Results tagged “Football” from Birmingham Mail - Wolverhampton Wanderers Blog

..and so I face, the final curtain.
Today, after seven years, is to be my last day on the Birmingham Mail.
Time for pastures new, and a fresh role as a press officer with Wolves.
Poacher turned gamekeeper, as many have pointed out.
I've never quite cottoned onto the idea of reporters waxing lyrical about their departures.
After all, the news is always the most important thing irrespective of who it is providing it.
But bearing in mind the fact that this website carries a blog in my name - albeit for how much longer who knows - I thought I'd better at least report my 'demise' save people thinking, 'blimey, that Berry gets a bit lazy in the summer'.
In a way it will be a sad day bidding farewell to colleagues who have become friends and also the world of sports journalism in its purest form.
In another I will still get to mingle with aforementioned colleagues in the new position whilst also writing for Wolves' website and matchday programme.
Life has certainly changed in the seven years since I arrived at the Birmingham Mail as an enthusastic if naive young buck having previously spent three years on a weekly newspaper in Shropshire.
And changed not just in my ever-expanding waistline.
In those early days the internet was not yet at its most dominating influence and the Mail was still focused on a rolling news operation with plenty of opportunity to update stories throughout the day.
Now the deadlines have been brought forward, the worldwide web has expanded seemingly unstoppably and great store is now placed in the Birmingham Mail's website as well as the newspaper.
A damned good website it is too, which should almost make the geography of local papers less of an issue than before.
Nowhere during my time was the changing emphasis of newspapers and indeed changing culture of sport and in particular football more evident that in the decline of the Sports Argus.
Dramatic alterations in kick off times and the development of up-to-the-minute technology in terms of providing sporting results meant the vast majority of Saturday night 'pink' papers across the country took a massive hit.
Eventually, the Argus, like so many others, fell by the wayside in its most famous form.
A sign of the times? Indeed. But it is perhaps a shame that there seemingly was little attempt to look into whether such a once-thriving and still popular institution could not be continued in some Saturday evening form.
But who am I to say.
What is clear is that even now, two years on, the Argus is very much missed.
Even now, journalists visiting the area often enquire as to what exactly happened to it, and punters still lament their lack of the paper to peruse over a Saturday evening pint.
That aside, and even amid the long and sometimes gruelling hours which can intrude into home life, it remains of course both a privileged and challenging existence to actually be paid to cover sport.
And my five years on the Wolves 'beat' were rich in both excitement and variety.
From the sometimes eccentricities of Glenn Hoddle to the no-nonsense honesty of Mick McCarthy, the good humour of the players from the likes of the vastly experienced Paul Ince - always a top man to deal with by the way - to the refreshingly down-to-earth Michael Kightly, there has always been plenty of interest.
And from the Championship to the Premiership and then back again to the Championship, life has never been dull.
To have covered Wolves amid the fellowship and camaraderie of the Birmingham Mail sports staff has been a genuine pleasure.
Newspapers countrywide have had their problems in recent years, and the current financial climate may mean there are more to come, but the quality and devotion to duty of those writing and producing the Mail's sports pages mean I for one will continue to buy the paper and peruse its website long after I have gone.
Make no mistake these boys know their stuff, and deliver it with authority.
I think I am the first person in seven years to actually depart the sports desk for something outside the company - which in my opinion tells its own story about those who lead it and those who work for it.
But depart it I am, and after a final day covering the DFS Classic tennis at Edgbaston Priory - blooming hard job watching all those young, athletic ladies playing tennis - I'll be on my way.
It certainly felt sometimes that I'd travelled each and every highway - Southampton and Brighton on Tuesday nights were particular lowlights - and I'm sure on occasions I bit off more than I could chew.
But there have been oodles of laughter, and I'm struggling to remember any tears, and that's the sort of sports result most of us would take any Saturday afternoon.

So on the one hand the news pages of the national newspapers are today imploring everyone to 'save Gazza'.

Whilst on the other asking the paparazzi to trail him around or paying an agency for up-to-the-minute pix of his latest breakdown.

It's a strange world.

Whether people think Gazza is a deluded fool who has brought all his problems on himself, or a troubled genius unable to cope with life after football, surely every normal-thinking person will be hoping he gets the help necessary to sort himself out.

Gazza of course spent some time at Wolves during their Premier League season, desperately trying first to get himself fit and then to maybe, just maybe, win himself a contract.

It never quite happened, and perhaps even then the demons were surfacing in the most talented player of his generation.

After training, Gazza spent much of his time at Wolves' then training base at Newbridge Tennis Club either popping outside for a ciggie or ploughing cash into the fruit machine.

In one reserve match he had the mickey taken out of him by a young professional from another club showing scant respect for the former England talisman.

And yet in keeping the Wolves squad enthralled with his tales and stories, helping out the club's youngsters with tips and advice, and eventually leaving behind souvenir shirts for various members of staff, it was still clear that Gazza's heart was very much in the right place.

And when he donned a Kidderminster Harriers' steward's jacket and hot-footed it up the road to avoid the waiting reporters after a reserve game - well, that was vintage Gazza.

The problem is that he just doesn't seem to have found anything to keep him going after football.

Just over three-years ago myself and another local journalist went to see Gazza in Walsall to interview him as part of promotion for the "Promise Dreams" charity work he was doing with Wolves legend Steve Bull.

The article is reproduced below.

At that point, even though Gazza cut a pale and gaunt figure - he was seemingly winning his inner battle and the charity work, as well as being extremely genuine and well-intentioned, was keeping him busy.

Now however, he seems to be heading on a downward spiral, and for all his faults needs nursing back to following the right path.

To that end, wouldn't it be great if the next snatched picture or interview of Gazza was of him of a few months down the line, as a rejuvenated and reformed character once again having found some meaning to his life.
* * *
Published in February, 2005.

PAUL Gascoigne can seemingly smell the press at 20 paces. 'Reporters?' he enquires, across the lobby of a Walsall hotel, before lapsing into one of those trademark 'Gazza' gurns.

'You're alright lads, I don't beat them up anymore!'

Welcome to the world of Paul John Gascoigne, warts and all.

The legendary midfield is in Walsall to speak alongside another hero of these parts - Wolves' record goalscorer Steve Bull - at a dinner for children's charity Promise Dreams, of which Bull is the patron.

The two are of course former England team-mates, having burst onto the international scene at a similar time and shared a place in a World Cup squad - and one or two scrapes - for good measure.

