In the first half Wolves played, on the whole, confidently and fluidly, were creating all the chances were only denied a bigger goal margin by a couple of good saves from the otherwise uncertain Robert Green in the Hammers goal.

In the second half we conceeded an early penalty (soft but fair; unnecessary from Foley) to give them the goal they needed, and then stood back like rabbits caught in the headlights as all the good work of the first half unravelled. It was only a debatable hand ball decision in the last minute that avoided the scoreline having a more familiar ’2-1; goal conceeded in final minute’ shape to it.

Mick McCarthy assessed the situation thusly:

I’m pleased with the response after [the penalty] because West Ham played well and took the game by the scruff of the neck and we had to show all the battling qualities that we hadn’t showed in the first half because we were all over them…And when you have a penalty given against you in that situation it’s always going to change things.

This worries me, because it misses the obvious point that this result is not just about West Ham, who looked very, very poor in the first half, suddenly finding their game. This result is very much in keeping with a larger pattern of Wolves second half capitulation. Look, I’ve drawn a graph of our goals for/against in each half this season to point out the obvious:

When things go wrong, reach for the bar chart

We’re playing rather well in the first half, and rather badly in the second half. This was obvious on the field yesterday.

In the first half we were passing the ball, closing the opposition down and always looking to attack. There were four or five Wolves players in the box several times on the attack.

In the second half we were timid, never moved to offer the player with the ball a decent pass, and there was rarely more than one player in the box when we looked to attack; more usually, there were none.

West Ham did raise their game (starting from a very low base point) and we were always likely to spend more time defending, but we had attacking chances and never looked like we really believed. Substituting Fletcher for Van Damme can only have contributed to this strangely negative reaction. Van Damme played fine, but the game was there for the taking, and surely Ebanks-Blake deserves more of a chance after a good start to the season – the five minutes he got was not enough to judge. Perhaps the fact that in the end we were lucky not to lose justifies the timidity of the substitution, but I’d be more inclined to say that the substitution was at least part of a wider mentality that led to us nearly losing.

Onto the individuals. Doyle was the standout player for me, if only because of the contrast to his usual excellence. We shouldn’t have to rely on him as we did last season to drag the general standard of the team up, and judging from this performance, we won’t be able to anyway. He looked fed up.

As a general rule, everyone played much worse in the second half than the first. Jarvis in particular was excellent in the first half, useless in the second. Berra deserves a good word and Mancienne was sound – he harried the opposition well in the midfield in the absence of Henry, kept up his level of performance in the second half, and is the only player I can remember trying to run forward with the ball (why, oh, why don’t we do this more often – we see enough of it against us every week). Ward continues to be good at the last ditch tackle and terrible at backing off until he has to put in a last ditch tackle to save the game. Edwards battled and ran, and on a poor day, was one of the better players on the pitch, and was certainly one of the more positive in the second half. I’d have been interested to see Milijas play though.

So we stay second from bottom with a bit of a difficult run of games coming up (I think that’s what you call Chelsea – Man U – Man City – Arsenal). Can we turn this around? Judging from the first half performance: Yes. Judging from the second half performance: Down by Christmas.

I’m worried if McCarthy doesn’t acknowledge that there was a problem with our team yesterday, and it’s not just that our opponents wake up in the second half. There was a clear lack of confidence to attack, even in the face of our evident superiority over the opposition in the first half. At this point, we can’t rely on a run of good results to get some confidence into the team, so the Manager needs to persuade them fast that they can win games like this, even when bad things like conceeding a penalty occur.

Newcastle were stronger than puny Monty Magpie

This was less a game of two halves, more a game of one referee.  Without wishing to distract from the inadequacies of Wolves performance today, this game was stifled by a referee who lost control within the first ten minutes.  Wolves were barely able to string three passes together all game, and the ref did nothing to encourage the flow of play.

