The preamble ramble...
2012-13 will be our 10th consecutive season in the
Championship. The season has barely begun and already our indifferent form has
undermined raised expectations. So far, so disappointing, so ruddy typical.
There are indications however that the pattern of false hope followed
by crushing but somehow inevitable disappointment might be about to change.
Witness the approach to the transfer window. Traditionally as September beckons
we have grown used to the inevitability of the club cashing in its most
valuable assets in order to appease the banks, the Luxuriantly Eyebrowed One
and other less than sympathetic creditors. The gaps in the painstakingly
constructed jigsaw were replaced by ill-fitting loanees as a frustrated manager
desperately picked through the Premier League detritus in a hopeless search for
a few missing pieces. They rarely fitted but Dave Jones was forced to shove them
in anyway and the completed picture rarely convinced.
This year’s window opened up not to the cruel winds of change but to the
sweet smell of success wafting tantalisingly through the crack towards our
expectant upturned nostrils. Not only have we retained our crown jewels we have
bagged a few cut-price cut-glass gems lest our more precious stones should fail
to radiate with the expected splendour. At last we have a squad with quality
cover in just about every position. Apart from defence.
But we are so well-blessed in the middle of the park with, at the last
count, 13 midfielders in the squad that Malky’s tried and distrusted default
4-5-1 formation may well be adjusted to accommodate all his assorted
playmakers, controllers and creatives. Perhaps he’ll play Marshall as a
goalie-when / goalie-rush, just behind a defensive midfield with Whittingham
forming a link with central midfield and Mason playing in the hole just ahead
of a forward midfield and lone striker in a 1-9-1 formation. That will allow
room on the bench for another 4 midfielders to stir the crowd from their
slumbers up later on...
And so today we welcome back our
old friends from Wolverhampton who have been doing more yo-yo-ing than
Wandering in the last few years, occasionally threatening to re-establish
themselves as a Premier League outfit before gently parachuting back down to
the Championship to regroup and try again. With 30 million notes to break their
fall it shouldn’t take them too long to find their feet.
We were exhorted by Ali to
welcome our red-shirted strangers, variously introduced as ‘making his full
debut’ or ‘making his home debut’ and wondered how long it would take them to
remember each other’s names and translate Cockney to Korean, Slovakian to
Scouse let alone contemplate the required telepathic understanding between
players.
The Huddersfield opener was a
worry as relatively few new players were bedded into an established unit and
played like strangers. So how would this starting eleven, who in every area of
the pitch were strangers cope? Within
minutes all our fears disipated as we played flowing, controlled exciting
football, every inch the cohesive unit that we had no right to expect. Wolves
were also at the top of their game which led to a frenetic opening 15 minutes.
They took the lead on 10 minutes as a poorly positioned wall allowed Sako to
place a free kick 20 yards beyond Marshall. A soft goal and an early blow from
which it would be vital to bounce back as soon as possible. Within the minute
preferably.
Noone and Whittingham duly
obliged, the former’s turn of pace in the box causing Zubar to upend him and
the latter striking the resulting penalty straight up the middle. 1-1.
Just three minutes later a slick
City counter-attack sent the Wolves defence in all directions, opening up an
opportunity for an unmarked Whitts to strike a low screamer past the despairing
Ikeme. 2-1. At this point you expected every move to end with a goal and
although it was to be some time before the net was to bulge again, the quality
of the entertainment on display from both teams meant that this was one of the
most entertaining halves in recent times and something at last worthy of the
live Asian TV broadcast. Noone in particular was having a cracking debut,
turning and twisting a panicked Wolves defence all ways and providing the wide
options that we missed all last season and which we expected the absent Bellamy
to provide this year. On this evidence Bellers will struggle to command a
regular start.
The second half was fairly even
but just as Wolves were gaining the upper hand up stepped Whitts again with a
trademark dipping angled free kick from 25 yards, up and over the defensive
wall perfectly placed beyond the keeper into the top corner. Peter Whittingham
3, Wolves 1. Not for the mild-mannered Whittingham some idiotic histrionic
pumped-up celebration. No, a bashful grin, a raised hand and a saunter back for
the restart that said ‘Just doing my job, mate’. What a guy!
The goal knocked the stuffing out
of Wolves and although they had plenty of possession they didn’t create anything
and didn’t threaten the City goal again. Malky made a number of substitutions
bringing on Mason, Cowie and Gunnarsson aimed at preserving the lead rather
than extending it. This meant that disappointingly there was to be no home
debut for Kim Bo-Kyung.
Last season it was often said
that we were punching above our weight and we exceeded expectations with a
fairly thin squad. Many, including me were critical that we were unable to capitalise
on our early success and were disappointed at Malky’s reluctance to move to a
Plan B, relying on a packed but uninspiring midfield and a lone striker. And
his reluctance to invest in his threadbare squad when he had the chance was
perplexing. There’s every indication now that he was biding his time having
tracked Noone, Maynard, Smith and others for some time, waiting for them to
become available. Patience is not a virtue that sits easily with a footie fan
but this season perhaps we should learn to sit ‘patiently as the spider weaves
the broken web’.
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