinton out. This was because Sinton was out injured. Therefore, Emblen assumed another role and stayed at left back and Neilsen played left wing. Therefore Muscat went back to his best role at right back and Bazeley right wing. On the bench was Taylor, Petterson, Flo, Lescott and Osborn.The blackburn team sheet is daunting enough to a team like ours full of ex premiership players then they announce the subs including nathan blake, matt jansen and keith gillespie. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that in the first 15 minutes Blackburn were the better side. They were stopping our midfield from playing and beating us to the second ball every time when they got the ball were breaking so quick our slow central midfield (Robinson, Sedgley) couldn't keep up. Neither could Muscat who was lucky later on when Duff zoomed past him and he had to pull him back.
Our best chance of the half fell to Emblen to headed wide from a corner. However, we did more defending than attacking in this half and Blackburn had more chances and had far more corners.
Robinson and Sedgley were also making some astonishing badly passes which got the crowd on their backs. Nielsen showed a few good touches and passing movement but he is no out and out left winger. Therefore, it looked more likely that Blackburn would score and not us. Blackburn were doing virtually all their attacking down the left side as Nielsen was not tackling much and attacking Emblen who isn't really a left back.
Another long ball (there was a lot in this game) from Muscat found Branch with his back to goal as he struggled to get control of the ball. In the tussle Dailly seemed to pull Branches shirt and he fell over Wolves had a penalty. Muscat grabbed the ball after we were muttering please not Curle after the last 2 penalties he has taken. Muscat smashed the shot into the roof of the net just to the side of the keeper. 1 - 0 on 40 minutes.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
Robinson came off (he never appeared to be in the game) and Taylor came into the centre of midfield. After this Wolves played better whether this was due to Taylor or also due to Blackburn pushing forward more to get more goals I don't know.The first chance of the half fell to Branch who after Neilsen and Akinbiyi exchanged passes that found him inside the area having made a typical run
behind the defence. Branch shot from an acute angle, beat Kelly but struck the post. This was typical of what Branch did in the second half. He ran at their defence often out pacing the Blackburn defence.It was all wolves and the Blackburn goal came out of nowhere. A loose ball was collected by Duff in the centre circle on the halfway line. He moved
forward and Wolves players did their usual trick of retreating backwards to the edge of the penalty area. Muscat forced him wide of the goal. But as Duff reached the corner of our area his cross field shot went inside the far post, 1 - 1 on 54 minutes. At a time when wolves seemed to be controlling the game and going for a second goal.Wolves came back at Blackburn and never gave up the fight to win this game. We started to control the midfield more. Down the right the deadly duo of Muscat and Bazeley were showing what they have done in other games and work together with some neat pass and move. Proving to us fans what we have been saying ever since Naylor went injured and Muscat was moved to left back breaking up their partnership. Also Bazeley seemed to do better because he had less defending/tackling to do than in the first half. In the centre of midfield Taylor and Sedgley who started to run the show. Taylor showed his usual tenacity and got to support the front 2 better than Robinson and Sedgley had been doing. While Sedgley did his midfield play maker role. even Neilsen was looking better down the left wing and showed some good vision in his passing and was controlling the ball and getting a foot in.
However, too many balls came across from corners and free kicks with no one there to meet them the best chance was when Muscat and
Bazeley had worked an opening and the cross went to the far post, Akinbiyi provided a header back into the danger area but there was no-one to pick it up.Another chance went begging when Bazeley made a superb run from deep that took him between two defenders, only for his pass to find Branch and Akinbiyi both standing offside by the penalty spot.
We had a few more good chances with Bazeley hitting a long range shot just over the bar from a free kick and Taylor had a powerful goal bound shot
blocked.Kevin Muscat fed Michael Branch he delivering a superb cross which Neilsen met at the far post and powered past Alan Kelly in the Blackburn goal to make it 2-1 in the 72nd minute.
Blackburn came back at us in the last 10 minutes of the game and Matt Jansen has a chance after Blackburn had bought on Jansen, Blake and Gillespie. But we defended sternly and held off the challenge.
Flo came on for Akinbiyi who had been limping a bit after he tackled hard.
So overall we were poor in the first half and Blackburn looked better but went into half time in front. Then in the second half showed how we can play and were dangerous down the right, controlled central midfield more and Branch looked a real bargain.