And while Gascoigne is clearly still battling with the demons that have so afflicted his life away from football, bring back him back to that spherical object of pig's bladder and the spark is invigorating.

For half an hour he gabbles away like a steam train, rarely pausing for breath when in full flow.

There's a smattering of expletives - who will ever forget his message to the people of Norway? - and all the time puffing away on a cigar with twitching hands supping nothing stronger than Coke.

But it's all refreshingly upbeat, bearing in mind the trials and tribulations endured in recent years by not only the most gifted footballer of his generation but also a much-missed character.

Sections of the British press built him up, and sections of the British press knocked him down, albeit with plenty of aiding and abetting from the man himself.

If it was Shakespeare whose heroes always possessed a tragic flaw, Gascoigne would readily admit to having plenty.

Most, but not all, relate to alcohol.

There are of course harrowing events in Gascoigne's life over which he could exude no control. Too numerous to mention, they include as a ten-year-old, seeing his friend's younger brother knocked over and killed, the death of another lifelong pal from a building site accident at 17 and his cousin dying from asthma during a game of football. There are others - the marital problems and drug-taking - for which he is perhaps more culpable and which relate in no small part to the demon drink.

However, he is fighting to keep that particular addiction under control, and so far it's a fight he is winning.

It's nearly two years since he touched a drop, and even though he looks considerably more gaunt than in his athletic pomp, this new-found temperance can only be good news.

Of course other obstacles continue to pop up and haunt Gascoigne with alarming regularity. At Christmas he was hospitalised with pneumonia and a collapsed lung, and is currently due for surgery on a neck injury sustained while in training for the TV series 'Strictly Come Ice Dancing'.

Sometimes, you really couldn't make it up.

But Gascoigne remains, even without a drink, infectiously good company.

'Room 110,' he ventures goodnaturedly to a couple of members of the fairer sex, before delivering the latest health bulletin on his current state of mind.

'I still have good days and bad days,' he admits. 'The difference now is when I have a bad day I can't have a drink - I just have to accept it and take it as it is.

'It is tough, being an alcoholic, but I've just got to remember when my last drink was and it wasn't nice.

'Sometimes if I'm down I can come and do a charity thing, like this one with Bully, and I love the guy anyway.

'But doing these functions helps because you feel a bit of the buzz again.

'When you're not playing on a Saturday, you do miss that buzz and it hits you sometimes.

'Walking into a room with 200, 300 or 400 people, it's still nice to be recognised and be speaking in front of a crowd, even if I'm talking Geordie and they can't understand a word of what I'm saying!'

Gascoigne's former team-mate, close pal and fellow reformed alcoholic Paul Merson, once admitted it would be more pressure not being Walsall manager and having time on his hands than the stresses of the position itself.

So, with Gascoigne having recently been seen not only at several charity events but the Brit Awards and on Soccer AM, is it a case of needing to keep busy to avoid temptation?

'Not at all,' is the swift response.

'I'm just as happy sitting at home on my own, I've got a flat in the North East with big gates to keep the press from hounding me.

'If I feel I have to, I'll cancel things I've got on and just sit at home, have a cigar and watch the telly.

'Maybe Richard and Judy, or Sky Channels like Discovery and - what's her name - Judge Judy, I've got them all programmed in!'

Where Gascoigne is quite happily not completely programmed in at the moment is the precise contents of his future.

A brief spell as player coach with Boston preceded his Christmas trip to casualty, but those recent health problems, specifically the neck injury, have put things on hold.

Just whether the 37-year-old will get the chance to convert his undoubted footballing skills and knowledge onto the managerial merry-go-round currently stillremains to be seen. I've just got to take things easy for a time and will probably just wait until the summer,' he says.

'It's nice just to get out and about, and there's the chance of doing a couple of TV things which I'm thinking about at the moment.

'Boston was unfortunate but when you're coaching kids you need a good number of say 18 apprentices.

'At Boston we had seven, you couldn't even have a five-a-side! 'It's the case now, especially while I'm sober, that when I see something I'm not happy about I have to leave.

'I don't just sit there or hang around - when I did that in the past I got angry with myself, couldn't cope and that's when I drank.

'Now I can walk away and feel the better for it.

'Is coaching and management the future? I don't know - you don't know anything until you've really tried it.

'I might not like coaching, going in every day when it's belting down with rain or snowing, to be a coach you've got to be 110 per cent dedicated.

'It's 24-7, and while I've had a little taste of it it's something else to think how to keep the players interested for probably 46 weeks of the year.

'It's not much of a life and I don't know if I want that, I've had 20 years of that as a player which was tough enough.'

He's not the only one of his peer group to be contemplating such a transition.

Here in the Midlands, Albion boss Bryan Robson and Merson are flying the flag, while Wolves skipper Paul Ince has also gone on record voicing similar ambitions.

At present, however, Gascoigne believes his old pal from the England engine room still has enough desire to cut the mustard as a player.

'I'm not surprised Paul's still got the desire, at 40 grand a week,' he jokes.

It was Ince, of course, who engineered the opportunity at the tail end of 2003 for Gascoigne to train at Wolves in the vain hope of one final curtain on the Premiership stage.

Sadly it didn't materialise, and proved the catalyst to what he now terms 'the worst year of his life'.

However, Wolves itself is still an experience he recalls with much fondness.

'It probably came too early in that I'd only been out of the clinic for three months and was still coming to terms with my life,' he says.

'I just thought I could get back in but my head wasn't right.

'Dave Jones, Incey and everyone there were brilliant to me and it was great just to get back in a dressing room and be amongst footballers again.

'The skill was still there, I'll always be able to pass a ball, but age catches up with you and it was more about fitness than anything else.

'But Wolves will always stick in my mind - they are a massive club and good enough to be in the Premiership.

'When I was there in training they were unbelievable but it's always a bit different going out with about 28,000 odd watching you.

'One thing's for sure though, if they do get to the Premiership again they have to buy players - otherwise they'll be straight back down again.'

With everything else that has gone on, both on and off the field, it's sometimes easy to forget Gascoigne's footballing genius. His array of free-kicks and spectacular goals, running with the ball, barrel-chested and fearsome opponents bouncing off his frame like ninepins.

Unsurprisingly it led to many international honours, pretty much from the launchpad of that 1990 World Cup when the tears of a clown transfixed the nation.

Despite the ultimate disappointment of crashing out on penalties in the semi-finals, Gascoigne, who burst into prominence amid the glitz and glamour of one summer in Italy, has no doubt about his feelings from that time.

