Verdict: Wolves 0-1 Newcastle.

[Bossworld]

Couldn't see a thread, am I allowed to start one?

Appreciate most will have seen the match via Sky/pub/any other source, but I have to say I came away from watching that rather numb, not even particularly angry or disappointed. The stats suggested we did enough to at least warrant a point, but we just offered very little going forward.

Newcastle carried out a controlled away performance, and did exactly what they needed to; particularly as the pace at the top between them and Brighton seems relentless. Suspected a 1-0 loss before kick off but was convinced it would be Shelvey back to haunt us. Once Mitrovic should have walked, it was probably inevitable he was to score.

I don't think we played particularly badly but we just need to make more of our possession. Was rather telling towards the final 5 minutes where Costa was out on the right-wing and had three Newcastle players closing him down on several occasions.

 

[Surrey Wolf]

Played ok in the 1st half but toothless up front, 2nd half they managed the game well & we ran out of ideas

 

[Deleted member 4099]

We lack quality in central midfield and Center forward positions. All the effort in the world can't hide that.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Thought it was a game where we didn't deserve to lose but didn't do enough to win as both sides cancelled each other out. Ultimately, we were on the wrong end of a couple of debatable refereeing decisions which cost us at least a point.

Positives:

Thought that was Bright's best performance of the season. Positive, very comfortable on the ball and made better decisions in possession.

Thought Batth and Coady had decent games.

Lee Evans looked the pick of our midfielders. Played things more simple than he sometimes does and one delightful through ball to Dave.

Negatives

Dicko continues to look a shadow of his former self. I still think he deserves the benefit of a full pre-season before we discard him but he looks bereft of confidence at the moment. In his defence, their two centre-halves were very good and most of the service into him was very poor.

A lack of creativity coming from centre midfield. Would love to see Saiss and Ronan in there at some point (Tuesday?)

Weimann really struggled against someone he couldn't beat for pace.

Marshall (understandably) looks very short of fitness. And runs just like James Henry.

Ikeme 6
Coady 7
Batth 7
Stearman 6 - loses a mark for his contribution to the goal.
Doherty 6
Price 6
Edwards 6
Costa 6
Bright 7 - MOM
Weimann 5
Dicko 5

Evans 7
JDB 5
Marshall 5

 

[Bostin]

We don't have the quality to break teams down. Games like today, where we go behind, are the ones where our shortcomings are exposed and people like Edwards look poor.

Not sure why he too Enobakhare off, he was the only one causing Newcastle problems. Thought Dicko had his best game in a while.

Subs didn't affect the game at all. Lee Evans was an awful sub, should've brought Ronan on. Marshall looked nervous and Bodvarsson didn't affect the game like he usually does.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we made a massive mistake not signing a striker in January.

 

[Snorbans Wolf]

Newcastle played us well, but I think Lambert's tactics were at fault. It felt much more of a 4-4-1-1 than a 4-2-3-1, which left Weimann and Costa too deep and they were ineffective as a result. Bright playing further forward (I was quite impressed with him) left us with a two in central midfield which doesn't suit Edwards.

I don't think we deserved to lose, but we also didn't look like scoring, so we can't complain too much. Lascelles was majestic, too, in fairness.

 

[Wolfman jack]

Very poor. Offer almost no goal threat, as usual. No shots on target until 80th minute or so. Bad season disguised by the cup results. Without them , I would suspect the Lambert Out whispers would be growing by now.

 

[Murderonzidanesfloor]

Very poor. Offer almost no goal threat, as usual. No shots on target until 80th minute or so. Bad season disguised by the cup results. Without them , I would suspect the Lambert Out whispers would be growing by now.

He's building something and the tactics helped to nullify Newcastle, though didn't give us a threat either.

We're about 3 players away from the play offs, three very good ones that will cost good money. As is obvious, a goal scoring centre forward is a bloody must.

