View Full Version : Verdict: Luton 1-1 Wolves
On the basis that we're not going to win all our home games we went
into today's match hoping for all three points. In the end we were
grateful for just the one point after enduring a torrid afternoon at
the back dealing with Luton's looping high balls that we failed to get
underneath time and time again. Only Carl Cort seemed able to do
anything about them, everyone else was nowhere to be seen. That said,
we could have been 2-0 up at the break but for some wayward finishing
by Cort, and he also squared a ball when he should have shot so he
could have had a hat trick today. With the score at only 1-0 it was
blindingly obvious we would concede, it was just a matter of when.
Not enough clean sheets, not enough strength in depth in defence in the
absence of Jackie Mac, and woefully exposed as being hopeless in the
air at the back by a one dimensional Luton outfit. It may well prove to
be our achilles heel this season.
We need to win our next two home games now to put us on the two points per game ratio.
Oakes - is in very good form right now. Kept us in the game with a
couple of good saves and was positive and decisive when coming off his
line. Took a knock in the second half and received lengthy treatment,
hopefully he'll be OK for Tuesday night.
Edwards - in at right back in the absense of Jackie Mac. Both our
fullbacks were cruelly exposed as being crap in the air but Edwards at
least looked useful going forward on occasion.
Gyepes - all our defenders coped badly with long high looping balls, Gyepes is no exception.
Lescott - see Gyepes but Lescott did very well with anything played on the deck. Got some good tackles in, good job really.
Naylor - gone back to the form he showed time and time again under Dave
Jones. Got forward a couple of times but his final pass was terrible.
Seol - it's been a long time since I've seen an individual have such a
bad game in a Wolves shirt. Absolutely hopeless, nothing came off for
him at all, whether it's because he's not fit or just badly out of
form, I don't know. Should have been replaced long before he eventually
was.
Ricketts - started brightly and showed occasional flashes of pace but
faded in and out of the game. Looked absolutely shattered at the end,
along with most of his colleagues. The players have had a ten day break
but looked totally knackered in the closing stages which is a worry
when we've got a game on Tuesday night.
Anderton - not a particularly convincing performance in a generally
lack lustre midfield. All the energy seemed to just drain out of him
before he was subbed.
Kennedy - probably my MOTM. He looked the only midfield player to get
to grips with Luton. Showed plenty of drive, desire and bite. Had a
shot which went wide but at least he had a shot - last season he would
have passed it sideways.
Miller - went on one early forward run but stumbled on the ball. From
that point on it was clear he wasn't fit and should be taken off.
Cort - did well for his goal but he'll know he could and should have
had another hat trick today. Cort's height was a much needed asset at
the back when trying to repel Luton's tireless aerial bombardment.
Subs:
Clarke (for Miller) - he looks like he's trying too hard to make an
impact at times. If he just played more of a natural game he might do
better. A bit too physical for the fussy referee and was booked.
Olofinjana (for Anderton) - made an instant impression with a fine pass
through to Cort but completely disappeared until the final few minutes.
Cameron (for Seol) - should have replaced Seol much earlier. As it was, he had no chance to make a real impression.
Thanks for the report SSW. Quite a depressing read but nonetheless its seems we had another Leeds so a point should be seen as welcome.
Sounds like we missed Jackie and Seol went missing again which the WM commentary outlined. Is Seol a luxury we could do without i wonder?
Jack Bauer
10-09-2005, 20:08
I don't know whats happened with Seol, he's been poor all season. Whether it's the National Service he did, or whether he's injured I don't know, but he looks a shadow of the player that Premier clubs were allegedly interested in in the Summer.
Scott.Cooper
10-09-2005, 20:09
Don't agree with all, but agree with most.
Thought Gyepes had a decent game, wasn't too bad in the air and looked pretty decent on the deck.
Also Ricketts made a terrific clearance off the line in the first half
which deserves a mention and if Miller had been on at the end, i'm sure
he would have burried the chance that Leon hammered well over.
Professional
10-09-2005, 20:10
Thanks for the report. Just not good enough-not by far. Good thing they sold Davies to the scum.
Also Ricketts made a terrific clearance off the line in the first half
which deserves a mention.
Agreed, that ball was definitely going in. I guess it's another reason to be grateful for the one point.
its a marathon not a sprint....
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
its a marathon not a sprint....
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
Three points are as valuable in September as they are in May....
sswsmileys/smiley16.gif
Luton are a good side, they put in a very good, very physical performance and were the better side! They certainly deserved their goal!
