Palace away Verdict Thread

[Whirligig Wolf]

We actually won a game!

In shocking conditions we battled throughout. I felt we were much the better side in the first half despite maybe not forcing the odd looking 'keeper into any strenuous saves.

We were however denied a penalty if anything even more blatant than the one against Plymouth. Shocking refereeing accentuated by his proximity to the foul. Oaf.

The 2nd half was a different affair, presumably Warnock had blasted the Palace players and they came out and rocked us back on our heels. The swirling wind and Hennessey's hesitancy combined to, ahem, put the wind up us. Hen redeemed hiself with a wonderful fingertip save on to the post diving low to his left.

Once we scored from a penalty won by the Mighty Kightly we looked really good until the last 5 minutes when we clung on by our fingernails.

Woooo hoooo!

Hen- 6. Difficult conditions for him but one punch and some odd behaviour coming off his line were offset by his great save. His throwing distribution has improved too.

Foley - 7. Solid as always. Went on a mazy run too.

Berra - very impressive. Looked used to the Warnock lump it forward style and was quite commanding. Once Stearman is back in form I thoink they'll complement each other nicely. -8

Craddock - 7. Solid. Can't pass.

Hill-6. An old fashioned uncomplicated player.

Kightly -8. Was involved in our best moves and won the penalty. I think his confidence isn't at 100%
As his final pass or shot is still delayed to long.

Henry - 7. Best performance in a while but he still wasn't as imposing as he can be. Can't pass.

Edwards -5. not involved enough. Can't pass. Poor display. Worked hard.

Friend. 7. bold move playing him and I think it paid off. He got stuck in and offered width and pace. Looks skillful but maybe lacked the confidence that may come with experience.

SEB. Worked so hard and scored. 8.

Big Chris 7. Won plenty of flick ons and worked hard. Welcome back!

Subs - Keogh - 8 only on for a bit but a couple of extraordinary bits of skill. Got himself one on one with funny looking 'keeper and bottled it but what on earth do you expect?

Vokes - looked dangerous.

Mick - 8. Changed it around a lot which was good.

Crowd - 8. In terrible conditions we were there in force. Well done us.

Team spirit -10. They looked overjoyed to have won and maybe this is the kickstart we have been waiting for.

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

Maybe this is the kickstart we have been waiting for.

Let's pray so! I hope no-one associated with Wolves keeps talking about '2 wins in 12' or whatever, think that was probably a stigma that the team could do without. Clean slate now, we've got 10 games to secure our top 2 spot and here's hoping this win will give us a bit more confidence.

 

[Netherton Wolf]

Thanks WW, that report is much as it sounded on the radio, my only slight concern we still only had 3 shots on target.

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

They look soaked in these, didn't recognise kit colour at first!

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

 

[Wolv3nsam]

Palace fans reckon it was never a penalty and some can't believe we won as they "matched us all the way" - I suppose I was listening to a different game?

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?t=182514

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

 

[Burlton Wolf]

well what about the other 2 penalty claims ? we also carved them up a few time, with a better killer pass we could have got a couple more.....

 

[Wolv3nsam]

Warnock reckons it was never a penalty as well, but that $$$$ has always had a problem with us!

 

[Burlton Wolf]

Good work with the photos!!

 

[Super Hans]

A thoroughly deserved, hard-fought win against 12 men in conditions that greatly suited the home side.

Hennessey - 7 - A couple of dodgy decisions, recovered well when he came and dithered which let Ifill in. Great save onto the post as a freekick slid across the ground.

Foley - 7 - The standard classy prformance we've come to expect. Although I wish a few times he would throw it earlier to Kightly when it goes out.

Hill - 7 - A contender for Mom for me. Solid and rarely troubled by his pacey opponent.

Craddock - 7 - Solid in the air, desserves to start next week.

Berra - 7.5 - First time I've seen him play. Good signing. A quality version of Collins.

Henry - 7 - Very good. Battled hard and passed very well and far more early than usual. Looked exstactic at the end.

Edwards - 5 - Worst player in a Wolves shirt. But the condidtions really didn't suit him as it was either in the air or on the wings. Tried hard though 100% for effort.

Kightly - 7 - Kightly is back, Kightly is back hello hello (well for 20 minutes anyway!). Some very strong direct running. Stayed wider than he has of late.

Friend - 7 - Good performance considering the pressure of the situation he was thrown into. Really should have scored a minute after we went 1-0 up. But on raw talent alone he is a great prospect.

SEB - 8- Just pipped Berra and Craddock for MoM. Battled very hard always spread the play when he could, Held his bottle when the penalty came his way. MOM

Iwelumo - 7 - Looked a lot nearer to the Big Chris we saw two/three months ago. Very atrong in the conditions and that was what we needed.