 

[BCWolf]

We don't have the quality to break teams down. Games like today, where we go behind, are the ones where our shortcomings are exposed and people like Edwards look poor.

Not sure why he too Enobakhare off, he was the only one causing Newcastle problems. Thought Dicko had his best game in a while.

Subs didn't affect the game at all. Lee Evans was an awful sub, should've brought Ronan on. Marshall looked nervous and Bodvarsson didn't affect the game like he usually does.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we made a massive mistake not signing a striker in January.

Abso****inglutely!

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Night and day, apparently

 

[Skrilla]

Ikeme 7
Coady 6
Stearman 5
Batth 5
Doherty 7
Price 6
Edwards 6
Costa 6
Bright 6
Weimann 5
Dicko 4

Bod 6
Evans 5


Disappointing really, never looked like breaking them down. Rafa did a job on us, knows we are only effective on the break and had his team sit deep and knew our defence would give them at least one clear goalscoring opportunity and they took it. Move on to Wigan on Tuesday now where we really need to be winning. We now have the worst home record in the league.

 

[Big Mack]

Agree with OP.

 

[reanswolf]

Ikeme - 6 - had very little to do
Docherty 7 thought he was good and tried to get forward
Coady 8 - another excellent battling performance
Stearman 7 - steady game
Batth - 7.5 - best game from Danny for some time
Price 7.5 - tigerish performance first half
Edwards 5 - one flashing header but other than that was poor I'm afraid. Play broke down with his poor passing
Bright 8 - the most lively and dangerous looking player, great balance and posed only real threat - disappointed he was subbed
Weisman 6 - ok first half but faded
Dicko 6 looking a little sharper but never going to score
Costa 6 looked lightweight and lost ball a lot

SUBS -
Evans 7 tigerish performance from him second half when he came on
Bod - 6 one or tow good runs on left.

FANS 4 - quietest Wolves crowd for some time, totally out-sung by buoyant Geordies, nothing from South Bank even second half.
REF 6 - let game flow but missed foul on Ikeme

 

[Boswell]

Before the complete injustice that was Newcastles first goal, I have to say I thought the team played fairly well. They nullified the threat of Newcastles attack, and retained position in all the areas of the pitch, which is something we are not used to seeing at Molinuex, especially against the league leaders bear in mind.

The second half admittedly was not so good and Newcastle did very well to kill off the game, and our lack of striker/questionable tactics/substitutions did show

I can't help but feel that if this game had ended 0-0 we would be seeing a completely different reaction on the mix

 

[Bostin]

Ikeme 7
Coady 6
Stearman 5
Batth 5
Doherty 7
Price 6
Edwards 6
Costa 6
Bright 6
Weimann 5
Dicko 4

Bod 6
Evans 5


Disappointing really, never looked like breaking them down. Rafa did a job on us, knows we are only effective on the break and had his team sit deep and knew our defence would give them at least one clear goalscoring opportunity and they took it. Move on to Wigan on Tuesday now where we really need to be winning. We now have the worst home record in the league.

Only 4 for Dicko? Really? Was one of our better players today IMO (and I've slated him recently). Don't see how Price gets a 6 as he only played for a half and I'm not sure he passed to one of our players in those 45 minutes.

All about opinions though!

 

[The Wolf of Willenhall]

We were the better side and conceded a goal to a player who should have been sent off twice from a free kick that wasn't a foul. We lack a striker but are a world away from the **** being served up by Zenga. It embarassing reading comments by the Lambert out brigade who either don't go to games or have an agenda.

Our support was **** today as well. 24k for a Saturday game against Newcastle is pathetic. The Steve Bull was full of one game wonders who sat there on their phones most of the time taking selfies while pulling duck faces. The Geordies mugged us today on and off the pitch.

 

[Wolfman jack]

It's no good having great strikers if we don't threaten the goal.