I thought that we missed Mcnamara alot, and the full backs were very weak today. I did, however, think that Gyepes looked quite good, he's quick and very physical and strong so he's a decent partner for Lescott, I was surprised at just how big he looked today, he has very wide shoiuylders and alot of height, but his positioning can be suspect, and he often looks a little uneasyin his movement!
Oakes was excellent, my MOM, made 3 or 4 fantastic saves and was helped by Ricketts on one corner, and even thewoodworka couple of times too.
I thought Clarke was poor, as was Seol!
Olofinjana was very good when he came on, with one pass, in particular, forcing avery good chance for Clarke.
Kennedy had another excellent game, and shows the leadership skills, I thought he lacked when he got the vice-captaincy role!
All in all, a good point, against a good side, in a difficult away game!
its a marathon not a sprint....
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
Three points are as valuable in September as they are in May....
sswsmileys/smiley16.gif
7 games, 12 points 6th in the league.....
solid start i would say..
remind me , how many games has glenn lost since hes been here ?
we are very very DIFFICULT </span>to beat...roll on fortress molineux on tuesday !!!
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
I can tell you how many clean sheets we've kept since Hoddle arrived...
7 in 35 games. Until we start keeping more clean sheets we will not be
promoted unless we do it the hard way through the playoffs. We do not
look convincing enough for automatic at this stage.
Just got back. Cort was great, again, did very well in the air
today. Olifinjana was also excellent when he came on.
Ricketts was knackered by the end. They look like a decent
championship side but it could have easily gone either way so a draw is
a fair result.
Draw away, win at home smileys/smiley1.gif
one thing im confused about is peoples obsession with keeping clean sheets.
yes they are nice but look at man city, they very rarely kept clean sheets but still went up in style.
today was the first time under hoddle that we have been under the cosh for large parts of the game with that intensity.
Luton will be a very hard team to beat at home as their style of play
is geared towards the size of the pitch and the huge players they have.
they arent gonna win anything, they will get ripped apart at molineux
with the wide open spaces but although not ideal it is a welcome point
from a difficult away day, even though more than a few players didnt
perform today.
one thing im confused about is peoples obsession with keeping clean sheets.
yes they are nice but look at man city, they very rarely kept clean sheets but still went up in style.
$$$$$$$$.
Manchester City kept 20 clean sheets last time they were promoted. 20 clean sheets in 46 games. </span>
THAT is why I keep banging on about clean sheets. If we could emulate
that perhaps WE might go up in style but until then we will continue to
look like candidates for the play-offs at best.
Space Wolf
10-09-2005, 22:27
I would of taken a draw at the start of the day but to concede 10 minutes from time is always disapointing.
They deserved it though. As soon as we scored we seemed to shut off and
played deeper and deeper. They were all over us for large parts of the
game and we just couldn't seem to cope with their crosses into the box.
Just a quick note on the referee. Don't know his name because I haven't
looked through the programme yet but every decision seemed to go
Luton's way. He was too fussy and every little niggle had to be called
up for a foul.
There really are some prize numpties refereeing</span>
in the championship.
The ref can only get better on Tuesday....then again maybe not.smileys/smiley24.gif
Netherton Wolf
10-09-2005, 23:40
The one positive I have is that they kept us under pressure for most of the game BUT they did only score 1 goal, yes it could have been an awful lot more but it wasn't, so the defence must have done something right!!
Manitoba Wolf
11-09-2005, 00:17
Please, even though it's only on the basis of 1 game, could those who attended rank Gyepes against Lescott, Craddock and Edwards based on this seasons games....
Thread Killer
11-09-2005, 00:25
THAT is why I keep banging on about clean sheets.
I would have thought with Wolves fans dislike of sex (as revealed by that poll) there's be plenty of clean sheets to be had.
Very poor, even by my low standards.
THAT is why I keep banging on about clean sheets.
I would have thought with Wolves fans dislike of sex (as revealed by that poll) there's be plenty of clean sheets to be had.
Very poor, even by my low standards.
Agreed it is very poor but after a few beers it made me smile.
WBA v Wigan has just finished on MOTD and that made me smile just a little bit more.
SnowyWolf
11-09-2005, 00:54
agree
Florida Wolfey
11-09-2005, 03:36
one thing im confused about is peoples obsession with keeping clean sheets.
yes they are nice but look at man city, they very rarely kept clean sheets but still went up in style.
$$$$$$$$.
Manchester City kept 20 clean sheets last time they were promoted. 20 clean sheets in 46 games.
THAT is why I keep banging on about clean sheets. If we could emulate that perhaps WE might go up in style but until then we will continue to look like candidates for the play-offs at best.
