September 2005 Click on month for reports: 2005-6 ReviewApr06Mar06Feb06Jan06Dec05Nov05Oct05Sep05Aug05preseason

     

	01-Oct-05	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Points
1	Sheffield Utd	12	10	0	2	25	23	2	30
2	Reading	12	8	3	1	21	7	14	27
3	Luton	12	7	3	2	19	11	8	24
4	Wolves	12	5	4	3	17	11	6	19
5	Watford	12	5	4	3	20	15	5	19
6	Leeds	11	5	3	3	13	10	3	18
7	Southampton	12	3	8	1	13	10	3	17

Kenny’s heroics for Scotland here

Next: October 15th - away to league leaders Sheffield United - here

Fri 30th Sept WW 0 v Burnley 1 (live on Sky Sports 2) 

Could we make it 3 in a row and go third?  No, we were mugged according to Glenn and Steve Cotterill’s well prepared Clarets break a 19 year record by being the first Burnley team to score at Molineux since September 86. Other results on the Saturday though went our way with Watford Leeds and Saints all drawing to keep us in 4th, but the two above us both won - Reading beating leaders Sheffield United - so a 5 point gap to third and a five point gap to 12th!

So, we hit the bar - twice in a few seconds by Kenny and Nayls, weren’t given a clear penalty on Seol, and Carl missed an open goal.  Burnley had 3 and a great free kick for Burnley beat us.  Atrocious coniditions thoughout and even Joleon looked very tired.

Some thoughts on the game

I thought Joleon looked absolutely knackered.... there were a couple of balls he really didn't want to chase, the tackle that gave the free kick away that led to the goal was a bit lackadaisical and come 70 minutes Kenny was "playing" at left back  Then - come 85 minutes - he'd gone to right back when we got a corner.
I think they played their hearts out, well most of them, in really poor conditions - heavy rain and gusty wind. They also overplayed - either frightened to take responsibility to shoot, or like Ricketts and Seol shot when there were at least two players clear in on goal - and that seems to be a problem at the Moli.
Oakes 6 - still not coming for the ball; one excellent save - didn’t know much about J O’Connors soht which rebounded to Gareth which brought an outstanding save. (Hoddle must have missed that one) No chance with the free kick
Nayls 5 - 7 good positions totally wasted with passes to goalie, opposition or the wall. Should have scored from Kenny’s header against the bar but also hit the bar.  Took a nasty clattering from Hyde.  The ref allowed play to continue, since we had the advantage and then booked the player.
Edwards - 7 - another strong performance
Jo - 6 - Adi Akimbayi threw everything at him but it wasn't one of his best and he gave the free kick away
Gyepes 7 - some outstanding work but gave the ball away too many times Overall though some of his defending was very impressive
Ricketts - 3 - poor - we all agreed he should have been substituted instead of Mickey. His shooting when strikers have open goals in front of them is getting very expensive
Mickey - 6 - nothing like as good as last couple of matches but still ran his heart out and was the wrong substitution.
Seol - 6.5 - wizard at times; less than wizard at others; still looks lost in the box but we're not exploiting his talent for beating players - not enough players were getting themselves into position for him

Cort 6 - strangely much better for most of the match but really should have scored several - especially when clean through just faffed around and again at the left post shot across goal at the prone goalkeeper and Kenny when 60% of it was undefended.  Carl came off for a while with a cut lip from one challenge.
Kenny 7 - worked very hard again but why are our two goalscorers out on the wing when we've got Nayls, Kennedy, Seol and Ricketts playing?

Kennedy 7 - another captain's performance without the result - just not finding the killer ball at home like he does away.
Subs
Mark Davies 7 - immediate lift to the team when he came on and tackled and created better than the rest - could have been in on goal
Leon - still not cllicking - but doing all the other things well - including tackling back as last man

Hoddle & Gray - 3 - teams set out their stall to play 4-5-1 at the Moli. Hod knows this but seems incapable of finding a way to combat it. Very few free kicks won in dangerous positions, and then they're wasted. Short corners. Only one player in the box during attacks - no one to pick up the half chances. No goal contributions from midfield. Once is a hiccup; but the last three home performances are becoming a nasty pattern. Plus....
"The reason we lost tonight because we set up a dreadful wall." - don't we practice this? "but other than that they didn't have another shot on goal" ... apart from the terrific one saved by Oakes of course.. pay attention Glenn.
The crowd -6 - tried to lift them, but too many poor balls ruined most promising moves - 21,747 - at this rate we'll bottom at the 18,000 they'll count anyway plus away fans.