'They were the best six weeks of my life,' he insists, to nods of approval from Bull.

'Unbelievable, great great times.

'The team spirit out there was brilliant and we didn't feel any pressure, we really believed in ourselves. You could see that, from when Mark Wright scored his header in the qualifying game with Egypt, and every sub on the bench was off his feet celebrating.

'That's something you need as a team, and we were all in it together, and as the games kept coming we really thought we had a chance of winning it.

'We were so close - just a couple of inches from reaching the final - but ultimately we just had to accept it.

'That was probably the start of another boom spell for England, after maybe a dark spell which followed 1966.

'Maybe now it's just died again a little bit and needs another spark.

'I know Sven's taken a lot of stick recently but I certainly wouldn't want to be England manager - it's a no-win job.

'Everyone else seems to know how to pick the England team but it seems to have come to the stage where we've got to win every game at least three or four nil!' Gascoigne could probably go on talking all night but time is nearly up, the punters await just down the road for their words of wisdom from the World Cup class of 1990.

There's just one more question, in reference to another England manager, Glenn Hoddle, now installed at Wolves.

It was Hoddle who famously omitted Gascoigne from the 1998 World Cup squad, precipitating hotel room chaos, and legions more column inches.

Can he forgive and forget? 'Of course I can,' Gascoigne insists, 'you have to move on.' The answer appears genuine. 'I met him not long after in a lift,' he continues. 'We shook hands and I wished him well.'

Bull is in like a shot: 'Yeah, after you lifted him off the floor!'

Gascoigne laughs, a big bellylaugh which echoes round the lobby.

There may not have been too many of those in recent years.

But a generation of Gascoigne fans, who themselves will forgive his many indiscretions so as not to forget his unique footballing talent, will be keeping fingers crossed there are plenty more to come.

...to May 26, 2003. For Wolves fans of the recent generation, the day of all days.
Cardiff. The Millennium Stadium. Glorious sunshine. Sheffield United. And a glorious first half performance which as good as booked Wolves' seat on the Premier League gravy train.
Five years on and the last of the play-off finals also had a Wolves involvement.
Stephen Gleeson.
And although the Irish midfielder was only representing loan club Stockport it was another slice of Molineux success all the same as he helped his team to an exciting 3-2 win.
That also meant all four clubs ascending from League Two carried some form of Wolves influence with the three already promoted - Paul Ince, Darren Ferguson and Graham Turner - all having either player for, or managed, the old gold and black.
While Wolves season has now been over for over three weeks Gleeson was the culmination of a weekend which also carried a sprinkling of Wolverhampton flavour.
First off Hull against Bristol City.
Interest not only in who would actually remain in the Championship as next season's opponents but also whether former winger Michael McIndoe - who continues to make great noises about having made the right move to leave Wolves last summer - would make it up there with City.
They didn't. And so neither did McIndoe. Back to Molineux again next season then.
And yesterday's League One showdown between Doncaster and Leeds also carried plenty of Wolves flavour in the form of Donny manager Sean O'Driscoll.
Because O'Driscoll, although born in Warrington, moved to Wolverhampton at an early age and was raised in the city as a diehard Wolves fan.
Formerly an inhabitant of the North Bank, O'Driscoll then left to forge a playing career with Fulham and Bournemouth and then managerial career also at Bournemouth.
Indeed talking of five years ago, O'Driscoll actually guided Bournemouth to League Two play-off glory on the same weekend as Wolves defeated Sheffield United.
Rumour has it that he actually stayed on in Cardiff and sidestepped Bournemouth's celebrations back home to take in Wolves' long-awaited triumph.
Top man! And one whom, perhaps unlike McIndoe, will be glad to return to bring his team to Molineux next season.
So that's it - the play-offs pretty well signify the end of the English season, not least as with 'thanks' to Steve McClaren the forthcoming Euro's have no home interest.
For Wolves however life goes on, namely the signing and selling of players ahead of the new season.
And already one is in.
The acquisition of 18-year-old Sam Vokes, probably far cheaper than perhaps it should have been bearing in mind Bournemouth's administration status, looks an astute one, particularly as Newcastle and Villa were also rumoured to be having a look.
Having interviewed Vokes on Friday when sealing the deal in front of his delighted family, he appears to possess both a level-headed and ambitious personality.
At 18 it may take a bit of time to settle at Championship level, but not too long.
One question that wasn't asked was whether he has a nickname.
Anyone reckon on...wait for it...Berti?
I'll get me coat...

So Wolves have gone back in for Kyle Lafferty then.
Not really a surprise there.
Once Mick McCarthy decides on a player, he tends to stay decided.
And having had a £1million bid rejected for the Burnley frontman last summer, McCarthy's having another pop.
Wolves are in a better position this year.
Although Steve Morgan was heavily involved in transfer discussions at the time of the first Lafferty bid, he wasn't officially at the helm.
Now he is very much in charge, has had a season to digest the thrills and spills of the Championship and is ready to splash the cash.
But what are the chances of Wolves landing the highly-rated 20-year-old?
Would he fancy a move to Molineux? Perhaps.
Although Burnley aren't far apart from Wolves in the Championship maybe Lafferty would be sold on McCarthy's vision and consider a move alongside so many of the other bright young things at Molineux at the moment.
That of course depends on whether negotiations - currently yet to kick off as Burnley digest Wolves bid of £2.25million plus Stephen Elliott - ever reach the talks stage.
It's before that where Wolves face their greatest obstacle.
Namely the big old matter of the two Kings of Scottish football who are also in the frame.
Celtic and Rangers are both understood to be keen on Lafferty and one, if not both, may yet come up with a rival offer.
And competing with the Scottish Premier big boys and the carrot of European football then becomes a massive hurdle for McCarthy and company to overcome.
Still, even if it doesn't happen, this development shows a real statement of intent.
Wolves, boosted by the nucleus of a good, young squad, have clearly already identified their targets - and are ready to go after them.
Bournemouth's Sam Vokes is another who may yet pitch up as a summer signing.
Would Lafferty be worth the £3million-plus that this Wolves deal, or indeed a straight cash offer from elsewhere, amounts to?
Time will tell, but he's certainly got the potential not least the versatility of operating either as centre forward or down the left.
The problem is not so much players' price tags, it's just getting them in.
There's not a massive pool of potential signings out there for the likes of Wolves to pursue - everyone is looking at a similar list of targets.
So if Wolves did land Lafferty, which at present must be considered against the odds, it would add some seriously hefty kudos to McCarthy's plans.