Totally agree with you SSW.
Have to say though, and only on what I heard on the Luton commentary, it did sound like we were a little better defensively than in recent weeks. We didn't concede early on or straight after half time so that's an improvement but I was nowhere near as nervous as in previous weeks. Maybe it's just a different commentators point of view but although Luton came close on several occassions they did seem to lack the cutting edge. I can appreciate that being at the game, it may have felt differently.
So what was it really like? Was it the same old Wolves in defence and were we cut open or were we tighter ? Sounded like Kennedy did a lot of defending and that Lescott had another good game.
Japan Wulf
11-09-2005, 05:11
As a matter of interest Sheff U are four points clear at the top but yesterday's game was their first clean sheet in the league this season.
Wolves have have been conceding silly goals for a couple of seasons and it needs to be corrected, butwithout upsetting the defensive / offensive balance of the team. Clean sheets are great but how about if we played very defensively and hoped to win every game with a single break away goal?
Considering the battering that wereceived for large parts of the game yesterday the defence seems to have done well enough.Despite having lost the lead so close to the end it was a good point. We are in 6th spot and in touch with thetop twowho, if you check the fixtures, havefor the most partenjoyed an easier start to the season.It willtakeanother six or seven games before the table sorts itself out we have aclear idea of our standing in this league.
singwolf_1
11-09-2005, 05:39
The Luton comentary team had a lot of good things to say about Seol. Said he was very good and had a good game.
one thing im confused about is peoples obsession with keeping clean sheets.
yes they are nice but look at man city, they very rarely kept clean sheets but still went up in style.
today was the first time under hoddle that we have been under the cosh for large parts of the game with that intensity.
Luton will be a very hard team to beat at home as their style of play
is geared towards the size of the pitch and the huge players they have.
they arent gonna win anything, they will get ripped apart at molineux
with the wide open spaces but although not ideal it is a welcome point
from a difficult away day, even though more than a few players didnt
perform today.
very good analogy....most teams will struggle at the molineux this
season....i keep saying it but promotion will come at home.....smileys/smiley36.gif
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
Edited by: dr cool
wolfie smith
11-09-2005, 09:21
[/QUOTE]
$$$$$$$$.
Manchester City kept 20 clean sheets last time they were promoted. 20 clean sheets in 46 games.
THAT is why I keep banging on about clean sheets. If we could emulate that perhaps WE might go up in style but until then we will continue to look like candidates for the play-offs at best.
[/QUOTE]
i dont think city keeping clean sheetsis the important fact though, city had 12 points after 7 games exactly the same as us, they'd won 4 and lost 3. they lost9 all season and only drew 6. they won their games by scoring goals, 108 in fact they conceded more than us, their attacking style won them the division easily.
you are saying we should be more defensive, i disagree, we should be more attack minded to win this league, this is why we are drawing too many games overall. city had some daft results that season, losing to wimbledon 4-0 at home and stockport too and no doubt we will have ours. attacking the opposition puts them on the back foot, being more defensive brings teams onto us. there isnt much wrong with us at the moment, missing chances can be worked on so too can defending, judge us at christmas when we will be in our stridesmileys/smiley32.gif
We were very poor!!! Don't think I've ever wanted a match to end as quickly as possible as I did with this one!! What a shocker!! Just couldn't control the game and kept giving possession away too cheaply!! The short passing at times was abysmal!
Luton were by far the better team and fully deserved their point and probably should have had all three! Saying that though if Cort had taken his chance right on the stroke of half time that would have been game over!
Seol was very poor!! Why does he insist whenplayed through on stopping and letting his man get back up with him then try to jink past him? Why doesn't he just bear down on goal then cross the ball in??
SOA Wolf
11-09-2005, 11:34
If you look over the history of football...championships are won on defence, sort that out and you win. Clough knew that, that is why the first thing he did was buy Shilton, then Larry Lloyd at Forest (McFarland and Todd at Derby), then a good midfield to create chances - Robertson at Forest, hinton at Derby...then a good finisher.
Teams that win have nearly always had good defences, once sorted there is more relaxation in attack.
We are VERY poor defensively. Naylor is a liability, all these people saying how much Glenn has improved him...rot...he looks good going forward, but he is played as a full back, if he cannot improve him there then move him to wide midfield. Craddock was still poor last season after Glenn, poor at man marking, caught out of position, Glenn merely taught him to hoof the ball sooner, but a 4th div player. Edwards is better in the middle than at full back, but we still need a GOOD centre half, someone good in the air, preferably with some skill. There have been these players floating about in our and the lower dovs for the past 12 months...but no move....surely there is a half decent one in the PL not getting first team football?
