March 2008 Archives

Wow! From all accounts quite a game for Wolves at Charlton this evening.

I wasn't there. This morning I ventured off for a week's holiday at a delightful little place called Praa Sands in Cornwall.

For the uninitiated, Praa Sands is right down on the South West coast, not far from Penzance, and whilst a quiet and relaxed place particularly at this time of year, does boast a cafe run by former Warwickshire and England bowler Chris Old.

Anyway, I digress.

Having endured some driving rain and buffeting winds I made it down for early afternoon before setting off on the real business of the day - trying to find a pub to watch this evening's game.

To cut the chase, I failed.

The only pub round here with any sort of satellite subscription was in nearby Porthleven, and of course it was showing Manchester United against Aston Villa.

So it was back to the holiday home to try and rig up an Internet connection to "Wolves World" to listen to the Beacon Radio commentary provided by messrs Bill Hatton and Robbie Dennison.

It dipped in and out - that wind and rain I presume - and after hearing news of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's second goal,and Leroy Lita's injury time equaliser, the connection went all over the shop so it wasn't instantly clear that Karl Henry had actually popped up with an incredible winner.

But pop up he had, and back in the play-off zone Wolves are. (I had only written in today's Sports Argus about the recent spate of late goals involving Wolves but this game really takes the biscuit!)

More tough tests lie in store, but with six games to go the season remains very much alive and well.

It's difficult to make observations on a game you haven't seen - doesn't stop some callers to radio phone-ins mind you - but I'm delighted for Henry.

He's had some stick in recent weeks, and perhaps has had a dip in form compared to previous exploits, but is as honest and determined as the day is long and on his day a damned fine box-to-box midfielder.

And then there's Ebanks-Blake.

Already I have wondered whether he has yet received the plaudits his initial Wolves' impression deserves - well having heard about his brace tonight then surely he is very much on the cusp of something special.

Twenty-two Championship goals is impressive enough in anyone's language, and there are still six games - and possibly the play-offs - still to come.

I can only imagine what the mood must be like amongst those players and fans returning home this morning but what's clear is that Wolves have got themselves right back in the mix at a crucial time.

Now for that holiday....

Has there ever been a Wolves player like Freddy Eastwood?

One who has caused so much debate, so much discussion, and one whom still nine months after his arrival polarises opinion like nothing else at Molineux.

Freddy - or should that be "Freddy, Freddy, Freddy" - is back on the agenda this week, not just for his two goals for Wales but also in terms of his aborted loan move to Coventry.

Enough column inches to down a tropical rain forest will once again be spouted on the subject and why not - it's another interesting chapter in this long-running saga.

Mick McCarthy this morning insisted it was he who pulled the plug on the possible move, changing his mind after initially entertaining the prospect of letting Eastwood out.

In my opinion that has to be the right decision.

Eastwood may still not have convinced his manager of his overall capabilities but he remains a potential goalscoring threat and has certainly looked bright coming off the bench in recent games.

Who's to say - and given this story it's entirely possible - that it's not Eastwood who eventually pops up with the crucial goal which takes Wolves into the play-offs or even better?

And who's to say that perhaps Wolves don't pick up the odd injury or two over the coming weeks - heaven forbid Sylvan Ebanks-Blake picks up a knock because you would then wonder just where the goals are going to come from.

That brings me neatly on to Ebanks-Blake.

Because while Eastwood continues to maintain his lofty status as fans favourite - and he certainly possesses plenty of talent - Ebanks-Blake has thus far been unable to generate the same sort of frenzy among the Molineux faithful.

To me that is strange.

Here is a guy who has made an impressive impact since checking in at Molineux, scoring seven goals in 13 games to become Wolves' first 20-goal-a-season man since Kenny Miller.

All pace, power and unshakeable strength he rarely fails to make the keeper work whilst also showing his value to the team in holding the ball up effectively during the games he has been used as a lone frontman.

One of this region's most experienced reporters this week remarked Wolves haven't seen his like, in terms of sheer, hunger for goals, since a certain Stephen George Bull.

And you can see the point.

Always willing to take a shot and goal and with the power and accuracy to match, he has brought an added dimension to Wolves' play and also contributed to the resurgence of others like Andy Keogh.

There is of course a court case hanging over Ebanks-Blake following an incident outside a nightclub in Plymouth.

But it's clearly not affecting his football and as a personality he remains a fairly quiet and laid back character and interesting interviewee.

In today's Birmingham Mail he talks of his pride at being up there in the scoring charts alongside Albion's Kevin Phillips and happily shrugs off suggestions sparked by one or two photographs that he is carrying a bit of timber!!!

Ebanks-Blake a new Molineux hero? In many ways he has all the hallmarks but with Freddy still to the fore that fans' favourite status is still elusive.

After the odd exchange of words between Wolves boss Mick McCarthy and Wales manager John Toshack over Freddy Eastwood it seems a truce has been found.

Sign of the white paper proclaiming peace in our time came with McCarthy explaining that Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey was forced to withdraw from Wales under-21's crucial qualifier with Bosnia-Herzegovina due to a slight hamstring problem.