Subs - Keogh, played well, didn't want to shoot when he went through one on one. I thik a certain section of our crowd are responsible for that. Vokes, Stearman not on long enough to judge.

Great to see all the players celebrating together when we scored and great scenes at fulltime with the players acknowledging the fans.

Special mention to those in the first 10-12 rows of our section. Well done, I was there, Row 8, horrible conditions.

Ref: Terrible, Berra had a stonewall penalty turned down two yards from him. Bottled it, not so sure about the Edwards claim. Bring on next week!

 

[Super Hans]

Palace fans reckon it was never a penalty and some can't believe we won as they "matched us all the way" - I suppose I was listening to a different game?

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?t=182514

Sour grapes mate. We looked very strong in spells. Palace were awful. There only real threats were through set pieces. Had the conditions been better I would say on what I watched tonight we could have won 2 or 3 nil.

I'd say the only reason our shot on target was low was largely down to the final balls we were putting in. But that will come.

 

[leeb]

I don't know which penalty warnock didn't think was one, but I thought that there were 2 clear penalties (one for a two handed push on Edwards and another that was for a pull). First half we bossed it. First time I have seen Berra and with the Scottish style weather, he seemed very comfortable. Friend fully justified his inclusion first half, though disappeared a bit in the second. We flashed the ball across the goal with Speroni beaten 4 times. Lightly was in and out, the front 2 worked very hard all game and matt hill did well as well. Sure, there were wobbly moments, miss kicks etc, but in that weather I thought it was a good professional performance. Don't know what's going on in keoghs head though. Was playing ok and then presented with a clear breakaway which when he got near the area slowed down and looked around for someone to pass to when he could have passed it past the keeper into the net. Was really good to see the players come over to thecrowd after and show some passion. We could have won by more, but strangely, I think a 1-0 will have done us more good because they had to battle every step of the way.

 

[Simon Osborn]

Just got back; absolutely drenched from sitting near the front. Great performance from everyone in shocking conditions.
Great comedy moment with Matt Hill leaving a hole in the advertising hoardings.

I was always a little nervous when Palace attacked, but Berra won everything in the air and the defence were calmer than previous matches. Hill, although he likes to hoof it into the crowd, had a decent game I thought. Formed a solid partnership with Friend on the left.

Our fans were superb; no booing...

Overall a game we deserved to win.

 

[Mr Wolf]

I've heard Berra was superb from a couple of Palace fans which is great to see. Also they said Trappatoni was there so no wonder Keogh came on like a man posessed

 

[SanFranWolf]

Warnock reckons it was never a penalty as well, but that $$$$ has always had a problem with us!

That $$$$ has always had a problem with everyone! So much so that nobody takes any notice of the fool these days.

 

[WolvesAreBoringOnCeefax]

It's a shame that all our players are getting high marks apart from Edwards - the one man guaranteed to start next weekend due to suspensions and injuries!
But seriously, sounds promising, I thought Berra was good when I saw him a few weeks back, and my Scottish mates, whilst knocking the SPL, have said he's one of the few decent players from it. Glad to see he did well tonight.

Can anyone confirm or deny that when Craddock nearly scored an own goal, he actually managed to hit our post?

 

[It's Mixu Paatelainen]

Edwards is class, and he will prove it before the end of the season.

As for the result, a fantastic achievement for the lads in very testing circumstances. I think that a victory tonight was beyond the wildest dreams of most fans, and it's a special moment.

 

[Denmead Wolf]

Too cold to type last night when got back at 1am, but looking at the table as warmed me up.
Agree with the ratings and comments from the others posted here, although I thought Hen had only one moment of hesitancy, there were a few swirling crosses to attend to, which he did no problem. His save on the post was awesome. I thought he had a good game
Special mention for Matt Hill too, he may not be the danger Ward is going forward, but he did a solid full back job, just like Foley. His passion at the end in front of us showed what it meant as well to him. Berra was a different player to what I saw on Saturday, maybe a clean sheet and being away from Molineux for the next game will give him confidence. Would love Stearman back in so we can play it out of defence, because for all Craddocks blocks, headers and tackles (he was excellent I thought), he doesnt play it out like Stears can. But then thats Jody, solid stopper and we needed that in the weather last night.
Kites certainly enjoyed last night, playing with more confidence than he saturday, again, maybe being away from Molineux was a factor.
Good to see Big Chris back, hope his injury isnt too bad.

Thoroughly deserved win, although our first half superiority wasnt as evident in the second. Although probably our best football was when we were 1-0 up going in to the closing stages.