There were two goals, but the most extraordinary statistic was that the referee, Stuart Atwell (overseer of the infamous imaginary goal for Reading against Watford, amongst other blunders) stopped the game for no fewer than 41 fouls, handing out in the process 12 yellow cards in a not unusually ill-natured game (seven to Wolves, four for fouls on Joey Barton! ).  Barton finally got his comeuppance as Atwell tried to redress the imbalance by booking three Toon players in the last three minutes – the last of whom was Barton. Characteristically of the game, when the ref blew for him to come over for a booking, Barton deliberately ignored the summons.  Instead of asserting his authority, Atwell walked half the length of the pitch to save Barton’s legs.  On one final referring point, the WorldWideWolfie nomination for stupidest card of the game was Doyle’s for…literally nothing.  Running with the ball??

A draw was, given the balance of play, a good result for Wolves, but a far from pleasing one.  That we went in ahead at half time was more a testament to Newcastle’s inadequacies in front of goal that any reflection of merit.  It was good for a change to be the b******* who got a thoroughly undeserved goal (fantastic from an otherwise anonymous Ebanks-Blake), but it never looked likely to last.  Andy Carroll added to his hatrick of last week for Newcastle with a decent header, and even after the much-needed (and, in my opinion, rather late) introduction of Zubar, Fletcher and Gueidoura, Wolves would have been very lucky to get another.  Wolves had played by far their best half of football this season with Fletcher on the field so it was disappointing seeing him sitting on the bench when so many Wolves players were failing to make their mark on the occasion.  This was particularly disappointing given that Newcastle looked extremely vulnerable defensively on the rare occasions we got anywhere near their goal.  I couldn’t see well enough from where I was whether Jarvis deserved a penalty when he was felled in the box in the box, but I do know that (1) if the defender got the ball it should have been a corner, rather than the goal kick awarded; and (2) a win would have been a very lucky result. (EDIT: having watched the replay, it WAS a penalty so we should have won!)

I assume that an injury to Van Damme was the reason for his substitution as, after a shakey start, he seemed the only player able to take the ball from Newcastle.  Poor old Foley looked a more likely candidate for substitution as he was consistently out-muscled by his opponents.  It is, perhaps, unfair however to single out Foley on a day that no one really impressed – least of all the referee.

Hoping for much better next time on all counts.

Is that a Fulham fan I see before me?

Another solid defensive display against an uninspired Fulham side.

A large and loud Wolves contingent had filled the away end and taken over much of the ‘neutral’ Putney End of the ground, but in truth there was little in the game to get the pulse racing. But on a beautiful sunny day in south west London, the neutral stand made a refreshing change: Although the vast majority were behind the Old Gold, there was a fair smattering of actual neutrals or Fulham scarves cohabiting very amicably. Perhaps this can only be achieved at a relatively trouble-free (fan-free?) club like Fulham, but it was good, and I would be happy to see more of it.

Oh I do like to be beside the riverside

There was probably less to say about the game than the crowd. Wolves made a habit at times last year of a certain gung-ho ‘score one more than you’ approach to games. This season, for obvious reasons, couldn’t be more of a contrast, as Wolves adopt more of an ‘if we’re not going to score, nor are you’ line.

It’s immensely satisfying to see the defense shored up this year with an unexpectedly brilliant central defensive partnership. Craddock was fine again, this time against Zamora, Berra was sound and Zubar continues to impress on the right. He was tough defensively, survived a couple of hard tackles, and willing to get involved in the attack when possible. Elokobi had one of his best days, so an all round impressive defensive display.

It is clear, however, that our attacking options will need a serious shot in the arm in the transfer window. Kevin Doyle didn’t see a great deal of the ball with the midfield failing to create much of note, but managed a couple of shots wide of target. Edwards, otherwise fairly quiet, also saw a shot go (some distance) over the bar. Jones was disappointingly quiet, given recent performances. Jarvis, also not living up to recent form, and then Jones repeatedly failed to deliver corners which cleared the first defender.

Guedioura came on to little effect for the last 15, closely followed by Milijas, who put himself about a bit and worked hard to get the ball forward, but without having much more impact than anyone else.

Zamora came closest for Fulham, seeing a good strike sail past Hahnemann and off the outside of the post in the second half.

Other than that, neither keeper was seriously threatened as the game played itself out to a quiet stalemate and a good point on the road to Premier League survival for Wolves.