having watched the recording later that night, quote of the match was "you must be ******* joking" which Mickey mouthed when he was substituted. So another point off the coaching team (2). no doubt they'll leave him out now and he'll be of to Hibs.
Oakes save looked even better second time around, but he knew nothing about the first shot from the pair of O'Connors. Carl was on the end of the wall for O'Connor's free kick and he saw the danger moving his body out to try to get in the way but there was just too much swerve..... not like Angel's disinterest for Villa, but what was Ricketts doing standing 3 yards off the wall? (See picture).
Nice round of applause for Adi Akimbiyi when he was substituted.
Jo was also playing centre forward as the game dragged on. At least Nayls, Jo and some of the others can rest up for a bit but those away in the internationals Rob, Kenny, Seol (if he travels) and Gabor must be doubtful for 94 minutes of superhot pace at Sheffield.  

Wolves: Oakes, Edwards, Naylor, Ricketts (Clarke 79), Lescott, Gyepes, Kennedy (capt), Cameron (Davies 57), Miller, Cort, Seol.Unused subs: Postma, Olofinjana, Craddock.
Burnley: Jensen, Sinclair (capt), Duff, J. O'Connor, Hyde, Branch, G. O'Connor, Spicer (McCann 79), Akinbiyi (Bermingham 85), McGreal, Harley.Unused subs: Elliott, Noel-Williams, Courtney.
Booking: Hyde (45 - foul). Referee: S. Tanner.  Attendance: 21,747.

Tue 27th Sept Crewe v WW

So, Glenn named an unchanged team at last with Sparky as captain again.   Leon replaced George on the bench.  Torrential rain about half an hour before the match greeted some 2100 Wolves travelling sfans (out of 7,471) filling one side and an end - and making it sound like a home game (or rather better).  In the 2nd minute Seol attacked through the middle and moved to the corner flag but lost the ball. Sparky cleaned up the first Crewe attack.  Bignett v Seol will be the focus.   A good attack and Kenny got a shot in which is deflected. Ricketts took the corner, but it was headed away;  Mickey retrieved it and we kept attacking. But a sloppy Cort gives the ball away and the defence have to back him up.   Back on the attack, with a strong tempo and we’re looking like the home team.

A corner from Nayls on 6 but no-one got on the end of it.  Then Crewe attack and Steve Jones drew a tough save from Oakes. But once again our midfield gave it away too easily. 11th minute and Ricketts gave the ball away and pacey Crewe overcome a powder puff challenge by Kennedy but Jones’ shot again goes wide.  Oakes was caught in no man’s land so it’s just as well Jones shooting was poor.  Wolves won a corner from Cameron’s late run and tenacity.   Nayls’ inswinging corner went to Carl just 5 yards out, he headed in and  and Wolves took the lead on 13.

A free kick from Kennedy from 35 yards, doesn’t work, but Seol got to the byline.  Kenny won a corner which he took quickly but Cort can’t get direction on the header.  Play going from side to side and it looked a great performance.

Crewe attacked with pace, Gyepes was passed, but Cameron got a last ditch tackle in and cleared the problem.  Would have been a penalty if he’d not timed it well. 

Another free kick 30 yards out to Nayls who crossed. A Kenny flick nearly found Cort but it went just wide.  Then Seol gave the ball away on the half way line but Edwards and Kennedy sorted it out.

Another gGreat cross from Nayls, Kenny picked up the rebound and thumped it home on 27.  Then even Cort shot from 35 yards but it sort of dribbled through to the goalie.  Commentary said “absolute class”. 

Then Crewe attacked and Vaughan’s shot had Oakes stretching but, fortunately the shot went wide. A poor cross from Sparky comes back to Rob who puts it into Kenny’s path for 3-0!!

Kennedy was clear on the right to get another great cross in and Carl makes it 4 on 36 minutes.  Crewe fans are leaving already. 2 minutes later and another terrific cross from Lee went for a corner. Gyepes shoots from the edge of the area which the keeper saves.