It is easy to say that if you are not going to rely on defence just score more goals, but we are not doing so, not taking our chances. We need to be average 2 to 3 goals a game if we are happy to continue conceding.
you are saying we should be more defensive
No.
I am saying our defence isn't up to scratch. They make too many
individual errors and rely too much on Lescott. We don't have adequate
cover and we're poor in the air.
I know we're going to concede *some* goals but the avoidable sloppy
goals will be the difference between a goodish season and a great one.
SOA Wolf: You're right. Safety first.
The Bear
11-09-2005, 12:12
I'm going to have to start agreeing with SSW about the defence. I'm
getting sick of letting in goals because of sloppy defensive play that
is costing us points badly.
We have plenty of numbers but not enough quality, either in the first 4
picked places or in depth. If you look at our back 4 with a harsh
unbiased view then only Lescott and McNamara are good enough defenders
on a consistent basis.
If we are going to make any purchases in January, I'd hope it would be
in the defence or even defensive midfield. Surely Hoddle can see
that coupled with regularly missing glorious chances up front, of which
Miller and Cort are both guilty of, conceding down to basic errors is
also something that needs addressing just as much.
Wulfhere
11-09-2005, 13:56
May be wrong here but on the clip of the goal I saw I am sure it was Rickets who lost his man and was slow to close him down.<!--
var SymRealOnLoad;
var SymReal;
Sym()
{
window.open = SymWinOpen;
if(SymReal != null)
SymReal();
}
SymOnLoad()
{
if(SymRealOnLoad != null)
SymRealOnLoad();
window.open = SymRealWinOpen;
SymReal = window.;
window. = Sym;
}
SymRealOnLoad = window.onload;
window.onload = SymOnLoad;
//-->
Manitoba Wolf
11-09-2005, 15:59
Please, even though it's only on the basis of 1 game, could those who attended rank Gyepes against Lescott, Craddock and Edwards based on this seasons games....
Bump
Bilbrook_Wolves
11-09-2005, 17:08
Made the trip to luton yesterday and im sorry but i dont rate Leon Clarke at all! He trys when he can be arsed but i think its all gone to his head and trys to do fancy flicks which will get him on the showboat. I would of liked to of seen Ndah on the bench too and Ndah to of replaced Miller !
Overall I thought it was an average performance. I think you have to give Luton a lot of credit, they were a lot better than I thought they would be and not many teams will go there and win this season.
That was the game where we missed Ince the most, we needed someone to go and grab the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and other than Kennedy there wasn't enough bite in midfield. Also Ndah would have been useful at 1-0 in the 2nd half.
I think on the whole its a decent point and whilst we wont win all our home games we wont draw all our away and with 2 very winnable home games this week I am pleased.
HSV Wolf
11-09-2005, 17:51
We wouldn't be moaning about the display if Cort could hit the target from 8 yards when clean through. Also WTF was he doing near the end when through again and elected to try and play someone else in instead of going for goal.
Sorry, I know he's our leading scorer but as the Luton fans said around me, he's a complete 'donkey'http://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/forum/smileys/smiley21.gif .......Oh for a fit Ganea ,and soon smileys/smiley32.gif
'The Luton comentary team had a lot of good things to say about Seol. Said he was very good and had a good game. '
Trust me when i say all oppisition fans think this as well, Seol cant do anything wrong among other fans, as i have heard so manypeople praising him. Are wewatchinga different match to other fans!!, ifhe was going to play this week anyway it should have been against Millwall opose to Luton as that was an extremely difficult game yesterday. Hopefullyback to 3 up front again on Tuesday where Ndah should start with Cort and Miller if fit/Clarke.
Please, even though it's
only on the basis of 1 game, could those who attended rank Gyepes
against Lescott, Craddock and Edwards based on this seasons
games....
Bump
Turning circle of an oil tanker. Tries to use his size and bulk to
block off players runs. On the evidence of yesterday has no real speed
or aeriel presence. If he settles and gets in tune with the speed of
the game might be ok, but at the moment a fit Craddock is the better
option.
'The Luton comentary team had a lot of good things to say about Seol. Said he was very good and had a good game. '
If a good performance can be measured by how often you check back with
the ball and kill the momentum of a break away attack, fanny around a
bit and then play an aimless ball into nowhere then Seol did in that
case play a blinder.
We wouldn't be moaning about the display if Cort
could hit the target from 8 yards when clean through. Also WTF was he
doing near the end when through again and elected to try and play
someone else in instead of going for goal.