 

[Wulve5]

Still 4 quality players short imo

 

[Leigh72]

Huff and no puff, not good enough in midfield today, Dicko needs a run in the under 23's to try and find some goal form, absolute garbage game where Newcastle were no better.
Referee bottled the obvious sending off that should have been , Mitrovic made 3 bad fouls and got away with 2 of them.
Poor all round and I am afraid it is a MUST WIN on tuesday just to ease the jitters. Please find a striker that actually threatens the goal for god's sake, Dicko is marking the defenders!! And it was bleeding freezing!!!

 

[Polish Wolf]

If you look at this game from the perspective our both teams' league positions then you may say: we did fairly ok, it was a calculated loss and we did not capitulate.

But I thought there was a reason why Zenga was sacked and it was that we needed to improve. It may have been too late for a play off push but certainly it was not too late to give us some hope by showing that we in fact have a side, that with a few necessary additions, can go places next season. And frankly, apart from cup games it hasn't been happening. What I've seen today is a regression. We looked like a poor team drawn into the relegation battle which means that the table doesn't lie.

First of all I didn't like the team selection. What on earth must happen that Dicko is dropped? He is a shadow of his former self. Take him out of the spotlight as playing him on this form only does more damage. Where is Saiss? We can't keep hold of the ball and we leave our arguably most competent midfielder in this aspect out.

Yes, we did fairly well defensively and that was a good battling performance overall. But what worries me is the way we move the ball forward. We constantly hoof it to nobody, it's really frustrating and hard to watch. I know they are a top team in the division but why not at least try to play football rather than go for hopeless long balls. Not good enough.

Player ratings from what I've seen on TV:
Ikeme 6 - Did what he had to do quite well. Not really tested too much by Newcastle.
Coady 6 - He doesn't look like a right back but fair play to him, he's not bad there and was one of our better players
Batth 6
Stearman 6
Doherty 6
Price 7 - Our best player first half and one of few footballers that we have on board. Hopefully subbed at half time only due to the head injury - otherwise I'm really puzzled
Edwards 4 - Dear me, when he's not scoring he's just embarrassing
Costa 6 - Targeted by Newcastle defence, came more into life late on
Enobakhare 6 - This lad may have a big future, for the most of the game looked like our only player who could keep hold of the ball in their half
Weimann 4 - Started ok but then faded into invisibility
Dicko 2 - Needs to be dropped, lame effort on the volley sums it up for him
Subs:
Evans 5 - Considerably worse than Price playing in the same position
Bodvarsson 5 - Another one who can play football but he needs someone else to finish off the chances he creates as he himself is never going to score
Marshall - too little time on the field to rate him and maybe that's better for him...

Lambert 4 - for the defensive side of things only

 

[Wolf Pack leader]

Bright is strong and quick and skilful but as far as I can see there is no end product - an I bring unfair ?

Tried hard and deserved a draw but there seem to be coherent attacking plan

The midfield is just not good enough - how Saiss does not get on the pitch is totally beyond me

 

[sc91]

Poor, oh so god damn poor. Wigan and Chelsea next week? This could get ugly.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Why on earth Marshall left wing. What a joke

 

[Deleted member 3604]

Think Rafa did his homework on us and any ounce of attacking nous was completely blunted. Plenty of passes and nothing much going on and never much hope of us getting in behind them purposely. When we did our central midfield couldn't keep up with play. So not really sure what to think about that game. MoM Danny Batth

 

[Corporate Wolf]

Still 4 quality players short imo

Cannot understand what the hell Marshall was doing coming on today. He looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.

Bemused why Saiss didn't get a look in but I'm inclined to think we ain't going to see him under Lambert.

 

[Ponty]

Newcastle's MOTM was Pawson. Generally he was ok but his poor decisions changed the game. Mitrovic should have been yellow carded for his forearm smash on Batth and definite second yellow on Ikeme. Also missed a definite penalty for handball. Given it was always likely to be tight these decisions changed the course of the game.

