Results tagged “Albion.” from Birmingham Mail - Wolverhampton Wanderers Blog

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.

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.