I never got to know Dave Jones all that well.
Having started covering Wolves just prior to the Premiership campaign, that season then involved the whole media circus that English football's top tier understandably involves took up plenty of Jones' time.
Infact it was only the following pre-season, and what turned into his final few months in charge, that I perhaps started to see the real Jones, the private Jones which made him such a popular figure among the vast majority of Molineux staff.
In public he was low-key and sometimes dour, phlegmatic, even though he once took issue with that particular description.
Behind the scenes he was bright, bubbly, jovial, always ready with a dry one-liner and, according to the Wolves press office, a dream to work with.
All press requests were dutifully met, even if Jones - up until the final months of his tenure - rarely rose above the monotone and a string of stock answers.
"We'll keep plugging away.....if this is pressure I'll take it any day.....we've just got to put a shift in...."
It was only when his job was on the line that Jones came out fighting at his weekly press conferences, only then that the media corps got to see the verve and passion which was transmitted to his players.
"See you then you miserable bunch of *******s," was one of his more memorable parting shots at one of his last Friday morning press conferences.
Wolves' press officer Lorraine Hennessey would often hear Jones ranting at raving at his team after a game whilst waiting to take him from the dressing rooms to his press conference.
The door would then open and he would walk out, completely cool, calm and collected, as if a mask had suddenly come down and transformed his character.
I may not have worked with Jones too closely as a journalist, but I enjoyed watching his teams play.
And for two years, the season of the Devon Loch-style collapse and the second half of the following campaign which finally brought the much-treasured promotion, it was a real pleasure.
Jones is not an archetypal tracksuit manager who studies coaching and tactics in minute detail.
Get in good players and let them play is more his approach.
When it works, as it did for the bulk of those two aforementioned years and indeed the latter stages of the Premiership season, it can work like a dream.
When it doesn't, as when Wolves struggled to cope with their relegation and Jones couldn't find an answer to their woes, it becomes more troublesome.
He is however clearly a talented manager, the only one in almost 30 years to take Wolves into the top flight and indeed now, the only one for 81 years to take Cardiff into an FA Cup final.
And the fact the fans were calling for his head earlier this season, and some were indeed sending him hate mail, is another sign of the streetfighter in him which has kept him going through troubled times on and off the pitch.
Now then for the second biggest day of his managerial career - behind May 26, 2003 of course - as he leads the Bluebirds out against Portsmouth tomorrow.
Wolves and Cardiff may have their history, but I imagine there'll be a fair few of the Molineux faithful in the Welsh corner come 3pm.

Interesting to note Harry Redknapp's comments after Portsmouth's final game of the season yesterday.

Despite finishing eighth in the Premier League - their best return for 53 years - and despite a certain FA Cup final just around the corner, it seems a run of four successive defeats had some of the Pompey faithful moaning.

And many declined to stay behind for the traditional end-of-season 'lap of honour'.

Redknapp admitted he had no truck with the jeerers, and believed they were fans who have "jumped on the bandwagon" amid Portsmouth's last few years of success.

Portsmouth, lest we forget, were promoted with Wolves back in 2003.

Having managed to survive that crucial first season, they have gone from strength to strength, and will be favourites to become the first team from outside the top four to win the FA Cup since 1995.

If their fans are moaning, then what hope for the rest?!

It's another sign of how demands from supporters are growing, restlessness and impatience, even when things are generally going well.

Obviously Wolves haven't got an FA Cup final to look forward to, indeed not even a play-off appearance, so you can understand the frustration and disappointment of the fanbase after a season which didn't meet expectations.

And yet amid that disappointment came a level of fan intensity and intolerance which really didn't help the cause.

It's a moot point as to how fans should react when their team isn't doing well.

Critics of last season will argue that they weren't given enough to cheer about, that there wasn't enough excitement or goals to get them off their seats.

But surely that is precisely the time when supporters can really show their mettle.

As Michael Kightly himself admitted last season, the time not just to follow the sheep who are having a good old moan but to get behind the team and help them through the rough spell.

Remember last season's cheers in the wake of the 6-0 defeat t Southampton? That was never going to continue, of course it wasn't, but the principle is the same.

The level of support is something that has been discussed by the Wolves players, and Andy Keogh addresses the subject in today's Birmingham Mail.

The jist of Keogh's thoughts are that the Wolves players are desperate to do well for those fans who back them through thick and then - and those that don't? Well there's nothing they can do about it.

Of course there was disappointment last season, and of course that means moans and groans.

Mick McCarthy has already said when it comes to the end of games, he doesn't mind as many boos and catcalls as fans can muster.

It's during the games - when that tension and disillusionment filters down to the pitch - that's the problem.

And could well become a continual problem if the disgruntled element continue to make their feelings known into the new season.

McCarthy is staying at Wolves. End of.

He has Steve Morgan's backing, amid a long-term plan albeit one which they hope will lead to promotion next season.

Those fans still with misgivings will perhaps be able to brush them to one side and give McCarthy and his team another go next season.

But those who are not for turning would be better advised to perhaps find alternative entertainment for a Saturday afternoon.

There it is then, the Wolves retained list. A fair few potential goings, which suggest a fair few potential comings as well.
Any surprises?
Not overly.
Wolves have got a good two years' service out of Gary Breen, albeit his last season was interrupted by injury.
Breen was an unruffled and influential leader on the pitch, and a calm and eloquent presence off it.
Didn't like giving interviews for interviews' sake, but when talking was always extremely interesting and erudite. Future manager in the making perhaps?
Also gone are Keith Lowe and Kevin O'Connor. In Lowe's case enjoyed some good times when breaking into the team but never used by Mick McCarthy. Should comfortably forge a career somewhere else, perhaps in League One.
O'Connor? Actually scored the first goal of McCarthy's reign, in a 1-1 draw at Plymouth, but has since suffered a nightmare with injuries.
It's almost cruel irony that he will have received the news while on crutches following a hamstring operation from which Wolves are to help him recuperate before moving on.
Taking up the year's option for Jody Craddock is a good move, as he still has plenty to offer amid what remains a young squad.
So too if Wolves can put a deal together to keep Michael Gray, but that one's probably 50-50 at the moment.
Perhaps the most intriguing news is the fact that no fewer than SIX under-contract senior pros have been made available for transfer.
Freddy Eastwood of course was always going to happen, but he has now been joined in the front window by Rob Edwards, Darren Ward, Darren Potter, Jay Bothroyd and Stephen Elliott.
All more than decent Championship performers who have found themselves - for one reason or another - on the fringes of McCarthy's plans.
Being shorn of such established names - for suitable offers of course - certainly adds weight to the growing understanding that McCarthy is going to be given substantial funds by Steve Morgan to strengthen this summer.
And providing he can hang onto the crown jewels such as Hennessey, Kightly and Ebanks-Blake, that is a hugely exciting prospect.

