Hello everybody and thanks for having me back!
You are everywhere and nowhere baby, that is where you are at!
Last Saturday, whilst Wolves were battling their way to a commendable draw down at Home Park, I was at a wedding in Horsham singing along to the Wolves version of the Jeff Beck classic and getting a few dodgy glances from the guests in the process.
All this whilst frantically trying to keep in touch with someone who could keep me up-to-date with the score.
When the result came through, I thought it wasn’t a bad start and a point away at most clubs in this division should be seen as a good beginning to a league campaign.
Then I get back and start reading some of the comments on Expressandstar.com and you would have thought that we had just been relegated!
Negativity gushed from nearly every comment regarding the result. Mick’s got it wrong, why is he playing Stephen Ward, wrong tactics, lucky to get a point, he’ll be gone by Xmas, we need a pacey central defender, moan moan moan!
Anybody who did dare to be upbeat about grabbing a point was shot down in flames!
We are one game into the season. If this is a true reflection on the time and patience that some fans are going to show the team, we might as well all settle for mid-table mediocrity and stay at home.
I came away from the Blackburn game, probably as most did, with a massive sense of pride over the performance and a swell of optimism for the coming season.
Yes, we were a week ahead of Rovers in our preparations for the new season, but we looked fitter and sharper than any pre-season I can remember.
I finished last season saying that Mick should leave the club after we finished seventh. I really hope I am proved wrong this season and this should be the case, looking at the squad we have.
Only time will tell but if you look at the team that Mick has put together over the last couple of seasons, I don’t think there are now many gaps.
We still need that magical central defender with pace and leadership. Of course the majority of us would like to see Jarvis be the preferred starter on the left.
Stephen Ward is an honest pro, but he proved last season that square pegs do not fit into round holes. I was as confused as most to see him start on Saturday.
Right across the pitch we have some of the best quality in this division. From Hennessey in goal to Foley, little George, Stearman and Craddock in defence to Jarvis, Kites, Jones and Henry in the middle and up front with SEB with Keogh, Vokes or Iwelumo, who could be the buy of the season, we look much stronger than last season in nearly every position.
Wasn’t it great to see Mark Davies return and score the other night? All of us would love for him to get back in the starting XI and stay injury free this season.
Fans need to give this team all the backing they deserve right from the off and not berate them when they don’t win every game. This season we probably have the youngest squad in the club’s history (no doubt someone will prove me wrong) and they appear to have real fire in their bellies.
When things are going against them, that’s when they will need the support of the Molineux crowd. Last season when things went wrong, the stadium often went quiet and the neanderthals who like nothing more than booing some of their own players, made their voices heard.
It would be sad if that was repeated this season.
My heart sank when I read the comments after the Plymouth game and, although it is probably only a minority of the opinions, it perhaps illustrates how little time Mick will be granted by the fans to get it right this season.
Everybody is entitled to their view, but I think we should be looking at the new season as a clean slate and not carry over the baggage from some of the failings of the last two previous campaigns.
I truly believe we will be in contention this season, right up there with the favourites Reading and Birmingham. So let’s get behind the team, sing our hearts out for the lads and make Molineux an intimidating place for the opposition – not our own players.
Good luck to the boys on Saturday!
@Wolvesblogger 