Random thoughts post Wolves

Why do Wolves persist with karaoke to warm up the crowd? We had a Robbie Williams impersonator last time, who murdered his standards, and Sunday it was someone from the X Factor's top 1,000 or something.

The way Blues started was as good as they have this season. They had purpose, poise, controlled aggression.

The first-half reminded you of the Molineux game in the Championship, when Blues were in control until injury meant Mehdi Nafti came on to play at right-back.

Lee Bowyer is re-born. His goal was the goal of a man in form, confident and fully fit. When he arrived at the club in January I remember chief scout Paul Montgomery, who pushed for his signature, being fairly indignant about jibes that his 'legs had gone'.

If Eck had picked four centre-halves across his back four at St Andrew's, and a defender wide right of midfield to start, he would have been slaughtered. Especially if it had been 4-5-1.

James McFadden, given licence to play where he is at his best - up the field, linking in with the attack and not weighed down with defensive duties - can change games. Ask Michael Mancienne, who didn't have an answer.

When is a penalty not a penalty? Depends if it is David Ngog or Scott Dann going over. What was the linesman looking at exactly?

If you provide towels for the home team long throws, you have to expect the away team to demand them from the ball boys too. Liam Ridgewell wiped the ball down,

handed the towel back, wound up for a Rory Delap . . . and chucked it short, 10 yards. Funny.

Christian Benitez, an enigma? The next Darius Vassell, perhaps, mused my colleague Andy Walker in the press box.

What he brings to the team is mobility, speed, trickery, defenders find him difficult to pin down. He does have a decent game appreciation and intelligence.

On the flip side, he's not a 'natural' goalscorer, he can be muscled off the ball and drift out of it. Yet, no doubt, alongside Cameron Jerome he is effective for the team.

Blues are no longer regimented and predictable up top and, remember, he's still a kid learning to adapt to the Premier League and a new country. He will get better.

Stephen Carr? The best comeback from retirement since Sinatra. Any youngster wanting to know the art of a full-back, just watch him.

Second-half, Wolves squeezed up. They pushed onto Blues. However, it didn't phase Eck's men. They have too much experience, knowledge and calm now. Mentally and physically, Blues were stronger too.

Roger Johnson defends like a basketball centre. He is all over the opposition centre-forward. It could be argued, however, that Dann has the better long-term prospects due to age and on-the-ball ability.

As a pair, with the players protecting to their side and in front of them, they have excelled. In Austria on tour, I feared the worst. They didn't convince. However, both had rushed back from injury and weren't right and had not settled. Just goes to show, you shouldn't always judge on results and performances in pre-season, in general.

Blues got careless towards the end. They invited pressure on themselves by being caught offside, conceding needless free-kicks, losing concentration. Perhaps they were bored.

In midfield, Blues dominated. Wolves couldn't get any foothold. It explains why you wouldn't have known that Kevin Doyle or Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were playing in the first-half.

I don't think he's intentionally disrespectful, but sometimes Mick McCarthy comes across like that towards Blues. A bit like Adrian Chiles. There are better ways of saying things, Mick.