Mick McCarthy does a different sort of turn alongside Johnny Giles and Jack Charlton.....

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career, I've lost almost 300 games.

"26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

The words of basketball legend Michael Jordan.

And a chastening reminder to all of a gold and black persuasion this morning that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

It can only be Wolves who end up missing out on the play-offs on goal difference by just a single goal.

Only Wolves who as events transpired would have been in there with a three goal win but could only do so by one, and that in the 87th minute.

And only Wolves who now face three long months before getting the next chance to do it all again in what will be their 19th attempt at promotion from the Championship in the last 20 years.

A quick glance back over events of recent weeks would have Mick McCarthy and company tearing their hair out for that extra goal or extra point which would have seen them over the finishing line.

That nailed-on penalty not awarded at Bristol City, the injury time equalisers conceded to Ipswich and earlier Southampton, heck, go back to the first day of the season and even a point against Watford - instead of leaking two last gasp goals to lose 2-1 - would have been enough.

But football is not about ifs, buts and maybes, instead it's hard results, and perhaps given their season Wolves have ended up just about where they deserve to be, on the outside looking in.

For that there are mitigating factors, notably injuries.

Whilst all teams suffer injuries, I'm not sure many will have lost their most influential player in the way Wolves lost Michael Kightly for four months.

Not sure that many would have seen pre-season plans disrupted in the way Wolves lost Matt Jarvis when McCarthy was hoping to blaze a trail in the division with the two pacey wingers.

And not sure many would have been able to respond from the fact that having belatedly decided Gary Breen and Jody Craddock were his favoured defensive partnership, McCarthy was only able to field the two together on ten occasions.

But even this morning that's all in the past. In the words of McCarthy Wolves have to "wipe their gobs", move on and face up to another attempt to escape their Championship purgatory.

The manager will of course have numerous critics in certain quarters - he failed to reach the play-offs after all - but it appears he has the backing of chairman Steve Morgan and the board.

In my opinion rightly so.

It hasn't been a season which has met expectations but McCarthy has still developed an exciting squad of much potential.

And only against Plymouth was he finally able to field what is understood to amount to his first choice team.

And that team will now be strengthened.

There is a hugely promising nucleus now in place - if Wolves can hang onto them all - in the likes of Wayne Hennessey, Matt Murray, Kevin Foley, George Elokobi, Kightly, Jarvis, Seyi Olofinjana, Karl Henry, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Andy Keogh.

What is going to happen to the three out-of-contract experienced personnel in Breen, Craddock and Michael Gray remains to be seen.

But - and it's easier said than done - just say McCarthy is able to bring in a few hard-nosed 27, 28, 29-year-olds this summer to add to that excellent young base then the future may indeed yet be old gold.

Those developing players will also come back bigger, better, stronger in August after the experiences of this long, hard season.

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life," said Jordan. "And that is why I succeed."

Some Ricoh reflections.....

1. Fantastic stadium, fantastic press box, fantastic press facilities in general. But you can't help feeling a tinge of regret that the impressive Ricoh is a sign if ever there was one of how football will never again have its loveable traditions. The hotel complex incorporated in the stadium, the constant announcements during the game about checking your lucky number in the programme, the cheerleaders and dancing girls (though they seemed well received by the press corps!), the immaculateness of everything....it left you pining for the days of rickety old stands and supping a half time bovril.

2. Game of two halves. Wolves were woeful in the first, exciting in the second. Still couldn't do enough to force the win which would have seen them enter D-day in the top six.

3. Game of two keepers. Kasper Schmeichel and Wayne Hennessey were youngsters together at Manchester City. Indeed Hennessey effectively moved on because he didn't think he had a chance bearing in mind Schmeichel's illustrious name! Schmeichel is still at City but on loan at Coventry and both were impressive yesterday making several fine stops during an end-to-end second half. Various Premiership clubs were represented. These two could well have been high on the list.

4. Game of two managers. Chris Coleman and Mick McCarthy were both impressive central defenders in their time but perhaps very different characters as bosses. Coleman all suited and booted, suave and sophisticated. McCarthy tracksuit-clad and down to earth, what you see is what you get. Both have achieved much in the dugout thus far, and now have the task of turning cliched Sleeping Giants into genuine Premiership articles. Coventry should stay up, will Wolves go up?

5. The Wolves fans. Almost 5,500 of them. A sea of gold shirts behind the goal. A tremendous sight. At least the booing on this occasion was only at half time and directed at the whole team rather than individuals. And Neill Collins was applauded as he warmed up during the first half. Partial redemption for his treatment in midweek.

6. What the devil happened at the end of the game? Took an absolute age to get off the car park even though I didn't emerge until 6.15pm! Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey and club secretary Richard Skirrow were also separately stranded in the bottle-neck. Couldn't handle that every week!

7. Wolves owe Scunthorpe and Hull a favour or two after their weekend victories over Watford and Crystal Palace. Andy Keogh revealed he'd phoned old mate Scunny winger Ian Morris on the morning of the game to deliver a pep-talk. Can Blackpool and Burnley help out on Sunday? Come on boys, founder members of the league and all that.

Whatever happens all will be revealed about 3.50pm on Sunday. Wolves MUST beat Plymouth and then hope Watford or Palace slip up. Prepare for one of those agonising afternoons when Chinese Whispers will spread like wildfire. As the late Brian Moore once said on a final day showdown, "it's up for grabs now......

Remember how Southampton's dramatic last gasp equaliser at Wolves in March extended a hoodoo which means Wolves haven't beaten the Saints in some 17 meetings stretching back 28 years?

Well it's a curse that's afflicting the oval ball game as well as the round one.

Rugby League side St Helens - also nicknamed the Saints - take on Warrington Wolves this evening boasting a similarly all-powerful sequence.

Saints have lost only one of their 31 Super League games with Wolves - and that was seven years ago!

ANYONE would have thought it was Joan Collins - and not Neill Collins - coming on at Molineux on Tuesday night such was the nature of the welcome.

After all, Dynasty's Alexis Carrington was always a pretty nasty piece of work.