44th minute and Jo gave the ball away which looked very dangerous until Sparky got the tackle in.  Two minutes late Sparky tries for his first goal in 48 matches(!) but it’s saved to give a corner.   What a first half with a standing ovation from the travellers for a 4-0 lead! AT half time the starts are
Goal Attempts 7 : 8 Goal Attempts
On Target 1 : 6 On Target
Crosses 1 : 9 Crosses
Corners 2 : 6 Corners
Fouls 5 : 4 Fouls
Free kicks 5 : 5 Free kicks
% Possession 33 : 67 Possession %

So into the second half and we got possession straightaway.  Nayls tried to cross but it went to the keeper. Lots of pressure and Kenny came close to the hat trick twice, with Seol also in with a chance. Sparky tried a shot for 40 yards which only went a foot over.

Another quick free kick by Sparky - perhaps getting them worried about Nayls after Saturday’s goal and hoping to catch them on the hop. Good interchange of passes but Crewe break until Ricketts brings Vaughan down. Back to the other end and another Sparky pass and Nayls cross which Kenny can’t get on to.   Ricketts took a corner from the left and Gyepes header goes to Jo who put it wide.

Mickey looking back to his old self was replaced by Mark Davies with 18 to go. Mark kicked off a free flowing move which got to Kenny in the box and forced away for a corner to be taken by Nayls which Carl Cort headed wide.  With 13 to go Leon replacesdCort so not another hattrick for him. Ricketts lost possession and Rodgers was through but fortunately is flagged for a marginal offside. He still put the ball in the net to cheer up the Crewe fans, who returned Wolves’ chants of “easy, easy..”

kenny put Leon through on a 50 yard run - but his shot went inches wide. Then again Seol gave the ball away and Gyepes was sloppy but Crewe waste the chance.

Wolves move into fourth with this win. Watford’s loss at the Sky Blues on the 28th kept us there..

Crewe: Williams, Moss, B. Jones, Foster, Lunt (capt), S. Jones (Rodgers 70), Vaughan, McCready, Johnson (Suhaj 70), Roberts, Bignot.<BR>Unused subs: Tomlinson, Cochrane, Rivers.
Wolves: Oakes, Edwards, Naylor, Ricketts, Lescott, Gyepes, Kennedy (capt), Cameron (Davies 72), Miller, Cort (Clarke 77), Seol. Unused subs: Postma, Olofinjana, Craddock.
Referee: J. Oliver.  Attendance: 7,471.

Sat 24th Sept Stoke 1 WW 3 Cort 42, Kenny Miller 48, Nayls 73

Kenny’s back, in style, and Nayls scores his 9th goal in his 300th match for our first away win of the season as Seol delivers on some of his promise making both of the first two goals either side of half tim

Monday’s Timesonline report by Chris Lightbown said

This was a somewhat deceptive scoreline. Stoke City were getting deeper into trouble throughout the second half and in spite of a consolation goal at the end were fortunate not to be beaten even more comprehensively. In fact, on this form, Wolverhampton Wanderers would beat almost anybody. But goodness knows where they have been hiding this sort of ability. This rampant victory was preceded by a run of four league games without a win. Admittedly, not many sides will hand them the space that Stoke gave Wolves as the game wore on, but the visiting team still had to take advantage of such largesse. At times, Wolves were devastating.

Here’s the ST report - go to Timesonline for your soccer news.

Stoke 1 Wolves 3: Wolves roar back by Steve Brenner at Britannia stadium

GLENN HODDLE had asked his players for a response following their midweek Carling Cup exit and he promptly received one as Wolves roared to their first away win of the season.

Carl Cort, Kenny Miller and a superb Lee Naylor free kick ensured Hoddle’s side earned their first win in four and a season that had threatened to implode is firmly back on course.

Stoke, however, started the brighter. On 15 minutes, Mamady Sidibe wasted a golden chance when he prodded Luke Chadwick’s cross hopelessly wide. Three minutes before half-time Wolves went ahead when Ki-Hyeon Seol’s cross flashed across the box for Cort to stab home.

