Sun 28th February

“Villa’s season hit’s rock bottom” scream the tabloids. Now if rock bottom was a female then we could anticipate the inclusion of you know who in the story, or if rock bottom was a type of lager or class A drug then we could suspect another member of the squad but apparently it’s the home defeat by Coventry City that’s left them at rock bottom. 

 

Conversely, the 1 -4 reverse in the Sky Blues first league win at Vile Park has left the rest of the West Midlands in a state on rejoicement. No longer will we have to see John Gregory as the natural successor to Kevin Keegan. Although doing a bit of job at a poxy southern lower league club was his speciality before making a mess of a poxy Preeeemieeer league Club. 

 

Perhaps this bad run is all part of a masterplan for the dark side of the county to avoid qualification for the run of the mill Champions League and give them more chance of qualifying for the more glamorous and prestigious UEFA Cup. Their words not mine. Or are they aiming for the Inter-Toto Cup? 

Sat 27th February - Notts County

For probably the first time under the guidance of Uncle Ray we’ve managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

 

Just when you dared think that the days of inevitable defensive indicipline and poor organisation were gone we go and throw away a game we had no right to win but were going to regardless of possession or dominance. 

 

Losing at Fulham or Manchester City was far less painful as we were basically blown away on both occasions but today we had the confidence to know that although we were obviously knackered and being outplayed, that the goal we had would be enough if we could scrap and hang in there. 

 

Unfortunately the game lasts for ninety and not seventy five minutes.

 

Now I know this is verging on blasphemous but dare I suggest that Uncle Ray got it wrong this afternoon. I know I have very defined football philosophies and if they were all stuck to then we’d never win a game in a month of Sunday’s but, to me, if your back four is working - don’t change it. Ever.

 

Evans for Darko with Marshy switching to left wing was basically suicide.  Fair enough I can see that UR was trying to rest legs and that the older players looked shattered but we’ve not got a midweek game this week. 

 

Surely another 30 minutes wouldn’t have done the damage that Notts County inflicted on us in that last, painful fifteen minutes.

 

Again the doubts arise. I know some people are still expecting automatic promotion but for me the top six is our realistic target and in achieving that goal we have to take something from places like Meadow Lane. 

 

Rammell ‘s strike for what it’s worth was fantastic. Put through by Pointon and one on one with the keeper I fancied either the keeper or the defenders but Rambo proved me wrong for the umpteenth time since the autumn with a fine strike across the keeper, leaving the net bulging as he wheeled away in triumph. The only pity was that we didn’t go on and make it count. Let’s hope we learn from this and use the midweek break to rest mental as well as physically.

 

On a brighter note the forces of evil also saw a win escape their desperate clutches as Huddersfield equalise as the injury time board goes up.  It’s about the only thing that’s going up in wolverhampton this season.

Fri 26th February

Someone is having another go at poor old DVS in the local media. No prizes for guessing who it is though.

 

Apparently we’ve gone and loaned Colin Cramb of Bristol City and I’m informed that he’s a striker. A bit of a surprise is this one. Now had I been Uncle Ray then I’d be pushing like hell for a midfielder because Bjarne is being carried along by Deano at the moment and the loss of Porter leaves Wayne Thomas as the only ready made replacement for this position. On the other hand who am I to question the wisdom of Uncle Ray ? 

 

Notts County tomorrow and a visit to a very unhappy hunting ground. Meadow Lane has only yielded one positive result for the mighty Saddlers in all the visits I’ve made but I suppose it was the important one. Semi final’s of the play off’s are fairly important games and the David Kelly inspired Saddlers came back from an early deficit to win 3 - 1. Kelly twice and the Shakespeare with the other on a very hot Sunday afternoon. Happy times. 

 

We really could do with a win tomorrow but following the positive result on Tuesday night a point would probably suffice.

Thu 25th February

The comeback of Richard Green is on as he turned out for the reserves against Chesterfield.  I don’t know the final score but the fact one our key players is available again is far more significant

Tue 23rd February - Northampton Town

I got my ticket and had a rather fine evening. Route One is an understatement for these cowboys. 

 

Someone said they Northampton make Chesterfield look like Real Madrid and in many ways they hit the nail on the head. The Cobblers are the most direct team I think I have ever seen and considering we saw the Beck incarnations of both Cambridge and Preston and the Devon White inspired Bristol Rovers then that is truly saying something.

 

Northampton are the only side I have ever seen who see defending a corner kick as a genuine attacking opportunity. I’ve never seen a team move the ball into the oppositions last third as quickly and effectively as these. Only when the need for brawn is lessened and the requirement for skill and imagination comes into play do they struggle.