Man of the Match : Branch came back from a one match lay off and ran around like a man possessed. He also put Akinbiyi to shame looking more like the £3.5 million pound striker than him even winning more headers than him (strange considering he's only a little guy). He also deserved to score with the amount of work he put in but just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net
Review of Wolves vs Barnsley - 2 - 0 .It was just over the 20,000 break even point as it was a club in play off contention in attendance and they were given the John Ireland Lower and filled most of it. Therefore, a crowd of 21,251. However, it seemed like a lot of wolves fans had gone on holiday for the Easter break.
The game had only been given the go ahead after Harry Bassett wanted the match to go ahead. The worst part of the pitch being in front of the Billy Wright stand.
First Half:-
Team was again a 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Bazeley, Curle, Pollet, Neilsen, Sinton, Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. The changes from last weeks match against Norwich were Sinton in back from injury and back on the left wing, Neilsen moves to right wing, Bazeley back to right back and Muscat back to left back also Akinbiyi back from his extra one match suspension. On the bench were Taylor, Robinson, Petterson, Green, and Osborn.However, playing down the left Sinton had to deal with the pools of surface water in the first half and in the first ten minutes there were a few dodgy
passes as players were unsure how the ball would play on the pitch.Wolves had the first real chance when Muscat had a 25 yard shot that bounced awkwardly just in front of Miller and rebounded dangerously off the chest of the diving keeper. Akinbiyi closed in for the loose ball and suffered a leg injury that forced him to go off for treatment before the ball was hacked clear of danger by Steve Chettle.
However, as usual at home we get a shite referee. The referee was Tony Bates from Burslem close to where I live. Wolves were furious when Hignett's right-wing centre led to a corner award on the far side, although Shipperley, rather than Bazeley, had quite clearly headed behind. There were other corner and throw in decisions that he couldn't get right. Also as usual Barnsley defenders could get away with pulling and barging Branch and Akinbiyi but a little shove from Curle would mean a free kick. Also on 2 occasions wolves broke away after a foul and when it would have been better for us to let play go on he pulled play back to give us a free kick and let Barnsley regroup.
Akinbiyi had the first real chance of the half on 24 minutes when Darren Bazeley's cross was missed by Chris Morgan and Akinbiyi only had the keeper to beat from a matter of yards but with the pitch being muddy he decided to chip the keeper and the ball flew about a foot above the cross bar.
Play was held up when Pollet suddenly went down in Wolves' penalty spot but from the opposite end we could not see what had happened but Muscat dashed to the referee to have a word in his ear and the referee had a word with the linesman. So following a free-kick the referee had a word of warning with Pollet and Shipperley.
Another clear opening came Wolves' way after a link-up between Emblen and Akinbiyi outside Barnsley's area. The striker's lay-off was well-weighted, but Neilsen struck his powerful low drive too straight and Miller got down well to block a very strong shot.
Just before the first goal Geoff Thomas was brought down in the area by Pollet but Barnsley stayed quiet when they might have protested for a penalty.
We then broke forward to take the lead. Michael Branch got the ball in the central area and broke out at pace with Akinbiyi and delivered a precision cross-field ball to Akinbiyi who ran on unchallenged and he took it on several steps and side-footed a shot that Miller took the pace out of before the ball rolled into the goal. 1- 0 on 43 minutes.
Oakes never really had a save to make in the first half however, Barnsley had a few half chances but Wolves looked the better attacking side with Branch running all over the place playing centre forward and wing man.
Half Time - 1 - 0
Second Half:-
We had a penalty appeal when Emblen's miscued 25-yard drive appeared to strike Jones on the hand and bounce into the grateful clutches of Miller.
Dyer came on for Hristov on 51 minutes a straight striker swap but never really threatened he was well shepherded by Curle and Pollet. But wolves soon scored afterwards.
An Andy Sinton cross from the left found Branch who unnerved the Barnsley defence with his challenge and the ball ran across the area to Akinbiyi just right of the goal. And he unleashed a powerful right foot effort which went through Miller's legs and into the corner of the net. 51 minutes. It was a good shot and Akinbiyi looked very pleased with the goal.
Curle tried to over-play near the edge of his area and Darren Barnard hit a 25-yard screamer which was tipped over by Oakes. I good save by Oakes.
But only the bar denied Wolves a third when Branch's drifting cross from the right floated beyond Miller and bounced back into play off the cross bar.
Akinbiyi then had two great chances to grab a hat-trick in the space of a couple of minutes. First, he smacked Sinton's cross into the side netting, before Branch (like the last home match) made a cross from a tight angle from the left and Akinbiyi headed the chance right across the face of goal.