Wolves doubled their lead three minutes after the restart. The impressive Seol came to the fore again as his cross after a mazy run was deflected before falling to Miller, who flicked the ball past Steve Simonsen. The icing on the cake was provided by Naylor’s magnificent 25-yard strike on 73 minutes to seal an emphatic win before Lewis Buxton headed a stoppage-time consolation for Stoke .

STAR MAN: Ki-Hyeon Seol (Wolves)

Player ratings: Stoke: Simonsen 6, Hoefkens 6, Duberry 6, Broomes 5, Buxton 5, Kolar 5 (Dyer 70min, 5), Chadwick 6 (Harper 46min, 5), Russell 5, Brammer 5 (Junior 65min, 5), Sidibe 5, Gallagher 5

Wolves: Oakes 6, Naylor 7, Lescott 6, Cameron 6, Kennedy 6, Edwards 6, Seol 8, Gyepes 6, Ricketts 6, Cort 7, Miller 7 (Ndah 84min, 5)

Scorers: Stoke: Buxton 90    Wolves: Cort 42, Miller 48, Naylor 73

Referee: M Atkinson         

Tue 27th Sept Watford 2 WW 1 (Carling Cup) Kenny 8

Another cup goal and we think it’s too easy as the Hornets sting us with 2 goals from Carlisle from corners. Although there were 6 changes, it was still a “first team” outing, so doubly disappointing. Indeed we were so dominant in the first half the Watford fans couldn’t believe how they’d gotten away with it It was so bad we had to go back to the pub after which Rob’s car was locked in the car park.....

So a quick free kick in the 8th minute with Nayls responding to Kenny’s run and we were clearly on top. We dominated the next thirty minutes, with only an easy shot for debutant Stefan Postma to save.  Rob Edwards made a great interception off the line in the 40th from Bouazza. Kenny had another chance after Mark Davies, who had a great game, was fouled on the edge of the box, but his free kick went high. Outstanding passes across the pitch, playing with real style and no real pressure though until a corner two minutes into injury time of the first half. Clark Carlisle was left with a free header and the home team’s confidence was built up.  Mickey was strong - playing as captain and the sight we’d been waiting for - our number 9, Vio Ganea starting a match.  We were much more positive in the box than we have been for a while... Vio and Kenny together is going to be an outstanding combination. A great cross in the third minute of the second half from Mark Davies was Vio’s best chance but he couldn’t quite get to it.

Gabor Gyepes also started and was having a sound game but took a nasty knock (dead leg) and didn’t return for the second half so Joleon came on tp partner the returning Jody Craddock.

Seol had a few chances and a few opportunities to put in telling crosses but really just didn’t look interested. Surprisingly though the Korean stayed on and it was Vio who was substituted by George Ndah.  George and Mark also had chances and Colin Cameron nearly grabbed the win in extra time after Jo nodded on Nayls’ throw, but Chamberlain saved it.  So into an extra half hour and by now Watford were beginning to believe in themselves.   And on the 104th minute a free kick was conceded - well it wasn’t one really - Kenny won the ball; inattention though and Carlisle was left unmarked, with Jo uncharacteristically slow, to head in the winner.  Another match we should have put away, but we just aren’t converting the chances and are letting teams off the hook. Ricketts was a poor replacement for Capt Cameron.

Watford: Chamberlain, Chambers, Stewart, Carlisle (capt), Doyley, Bouazza (Gill 101), McNamee, Bangura, Diagouraga (Osborne 75), Spring, Francis (Grant 75). Unused subs: Mariappa, Griffiths.

&nbsp; Wolves: Postma, Edwards, Naylor, Davies, Craddock, Gyepes (Lescott 45), Olofinjana, Ganea (Ndah 73), Miller, Seol, Cameron (capt) (Ricketts 97).Unused subs: Oakes, Clarke.

Bookings: Ndah (100 - foul), Lescott (113 - foul).

Referee: M. Jones. Attendance: 9,296

Sat 17th Sept WW 0 Leicester 0

Were we playing bad enough for their revenge for the 4-3 comeback? The answer was “nearly” as we scrape a draw. with little clue how to break down the Foxes’ defence. Highlights for the crowd were undoubtably George Ndah’s league starting comeback, and Vio’s first league match in 18 months.   Mark Davies came on after 75 which was really too late to make an impact.