The final whistle brought all the players over to the fans and they were celebrating and clenching their fists, punching the air, I think making the point that they arent bottlers and are all in it together. We keep hearing that, so it was also nice to see it.

If we had won on Saturday, I think a draw at Palace would have been a good result, especially in the conditions. So to get a win was excellent. I hope we can continue with a few clean sheets now and roll on Wednesday on Saturday.

 

[WestChiltingtonwolf]

Only thing I would add is "how is Matt Hill a professional footballer"?

That is all.

 

[Uncle Festa]

You ask any Shrewsbury Town fan and they will tell you that Edwards has one good game in 8. He had it against Cardiff.

 

[Wolv3nsam]

OlofinjanaLite, although he was more like 1 good game in 30.

 

[ManningtreeWolf]

Thanks WW, that report is much as it sounded on the radio, my only slight concern we still only had 3 shots on target.

Yes, but that doesnt tell the whole story, was at plymouth saturday, hardly created any chances, just huffed and puffed, but what i saw last night was more creative, especially given the conditions ......... although not shots on target we managed to get to the bye line on at least 3 occasions and get a low cross into the box, each time just a whisker away from someone applying the final touch, there was much more determination to win the second ball and retain possesion, passing was better etc.

A special mention to us fans , great support, kept trying to motivate the lads and we got our rewards , we might be better playing at molineux in front of a couple of thousand wolves away supporters!

 

[TheBridgnorthWolf]

Edwards is class, and he will prove it before the end of the season.

I wish I could agree with you - he can have a very good game, then look absolutely abysmal the next. As much as he 'puts a shift in', his speed of thought seems to be slightly too slow, and his willingness to get up the pitch leaves alot of space gaps behind him.

He strikes me as the kind of player that would've shone in Mick's first season, but frankly he seems too limited to be a regular starter in this team. I genuinely hope he improves because he is one of the hardest working players at the club, and has shown real moments of promise.

 

[sy king]

Awful conditions to play a game of football in, evern worse to be sat in the dump of a ground watching palace's turgid football
first half we battered them, the dave edwards penalty was a stone wall for me, the ref totally bottled it. Im not so sure about the berra one, he went looking for it a little, so probably the right decision.. the officials were generally poor, our position in the 1st half means we we looking right accross the back line, and twice the Assistant gave offside when they were comfortably on..

Hennessey - 7 - good punch second half, couple of nervy moments but only troubled once from Ifil's Free kick which was a superb save

Hill - 6 - looked better than previous times ive seen him play and wasnt playing as narrow as ward does, decent game

Craddock - 7 - solid and strong usual jody performance, one horrible mis-kick which almost went in his own net

Berra - 7.5 - Much Berra! dealt well with warnock lump it and run tatics

Foley - 6 - quiet game for foles.. didnt do anything wrong, could have pushed on and gave kights a bit more support

Friend - 8 - close call for MoM.. looked like he had been in the first team all season, linked well and put some great balls into the box, could have scored a couple but couldnt get on the end of the balls played across the box

Henry - 7 - decent, stupid booking though, still not enough leadership to be captain

Edwards - 5 - anonymous for 85 % of the game

Kights - 7 - as well as he played its a 7 for me because of his inability to go a game without taking a corner that goes straight out for a goal kick.. got into to some superb positions but crap decisions once into the good positions

BCI - 9 - MOM - superb strong centre forward play, won endless amounts on flicks and didnt give away any one his silly fouls, exactly the type of player you would need on a game like that.

SEB - 7 - never really had many chances, took his penalty well!

the team coming over to us to celebrate at the end was worth every penny of the ticket and worth sitting in a monsoon, you could see how much it meant to the players

Fans - 10 - great turnout considering!

 

[jabbawolf]

Hopefully a battling 1-nil away in terrible conditions will have given the team a huge boost - maybe better even than a 3-nil cruise, which is sounds like it could have been after the first half.

 

[Jack]

Exactly what the doctor ordered. Not a fluid performance, but each and everyone of them dug in and really battled for the shirt.

Special mentions to Henessey on the clean sheet and SEB for getting back on the horse so to speak.

Have to agree with the majority about Edwards and if we had have conceded late on, I would have personally throttled Keogh for not shooting when clean through.

We can look back and laugh at it now, but that could have cost us.

 

[Clifton Wolf]

Excellent performance last night so glad I made the effort to go on a wet and windy night.

Best we have played for some time I thought Kightly was excellent he played some lovely balls in behind them and slid a couple of great passes across the 6 yard box which Friend almost scored from. However, I do wish he would stop kicking the ball directly out of corners otherwise chuffed to bits with his workrate and performance.