Substitute Robbie Van Der Laan came on for Barnard and played Shipperley in on 76 minutes, but Oakes saved his first time effort. Sheron (another striker came on for a defender Jones) but made little difference.
Thomas then had the best chance for Barnsley in the closing minutes when he was put clean through, however, Oakes saved his first effort, before he somehow lifted the rebound over the bar. A shocking miss much to our pleasure however, even had it gone in it would have made no difference as it was about a minute before full time.Overall it was probably even in the first half but in the second as Barnsley pushed one defender into midfield our midfield and front line found more room and we were the better attacking team and had more possession and Emblen and Sedgley who did not look brilliant in the first half came into the game in the second half and took control of the midfield. Akinbiyi had 5 guilt edged chances and got 2 in the net. He should have had a hat-trick. We were a team that showed determination, ability and commitment in the end.
Men of the Match : Branch again did a brilliant job all over the pitch. Akinbiyi was a man inspired after his second goal obviously going for a hat-trick. Curle and Pollet won the battle against Shipperley and the other strikers brought on by Barnsley and Emblen and Sedgley battled away against a Barnsley team who were quick to everything, Sinton and Bazeley were whipping the crosses across and Muscat did his usual job at the back but also burst forward on several occasions. So it was a tough job picking man of the match but it was just edged by Branch.
Review of Wolves vs Fulham - 3 - 0 .It was just below the 20,000 break even point as Fulham only brought 500 and it was a bank holiday weekend so again some people might have been on holiday. Still I thought a few more people might have turned up for the last home match of the season. So a crowd of 19,912 saw another crucial must win game.
First Half:-
Team was as usual 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Muscat , Bazeley, Curle, Pollet, Neilsen, Sinton, Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. There were no changes from last weeks match against Barnsley. Sinton left wing, Neilsen right wing, Bazeley right back and Muscat left back, Sedgley and Emblen battling away in the middle and the deadly duo Akinbiyi and Branch up front. On the bench were Taylor, Robinson, Petterson, Flo, and Naylor back from injury sooner than expected. Osborn was suspended. Neilsen was a real doubt but somehow got patched together.It was Fulham who had the best start. They won everything in the middle of the pitch. This being in part to the formation that they chose (5 in midfield) and the fact that they had 2 ex-sunderland battlers in the middle.
After 12 minutes Wolves seemed to wake up when Muscat played a measured pass into the box and Neilsen neatly flicked the ball past the keeper into the net. Unfortunately the linesman's flag had been raised. But it was a brilliant shot from Neilsen. Which was shown to be onside by Sky replays. No surprise really read the next paragraph.
Unfortunately the linesmen's activities were to become a feature of the game. In fact one of them used it that much it fell apart in the middle of the second half much to our amusement. Every time wolves seemed to have broken the off side trap the flag went up. Branch even mocked this fact as well in the second half by flagging to the linesman.
The games path was changed on the 15th minute with a shocking challenge by Uhlenbeek on Sinton. He clearly didn't go for the ball and hit sinton's leg hard with his studs. He possibly could have broken sinton's leg. The referee seemed to do nothing. Sinton went off the pitch for treatment and the Referee (Bill Burns another name for the Wolves black list, why do we get a bunch of clowns at Molyneux ?) eventually gave Uhlenbeek a yellow card. The first stunningly stupid decision. Another ref might have given red for what could have been a career ending tackle. Uhlenbeek was then booed continually (with him jokingly encouraging the crowd to do so) until he was subbed on 35 minutes but not after he tried to crock a few other players. Fulham admitting that he was brought off partially because they thought he and Horsfield might get sent off. Horsfield continually getting tangled up with Curle and pulled him all over the place and being allowed to do so by the referee.
Sinton had to come off and hobbled back onto the pitch still not being able to walk properly at the end of the game. However, Naylor came on at left back. Neilsen switched to left wing, Muscat to right back (thank god back to his best position) and Bazeley to right wing (his best position). This seemed to make us a better side. If only we'd started like this but with Naylor only having played one reserve match perhaps Lee was cautious.
Wolves began to apply the pressure and look like getting a goal. The pace of the game was quick and with us getting the ball to Bazeley on the right and Neilsen being involved in some neat moves on the left. The front 2 were harrying well and Branch looking dangerous against their defence which looked dodgy on the floor against our quick front 2.