In fact our best attacker was probably Rob Edwards who had two difficult chances - the scissors kick above and this header just before that

Only 6 shots on target all match, none of which troubled their goalie, although ten minutes from the end. Kennedy threaded a pass through to Ganea who sprinted clear but he dragged his shot from the left of goal a couple of feet wide of the far post  With time running out, Edwards almost did the trick with an overhead kick after Lescott had headed the ball on to him (see above). But, with Douglas beaten, the ball went the wrong side of the post.  George looked strong but got no real chances and had to take a lot of punishment

A very poor result for us - unable to handle their defence and not really threatening.   Some good individual performances but missing Sicknote quite badly and Nayls’ passing and crossing was quite awful and he took a nasty knock late on.

Wolves: Oakes, McNamara, Naylor, Kennedy (capt), Lescott, Edwards, Olofinjana, Clarke (Ganea 68), Cort, Ndah (Seol 87), Cameron (Davies 75).Unused subs: Postma, Gyepes.

Booking: McNamara (8 - foul).

Leicester: Douglas, Maybury, McCarthy, Sylla, Hughes (Hammond 87), Hamill, Gudjonsson, Dublin (capt), Johansson, De Vries (Hume 60), Kisnorbo.Unused subs: Henderson, Wilcox, Stearman.

Bookings: McCarthy (55 - persistent fouling), Johansson ((61 - foul), Gudjonsson (78 - dissent).

Referee: I. Williamson.

Attendance: 24,726.

Tues 13th Sept WW 1 (Cort 19) Millwall 2

Awful complacency.... led to the end of a record home unbeaten run which started after Millwall in the cup last season. And it wasn’t the drowning of last season? Andthe match referee was “Useless” Uriah Rennie - who was so bad at Molineux in our Premiership match against Bolton ignoring 3 clear penalty calls, and at Southampton where he gave Phillips a penalty.  Well, as it turned out, Rennie didn’t have a bad game.  We got over-confident and the 74 Millwall fans who turned up thought it was a steal and we couldn’t blame anyone but ourselves!

So Carl Cort scored in the 19th to worry the bottom club and their new manager, ex-Wolves boss, Colin Lee after some great chances to Seol and Sparky. There were two changes from the Luton match with Jackie McNamara returning for Rob Edwards and Leon Clarke for Kenny Miller who was still suffering from his international injury.  Wolves captain Mark Kennedy was up against his old club whilst the Londoners, included ex Wanderers Andy Marshall, Adrian Williams and Jermaine Wright in their line-up. Needless to say Marshall and Wright would cost us the points (with some help from Hayles!)

Millwall kicked-off attacking the North Bank end but inside two minutes Wolves could have been ahead after Dave Livermore had headed Seol's cross over his own bar.  From Sicknote’s corner the ball broke to Seol whose shot was cleared off the line by Jody Morris and Marshall dived to save after the rebound had hit Clarke.  Then Mark Kennedy was inches away from scoring in the 13th minute after Lee Naylor's long throw had been headed out to him - this time a fierce 25-yard effort was a foot too high.

But with 19 minutes gone Wolves deservedly took the lead. Kennedy's clever back-heel gave McNamara the time and space on the right to pick out Cort with a precision centre and the striker's powerful header flew into the net.

Before the game restarted Sicknote received treatment on the touchline and although he returned to the action, he limped off to be replaced by Seyi Olofinjana five minutes later. And it looks as though he will be out for 4-5 weeks.

Until his departure we looked in control, but a terrific volley from old-boy Wright turned things around out of the blue. Millwall won a corner which was taken as badly as we are taking them when Anderton’s off the pitch.  Sparky headed it clear but only to Wright on the edge of the box. Oakes had no chance.   1-1 but still should have been ok.

5 more chances before half time proved it - to Leon, Joleon, a near own goal, plus a free kick from Gabor Gyepes which went rather high over the bar.

Within a minute of the resumption Leon Clarke screwed a shot wide after some determined work from Olofinjana and then Cort must have thought he'd got his second when he got a touch to Naylor's free-kick from the left but Marshall pulled off a fine save and then clung on to Gyepes' attempt to convert the rebound.