I also thought Big Chris had an excellent come back winning countless headers and not giving away any free kicks.

Keogh was awesome when he came on some lovely touches and great bits of skill were a joy to watch........but what on earth was he doing when he went clean through? All I wanted him to do was slide it past the keeper and wrap the game up but he was looking round for support and eventually messed it up. Overall though great cameo of the bench well done sir.

Finally, as someone has already mentioned the price of admission was worth it just for the players reaction coming over to the fans at full time. You could see the joy and how much the win meant to them.

Massive massive win now onto Sheffield.

P.S. Come on Brizzle do us a favour tonight and then it will be a sweet 24 hours.

 

[saturday boy]

It was very wet and windy. At least I was undercover.

Hennessey - still organising his wall when the free kick was taken and was moving to his right then having to dive to his left to fingertip the shot onto the post. It was probably a harder save than it needed to be but it was rather impressive. Came for a few high swirling balls to ease the pressure although one punch looked a little ill advised he got a lot of distance on it. Seems to have been told to throw the ball out to the full backs more often and his decision making is sometimes a little suspect - once he threw the ball high into the wind and it was almost coming back at him, his throws after this had a much flatter trajectory. His first clean sheet for many games will hopefully give him some more confidence. 8

Foley - with Kightly playing a freer role in front of him Foley's duties were mainly defensive and again he didn't disappoint. I can't recall Palace ever getting to the byline. 7

Berra - dealt with everything with much more assurance than in recent games and in the conditions competence was the order of the day and I don't think there was one 'heart in your mouth' moment from either of the central defenders. 8

Craddock - Craddock's experience shows, he knows his position inside out and keeps it simple. Untroubled on a difficult night. 7

Hill - just a career left back and probably exactly what we need at the moment. Any doubt, lump it out. Distribution isn't the best but like Foley kept palace from getting in behind our defence all night. Did some good work at the end to wind down the clock. 7

Kightly - are we seeing the re-emergence of the real Michael Kightly? This was much more like it. He seemed to have licence to operate across the midfield today and this freedom seemed to liberate his game. His approach work could have secured the gae much early on, 3 crosses flashed across the box only inches away from a final touch. Not wanting to put too much pressure on him but Kightly could win the league for us. 9

Friend - bit of a suprise inclusion to be honest and when he cam onto the pitch I hardly recognised him, he's clearly been in the gym as he has bulked up considerably. An excellent first half followed by a quieter second half on another day he could have had a couple of goals. Along with Hill gave the left side a more solid look of late and gave Palace enough to think about in an attacking sense too. 8

Henry - much better. Kept it simple, maintained possession and broke up a lot of Palace possession in the middle. 7

Edwards - didn't think he was as bad as some make out but I'm still not sure he's quite the player we need at the moment. Reminds me of David Platt, would probably be very effective in a decent team who could pick out his runs forward but as an individual quite limited. 7

Iwelumo - led the line well, and was much more effective when the bal was played to him so he could control it and lay it off - most of his flicks off the head were ineffective. May have played himself back into the starting line up on a regular basis. 7

SEB - worked hard and deserved his goal but didn't have many opportunities. Claearly worked on his penalties, slotted right into the corner rather than blasted down the middle. 7

Subs

Keogh - a classy cameo that summed him up as a player. Neat work on the ball and really, really should have scored. Winning the ball on the half way line, outpacing the defender, one on one with a back peddling keeper and rather than shoot he stopped, turned and.....................words fail me.

Vokes and Stearman - weren't on for long.

 

[derbyrameater]

and his willingness to get up the pitch leaves alot of space gaps behind him.

so we want a player who gets up the pitch but doesn`t leave space behind.

That is what the holding player is for.

What do you want a player to do?

You can`t win with some.

 

[thekentwolf]

Wolves were the better team. Desevered the win. Palace are a poor team, I cant recall a Warnock team with such little fight in them.
Poor ref, Wolves had two pens calls in the first half one was stone wall.
Many thought Wayne could of done better with the Ifill free kick I thought it was a great save.
Shocking conditions, great win. Made all the better that my Palace mate gave me a lift home, which saved 2 hours on the normal train journey home.

 

[Welwyn Wolf]

An enjoyable game from a Wolves perspective - apart from the opening 20 minutes of the second half I felt we bossed it and, although the shot count was low, we got in behind Palace enough times to win by a more comfortable margin.

Despite the atrocious conditions, the men in Old Gold put in a battling display which should have seen them go in ahead at half-time. Unsurprisingly, Palace started the second half alot stronger but, thanks to some solid defending and a great save from Hennessey, they were kept at bay and we deservedly took all three precious points.