Another chance fell to Neilsen from some fine passing in midfield involving Branch which led to Neilsen shooting over. But the ball was dipping down it was just a fraction over the cross bar.
The next half chance fell to Emblen who headed over from a corner and just couldn't keep the ball down. How many times have we seen Emblen do that.
Horsfield also clearly elbowed Pollet by the half way line. As both players lay on the ground there looked to be another elbow for good measure. The linesman, only two yards away, didn't see the offence nor the ref who consulted the linesman and the ref took no further action other than giving a free kick. Peschidildo also kept trying to wind Muscat up but to no avail in fact Muscat was clearly up to the task today. Covering every blade of grass. In defence, in the midfield (making some stern challenges that Fulham started to steer clear of him) and interplay on the edge of the opposition penalty area.
0 - 0 was hardly a reflection of the performance. Oakes hardly had to make an effort in the first half. It was virtually all wolves after Fulham had the first 15 minutes. Still we were attacking the Stan Cullis in the second half and we always seem to score at that end of the pitch.
Half Time - 0 - 0
Second Half:-
We finally broke the deadlock soon after the start. On 50 minutes Neilsen headed in for a fine goal. This was from a Bazeley corner which found Neilsen unmarked near the penalty spot. A great header from distance. After this I think Fulham went for a win and we found more space. It also gave us more confidence that we could beat them. Also the referee looked gutted. I'm sure he lives in London and came on the Fulham coach. The atmosphere was then turned up at Molyneux as we went for a good win to improve our goal difference. There was more noise today than at the last few matches where the crowd seemed to have lost some confidence in the team.
Unfortunately Neilsen got a knock to his calf (an injury that nearly meant he didn't play to start with) and he was replaced by Scott Taylor. Neilsen had showed some good touches but Taylor came on and again improved the team. He was battling away more to support Emblen and Sedgley as Fulham looked like a team who were 4th from bottom and fighting for the points.
Taylor it was who contributed to the second goal. Naylor was deep and he cleared his lines to Taylor still deep in our half. His long ball forward was taken cleanly by Branch on half way. He played the ball to the wing for Akinbiyi. Akinbiyi played the ball early beyond the Fulham defence to where
Branch had continued his run. The pass was a little under hit but Branch was still first to collect then Phelan thought Branch was past him and had to stop him and tripped him on the edge of the penalty area. Penalty. Surely a yellow card at least, possibly a sending off, NO. Crap referee he never looked like he was in control of the game and his officials looked as incompetent as well. Luckily Muscat continued on as penalty taker and blasted another shot into the onion bag. 2 - 0 on 59 minutes.We did our usual in the last 20 minutes and tried to give Fulham the game and our whole midfield sat deeper and deeper. Although we looked the better attacking side and we needed 3 goals to match Huddersfield's goal difference. However, Fulham now had Hayles and Peschidildo up front who still never really threatened but it still worried us as we had seen it all before with teams coming back at us.
Pollet was replaced by Robinson in the 81st minute, so Muscat went to the centre and Bazeley played slightly further back. This was because Pollet was hobbling at one stage as he looked to over stretch for a tackle and pull his hamstring. This was confirmed after the match.
We had one last chance and much to our annoyance Bazeley stopped dead and played with Muscat to play down the clock. Then we got 3 throw ins and Emblen showed a brilliant piece of skill to get past 3 Fulham players (especially as in the rest of the game he had shown his poor touch at times) to cross the ball from the bye line. The keeper just beat Akinbiyi with a punch, then he just beat Branch with a second punch. The ball had not cleared the box however and Taylor controlled it on the edge of the penalty area, took a step inside and shot low inside the near post for an excellent third goal. Another well taken goal and gave us that 3rd goal we needed to put us equal with Huddersfield on goal difference. After Huddersfield lost to Stockport on saturday and Brum lost as well.
At the end the player of the season award was given to Pollet with Emblen second and Bazeley and Muscat a close third. Those being the nucleus of our best performers this season. The team also wandered around the pitch as a seasons farewell.
So now it's on to the next must win game against Bolton. A win would put us in 6th place on goal difference and make the season stretch to the last game of the season. Surely something a lot of us would not have imagined after how poorly the team played at the start of the season.
However, we've seen it all before so we will wait and see. Unfortunately we have Sinton, Pollet and Neilsen and Akinbiyi who will be in the treatment room this week as well lets hope we can patch them up for wednesday.
