Just got home after a class weekend. Everything aches, my throat is fucked, I'm sunburnt, I've stubbed my toe, my shins are bruised and I spent way too much money but it was all worth it.
A game of two halves. In the first we looked as passionless, slow and lacking in creativity as we did at our worst under Jackett. In the second we showed real heart, character and most importantly quality on the ball, even after Dom's red card. A great day in the sun and I left NYS feeling as optimistic about our chances going forward than I've been for a long time.
Wolves actually managed to lose my tickets in the post (aye right, probably posted them to the wrong person, I've had other fans tickets through the post twice) so I had to collect duplicate's from Rotherham's club shop before the game. Not a problem, apart from the fact that when we tried to enter the stadium my tickets wouldn't scan, meaning that I had to squeeze past some fat sweaty fucker to get back out of the entrance and then wait around for five minutes, missing the start of the game, until they figured out what to do with us. Once we were finally allowed into the ground we found that there was somebody already sat in our seats with identical tickets to ours, we had to wait another 5mins + watching the game from just inside the tunnel until they eventually told us to just stand in the disabled area where there were a few free seats. Absolute shambles and I'll definitely be kicking up a fuss about it.
Ikeme - 6 - He worries me. Couldn't do anything about the goals and made one good claim from a cross but every time the ball went near him he looked shaky.
Iorfa - 5 - One of the few players to come out of the first half with any credit but he threw that away with his shite play for the red card. The card itself was pretty harsh but Dom should never have put himself in that position. Their punt up the pitch had more than enough airtime for Iorfa to get himself in the right position and deal with it but he absolutely bottled it. Even once he's fucked up there was no need to panic, they were a long way from goal, Iorfa could've easily outpaced him and put in a tackle. Instead Iorfa pulls him back and gave the ref a decision to make.
Batth - 7 - Had a pretty good game. His passing wasn't even that bad! Constantly talking to his teammates and a real leader once we went down to 10 men.
Hause - 7 - Pretty assured performance from Kortney, a couple of dodgy passes in the first half but dealt with everything that was thrown at him.
Doherty - 6 - Absolutely abysmal in the first half, much better in the second. He was controlling the ball straight out of touch, misplacing passes, getting regularly skinned by his winger and offering no threat at all going forward. All that changed after he moved to the right hand side after the red card. He improved as the half went on with Teixeira seeming to bring him into play much more.
Wallace - 4 - Rightly hooked at half time. Dreadful performance. Every attack seemed to break down once it reached him.
Edwards - N/A - Offered nothing. Again. I'm not giving that 'performance' a rating as he didn't do enough to warrant one. An empty shirt. He didn't even try hard.
Evans - 5.5 - Another who was abysmal in the first half but improved as the game wore on. Some sublime passes mixed in with some truly dreadful ones.
Saville - 4.5 - Even though he scored the goal I still had him down as one of the worst players in the first half. An extra half star for filling in at left wing back and doing a passable job.
Henry - 6 - Quite a quiet game for Henry in terms of chances but he did work hard and didn't do a great deal wrong on the ball. Uninspiring.
Bodvarsson - 8 MOTM - Absolute warrior. Ran himself into the ground for the team, gave Rotherham's defenders a torrid time in the second half and capped off his performance with a brilliant finish from a tight angle. It was an absolutely epic mental when the goal went in. One of those where the pressure had been building for a while and when it finally went in the Wolves fans lifted the roof off the NYS. Love the Viking clap.
Mason - 7.5 - Really good performance from Joe, only missing a goal really. His inclusion helped swing the game in our favour. The right sub at the right time.
Teixeira - 8 - This kid. Watching the two of them in midfield it was hard to believe him and Dave Edwards were playing the same sport. He is absolute class. He's always looking for the ball, always on the move, his touch is just unreal, actually puts himself about, has great vision and a bag full of skill. I can't wait to see what else he can do for us over the course of the season. I haven't been this excited about a young Wolves player for ages.
Costa - N/A - Hardly touched the ball.
Zenga - 8 - I was worried by our flat first half performance but after half time he got every call correct. It was so refreshing to see a manager making the full use of his substitutions and showing a bit of bravery by going 3 at the back when Dom got sent off. That team under Ken would've folded and lost 2-1 or 3-1. Showed a lot of passion at the end while he was congratulating his players without going overboard (it was only a point at Rotherham after all) and pulled off a masterstroke by sending Bod over to start the Viking clap at the end. I think people underestimate how much stuff like that matters.