But what was Wolves defender Collins' heinous crime to receive the bird from his own supporters just two minutes from the end of an otherwise joyous 3-0 win?

Probably like most others who have already fallen victim to the over-demanding Molineux boo-boys this season.

Just to dare suffer a slight dip in form over the course of a challenging and gruelling Championship season.

Collins has made 42 appearances already thus far.

Several of those have also been out of position at right back.

Some of his performances have been excellent, some good, some not so good.

That's football, infact - that's life.

Collins himself would probably not profess to be a Rio Ferdinand or Alan Hansen, effortlessly making crucial interceptions and bringing the ball out of defence before delivering an inch-perfect pass.

In the words of Mick McCarthy, the lively Scot is more of a "does what it says on the tin" defender.

He'll head it, kick it, tackle it, do whatever it takes to try and keep the opposition at bay.

Admittedly this has been something of an up-and-down season for Collins.

Four crucial goals - all of them winners - but he has also conceded four penalties.

Anyway, all that is just scene-setting.

What you are guaranteed from Collins, week-in, week-out, is 100 per cent effort, commitment and honesty.

A player, from fairly humble roots, who both recognises and relishes the career he is pursuing, and rides with the emotions both good and bad.

And certainly not someone who deserved the sort of treatment dished out by sections of a fanbase who are fast becoming Wolves' most troublesome achilles heel.

Collins is not the first, and won't be the last.

Already this season the rumblings have piped up for the likes of Jay Bothroyd, Stephen Elliott, Andy Keogh and Karl Henry, and the now famed Jody Craddock song is a prime example of how the Molineux faithful can sometimes get things spectacularly wrong.

Even within earshot of the press box on Tuesday night, and with Wolves 3-0 to the good and coasting, any misplaced pass or failure to win a header was greeted with the sort of vitriol associated with a team on their way to a good hiding.

Just what has happened to the Wolves support? Where has that refreshing and so influential backing from last season evaporated to? Should increased expectation be an immediate precursor to booing players who are having a rough time?

Of course there are justifications for the odd moan or groan this season.

At times the football hasn't been particularly riveting, and the current league position is probably below where Wolves - including McCarthy and his players - would have imagined themselves to be.

But in what possible way does booing actually improve things on both those scores?

What good does it do to Collins and company? Does it inspire them to greater heights? Help them relax and play their best football? Have they actually not been trying and so those boos just click them back into gear?

Of course not.

Anyone tuning into Radio WM's phone-in after Tuesday's game would have thought Wolves were certainties for relegation rather than just having kept their play-off hopes alive.

From speaking to various supporters situated in all parts of Molineux there is plenty of debate between supporters themselves over the current situation.

Indeed I have heard from several long-term supporters, home and away, who have become fed up of the moaning to such an extent that they are questioning whether following their beloved team is actually worth the aggravation.

And that's not only dangerous, but also very sad.

It all brings back memories of the "Stick" quote from chairman Steve Morgan last time he faced the media.

"It's like getting a bunch of sticks," Wolves' owner/chairman said of the club's support in February.

"Separate them, and individually, you can snap them, it's easy.

"Put them together and it's unbreakable.

"And that's what we want Wolves to be - unbreakable, unbeatable - and if we all pull together, that's what we can be."

If the sort of "stick" dished out to Collins continues to prove the Molineux norm rather than the exception, then the sort of electric support which Wolves fans have the potential to deliver, could actually end up being the club's biggest weakness.

Here we go again then, another Super Tuesday and another potentially defining evening of Wolves' season against Cardiff.

If Ipswich on Saturday was must-win then this is even more so must-win. If that's remotely possible.

But it promises to be yet another nerve-jangler at Molineux when hopefully three points will at least keep Wolves in the mix ahead of the penultimate weekend of the season.

Wolves may still reach the play-offs for the second successive year, we shall see.

Last year of course ended in disappointment, but just to try and lighten the mood there followed a hugely entertaining phone call on talkSPORT between Mick McCarthy and George Galloway.

O-k then, there didn't really. It was all down to the work of excellent talkSPORT presenter Ian Danter, whose
impressions of Midlands footballing personalities are legendary in these parts.

So much so infact that various national newspaper reporters now have a 'Graham Taylor' answerphone message. And Taylor actually phoned one said phone and left a message last week!

Danter, who honed his broadcasting skills in the Midlands with BRMB and Heart FM, can be heard on talkSPORT on Friday evenings from 7pm-10pm and Sundays from noon-5pm. Well worth a listen on 1089/1053AM.

Anyway, flashback to this time last year, and - courtesy of talkSPORT, McCarthy and Galloway........

Click here.

Now that wasn't supposed to happen - but didn't you just fear that it would.

Tommy Miller, with the very last kick of the game in the very last moments of injury time, sticks such a pinpoint free kick right into the corner of the onion bag that Wayne Hennessey didn't even move a muscle.

Ipswich striker Jon Walters had stressed the importance of the first 20 minutes yesterday in keeping Wolves quiet - ultimately it was the last 20 seconds which proved decisive.

Talk about not so much as a kick in the teeth but somehow else right where it hurts.

Wolves didn't particularly play brilliantly yesterday, but in situations such as this that doesn't necessarily matter.

They had, thanks once again to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, nudged themselves in front and within touching distance of the three points that would have kept their play-off hopes very much alive.

Yet the latest in a now long-running saga of last gasp goals at Wolves matches, both for and against, has thrown a right old spanner in the works and left the Molineux men's top six aspirations hanging by a thread.

How quickly the picture can change.

Barely three weeks ago the injury time drama at the Valley, conceding to Leroy Lita and then Karl Henry's incredible winner, propelled a super-confident Wolves into the play-off zone and suggested they were peaking at just the right time.

Now, in the last seven days, they have been on the end of a dreadful refereeing decision which cost them a possible win at Bristol City, been outplayed where it matters in the local derby with the old enemy, and suffered this latest dose of last gasp misery.

So what was the mood like after the game? From the players, dejected but defiant.

Michael Kightly and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, whose thoughts will be aired in tomorrow's Birmingham Mail, both believe Wolves are capable of winning their final three games of the season which will at least give them a fighting chance.

Mick McCarthy, while downbeat, was also equally hopeful, although struggling to find the words to explain why his team should have suffered such an unfortunate injury time fate.

He also seems for the first time to be wondering if it is going to happen for Wolves, admitting that if they don't make the play-offs it won't be through any lack of effort or endeavour.