Thought Bright was bright for 30 minutes, Evans looked composed and is worth persisting with. We desperately need a proper Number 9 who poses a genuine goal threat - until we get one we will underachieve.

 

[Deleted member 5276]

I don’t often get chance to watch Wolves on TV during the course of a season so was really looking forward to today’s game. I ended up being very disappointed with the style of play and the tactics employed.

In many ways it was a typical Championship game. Low on quality and no real end product.

Newcastle should have taken the lead in the 3rd minute as they got in down our left flank . Some neat football opened us up nicely but Colback shot tamely at Ikeme who did well to get out and close down the angle.

The game too’ed and fro’ed as both teams closed each other down quickly and there wasn’t much space to be had. The opening ten minutes was about the best period of the game from a quality point of view. Mysteriously, Wolves then resorted to hoof ball as they continually whacked the ball forward and tried to exploit space on the right flank. It proved utterly fruitless and there was no threat.

On 10 mins Wolves earned a free kick and Costa wasted the opportunity by blazing over the bar. Two minutes later Serbian international Aleksandar Mitrović decided to become the pantomime villain. First he flailed a loose arm around Danny Batth’s face and then a moment later he received a deserved yellow card for deliberately jumping into Stearman, as TV showed he was only looking at the man and not the ball.

Wolves then created their best chance of the half as Stearman went close from an Edwards flick on after a Costa free kick delivered from the left hand side in the 26th minute.

An important moment in the match came a minute later as Mitrović went in for a ball that Stearman and Ikeme dithered on. For a split second the ball was loose and that gave the Serb an opportunity to compete for the ball but instead of winning it he left a foot in and caught Ikeme’s calf.

It was an offence that may well have seen a second yellow card for Mitrović but referee Craig Pawson just about got the decision right in my opinion. In fairness, if you had been his manager and he hadn’t tried to get the ball, you’d probably have been annoyed by a lack of effort so really the forward was in a no win situation.

Naturally, having had this let off, Mitrović then punished Wolves for some sloppy defending from a Newcastle free kick in the 43rd minute. Jack Price gave away a free kick as he needlessly jumped into Diamé just inside the Wolves half. The midfielder came out of it the worse for wear as he needed medical treatment and while he was off the field, Shelvey lobbed the ball into the Wolves box and it ended up breaking for Diamé who fired goalwards. The ball hit Coady on the hand and broke to Lascelles, who had been offside from the initial Diamé shot, and he backhealed it into Mitrović’s path to finish to the right hand corner.

In the second half Wolves huffed and puffed but simply didn’t have the required quality to break down a determined Newcastle defence. Time and time again they relied on long hoofs from Ikeme in the vain hope they’d win the second ball.

In truth, they won a lot of possession (57%) but just didn’t have the guile to create any real openings. The best chance came in the 49th minute as Costa provided the ammunition from the right and Edwards glanced a header just wide of the post with Darlow, in the Newcastle goal, well beaten.

After that Wolves pressed and Newcastle sat back. Doherty was booked for simulation in the 63rd minute as he theatrically went down on the edge of the box before Wolves had a penalty shout correctly turned down in 70th minute as Colback was struck on the arm by a Doherty cross inside the penalty area. Wolves last chance arrived in the 87th minute as Costa carved an opening on the right hand side but he shot tamely at the keeper.

The stats say Wolves dominated the game and outshot Newcastle 13-6 but the bottom line is they just didn’t do enough and the forward line looks completely impotent.

An inept performance in many ways and its hard to understand why the manager set the team up to play in this manner.

Finally, thanks to the club and the fans for the tribute to Rachael Heyhoe Flint. I can only imagine that Jack and Rachael are having a stiff drink after that. Some things don’t change for Wolves fans. We move on.