"Fair play to John Toshack and the Welsh FA," said McCarthy.

"It's so easy to take them but common sense prevailed."

Quite a change from the norm at Wolves' Compton training ground this morning.

Security on the front gate, security on the front door - yep, 'Team England' were in town, complete with their hugely impressive and emblazoned team coach.

Stuart Pearce's England under-21 squad were training at Compton in advance of tomorrow night's friendly with Poland which Molineux is delighted to be hosting.

Old 'Psycho' was in thoroughly professional mode, just as he was in his previous press conference about the game last Tuesday, offering some interesting thoughts including on modern-day discipline and haranguing of referees.

Call it the wise old hand of experience, but Pearce appears very adept at handling the media and, if he is the next EEMIW (English England manager-in-waiting), then that's a side of the job you would expect him to breeze through.

Of course getting results is another, and Pearce is hoping that a much-changed under-21 squad will do both that and put on a performance tomorrow night as he calls on some of his usually fringe personnel to make the most of their opportunity.

Tickets are going like hot cakes, or given the time of year hot cross buns, and a decision will be made in the morning as to whether there will be sufficient left to go on the turnstiles tomorrow.

One word of guidance for all those fans making the trip to Molineux - please ensure all cheese sandwiches are either consumed or disposed of correctly in and around the ground.

Anyone who remembers Molineux's last staging of an under-21 game back in 1996, and also against Poland, will know exactly what I mean.

Any Wolves fans watching 'Soccer AM' this morning will have been heartened by the appearance of Michael Kightly.

Not just the fact he was his usual confident and down-to-earth self in terms of the interview (let's remember it's still only 16 months ago he was playing in non-league!)

But also because via the impressive 'stage-dive' into the Lincoln fans as he made his entrance, and then having a go at kicking the ball through the hole in the "Living in America" feature, that ankle certainly looks on the mend.

The prospect of Kightly being available to boost Wolves' play-off push towards the end of the season is starting to look a hugely possible one.

Mick McCarthy was bearing gifts as he marched in to Wolves' press conference this morning.

First a rather splendid Easter egg for Wolves' press officer Lorraine Hennessy, who has a penchant for all things chocolate.

And then a Wolves home shirt signed by all the squad for Express & Star Wolves' man Mark Douglas, for whom today was his last on the Molineux beat before departing for pastures new.

On the back of said shirt was the number 33 - the seat Douglas occupies in the Wolves' press box - and the nickname 'Buster'. Any Boxing fans out there?

There was also the presentation of some gift tokens and a card signed by members of the press corps who regularly follow Wolves, as well as a couple of players and McCarthy himself.

But the Wolves boss will hope such generosity ceases as of tomorrow when QPR come to town for another crucial Molineux afternoon.

It promises to be a tough encounter, and with their recent investment and renaissance under Luigi De Canio McCarthy fancies the Londoners could mount a promotion challenge next season if indeed not this.

He remains however in relaxed mood, as well he might.

Wolves are top of the pile when it comes to the current form tables with 13 points from their last six games.

QPR incidentally are fourth.

And the manager also drifted into the memory bank when describing how times have changed from his days as a player when the Easter weekend often involved no less than three fixtures and all with just one substitute.

"I remember we'd play Good Friday, on the Saturday and then the following week maybe Monday or Tuesday.

"You'd be in there on the Monday for the third game in four or five days and the manager would be shouting, 'You're not blooming fit, you lot, look at you, you're all blooming tired'.

"And actually it was like, 'yes, we are, we've had three games in five days'!

"You'd be getting bawled at and screamed at and the manager would shout, 'and if you don't pull your fingers out I'm going to put THE sub on'.

"I'd be thinking, 'yes, and he's really going to help isn't he'?!

"All of us are thinking, wouldn't mind being taken off to be fair.

"And I'd look across and see that the sub was a little left winger and I'm a 6ft 2in centre half and I'd know that I'd not be coming off so the manager could be shouting all he liked!"

No three games for Wolves this weekend, but three points would certainly be the perfect gift for McCarthy this weekend and make him a very Happy Bunny indeed.

A quick glance at the top of League Two shows a heavy ex-Wolves influence among the managers striving for promotion.

Top of the pile Paul Ince's MK Dons, second in command Darren Ferguson's Peterborough and third in line Graham Turner's Hereford.

And they are just three of the ever-growing batch of former Molineux employees now plying their trade in management.

Paul Simpson has just taken residence further down League Two with Shrewsbury, while Brian Little is facing the mother of all battles to keep Wrexham in the Football League.

Move up a division and we find John Ward's Carlisle looking good in the race to reach the Championship and Stuart Gray's Northampton - of course aided and abetted by Wolves duo Mark Little and Daniel Jones - coming up on the play-off rails.

Then there's Keith Downing at the other end of the table hoping to mastermind another escape from the drop for Cheltenham, a job so far being carried out to impressive effect.

No one needs reminding that Dave Jones's Cardiff are also having a good FA Cup time of it just at the mo, so even without mentioning the fact that Doncaster boss Sean O'Driscoll is a Wolverhampton-born diehard Wolves fan I make it NINE former players or managers boasting ex-Molineux connections.