It is going to be so difficult now. Personally I felt Wolves needed to win against either Bristol City or Albion - they perhaps would have beaten City if referee Paul Taylor had been on his game - but having not done either three points yesterday were paramount.

Should Wolves somehow respond from this cruel setback and beat Cardiff tomorrow night they will at least remain in the mix heading into the penultimate weekend of the season.

Even then a gap of two points to in-form Crystal Palace, with an inferior goal difference, would prove a chunky gap to overhaul bearing in mind play-off specialist Neil Warnock appears to have got Palace, "doing a Palace" at just the right time.

Hope springs eternal, but a fortnight today, it just might be that yesterday's devastating swing of Miller's right boot is viewed as the moment when Wolves' efforts and endeavours were finally subdued once and for all.

I don't wanna talk,
About the things we've gone through.
Though it's hurting me,
Now it's history.

Any idea?
O-k.....

I've played all my cards,
And that's what you've done too.
Nothing more to say,
No more ace to play.

Still nothing? Well here comes the money line....

The winner takes it all,
The loser standing small.
Beside the victory,
That's her destiny.

Yep, the Winner takes it all from some band or another by the name of ABBA. Wonder if they ever made it?

The chorus pretty much sums up Wolves against Ipswich tomorrow, as both teams head into the final straight of the season desperate for the win which would see them - at the very least - remain on the fringes of the play-offs.

It promises to be another hugely nervy afternoon down Molineux way, and once again it is impossible to predict what is going to happen.

The half-full brigade will point to the fact that Wolves haven't lost at home to Ipswich in 11 meetings stretching back to November, 1991.

The half-empty will say that those sort of runs must always come to an end.

The half-full will chirp back that Ipswich have only won three Championship away games this season.

The half-empty will declare that Wolves have won only two of their last 10 in the league at Molineux - and both of those inside the last ten minutes.

Whatever the pre-match feelings winning is paramount, however it is done.

Sixth placed Crystal Palace may be away at Watford tomorrow, but play-off specialist Neil Warnock has got his team on a right run of form so don't rule out them getting a result.

Wolves will start the day three points adrift of Palace with an inferior goal difference but a game in hand, while Ipswich are just a point adrift of the Londoners on the same games played.

Victory tomorrow will project Wolves right back into the mix, a draw and they'll anxiously be checking out not only the result from Vicarage Road but those of the teams on their coat-tails, defeat and it's probably game over for Mick McCarthy and his team.

They may be young, and some still inexperienced, but their track record on occasions like this isn't bad.

Remember the final day of last season? Needing a victory at Leicester to guarantee a top six berth they went behind early on but didn't panic and came back strongly to win 4-1.

They had also survived any Molineux jitters to defeat QPR in the previous home game.

It's going to be an afternoon for vociferous and heartfelt support from the stands - and calm and cool heads on the pitch.

And for any fans needing an extra little bit of firing up, check out the following quote from Ipswich striker Jon Walters: "I hear the Wolves crowd can get a bit impatient with their team, so hopefully if it's still 0-0 after 15 or 20 minutes the fans will start to get on the players' backs and add to the pressure."

Nothing particularly inflammatory from Walters there - but why not prove him wrong?

If the Molineux faithful can stay with their team from start to finish, however events transpire, there's an infinitely greater chance of getting the necessary result.

The Winner Takes it all, and the loser will be standing small..........

Reflections on the derby.....

1. Albion are still - and comfortably so - the best footballing team in the division. Surely they're home and hosed now? And local rivalries aside, it would probably do Wolves good to see them disappear over the horizon. Just two wins in the last 17 derbies tells its own sorry tale. If Wolves reach the play-offs they won't want to be seeing Albion. If they don't, and have to start all over again next season, likewise it won't do any harm not to have the old enemy hovering on the scene.

2. The final third. Wolves certainly matched Albion for spirit and endeavour. But at the business end of the pitch the Baggies were streets ahead. Dean Kiely only had to make two really serious saves. At the other end Wayne Hennessey was constantly kept on his toes, Albion twice hit the woodwork and once hit Kevin Phillips when Ishmael Miller's shot appeared goal-bound. And that was apart from the goal, when Zoltan Gera was somehow left unmarked just six yards out.

3. Work in progress. It's sometimes easy to forget just how young this Wolves team is. Average age 24, compared to Albion's 28. Eight of Albion's team are aged 27 or over as opposed to just three of Wolves. Tony Mowbray had so much more to work with when he arrived at the Hawthorns compared to what greeted Mick McCarthy at Molineux three months previously. Yes Mowbray has done a terrific job from such a base, but he did enjoy a head start. Former Albion and Wolves stalwart Ally Robertson suggested in Tuesday night's programme that it's usually the third season of a rebuilding job where things really come to fruition. For Wolves under McCarthy, that's next season.

4. Karl Henry. There are those who have criticised the Wolves midfielder this season. And at times he has dipped below his usual standards. But Tuesday night showed just how much the Molineux men miss an in-form Henry when he's not around. There was no one in the engine room able to get a foot in and break up some of Albion's flowing football. It sounds as if Henry could be absent for at least another fortnight with his medial knee ligament injury which may rule him out until the final day of the season. Surely he's not destined to finish another campaign prematurely after scoring the winner in a 3-2 success?

And yet, after all this.....

5. IT'S STILL THERE! Wolves are still in the hunt, even though it's now out of their hands. Three points behind Crystal Palace but with an inferior goal difference, other results need to go Wolves' way. But Palace are away at Watford at the weekend. For Wolves, it's fellow chasers Ipswich. Molineux will once again be a nervy and expectant place come 3.00 on Saturday afternoon. If McCarthy's men can withstand the battle of wills and somehow emerge with three points, the pain of yet another derby defeat will quickly become a distant memory.

Word has come in of an interesting moment on last night's University Challenge between a team of Rocket Scientists and church staff from Salisbury Cathedral.

Apparently the Rocket Scientists were asked which teams play in the Black Country derby, and gave the answer Blackburn and Bolton.

The church staff then couldn't even spare their blushes with their offering of Wolves and Villa.

So there it is then - the Black Country derby. It is Rocket Science after all!!!!

Here it is then, the big day has arrived.

Yes, Happy Birthday Emma Thompson. 49 today. Thought you were great in Love Actually.......

What? Oh sorry. Yes, the Black Country derby. Of course. Wolves and Albion locking horns for the seventh time in 18 months. Probably a game which both sets of players and fans could do without - unless they win of course! So how will it go? What is going to happen? You've got more chance of discovering the Zimbabwe election result than the answers to those questions in advance of tonight's big kick off.