Michael Oakes had nothing to do but was alert enough to make an excellent one handed save to turn away a Phillips header. Straight back to the North Bank and after Marshall had turned an angled Rohan Ricketts shot behind, Naylor's corner produced a scramble in the visitors box but when the ball dropped to Clarke the youngster's hooked shot was deflected behind.  Clarke was hurt colliding with the post when he tried to latch on to a Cort head down from Seol's cross and he was replaced shortly afterwards by George Ndah with Colin Cameron coming on for Ricketts.

Marshall had to knock down a Seol shot before clinging on to the ball then Cameron scooped a shot wide of the far post after a low centre from the Korean. An Olofinjana header from Naylor's corner landed on the roof of the net and, after McNamara was booked for a foul on Livermore, Ndah's powerful shot went straight to Marshall. With the game in the fourth minute of added time, Hayle's ran on to Livermore's lofted throgh pass and lobbed the ball over Oakes and into the empty net to give Millwall the three points.  Both teams had given up and were playing for the draw, but we gave in just too easily.  One thing was absolutely clear - we missed the dedicated hard running match changer called Kenny Miller.

Wolves: Oakes, McNamara, Naylor, Kennedy (capt), Lescott, Gyepes, Anderton (Olofinjana 24), Clarke (Ndah 68), Cort, Ricketts (Cameron 66), Seol.Unused subs: Craddock, Postma.

Booking: McNamara (89 - foul).

Millwall: Marshall, Vincent, Williams, Ifil, Phillips, Dunne, Livermore (capt), Wright, Morris, May, Hayles (Serioux 90).Unused subs: Fangueiro, Hutchison, Robinson, Igoe.

Booking: Dunne: (90 - foul).

Referee: U. Rennie.

Sat 10th Sept Luton  1 - WW 1 (Cort)

Back to the Hatters at last, who had a terrific season in the first division and looked promotion favourites all the way through under MIke Newell.  It’s their Centenary celebrations and the Hatters asked everyone to wear a hat!   A sell out crowd of 10,248 (!) didn’t see a match worthy of celebrating this milestone, but Luton did keep us on our back feet for much of the second half and our defence played really well.  Mind you the ground didn’t deserve it anyway - pictures in the programme showed the ground 100 years ago, and the only addition is a few boxes, and a bit of cover - with one of the stands acquired from Kempton Park racecourse. You can tell the match was poor. We had excellence in defence from Rob Edwards, Joleon Lescott, and league debutant Gabor Gyepes, who looked as assured on the ball as Jo.  Kenny, in doubt after his injury scoring the winning goals for Scotland against Norway, was bright, but our tally of only two shots on target in the whole match tells the awful truth.  A poor performance from the forwards who were on the pitch. Cort was brave for his goal from a great cross from Spalrky and stretched back to win the ball frequently but only 2 shots on target for the whole match tells the story. Cort should have put us two up and Leon had a late chance. In the end though only outstanding saves from Oakes, who has picked up an injury and is doubtful for Millwall on Tuesday night, and the bar saved us a point.

My garden shed is definitely bigger than Luton's ground.
A capacity 10,248 crowd were "entertained" by a poor match as Luton celebrated their centenary. Entrance to the Oak End for away supporters was literally in the back gardens of houses in Oak Road. Just to add to the enjoyment they only had one gate open while we queued in the rain.

However their crowd was noisy and gave us as good as we gave them. Highlight was that the ground is so small with so few facilities that the kit staff and other players joined us in the stand. Unfortunately what we really needed was Vio Mark and George Ndah on the pitch, but hey were both very friendly - responding to the the choruses of Vio, and Oh Lord George Ndah and shaking fans by the hand. 2 shots on goal in the whole match was appalling. Cort's goal was scrambled but he was very brave for it and took a knock but his touch returned to the quality we've come to expect (a hat trick excepted). Kenny was on for less than half an hour, still suffering from his heroics against Norway and Italy.

But overall this was a very poor performance by Wolves midfield and attack. They really seemed to think they could sit back on 1 goal. Let the pressure come and when their shot came in Oakes dived over the top of it. Mind you, he kept us in it a couple of times with outstanding saves. After their goal we again dominated but to no effect.
I can count the number of passes Seol made to our players on one finger. Since his military service he really seems out of sorts, less able to beat people and even Sparky was gesturing at Hoddle to get him off.
Hungarian Gabor Gyepes was outstanding on his full league debut as was Rob Edwards back in his proper position at right back, but still Joleon dwarfed everyone again. Nayls passing and running was again poor so perhaps he's still suffering from the stomach problem.