Hennessey: One slightly dodgy moment when he should have been braver and cleared the ball. He claimed everything else, and made an absolutely superb save from a deflected Palace free-kick. His weight was already going in the other direction when the ball took its diversion, so to shift the other way and tip it onto the post was class.

Foley: Typically assured display. Unlike Saturday, the rest of his team played well so he didn't stand out as much, nor did he need to.

Craddock: Won everything. Solid display.

Berra: Much more impressive than Saturday. Him and Craddock seemed to thrive in the conditions.

Hill: Solid performance, linked well with Friend in the first half.

Kightly: Very lively and got behind the Palace defence on a number of occasions. He could have been more decisive a couple of times, but more displays like this could be the difference.

Edwards: High energy performance as usual. We all know he isn't the greatest passer of the ball, which isn't good for a midfield player, but I thought he was more disciplined than usual last night and didn't leave as many gaps for Henry to plug.

Henry: Another who seemed to thrive in the conditions. Good performance before his ban.

Friend: Excellent performance. Really impressed with his first-half display, after his surprise inclusion. He looks really comfortable with the ball at his feet, and left-wing is probably a better position for him at the moment.

Iwelumo: It was refreshing to see big Chris challenge for the ball without giving endless amounts of free-kicks away. Back to his early season form on the evidence of Saturday and last night. Let's hope his injury isn't serious.

Ebanks-Blake: Another excellent display and dispatched the penalty well. One lovely piece of play in the first half where he dropped deep to pick up the ball, took an excellent touch but then looked like he had held onto it far too long. Then, he perfectly threaded the ball through for an on-rushing Kightly, who was able to fire the ball across the Palace area. Deserved his goal.

Subs:
Keogh: He did really well when he came on, but he should have shot when through on goal after his own determined play had won the ball off Nathaniel Clyne.
Vokes and Stearman: Not on long enough.

Fans: Good turnout and a really positive atmosphere through out, obviously helped by the way we were playing. Good scenes at the end.

I have not give a man-of-the-match because it was a real team effort, hoefully one which spurs us on to automatic promotion.

 

[marrs-guitar]

http://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/vb/showpost.php?p=730971&postcount=40

 

[Denmead Wolf]

Sorry, forgot to post my "Stewarton and JIWAL specific match report":

Please ignore if you are not the aforementioned.....

"We were rubbish, from start to finish. Cant even score in open play, had to rely on goldenballs pathetic dive. Keogh was non existant for 85 minutes. Pah! You wouldnt catch Celtic having such a poor display. Pah again! Mad Mick couldnt get the team to get more than 1 goal against this shower, and we only won thanks to the extra paint on the goalpost. Mick out, the guy is a baffoon. The league table doesnt lie, we are obviously going to finish 7th. Even more Pah! Booooooo. Oh, and Moxey and Morgan didnt do anything in the transfer market yesterday either, get rid now! And why did Mick make it rain the whole game? The obvious tactic was for him to pick a mild evening, or even slightly overcast, but no, the stubborn idiot chose monsoon conditions. Double pah! He did the same with Sunderland I tell you, and will do the same with us. Um pah pah, um pah pah, thats how it goes..... "

 

[Paul76]

Double post.

 

[Paul76]

Reply to

I understand where you're coming from with that above post but we have only won one game. It was a massive game to win but we've still got ten games left.

I'm optimistic again after last night but unless we can carry our form in the Sheffield game it means nada. We've still go a lot to do but hopefully Wolves now can kick on and put that bad form behind them.

 

[TheBridgnorthWolf]

so we want a player who gets up the pitch but doesn`t leave space behind.

That is what the holding player is for.

What do you want a player to do?

You can`t win with some.

I think he gets too far out of position, and doesn't have the discipline to know when to get back. The alternative is to build our midfield around his style of play, which means changing the people around him. I think he has shown a lot of improvement in his time with us and hopefully the positional side of his game will improve.

Sorry if that's too much of a reasoned argument.

 

[Super Hans]

In response to a few of comments:

Hennessey only started rolling the ball after about 5 minutes in the first half when it became obvious he couldn't kick into that wind. Second half he was kicking a lot more.

And in Kightly's defence last night he didn't really stand a chance with his corners in that swirling unpredictable wind.

Did someone ask how Hill is a footballer? I think he is a very good no frills full back, just what we've needed of late.

 

[It's Mixu Paatelainen]

I don't know why I possess a footballing hard-on for Edwards. I know he's anonymous half the time, but I just really like the kid and think he could be a lot better that he is at the moment in a years time.

And I hope that Hill keeps his place. Good, experienced, solid, aware player.