It would be nice to feel a great deal more secure, as even with only three games remaining, the table can be changed a great deal with a few lucky/unlucky results, but I’d rather be us than Hull.

A draw away against Stoke is a decent outcome for the team after going 2-0 down in a poor first half, although frustratingly a result that, like the last two games, could easily have been three points to the Wolves.

It was irritating to see an otherwise fine Christophe Berra with his arms wrapped around the opposition in the penalty area again – he’s going to give away more penalties if he carries on; but fantastic to see Milijas coming on at half time and having the impact that we’ve all been hoping, and even more fantastic to see Jody Craddock getting a couple of goals.  Craddock has been a fantastic professional for Wolves for many years now so I would never be surprised to see him giving his all, but I am both surprised and delighted to see him playing so darn well at this level.  Following on from two games playing full tilt with several stitches in his head, this man is rapidly becoming a Wolves legend.  I keep fearing he’s going to be found out in this league, but he hasn’t been so from now on I remain silent on the matter.

And the final word goes to Mick McCarthy, always great value in interviews, who professed himself not bothered how far offside Craddock’s first goal was: “We’ve had a few go against us this season and I’ve accepted them with good grace; it’s about time someone else had to.” And so say all of us.

The game started with a bang, with Villa having a decent chance and Doyle being incorrectly denied a penalty in the first three minutes, but rapidly fizzled out. Wolves were again solid in defence, with Zubar making another good impression following on from last week’s debut. A mention for Craddock, Wolves’ only survivor from the last Premier League squad, who is looking infinitely better this time around.

It would have been good to see a little more creativity going forward, and several more shots. However, Wolves showed great character to get a goal back after going one down with less than 10 minutes left.

And finally, great to see: 1) Ebanks-Blake with his first goal, and 2) Wolves actually be given a penalty.

So Kightly didn’t live up to the hype, but should get a little time to play himself back into form. Ebanks-Blake looked stronger and had a couple of near misses. Hennessey continued his impressive early season form – for me a significant improvement in terms of judgement from last season (now cue jaw dropping Calamity James moment vs Villa). Zubar looked like he might have been worth the money afterall. Doyle was fantastic and made his route one goal very easy, although I’m sure a few could have missed it. Henry was solid, and Edwards continues to impress me greatly with his hard work, if not always finesse. Craddock and Berra will have won over – or perhaps kept – plenty of fans, again having very good games. The only real weak link, sadly, was Elokobi. He’s strong and has his moments, but the curse of the inconsistient left back seems to continue.

And let’s spare a thought for Stefan Maierhofer who, I accept, came on with a lot to prove and some heavy tackles but managed to pick up two yellow cards while his opponents got off with, on the first occasion grabbing his foot as he stood up to walk away, and on the second, grabbing his neck as he walked away. Both bookable offences in their own right, surely.

This is the IN-TER-NET

I’ve taken a week out from the football and from my hectic schedule this week to do some charitable work amongst the needy.  Here you can see me showing young Monty Magpie (somewhat depressed of late, despite a few lucky wins) what all this internet business is about.  I firmly believe in education so I also let him know what a proper football team is at the same time.  And to show that I really care for him, I even propped his little bottom on a few books so he didn’t look too silly in my photo.  Really, we’re the best of friends – read all about another of my recent encounters with Monty here.

A reasonable draw from Wolves, although this is the kind of game we will need to be winning to survive this season.  A lot more sharpness in front of goal next week…Here’s hoping Ebanks-Blake and Doyle can both get up and running and –  more importantly - scoring, as soon as possible.  I don’t want to keep hearing that Wolves ‘should have won it’, let’s start hearing that they did.

Wolfie brings some festive cheer on an otherwise dismal day

I was all dressed up in my festive finery, but, frankly, the football or the atmosphere in a sold out (and freezing cold) Molineux didn’t meet my expectations.  The fact that Hennessey won Man of the Match tells you all you ne4ed to know about the game, after he pulled off a string of fine saves in the first half to keep Wolves in it.  They were better in the second half, but not good enough by half.  Jarvis perhaps showed most promise, but that’s not saying much on a day best forgotten.  Ho ho ho.