For the first 10 minutes, Fulham looked like there would walk the game, but in truth, passed the ball very nicely up to the point of needing to take a shot on goal, where they were largely ineffective.  Then Van Damme got an unlikely goal for Wolves from a lovely ball by Doyle.  After that, Fulham still looked like they’d walk the game, but still they couldn’t get the goal, and Wolves gradually came into the match.

Before the match I stated my doubt about Van Damme as an attacking threat.  More fool me, because he had a good first half, with the goal to prove it.  His substitution for Fletcher in the second half did not help the team defensively, and ultimately did not come off, with Wolves conceeding within 5 minutes of the restart.  It was not a good goal to let in, but the second was worse.  For Berra to give away the free kick in the first place in the 91st minute was silly, for the ‘wall’ to completely abdicate it’s responsibility to stay together and try and get in the way of the ball was ridiculous.  Most people learn lessons the hard way, so let’s hope there’s one learned here: Don’t jump unless the ball is going over your heads, and don’t jump apart.  Perhaps someone can write that down.

So, we left Craven Cottage disappointed by the nature of the defeat, if not with any real argument with the scoreline.  The positives were that Doyle looked much sharper, Foley much more in control, and Jarvis very good in patches.  Ebanks-Blake worked hard, and we pulled together a few decent attacks.  On the negative, Mancienne did not have a very impressive return and all in all we punted and lost the ball far too much, giving away possession and letting Fulham pass the ball forward through the midfield with ease at times.  Hahnemann had an amazing season last year but made a few poor decisions today again.

A lot of the post match talk has – again – been about Wolves being, to use one of the politer descriptions ‘over-physical’.  I understand the Fulham fans may have sung something along these lines (probably not ‘Wolves – they’re over-physical’, however: I don’t know what exactly, because personally all I heard from their end all game was ‘You’re not singing anymore’.  Ok, and ‘Come on Fulham’, once).  Anyhow, I digress.  Seven yellow cards, one red does not look good. However, I defended the team last week and will continue to do so for as long as it’s true – whatever the stats say, Wolves did not play dirty.

It’s wasn’t shocking to see Berra sent off, as he’s too regularly to be seen with his arms around the opposition, but that’s more stupidity that bullying.  It was bad to see Zamora’s injury under a tackle from Henry, and I wish him a swift recovery, but no one can seriously argue that was anything other than very unfortunate.  The majority of the other yellows were debatable but, whatever the case, we’re going the way of getting a very bad reputation with referees and opposing fans. There’s nothing that can be done about that, however, except continue to try and play strong but fair (in Berra’s case, today, I’m placing the emphasis here on ‘try’ – try not to be so clumsy would be another good bit of advice for a number of players.)

Next up Spurs away: three points last time around.

A tight battle could, of course, play out as either a no-score draw or a goals spectacular. If last season’s non-thriller is anything to go by, the former seems likely, but Wolves have improved a deal from last season, especially on the attack, so I’m hoping for better.

Fletcher missed Scotland’s internationals last weekend to continue his recovery from the seemingly innocuous ‘bruised foot’ he picked up against Stoke on the first day of the season.  If he’s really better, I’d like to see him play from the start, but suspect we’ll see Ebanks-Blake and Doyle starting again, having done nothing to lose their places.  Doyle has yet to have really hit his stride this season, but comes into the game off a fine international performance.

Van Damme also looks set to return, and hopefully should build on a good performance against Newcastle. I’d like to see someone with a deal more attacking threat on the wing, but until Hunt or Kightly are recovered, Van Damme does a solid defensive job.

The defense is also likely to remain unchanged, and Foley may fare better against a less heavyweight Fulham team than he did against Newcastle.  If not, Zubar will be waiting on the sidelines for a chance to get back in the team. If would be interesting to see new boy Steven Mouyokolo now he’s also recovered from injury, but I suspect he’ll be waiting a little longer for a game.

My prediction: 0-1 Wolves, but a draw would be a good result against a team who seem to be maintaining an impressive home record.

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.

With a Europa League semi-final away fixture against Hamburg on Thursday, Fulham look odds on to rest a few keys players (and the bottom 5 are no doubt odds on to protest about the resting of players – oh, Premier League, what have you let yourself in for?) With any relegation threat a distant memory their minds will understandably be on the fixture after this, which should play into Wolves hands.

Fulham were distinctly unimpressive in the reverse fixture this season. Their home form, with 10 wins this season so far, suggests they’re a better team than we saw that day, but despite this it’s not unreasonable to expect Wolves can take another away win, especially as the goals have been flowing if not freely on the road, then more freely than at Molineux.

With Henry still suspended for the next two games, the team is likely to remain unchanged from last week. It would be nice to see Milijas or Guedioura given a chance from the bench to stake a claim for next season. It’s good to see Edwards back, however, and I’m backing Wolves to bounce back from last week’s Stoke-induced lethargy and show us what a steady line up, a little confidence and a few very good players can do.

The problem with expectations is that you can easily be let down, especially by a football team. Luckily Mick McCarthy and his team have more sense than to expect anything, so I expect them to go into the game with the necessary fight to take a win.

Kevin Doyle is due a goal; I’m going for 1-0 Wolves (and a big party). Fingers crossed.

DoB: Unknown

Pun Value: 0

Charm: 6

Machismo: 7

Weirdness factor: 1

Overall mascotspotter rating: 3

Trivia: According to Wikipedia, Billy was first involved in controversy when he tried to cheer up Chelsea manager Avram Grant during a home match in front of the television cameras. He topped this performance in February 2008 when he was caught on camera being sent off during the home game against Aston Villa for breakdancing in the corner of the pitch after the referee had commenced the game. The incident is captured here:

Perhaps the stand out feature of Wolves only previous Premier League outing was the wholeheartedness with which the fans got behind the team in victory or (more often) crushing defeat. Any real sense of expectation (but not hope) was knocked out of us with a few early season humiliations and the crowd was left to sit back and cheer the underdogs home. It’s hardly unique to Wolves, but perhaps more pronounced here, that the fans can be both the greatest and the worst in the country in the space of a few weeks. In 2003 there was little expectation and therefore little fear and little disappointment. We could just hope and sing. But now when Ful-ham come a-knocking we think that maybe we could get something out of it and maybe we should and if we don’t a few toys will come out the pram. I’m hoping I won’t be one of them.