Kingy’s Wolves Blog

ONE MORE SEASON FOR MAD MICK

09-05-2008

In the end, Wolves missed out on a play off-place by just one goal, but our Molineux blogger Brendan King reckons it was a lucky escape. He names the three players his team must keep to launch a successful promotion bid next season.

I was otherwise engaged with real life at the beginning of this week, too busy to comment on Wolves failure, by one point, to qualify via the play-offs for the one remaining Premiership place.

I’m not going to go over that last typical Wolves lacklustre performance, or the dross Wolves fans have endured for most of the season, apart from one or two notable matches that I really enjoyed.

Congratulations to Wolves for being one of only three teams in the Football League not to have had a red-carded player this season. And to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (SEB) for gaining the ‘golden boot’ for beating Kevin Phillips as top Championship goal scorer with 25 goals (12 at Wolves). And Wayne Hennessey for being the 2nd Wolves goalkeeper in successive seasons to be the fans and peers favourite.

Also, a sad farewell to the gifted Freddie Eastwood, as he departs as a Wolves misfit to (possibly) Coventry City.

Perhaps that just about sums up Wolves for this season. Plenty of clean sheets (due to an excellent keeper) but only winning 4 home matches, and a late arrival ending as our leading scorer. And a midfield that was regularly, either bypassed by the passes of our defenders, or the play of opposing forwards.

No player sent off, particularly from the midfield, shows the team’s feebleness and lack of passion in tackling and progressive attacking passing play.

For a number 9 (Keogh) to only score 10 goals all season is a disgrace to the former holder of that shirt -- Steve Bull. To be rather ‘easy meat’ at home for so many mediocre teams is an insult to the 20,000 or more fans who pack the ground every other week of the season.

And Mick McCarthy (MM) is responsible in the main. This team is now reflecting the personality of MM.

A personality that Wolves fans now know well. Hard working, “putting in a good shift”, “working their socks off”. I’m sick of hearing these cliché’s every week, parroted by MM, whenever the team has played like idiots, and failed to achieve, yet again, a positive result.

MM loaned out players who are far better than his pet ‘shift-putter-inners’, and transfer listed one that a more intelligent manager could have coaxed far more goals from than the likes of headless Keogh.

MM has one more season, and if Wolves aren’t then promoted, he and his mediocre coaching and ‘fitness’ staff - and Chief Executive - are all out.

Next season could be surprise uplift from this season in which the team do gain promotion - particularly if Mr Morgan spends all of the promised 10 million on team building, and the best young players are given their head instead of being loaned out.

But, even then, MMs long-term future is unlikely to be with Wolves. He hasn’t the intelligence to maintain a team in the Premiership. His previous record with Sunderland shows that. He has not been sufficiently clever to utilise and nurture Freddie Eastwood’s fledgling and precocious talent.

And that about sums MM up in my view. Nothing complicated or subtle for our Mad Mick. He knows that, the fans know that, his players know that. The whole world knows that.

So MM is now a holding manger and he must understand this fact. But this could be fine. He could lay more foundations for the future (to be fair he has laid some already) and leave honourably when the job (in the Premiership I hope) gets too big for his limited intelligence, poor tactical thinking, flawed decision making and hapless man management.

And, if he gets Wolves into the ‘big time’, with a much stronger squad, then they may attract a higher calibre manager and management team. And perhaps consolidate a rightful position in the Premier League.

I see Paul Ince at Molineux in the medium term, if not sooner, as do most of the fans and Paul himself.

The key early indicator for a successful promotion campaign next season, will be the holding onto of SEB, Hennessey and Kightly. If they go, then so have MM and Moxey, also, to pack their kit bags and depart in my opinion.

If this Premiership quality trio can be retained, Wolves fans will forgive MM and the management for this dreadful season. For getting hold of, and developing, these three has been a real achievement of MM and Co and should be recognised.

I have my season ticket and parking place ordered for next season. I now wish the players a good holiday. And will look forward again in hope when the next season arrives. Relieved, as are the Wolves fans, players and MM himself, that we haven’t done a Derby and entered the top division too soon, completely unprepared or ill-equipped to win virtually any game all season.

If we go up next season, the squad has to be twice as good as this one. About as good as the very accomplished WBA at the very least. Best of luck to them and I hope Brum City survive as well. We want all four of our region’s top supported teams up there together.

Have a good Summer all of you Stirrers.

Are Wolves right to keep Mick McCarthy? Leave a comment on The Stirrer Forum.