But from a Wolves point of view, what are their best chances of winning the game? And perversely, what do they have most to worry about?

FIVE REASONS WHY WOLVES CAN WIN THE BLACK COUNTRY DERBY
1. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. At the Hawthorns last November Wolves did a job on Albion, strung five across midfield and finished up - albeit thanks to Wayne Hennessey's late penalty heroics, with a goalless draw. Now though they've got Ebanks-Blake. The powerful striker has brought an added dimension to Mick McCarthy's team since his January arrival, namely an explosive goal threat. If Wolves do win tonight, odds-on that Ebanks-Blake will have played a major role.

2. The fans. This will be the first Molineux Black Country derby under floodlights since March 1990 when a Cook and Bull story (goals from Paul Cook and Steve Bull) earned Wolves a 2-1 win. That promises a special atmosphere and presumably tonight will be a night when any minor grumbles are forgotten and the Wolves' fans try to raise the roof in a bid for a priceless win against the Old Enemy.

3. Law of averages. Wolves have won only two of the last 16 derbies. That can't go on? Can it?!

4. Set pieces. Albion's defending of them. Not the best by all accounts. Jody Craddock and Neill Collins might fancy a bit of that. Expect to see plenty of Kevin Kyle as well, if not from the start then certainly from the bench.

5. Recent form. Eighteen points from the last nine games sends Wolves into tonight's proceedings in good heart. Confidence should be in good supply - can they carry that onto the pitch?

FIVE REASONS WHY WOLVES MIGHT NOT WIN THE BLACK COUNTRY DERBY

1. Kevin Phillips. The guy is a derby specialist. For all the teams he has played for, he has scored against the derby rivals. Wolves bore the brunt last season - Phillips notched four in four. Scary stuff. Even if he's on the bench tonight, when he starts warming up, the nerves will start jangling.

2. And it's not just Phillips. Albion score goals for fun. Ishmael Miller, Roman Bednar, Robert Koren, Zoltan Gera - they all enjoy rattling the net. 103 goals in total thus far - Wayne Hennessey will have to pull out all the stops if he is to enjoy his 18th league clean sheet of the season.

3. Psychology. Mick McCarthy laughed off suggestions Wolves players might suffer as a result of recent results against Albion. But in contrast Albion's players might just feel they've got the beating of this current Wolves squad. We shall see.

4. The fans. Yes Wolves fans can make Molineux into a fortress on midweek nights and generate a truly magnificent atmosphere. But should Albion score first, it will provide a big test for those fans to keep the faith. Their reaction to last season's derby despair was awesome, applauding their team from the pitch after all the defeats. This season they haven't been as united.

5. The carrot. Albion can go top of the table with three points with a win. And it would put them seemingly within touching distance of automatic promotion. That's some motivation.

CONCLUSION
What do I think? Too close to call. It's all the old cliches for a game like this. Who performs on the day, who makes the least mistakes, who produces a piece of magic. More than ever, the first goal could be crucial. And the result? Well I'm going to go and shove Trevor Brooking off his perennial position on the fence and go for a 1-1 draw. Not ideal for both but at the same time it would leave their objectives - automatic promotion and reaching the play-offs - still in their own hands.

A few thoughts from Ashton Gate.....

1. Bristol City remains home to a good old-fashioned football ground. Though whether those Wolves fans who were warned their seats would have no backs on them would agree is another matter. An immense police presence also served as a reminder of perhaps not so good days gone by. Presumably they'd had intelligence amid fears of trouble but the locals had never seen anything like it. Police kitted out in fully-fledged riot gear and almost every Wolves fan being searched could have been deemed slightly provocative. Then again, if it stopped trouble in the ground then perhaps it's a small price to pay.

2. The Press room was the top of a portakabin on the car park. Nice and cosy. A cheery press steward looked after the assembled throng and even managed to smile when the lack of water pressure prompted the end of the cold water supply. "This always happens when they start serving the food," he admitted. Still, compensation arrived in the array of pies and pasties available. Robbie Dennison stuck away two pasties with all the aplomb with which he used to glide past opposition full backs.

3. The game. Wolves played well, oozing confidence and belief. Sadly they couldn't find the finishing touch to their encouraging build-up. Deserved all three points, but only ended up with one. And that was thanks partly to referee Paul Taylor, whose rejection of a cast-iron penalty appeal four minutes from time was bizarre to say the least. Mick McCarthy refused to blame Taylor, insisting the game should already have been in the bag. But how costly could the potential extra points be in three weeks time?

4. Michael McIndoe. McIndoe was cracking value for the press during his six months at Wolves. Approachable, amenable and always ready with a strong opinion he was a pleasure to deal with. However, he left under something of a cloud. Whilst entitled to state his reasons and even to suggest he was going on to bigger and better things with City - however strange that sounded - surely now is the time to let his football do the talking. Yet in yesterday's programme he said: "Unfortunately I just felt the game we (Wolves) were playing didn't suit my style so I decided to move down to the South West." Was this the style of play that allowed McIndoe to post one of the most assists in the division? "I still have two or three friends at Molineux," he added. Two or three? Out of a squad and staff approaching 50?! McIndoe hardly touched the ball yesterday as Bristol went more direct and Wolves tried to build patiently. Still, football is football, it's all about opinions. And McIndoe and Mick McCarthy were spotted sharing a few cordial words after the game.

5. Writer's cramp. Not me, the Wolves players. Waiting to speak to the players by the coach once again hordes of fans had gathered for pictures and to request autographs. Of course it's a small price to pay for the trappings that go with life as a footballer but the squad are all extremely patient and do their duty, even in the wake of some pretty straight-talking members of the public. "Oi Freddy, come over here," being a typical example.

6. The play-offs. Now three points off Crystal Palace - effectively four given the goal difference - and also behind Ipswich after their win today against Norwich. Two games in hand on both mind you, but the pressure is on ahead of Wolves next game. And that next game isn't exactly a quiet one. Eyes down for the next Black Country derby....

Bristol City's Three Little Pigs! That's who!
Tomorrow provides Wolves with their first visit to Ashton Gate since November, 1998, an "interesting" afternoon for a variety of reasons.
And not just because Colin Lee's first game in charge brought Wolves an incredible 6-1 win nor than David Connolly plundered four of the goals.
No. It was the half time shenanigans between Wolves' mascot Wolfie and Bristol's mascots The Three Little Pigs that caused a national furore.
Those were the days.....