We are still missing Ince and Sicknote showed he can't really fill that role - Seyi George did look a lot more assured when he came on after 60 minutes
Still too much clever stuff, but who on earth decided to sit back on the lead and let them just come at us needs a rocket - and 15 mins of pressure led to the equaliser. Sparky had good and bad moments but was a lot more animated as captain and it was his terrific pass from the right which Carl scored from. He also good booked needlessly by very fussy ref Probert for kicking the ball high into our stand.  Nether Darren not Rohan really got a grip and their passing was often poor and Carl Cort was coming deeper and deeper to get service.

Team and Scores
Oakes 7 , Edwards 8 Lescott 9 Gyepes 9 Naylor 6 Anderton 7 Ricketts 7 Kennedy 7 Seol 4 Kenny 7 Cort 6 Leon 6 Olofinjana 7 Cameron 6 - only 2 minutes + ET isn't enough to give him a chance to make an impact but an injury to Oakes probably delayed the substitution.
Ref Probert 6 - very picky and petty but we had to thank him for not sending Leon off right at the end on a second yellow (perhaps he realised the first booking was a poor decision) and for booking Nicoholls for diving - some would have given a pen! Coaching 6 - Seol should have been off at half time, but even though we knew Kenny was risky and Leon had to come on early, Cameron was kept on the bench far too long.

If we play like this against Millwall, Millwall's season might improve dramatically! Even without Uriah Rennie's (ref on Tuesday) penalty awards!!!!

Scotland 1 Italy 1 Saturday 3rd September  Norway 1 Scotland 2 Wednesday 7th September

OK,  so it’s not a Wolves match but the hero of our 3-1 win over QPR on Tuesday night turned in another man of the match performance for the Scottish National team against one of the World Cup favourites.  Kenny’s 13th minute goal had the press and pundits alike raving - and asking “why isn’t he a Premiership player?”. “Kenny MIller .... nutnegged Alessandro Nesta and scared the wits out of Fabio Cannavaro in a masterpiece of solo front running”.  And he was hailed as the new King Kenny (after Dalglish)

And then again on Wednesday two reall striker’s goals against the Norwegians and yet another man of the match performance

Against Italy:

A good ball into the box from Darren Fletcher but Kenny was going the wrong way and rather than waste a shot he patiently turneed and fed the ball back out to Ferguson.  A controlled passing sequence fed the ball out to the right wing to Hartley who cleverly got beyond Zambrotta and centred the ball to the penalty spot. Kenny ran round the somewhat taller Christian Zaccardo and threw himself at the ball, heading it wide of the Italian keeper.

The Scots held on to their lead until the 76th minute when after a terrific save from a deflection by Gordon the ball fell to Grosso. Gordon was starting to stand up to it but a touch from Jackie MacNamara’s foot took it over his hands.   But 1:1 was a creditable result, and a lot of plaudits for Kenny.

Against Norway:

Two great goals: again Kenny was just quicker than the defence to run on to a flick from McFadden. The second

The BBC report:

Kenny Miller reignited Scotland's World Cup qualifying campaign with a fine, first-half double that defeated Norway in the Group Five match in Oslo.

The striker, who scored in Saturday's draw with Italy, pounced on a James McFadden flick to poke home the opener.

A poor clearance by Andre Bergdolmo presented Miller with the chance to drive in the second......

Barry Ferguson's cross to the back post was headed back into the six yard box, where Miller stole in to flick the ball past Thomas Myhre.

Things got better for Scotland after half an hour, when Bergdolmo headed a Paul Hartley cross straight to Miller's feet and the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker slotted the ball into the far corner of the net from 16 yards.

Miller was denied a hat-trick before going off injured when a desperate dive by Bergdolmo blocked the striker's goalbound 12-yard drive.

The worry for us of course is how bad is the injury but he seemed fine in the interview afterwards. Took a knee to the hip apparently and is ecovered.  Let’s hope we get the same on Saturday.