That's about ten per cent of the Football League's managers, and the Scottish clubs are also now getting in on the act.

Mark McGhee, with Motherwell, and Mixu Paatelainen, with Hibernian, are operating towards the top of the Premier Division while Alex Rae's first foray into management sees Dundee in second in Division One and just out of the cup at the quarter final stage having previously upset Motherwell in the previous round.

Can any other English club boast similar numbers among the managerial rolls?

Some interesting stuff from Mick McCarthy in today's Birmingham Mail and on www.birminghammail.net about the challenge of keeping all his players happy.

Wolves now boast such a well-stocked squad compared to last season that several high-profile figures have found themselves not even sitting on the bench but in the stands.

That perhaps lends itself to the theory that team spirit might be affected, that back-biting and envy might sneak in amid certain battles for places.

And the fact that several players - Freddy Eastwood, Darren Ward and Darren Potter for example - have spoken out about their lack of action has led some to believe there is dissent in the camp.

Not true.

Yes no player is happy when they are not playing, but they are not causing ructions.

I have read on internet messageboards that the fact that the likes of Eastwood, Ward and Potter have spoken to the local press about their predicament suggests 'trouble at mill'.

Again not the case.

Very few footballers ever actually put themselves forward for interview.

Journalists don't arrive at training grounds to be met by queues of players desperate to see their words in print.

At Wolves, all interviews are requested by reporters, the requests are filtered through via the club's press office and the player decides when to speak.

The club's press officers, and indeed Mick McCarthy, adopt an impressively relaxed attitude to such requests.

There's a strong relationship of trust in place between Wolves and the local press, while McCarthy has never once demanded a certain player should be gagged from speaking.

The point I'm making is that Eastwood, Ward and Potter only spoke out after aforementioned requests.

And even then, it's not just a case of flying in like a juggernaut.

Players will sometimes reject interviews if they don't feel the timing is appropriate and Potter for example, a hugely articulate and engaging interviewee, preferred to do his talking on the training pitch before breaking his silence when he regained his place.

A sensible approach.

Eastwood too was extremely thoughtful when initially expressing his frustrations while with Ward there was almost a fortnight's 'cooling off' period after he was dropped before the requests went in.

Another thing worth pointing out, every word of these interviews would have been expressed privately and directly, by the players to McCarthy in any case.

Making them public therefore was not going to change anything with a manager whose open door policy also extends to players being allowed to speak their mind, within reason.

It wasn't a case of 'blowing the whistle' or trying to get a message across of turbulence behind the scenes.

The manager explains today that he feels his treatment of players - always explaining why they are not playing - helps when he eventually does have to call on them as he did with Ward, Kevin Foley and Seyi Olofinjana at Burnley.

The evidence supports such a theory, and while the debates can rage long and hard about McCarthy's selections, the fact that players sometimes express their dismay should not be taken as a sign of conflict.

The table tennis table at Wolves' training ground sees some action both before and after training as the ultra-competitive among the Molineux squad do battle.

Well last night on Sky the club's former manager got in on the act.

Glenn Hoddle was taking part in a Celebrity Challenge as part of the Dunlop Masters event taking place at the Royal Albert Hall.

Hoddle and former England colleague John Barnes were in action against legendary athlete Jonathan Edwards and livewire Reading midfielder James Harper.

After a few exercises, where the celebrities found it nigh on impossible to return some professional spin serves, it was down to action.

And the 'old boys' done good, Hoddle and Barnes showing their competitive spirits remain undimmed by recovering from a 6-1 deficit to win 12-10.

It was all aid of the Greenhouse Schools Project, an initiative which aims to improve the lives of 11-16-year-olds through sports and performing arts.

As a footnote to the earlier blog about Mick McCarthy, talk about keeping a secret!

Turns out that prior to today's 9am press conference, McCarthy had already cycled over 20 miles having joined Alan Shearer and Adrian Chiles on a leg of their epic Sports Relief ride.

It was a right old early start this morning in Burton, just after 6am no less, with McCarthy joining Shearer and Chiles for 19 miles before turning off at Muckley Corner and pedalling all the way to Compton well in time for 9am.

And do you know what? Not only did the Wolves gaffer not breathe a word of his exploits to the assembled audience this morning, he didn't even look out of aforementioned breath!

Top bloke. And brings back memories of a cycle ride McCarthy led while Ireland manager in aid of three hospitals primarily looking after cancer patients.

Now unable to run any great distance thanks to various injuries sustained as a player and indeed having undergone an ankle operation since taking the helm at Wolves, cycling offers McCarthy his biggest fitness kick.

More often than not the early arrivers at his Friday morning press conference will see the helmet-cladded boss powering through the gates to the training ground having already indulged in a lengthy morning workout.

Indeed only recently he carried out a media briefing for the local press after spending over an hour on the bike - an exercise bike - whilst watching a re-run of a previous Wolves game.

And just like this morning, after a couple of warm-down stretches and wiping the sweat from his brow, you would never have known.