Wolves

A look at the Wolves side and their websites

By: Steve Tattersall

Igor pretty much covered all the bases with this analysis yesterday. This is just a couple of extra observations and stats.

WOLVES

Wolves fielded a near full-strength side against Oxford in the Worthington Cup match this Tuesday, but still went down to a Matt Murphy goal. The team fielded was:

Oakes, Muscat, Naylor, Taylor S., Emblen, Lescott, Bazeley, Osborn, Ketsbaia, Taylor R., Sinton. Subs used Robinson, N'dah, Sedgely

With due derefence to Oxford, by my reckoning, that team should have been coasting against such a team. The official match report (www.wolves.co.uk) contains the immortal, and reassuring phrase that:

"Wolves enjoyed plenty of the early play without really creating any clear cut opportunities"

... which gladdens my heart. The team above is very similar to those which held Sheff Weds and Stockport to 1-1 draws, which are not awe-inspiring results.

CROWD

Wolves "only" managed to pull just under 20,000 to the game against Sheffield Wednesday, which is a good 5,000 down from the crowd the last time the two teams played in this division (see below). I get the impression the club is in a "down" phase at the moment and very vulnerable. They even shut a stand against Oxford, which seems to be a rare event for them, even in minor cup competitions.

PLAYERS

Most of us will know the likes of Ketsbaia, Sinton, and of course Bob Taylor by now, and most of the rest are experienced first division professionals. Taylor has a terrific eye for goal if given enough time, but seems to like to work in tandem with a strong, tall partner rather than someone like the flashy but erratic Ketsbaia. It will be interesting to see how they combine. Word on the Wolves bulletin boards is that Big Bob is already prone to getting stick because of his pie-munching girth.

One player to look out for is defender Jolein Lescott, who was the only player to emerge from the Oxford game with any credit.

On the subject of Igor's note that Wolves are offloading talent these days, apparently Wolves forgot to put a sell-on clause in Robbie Keane's sale contract to Coventry, which seems a slight oversight after his transfer to Inter. I wonder if Akinbiyi's sale had such a clause?

RECENT PAST MATCHES

http://www.claret s.org/stats/opp/105.HTM

PREDICTION

Saturday's encounter will certainly be a far cry from the games of the 1980s (including the Sherpa Van final) where Bull and Mutch were at their pomp. Secretly, notwithstanding early season vagaries, I am still delighted with 4 points from two games. I'd be delighted with a draw.

WEBSITES

• Official site: another PlanetFootball official site, Patrick's company really seems to have cornered the market here

Fans' sites

• TheWolvesSite
• Wolves World
• Wolvesfans.net
• Golden army
• Truls Mansson's Wolves pages (check out the realtime "TIME SPENT IN THE WRONG DIVISIONS" box)

Steve

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