West Ham won, and Wolves now sit at the bottom of the table, three points from safety, having given their nearest rivals a nice three point leg up the League. At this half way point, there are of course plenty of games left to make up the deficit, but the most worrying this about yesterday for me was that it showed how unable we are to correct past mistakes. The team are developing a fatal habit for conceded at least one, generally more, stupid goals per game.

I have regularly said after some fiasco or other that these are mistakes that the players must learn from – do that, I blithely insist, and we’ll start winning. It is now more than clear than no one is learning anything. I’ve given Stearman praise previously where it is due, he is a good footballer, but always has at least one critical lapse of attention too many in a game. If we are to stay up, we urgently need new personnel in defence. That much is unarguable with Craddock still some way off a return, and anyway with the future in mind. Who with any reliable record at this level would want to join us at this stage is a more difficult call. Lescott would have been amazing, but Manchester City seem to have cut off that avenue by vetoing any loan arrangements. The only reason we could realistically have got him was due to his existing connections with Wolves, and at the club – any player of similar calibre would have better inducements to go elsewhere. Taylor from Newcastle would be a good bit of business, but the club are going to have a difficult job ahead. We’re likely to end up taking a gamble, which is not what we need – any thing better than that and I’ll be congratulating Mick, Moxey and the team very much indeed. It’s a tough sell.

But onto the actual game. Must I remember? No? Excellent!

I’ll just pick out two points aside from the obvious about defensive concentration and lack of creativity in the midfield:

1) Steven Fletcher came on to score his 4th League goal – a good return from 14 appearances, 9 as a sub. It is frustrating that we seem to be unable to play a formation that enables him to play regularly and effectively.

2) Ebanks-Blake was not alone in producing a disappointing performance in this game, but it was especially irritating to see him showing such little effort (unusually so for this season, I must add). It’s been difficult to see Doyle producing so little in front of goal this season, but it was clear that we missed his linking play.

As I say, you don’t need me to say how bad yesterday was, so instead I’ll say that disappointing as the result was, frustrating as the performance was, Wednesday against Liverpool is another day, and we have a team who can do much better. Steve Morgan said two weeks ago that he supported Mick McCarthy. One game – quite rightly – will not change his mind so I’d prefer to support him and his team to do better that bitch about them.

I was, however, disappointed to hear the Sky pundits at half time dredge up Henry’s tackle which left Zamora injured. Talk of this is always swiftly followed by a mention of the fact that no one disputes that the tackle was fair and the result unlucky. It is therefore completely irrelevant to today’s situation, where the tackle was not fair, and the result lucky. If was only Henry’s second red card, however, and I hope to see lessons swiftly learned.

Henry is not the only one who needs to learn some lessons fast. While it’s somewhat unfair to judge the players left playing 80 minutes a man down, Wolves finished the game very tamely. Had the game stopped after 60 minutes (is Wolves’ ‘late-in-the-game’ hoodoo, moving nearer to the middle of the game?) I probably would have said that ashamed as I was of Henry, I was thoroughly proud of the other ten players on the pitch, but that would probably have been sentiment talking. While Doyle and Jarvis showed genuine quality, Ward looked far from a Premier League left back, but Edwards was perhaps the most worrying. When he played at the start of last season I was impressed by his energy and effort, but his lack of skill was all too evident. His foul just outside the box that led to Wigan’s first (a great free kick from Gomez) was clumsy and stupid.

On the whole, with some notable exceptions, performances, if not results this season give me hope that Wolves will pick up enough points to stay up, but there’s no doubt that we’re showing a fine streak of relegation form.

The only way is up – I hope – because this way is down.

The game started scrappily, with Wigan ultimately having the best of the first half. Hahnemann pulled off a couple of impressive saves, and a bit of luck with a rebound off the inside of the crossbar kept Wolves in the game and in with a chance at 0-0 as half time was about to be blown.

Then Stearman inexplicably pulled his man over, chasing a nothing ball towards the corner flag. Penalty Wigan, and a second yellow for Stearman. Wolves have conceeded some stupid penalties this season (the flailing handed Zubar winning my previous award for idiot of the week), but this outstripped all of them, and by some distance.

That Wolves went in all square at half time was entirely due to the continued excellence of Hahnemann, who saved at least a few of Stearman’s blushes with his penalty save.

Wolves actually started the second half on top and created their best chances in the first 15 minutes, seemingly not missing their erstwhile right back at all, although Ebanks-Blake continued to frustrate. However, as soon as James McCarthy slotted home Wigan’s opener the game was up.

Suddenly it was all Wigan, and the crowd gave up on the game at the same time as the team. Thomas’s sending off for Wigan provided a moment of hope, but Wigan’s second goal hardly came as a surprise. Molineux was all but empty, barring the 23 Wigan supporters who had bothered to make the journey, at the final whistle.

Despite a squad of shreds and patches Wolves could, probably should, have had more. Keogh signalled their intent, hitting the crossbar in only the third minute. Within eight he had the ball in the back of the net with a sound header from Milijas’s free kick. Then in the second half he had a clear penalty call turned down, and continued to make all the running. It’s hard to believe this is the same Keogh who, although he never lacked enthusiasm, spent large portions of last season looking like a scarecrow caught in the headlights. Special mention also to Henry for another solid performance, and to Edwards, who has never been a regular starter but came in today and put in a good shift in the run-until-you-drop mould, also delivering a few good attacking passes.

Wigan did finally manage to pull things together into the second half after Jason Scotland came on and did have their own, slightly less definitive, penalty shouts waved away. Still, Wolves organised soundly, and held on for the win.

Milijas again put in a commanding, if slightly less spectacular, performance and the defence are to be congratulated for doing well with what resources they have!

Roll on Saturday. Mick McCarthy will have an interesting headache deciding who to leave out if Doyle is fit by then.