Not sure you want to re-live it, but just in case!
A beautiful day greeted us as Jonny and I set off for the 145 miles trip to Dingle Dell from our home. It was an early start of course with the kick off on a Sunday at 13.30; a truly ridiculous time in my opinion given that the match wasn’t even televised. Clearly the SKY production teams knew something we all didn’t!
Still, the advantage was that we had a clear run on virtually deserted motorways since after all you don’t really travel to Wolverhampton unless you’ve got to do you? We were denied the company of Will and Chris for this trip as both were unable to join us this week. Also I was hoping that Linda Jarvis, a work colleague and mother of Matt, the Wolves winger would have come north with us but since Matt was injured and unable to play she understandably decided to give the game a miss.
We made excellent time and arrived about midday for a pork and stuffing bap with apple sauce. Unfortunately, we were informed by an officer of the law that we were not allowed to proceed along the Queen’s Highway in the direction of a local hostelry so it was into the ground to find we couldn’t get a pint in there either. We settled for a coffee and killed time before the kick off. I have to confess that I was confident that Blues would win this match given our recent performances, the dire state of Wolves’ defending and their injury list. When I heard that they had their utility left back Ward playing up front with Ebanks-Blake I thought ‘phew things must be bad!’ Defend properly, wear them down and eventually we will score and three points are assured. The thing about this wonderful game we call football is that it can make mugs of all of us!
Wolves started brightly and Foster had to make smart saves from Hunt and Edwards in the first ten minutes. Murphy at left back in place of the injured Ridgewell was having a torrid time from Edwards and between him and Fahey they were failing to quell raid after raid down their flank meaning that the crosses kept coming in one after another. Further saves were required from Milijas and Ebanks-Blake with Ward getting in on the act with a volley that went narrowly wide. Blues were just not at the races and lacked any form of control in midfield with Bowyer and Ferguson struggling to contain the energetic Foley, Milijas and Edwards. However, it looked as if Blues had weathered the storm approaching half-time when a long punt from goalkeeper Hennessey was flicked on by Edwards to Ebanks-Blake whose whipped cross from the left was dispatched into the net from six yards by Hunt who did not have to break stride; very nice goal and excellent finish and moreover, thoroughly deserved. The whistle went with Blues’ fans grateful it wasn’t three or four!
Surely changes were needed but as per usual nothing happened until the hour mark! I’m sorry but I cannot for the life of me understand what is so mystical about 60 minutes before changes get made when you have a match going away from you, the opposition are outplaying you in every department of the game and your original plan which appears to be hoofing the ball up towards Zigic and Jerome, neither of whom are renowned for holding it up for others to join them, is clearly not working as any fan watching could have pointed out after as little as ten minutes from the start! Wolves by now should have doubled their lead within two minutes of the restart when Edwards inexplicably missed a sitter of a header from Ward’s cross and it was a miracle we were still in the game. Foster saved Blues’ blushes again when he tipped Nenad Milijas’s header over the bar before Christophe Berra collided with an upright trying to turn in a cross from the Serbian when it appeared easier to score.
The ineffective Fahey was replaced by Gardner and Zigic by Beausejour and a little later as desperation set in Kevin Phillips came on for Bowyer with fifteen minutes left. Blues began to make some inroads into the game especially Beausejour who was the pick of the replacements; his excellent whipped cross from an identical position to the Wolves strike in the first half tantalisingly whisked past Jerome’s outstretched foot when any touch would surely have resulted in a completely undeserved equaliser. In the last minute with Wolves defending deep a good chipped cross from Gardner found Phillips unmarked. He chose to head the ball wide rather than control it on his chest and Blues only attempt of the second half was gone.
Wolves were deserved of their victory and were so much the better side it was embarrassing. I did not believe that we would play as badly as we did against Wigan at home but we did and the worst of it is we didn’t even get a point out of it as we did that day. Blues were simply shocking and second best to Wolves in everything they attempted. We failed to put a single goal attempt on target and Hennessy may as well have been watching from the stands. The only corner of the first half we gained was taken by Larsson who was particularly poor all afternoon and the ball went out of play before reaching the waiting players in the goal area. That incident alone summed up our totally hapless performance. When it is considered that the Wolves team was missing so many of their key players; Doyle and Jarvis to name but two it makes the fact that we were so completely outplayed all the more difficult to accept: back to the drawing board Alex; there is a lot of work to do!
