Reasons to be cheerful for Wolves
By: DJ | December 20th, 2010
It was a big disappointment that the big derby gamewas cancelled, but with just a few games being played at the weekendthe xmas league table looks more positive than we were fearing a few weeks ago. Evertons win at Man City has improved their position but I am not sure they were really relegation contenders anyway and Saturdays draw keeps West Ham bottom two points below Wolves with one more game played. And Blackburn remain in the bottom half of the table and potentially vulnerable following the surprise sacking of Allardyce.Where that now leaves Wolves is knowing that a win on Boxing Day at home to Wigan will take them above their opponents, and if Fulham fail to win at home to West Ham then Wolves will be out of the bottom three. Even better, if Birmingham lose at Everton then Wolves will join them on 18 points.What has also become a positive for Wolves is a knowledge that they have a squad that can cope with lots of absentees and still play to the required level. With Jarvis, Doyle, Mancienne, Henry and Craddock to come back and compete for places with the 11 that outplayed Birmingham it suddenly looks much healthier. Stephen Hunt is finding the form we knew he was capable of, Hennessey has made a positive return in goal and its no coincidence that the defence looks more solid with Zubar back in tow.The biggest question marks of the Wolves squad players concern Stephen Fletcher and David Jones. Fletcher has not let the team down when played as a central striker but with 4-5-1 being the preferred option for most of the season he was always going to be second fiddle to Doyle and the much improved form of Ebanks Blake has meant he hasnt even had a chance when Doyle got injured. He is rumoured to be unsettled but Wolves look unlikely to be able to recover anywhere near the 6.5m paid so I would expect him to remain at the club and maybe he will get his chance before the season is out. 4th s! triker M arcus Bent will certainly return to Birmingham in January and it looks like American World Cup striker Robbie Findley could be the man to take his place. He is confirmed as moving to Europe from the MLS where he has been plying his trade for Real Salt Lake for the last three years, netting 29 goals from 91 games. He scored the goal in the MLS final for Salt Lake that saw them get a 1-1 draw against LA Galaxy before winning against the odds on penalties. He qualifies to play for Trinidad and Tobago or the USA internationally but chose USA and made his debut for them in the World Cup against England.David Jones meanwhile is out of contract in the summer and as someone not a regular in the first team Wolves would be likely to accept any decent offer that came in during January. That would add funds to whatever investments McCarthy feels are necessary for the second half of the season. Not so long ago we were in need of centre backs, a left back, central midfield player and a winger. Such has been the promise shown by the squad in recent weeks that a couple of signings might be all we see.So its a generally optimistic picture for xmas despite still being 19th in the table. One day after xmas that optimism will either be boosted or severely subdued in what looks a very important game against Wigan where Wolves will be looking to complete a hat trick of home wins.
World Soccer News | Video | Podcast | Gallery | Live Streaming
It was a big disappointment that the big derby gamewas cancelled, but with just a few games being played at the weekendthe xmas league table looks more positive than we were fearing a few weeks ago. Evertons win at Man City has improved their position but I am not sure they were really relegation contenders anyway and Saturdays draw keeps West Ham bottom two points below Wolves with one more game played. And Blackburn remain in the bottom half of the table and potentially vulnerable following the surprise sacking of Allardyce.Where that now leaves Wolves is knowing that a win on Boxing Day at home to Wigan will take them above their opponents, and if Fulham fail to win at home to West Ham then Wolves will be out of the bottom three. Even better, if Birmingham lose at Everton then Wolves will join them on 18 points.What has also become a positive for Wolves is a knowledge that they have a squad that can cope with lots of absentees and still play to the required level. With Jarvis, Doyle, Mancienne, Henry and Craddock to come back and compete for places with the 11 that outplayed Birmingham it suddenly looks much healthier. Stephen Hunt is finding the form we knew he was capable of, Hennessey has made a positive return in goal and its no coincidence that the defence looks more solid with Zubar back in tow.The biggest question marks of the Wolves squad players concern Stephen Fletcher and David Jones. Fletcher has not let the team down when played as a central striker but with 4-5-1 being the preferred option for most of the season he was always going to be second fiddle to Doyle and the much improved form of Ebanks Blake has meant he hasnt even had a chance when Doyle got injured. He is rumoured to be unsettled but Wolves look unlikely to be able to recover anywhere near the 6.5m paid so I would expect him to remain at the club and maybe he will get his chance before the season is out. 4th s! triker M arcus Bent will certainly return to Birmingham in January and it looks like American World Cup striker Robbie Findley could be the man to take his place. He is confirmed as moving to Europe from the MLS where he has been plying his trade for Real Salt Lake for the last three years, netting 29 goals from 91 games. He scored the goal in the MLS final for Salt Lake that saw them get a 1-1 draw against LA Galaxy before winning against the odds on penalties. He qualifies to play for Trinidad and Tobago or the USA internationally but chose USA and made his debut for them in the World Cup against England.David Jones meanwhile is out of contract in the summer and as someone not a regular in the first team Wolves would be likely to accept any decent offer that came in during January. That would add funds to whatever investments McCarthy feels are necessary for the second half of the season. Not so long ago we were in need of centre backs, a left back, central midfield player and a winger. Such has been the promise shown by the squad in recent weeks that a couple of signings might be all we see.So its a generally optimistic picture for xmas despite still being 19th in the table. One day after xmas that optimism will either be boosted or severely subdued in what looks a very important game against Wigan where Wolves will be looking to complete a hat trick of home wins.World Soccer News | Video | Podcast | Gallery | Live Streaming
Comments