Sorry, I know he's our leading scorer but as the Luton fans said around me, he's a complete 'donkey'http://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/forum/smileys/smiley21.gif .......Oh for a fit Ganea ,and soon smileys/smiley32.gif
a donkey with 5 goals in 7 games....
a donkey that will score 25 goals this season....
give me more donkeys...
drsmileys/smiley16.gif
Bradders
11-09-2005, 19:20
My 2p worth...
We were pretty poor and did well to get a point from the game. It was only a matter of time before Luton scored, and on the balance of play had far more chances than us. Luton play a physical game lumping the ball into the box at every chance. It's all well and good us turning on the style when opponents give us the chance (QPR) but few teams will give us this chance and we must learn how to beat them.
Miller was clearly not fit and pulled up after making his first run.
Seol - WHY? What has gone wrong? Why wasn't he taken off earlier? There's something not right here. One of the worst performances in a Wolves shirt for some time.
Clarke. I'm still struggling to work out if he's just a good pub footballer or a youngster who will improve with time. His shot right at the end leads me to the former. But occasionally there are glimses that he COULD be good. Time will tell,but I'd rather Ganea be on the bench to get 20mins at the end than Clarke right now.
Not many teams will get points from Luton, they are a tough team to play against and are far from the favourites for relegation we all thought at the start of the season. Like Hull, they have something about them that we had back in 89-90 in that they don't have many players really up to the standard of this division but work very well together, have a system and play to it.
Now for 6 points from the two home games and we remain on track.
Manitoba Wolf
11-09-2005, 20:32
Please, even though it's only on the basis of 1 game, could those who attended rank Gyepes against Lescott, Craddock and Edwards based on this seasons games....
Bump
Turning circle of an oil tanker. Tries to use his size and bulk to block off players runs. On the evidence of yesterday has no real speed or aeriel presence. If he settles and gets in tune with the speed of the game might be ok, but at the moment a fit Craddock is the better option.
Thanks, even though it's not what i wanted to hear.
Loan Darren Moore maybe?
Bradders
I was at the game and you make a lot of good points
Seol - just didn't look interested
Clarke - a poor, poor performance. Gave away far too many free kicks. Got booked and was subsequently lucky not to be red carded. Missed a great opportunity minutes from the end.
Naylor - again unable to recapture his form from the latter half of last season
I thought both Lescott and Gypes acquitted themselves pretty well considering they were facing a barrage of crosses aimed at big physical forwards for most of the game . Also Edwards at right back had a solid enough game i.m.o.
Rather than blame the defence I thought we lost the game further upfield. Only Kennedy, and to a lesser extent Cort, matched Luton's hard working, physical approach. Seol, Clarke, Anderton, Ricketts just could not adapt to the requirements of an "ugly" sort of game. Ince would have loved it out there.
Luton will drop very few points at home playing the way they do on their postage stamp, and I was extremely relieved to here the final whistle - definitely a valuable point gained rather than two lost. I guess it's not easy for our players to suddenly reinvent themselves as a Luton-type team when the whole point of Hoddle's style is to play a more sophisticated passing game, which I believe will ultimately bring its rewards.
Having said that, lack of a clinical finisher to partner Cort is costing us dear in away games, no doubt being the reason for the interest in Rasiak. Although it would have been mightily unfair on Luton, we did create some good chances yesterday (against the run of play) and better finishing would have seen us nick a win. I'm thinking back to Miller's opportunity against Saints (Niemi's good save), and the bagful of chances at Cardiff and to a lesser extent Leeds and the extra points we should have already had. Perhaps Ganeawill soon get fully match fit and be the answer?
SFS II
Read the rest of my post!!!!, i was just highlighting wat I suppose a fan who heard Radio Luton said, totally agree with you though.
Back to the defence/clean sheets issue. I agree that attacking football can win this league and it is simply a matter of scoring more than the opposition.
However for that to occur you need clinical natural goal scorers and I don't think we have anyone in our squad who fits into that catagory I don't mean to knock Miller Cort Ganea or Ndah as I think they all contribute more to the team than the selfish striker role
Without Ince in the midfield we are too lightweight in that area hence the reason our strikers have to drop back more and support
This is why clean sheets will be more important to us this year than say Man City in their promotion year or even Wigan last season
The baggies went up with a record number of 1-0 victories and I know many of their supporters really didn't enjoy that season just the result at the end of it
I hope we can all really enjoy watching the lads on a week by week basis but fear that we are looking at top 6 rather than automatic promotin at the moment