 

[peter&thewolf]

i thought we played well and were the better team, decisions again did'nt go our way, and cost us

 

[RosehillWolf]

Verdict ? We were ****e
Rubbish up front and zero creativity in midfield. How many more times does this have to be the case ?
I thought Bright was unlucky to be subbed and to be honest Dicko offers absolutely nothing
We have made s massive mistake by not addressing the striker situation in January

 

[Summer_Wolf]

Scrappy game, didn't deserve to lose. A point would have been fair. Been ****ed by the officials yet again

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

Couldn't see a thread, am I allowed to start one?

Appreciate most will have seen the match via Sky/pub/any other source, but I have to say I came away from watching that rather numb, not even particularly angry or disappointed. The stats suggested we did enough to at least warrant a point, but we just offered very little going forward.

Newcastle carried out a controlled away performance, and did exactly what they needed to; particularly as the pace at the top between them and Brighton seems relentless. Suspected a 1-0 loss before kick off but was convinced it would be Shelvey back to haunt us. Once Mitrovic should have walked, it was probably inevitable he was to score.

I don't think we played particularly badly but we just need to make more of our possession. Was rather telling towards the final 5 minutes where Costa was out on the right-wing and had three Newcastle players closing him down on several occasions.

I would tend to agree with most of this to be honest

Newcastle were better than us

They defended as a team very well

They were stronger than us all over the pitch

Dave Edwards nearly scored but again their attackers were stronger

Mitrovic should have been sent off but the ref bottled loads of decisions

The Geordies deserved the three points

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

It's the Edwards dilemma. We need a better creative midfielder on the deck but he is our only threat from any balls into the box.

Criminal that we put in 4 crosses to keeper at end at no one challenged. Sums up our 2 strikers .

I'm afraid Marshall is going to be another managers favourite. How the **** does a right back come on to the left wing instead of ronan.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

We need to improve in a few areas, most obviously in front of goal.

However I would just like the thank the lads for their tremendous effort, I'll forgive pretty much anything if they give everything.

 

[MrwulfAndrew]

Verdict ? We were ****e
Rubbish up front and zero creativity in midfield. How many more times does this have to be the case ?
I thought Bright was unlucky to be subbed and to be honest Dicko offers absolutely nothing
We have made s massive mistake by not addressing the striker situation in January

Couldnt agree more.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

OK, having read through the thread more I will add we were nowhere near as bad as it makes us sound. We played a very good team who soaked up most of what we threw at them fairly comfortably, but their goal scorer shouldn't have been on the pitch when he scored (what I am told was an offside goal). Disappointing not to work their keeper more in the second half, but we aren't that far off being a decent team.

We could do with a win on Tuesday to stop the slide though.

 

[ShropshireLad]

We were the better side and conceded a goal to a player who should have been sent off twice from a free kick that wasn't a foul. We lack a striker but are a world away from the **** being served up by Zenga. It embarassing reading comments by the Lambert out brigade who either don't go to games or have an agenda.

Our support was **** today as well. 24k for a Saturday game against Newcastle is pathetic. The Steve Bull was full of one game wonders who sat there on their phones most of the time taking selfies while pulling duck faces. The Geordies mugged us today on and off the pitch.

You talk too much sense, mate.

We lost and the rank and file are up in arms about it not giving credit to a decent display from us. I was actually heartened by our football with the proviso that we all know that we haven't got a decent striker. Toon did sweet FA to win that match except that they scored a jammy goal and offered no other threat. Their defence was good and so be it. Had that been a draw I'd say fair play and the mood on here would also have been different.

 

[ShropshireLad]

It's no good having great strikers if we don't threaten the goal.

FFS, a decent striker would have helped today and would have secured us three points.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

The subbing of Bright and it's timing took all the wind out of our sails!! We had just started to turn the tide and had a momentum building. Bright was central to putting that cohesion together with some neat play on the floor and knitting the play nicely! Then he's taken off. I don't care what anyone says, we were much the poorer for his going!

Managers get paid large sums to make the right decisions and at the right time!!

That was hopeless and achieved the square root of duck all

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

I must have missed this creative bright performance

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

I must have missed this creative bright performance

Were you even there?