Men of the Match : Branch and Akinbiyi ran their balls off. Bazeley did his usual performance on the right wing, an excellent come back from Naylor he never put a foot wrong in defence and put over some cracking crosses when up the field. Pollet and Curle again had a hard job on their hands with Horsfield pulling and barging them all over the place and the quick feet of Peschidildo but they coped well. However, Sky's man of the match was Muscat and I think it was a good choice he was clearly as up for the game as me and you. At the end he took his shirt off and gave it to a woman in the front row of the Stan Cullis don't know why but a good gesture. Still another good team performance.
Review of Port Vale vs Wolves.It was a usual small Vale crowd of 8,525 we brought 5000 so Vale made up the 3,500. It was just like being at home as the gold and black took over Burslem. A definate reason to shout 'You're supposed to be at home'. Another must win game but hoping as usual that the results went our way elsewhere.
First Half:-
Team was as usual 4 - 4 - 2
Oakes, Naylor, Muscat , Curle, Pollet, Taylor, Bazeley, Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Branch and Akinbiyi up front. There was one change as Sinton and Neilsen were out injured. Therefore, Taylor left wing, Bazeley right wing, Muscat right back and Naylor left back, Sedgley and Emblen in the middle and Akinbiyi and Branch up front. On the bench were Osborn, Robinson, Petterson, Flo, and Simpson. Looking weak on the left side and Bazeley patched up to continue his 100% record.Wolves had the better start within the first 10 minutes created several corners and the Vale defence looked liked turning over and dying as they had nothing to play for. Branch was looking inspired and chased everything. Despite the majority of the play we couldn't get the final effort right.
Bazeley had a shot on target, Branch also turned sweetly and shot just over. Sedgley met one cross but as usual with wolves headers couldn't get it right, Akinbiyi also missed the target with a header that went wide. The ball fell kindly for Emblen just inside the box his attempt went wide, but
before the ball went out Branch turned it into another chance that was saved by the keeper's legs.Wolves carved out the best chance of the half when a Steve Sedgley free kick found Michael Branch completely unmarked inside the box four yards out but Branch met the cross and sidefooted goalwards - sadly it lacked any power at all and the keeper saved with ease - he should have scored.
Although we had a lot of the play it wasn't an attractive flowing game of football. Vale played tight in midfield and in defence and played on the break. Here playing against these tactics we didn't have enough skill sometimes to break a team like this down. Sedgley and Emblen often chased fresh air. There was little attacking strength down the left (due to taylor playing out of position) and even Bazeley (who was still getting accross a good number of crosses) looked a bit out of shape possibly down to the injury he struggled with all week.
As I said the final ball was not good enough and when the players did get the ball the final effort wasn't good enough.
Half Time - 0 - 0. With Bolton drawing and Huddersfield losing there was still hope.
Second Half:-
Vale started the half better and came more into the game. Looking more dangerous up front after Healy came on for Naylor.
Sagi Burton could and should have put Vale ahead ten minutes into the second half. Burton had a free header six yards out but he somehow managed to miss the target but only by inches over the cross bar.
Emblen provided a superb cross. Sedgley was running in at the far post and looked certain to score but missed. Another header missed it looked easier to score.
Bazeley put over a cross and Akinbiyi shot well over when again it looked harder to miss.
Osborn came on for Taylor on 62 minutes when we thought there were better options to put someone down on the left wing as Val were completely un-threatened down this flank for long periods.
Within a few minutes Osborn played an excellent through ball for Emblen right up the centre. Instead of shooting first time he tried to walk the ball into the net and the ball ran away and was cleared by another defender.
Osborn seemed to create a few better chances and was at least trying to get some passing movements going but a lot of passes were still going awry.
On 78 minutes Branch comes off and Robinson comes on. But yet again Akinbiyi didn't look like the 3.5m striker Branch did. He had a very good game AGAIN and did everything but score. This was not a popular decision. Booing from the wolves crowd as Branch was our best player for large periods of the game. Robinson soon got involved and was running all over the place.
In the 85th minute Naylor hit a hard low cross, Robinson it was who managed to get a foot onto it and a goal.
We even had our own pitch invasion at the end as wolves took over burslem.
Too many lost points away from home lost it us in the end.
Men of the Match : Micheal Branch again put Akinbiyi to shame and did everything but score and Pollet at the back never looked threatened..
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Last Modifications 8th May 2000.