Yes, perhaps I do need to drink some of the optimistic nectar that Bully has obviously had!
But, as I am not a footballing god, if I predicted that Wolves will finish this season mid-table and that in six years time we would playing Barcelona in front of 98,000 at the Nou Camp in the Champions League, having won the Premier League the season before, the men in white coats would come and cart me away!
Now I am as passionate for success as a certain Stephen George Bull MBE, but I also have to give my own subjective and realistic view of what I feel lies in store for the coming season.
Realistically, fourth from the bottom of the Premiership with 40 hard earned points would be reason enough to pop a few champagne corks for me come 5pm on the 9 May 2010.
I have seen Wolves play a few recent pre-season friendlies so far and I have typically left those games feeling a sense of panic and pessimism for the Premier challenge that lies ahead.
Friendlies mean nothing. That’s what mates tell me. Do they though? Can anybody on here honestly tell me that they have left at the end of a pre-season game in the last few weeks and thought, ‘mid-table is ours for the taking?’
Perhaps my glass is just half full. Perhaps I should take Bully’s more optimistic approach to the daunting top-flight challenge that lies ahead. Perhaps I shouldn’t use words like ‘daunting’ for a start!
And I really do think we have added some genuine quality to the Championship title-winning side from last season, but not really enough to instill confidence in my over-pessimistic bones.
Ronald Zubar, Nenad Milijas and Kevin Doyle are great signings that will add some real strength to the spine of the team. But I worry that the rest of our Mick McCarthy’s summer signings so far are just bit players and squad members.
Andrew Surman and Greg Halford could be real star performers, but Mick mentioned getting in proven Premier League quality, not players who have a chance of being that.
We already have enough young hungry players. What we need now is a Paul Ince, an Alex Rae, a Denis Irwin. Players who have been there, got the t-shirt and who could offer real leadership and motivate the young players when the chips are down.
Maybe that player is someone in the James Harper mould, but that doesn’t really sound quite enough to me.
What about looking at the second tier of English football to get in someone like Kevin Nolan from Newcastle or Emanuel Pogatetz from Middlesbrough?
Sure they may cost a little more in wages, but it could be invaluable to get in somebody who could come in who has that real nous for the battle ahead.
Don’t get me wrong. Reading the above I may not sound it, but I am buzzing with excitement to see Wolves play once again in the top flight.
I’m excited but cautious and hopefully this comes across in this week’s blog. Hopefully not over excited and over saturnine as my detractors may try and point out.
So on to our final pre-season friendly tomorrow, Real Valladolid will be coming to Molineux fresh from playing Stoke at the Britannia Stadium tonight.
I’ll be sitting with my brother, Ryan, in the Billy Wright stand, something I only ever do for the yearly pre-season friendly at Molineux.
The Billy Wright stand does have the benefit of being closer to the pitch and the sun isn’t burning your retina, as is often the case in my J4 seat of the Steve Bull stand.
But it is also obligatory that you bring some kind of crochet or sudoku to do during the match, as you must not at any point break into song for fear of much glaring and tutting from the Billy Quiet residences!
I’m looking forward to one final look at the lads before West Ham arrive next week, hopefully minus Luca Toni from Bayern Munich.
It’s just a shame we can’t roll the clocks back 20 years to when Bully really was in his pomp. Maybe then all this talk about mid-table finishes and gold and black ribbons on the Premiership trophy might not be as unrealistic as the majority of us think!
Have a cracking weekend, enjoy the game and let’s hope we can replicate the Blackburn friendly result from last season where we really did go into that Championship season on a high.
Now, where did I put my knitting?
@Wolvesblogger 