The Good: The pork filled bap. The spirit and endeavour of the Wolves team and the excellent shift they put in for their fans.
The Bad: Perm any nineteen of twenty different aspects of Blues’ play in this game.
The Ugly: My mood on the long journey home.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: (4-5-1):
Hennessey 7; Zubar 7, Stearman 8, Berra 7, Elokobi 7; Foley 8, Edwards 8 (Steven Fletcher, 84, N/A), Milijas 7, Hunt 7, Ward 9; Ebanks-Blake8. Subs (Not Used): Hahnemann, Mugangi Bia, Ebanks-Landell, Winnall, Rooney, Doherty.
Birmingham City (4-4-2):
Foster 8; Carr 6, Dann 5, Johnson 5, Murphy 4; Larsson 4, Bowyer 4 (Phillips 73, 5) Ferguson 6, Fahey 4 (Gardner 61, 6); Zigic 5 (Beausejour 61, 7) Jerome 5. Subs (not used): Taylor, Derbyshire, Parnaby, Michel.
Referee: M Atkinson (Yorkshire) 5:
The referee’s performance was down to his usual standards; for a man who is so easily conned for a penalty he missed a blatant grab of Bowyer by a Wolves defender as a second half corner came across but I hasten to add it would have been a travesty if we had equalised from such a source. Mr Atkinson gave what Blues put into the game and deserved which was nothing. This official is a bit of a jinx for us however; we lose every time we get him it seems.
KRO SOTV
Wolves fan in peace……
Nice summary and I’m sure not the kind you like to write often, which to be fair, up until now you haven’t.
As the pain in the arse Kev Phillips says, it was a bad day at the office for you and yep, we had to codge a team together so I’m glad you forgot your laptop or whatever it takes to have a bad day at the office.
You know your team well enough and don’t need anyone to tell you the weakness. If you get a decent striker in the Jan window that will see you right.
Its gunna be tight this season thats for sure.
Keep right on….but stop around about the end of April ready for May 1st.
Quote :
after all you don’t really travel to Wolverhampton unless you’ve got to do you?
coming from someone who visit’s Small Heath for home matches that’s a bit rich, apart from that a very unbiased report & I may even read you more often to see how things are going with you lot!!
All meant to be tongue in cheek Chester – no offence intended mate.
As for our match reports, we try to make them from a fans perspective rather than a “sports hack,” and we try to be as objective as we possibly can. Bazz is brilliant at doing that.
Thank you for noting that.
Kev
Another Wolves fan here. Really good read Kev & a very fair report of the game. Was expecting the worst when the two teams were read out, but we played well yesterday & worked incredibly hard. As mentioned above, a new striker to replace the awful Zigic will ensure a decent second half of your season. Hopefully this will still be a Premier League fixture next season.
Thanks for your kind comments Dave, likewise I would prefer 6 West Mid Derbies and hopefully that will happen.
Thanks for the comments lads. Chester, you are of course correct about Small Heath (I was born in Small Heath as it happens!) but you wouldn’t want to go there unless you have to either! 😀 Unfortunately, being an avid Blues fan, I have to as I have a congenital, life long affliction in being unable to stay away. We’re rubbish, never won a thing but I can’t help it. As Kev says, my comment about Wolverhampton is very much tongue in cheek and a bit of fun.
KRO SOTV
My brother Bazza is tired of hearing this but once again we have failed to take points from a team that we should beat and indeed must beat if we are to stay in the Premiership. I just hope that history does not repeat itself. By this I mean that I am reminded of the time that we could only manage a draw at home against Derby (who I think only managed 11 or 12 points all season and had the distinction of being the worst team statistically to ever grace the Premiership) and I said to my learned brother at the time: “if we are relegated by one point or on goal difference, this will be the result that will come back to haunt us”. Well the rest, as they say, is history. Having said that I do not think that we will actually go down but it will almost certainly be a lower place finish for us. I listened to the Big ‘Eck’s comments after the game and I am beginning to think that the man has lost the plot; he seemed clueless as to what’s going on (or not going on depending on which way you look at it) and why the lads were not up for it. Forgive me if I am missing something here but isn’t that a big part of the manager’s job? Now I am not one to jump on the “fire the manager” bandwagon but something has to change; reading the BEEB just now, it seems that Big Sam has just joined the ranks of the nation’s unemployed. Any thoughts anyone?