 

The key to tonight was seeing out the first twenty minutes bombardment and going on to build on that success. We did just that. After negotiating the aforementioned blitz we started to make the ball stick upfront as Rammell and Brissett came more into the game. The midfield didn’t need to be won as the home side didn’t really have one and as Keates in particular drove the ball between defence and attack a goal became more and more likely. 

 

The half finished kind of petered out as we negated all that Northampton could muster and then as the whistle arrived a couple of blokes, apparently wolves fans, took a beating right behind the goal. Ouch.

 

Come the second half and come the man. Enter Siggy Icelander, a new six foot three inch centre forward straight out of the Adolf Hitler order book of perfect breeds. Not an ounce of fat on this boy believe me and he had a pretty decent half.

 

“Siggy’s off the Beechdale” takes the award for best song of the season so far and he certainly won the crowd over. Rammell, as ever, was immense both in defence and in attack and inevitably the goal revolved around him. 

 

A hopeful hack upfield with AR and a defender challenging for a 50/50 ball. The Ram not only won the ball but made it stick and got the move going. Seconds later he was in the box and heading towards goal. A most helpful home keeper spilled a regulation catch and Darko followed in to open his Saddlers account. 

 

One nil up and twenty two minutes to hang on would be nailbiting but I really fancied us. They huffed and they puffed but our back four isn’t made of sticks. We held out and took our ninth league away win. Not bad for a side with a dodgy away record, eh Mr Instone.

 

Uncle Ray would have loved this one in particular though. The good guys overcoming the evil that is route one and a clean sheet to boot. It probably doesn’t get any better than this.

 

Fulham, PNE and Gillingham also win so this was a really important result for us. Man City in fifth place are now ten points behind us with a game in hand and Stoke in seventh are fifteen points behind us. To say things are looking good is probably the cue for the self destruct button to be pressed so I won’t.

Mon 22nd February

Tomorrow night offers a trip to Northampton assuming that I can arrange a replacement ticket. The Dragon, usually such a reliable and sensible bird, recently decided to clear out all the bits of rubbish that I leave lying around the house and in seeing the date on tomorrow night’s ticket as 15-01-99 she decided to bin it.  

The only problem being the match on that date was postponed and re-arranged for tomorrow night.  To say I flipped would be an understatement. As for the game we should know what to expect.  Direct, Direct, Direct to paraphrase the PM. 

 

We usually capitulate under the type of pressure that route one imposes but I reckon Rambo, Ada,  Deano and Wacka will really be looking forward to righting a few wrongs tomorrow night.  I reckon we could win this one but also fear the worst, so I’d probably take a point if it was offered. However I’d really love to roll these fuckers over.

Sun 21st February

Let’s just hope that DVS isn’t reading the papers as the geezer who told him to ignore all the crap in them makes another telling contribution.  

This time it’s along the lines of “Why the fuck did we blow seven million on this Joker ?”  

The answer, which incidentally didn’t sit alongside the question, is - because you’re a bunch of arrogant Brummie tossers who understand little about the word quality in “quality players”  but seem to thrive on the words “expensive, overrated and former England...”. They must be pissing themselves in Liverpool.

Sat 20th February - Chesterfield

Chesterfield made the relatively short visit to Bescot.  Now when we go to their place we use the A38 & M1. Do they come the same way or simply take the route one option? 

 

Again we didn’t play that well but this time we had to do it the hard way as we lost a goal inside the first ten minutes off a corner. By my reckoning this was the first goal we had conceded off a corner this season which after 40 odd games is a bit of an achievement. I suppose it had to come at some time but so early in a tough game was very unfortunate. It knocked us out of our stride and the Spireites clearly dominated the rest of the first half.

 

Just as it was looking as we would need two to win in the second half Sir Andy levelled matters.  Darko finally managed a telling cross and Rambo stole in at the back post to head into an empty net.  

Half time came within seconds and I really fancied us to go on and take the game.  However it was not to be. Rammell had a certain goal tipped over by Billy Mercer and the keeper also denied Roper from a set piece. It wasn’t the most memorable of games but I suppose that with events of last Tuesday night and the directness of the famous CFC this was never going to be a classic.  One point gained rather than two lost I reckon.

Elsewhere Fulham retake top spot with a 2-1 win at home to Notts County and Preston lose. Manchester City make it eight games unbeaten with their fifth win in that period and are making ominous moves towards the automatic places. We have been warned.

Oh and wolves lose in apparently harsh circumstances at Sunderland. Now where have I heard that before.