Wolves 1-1 Nottm Forest: Verdict Thread

[Deutsch Wolf]

He could have taken a CH off today quite easily. Forest didn't even have anyone up front.

 

[Lupo]

Thought the ref was piss poor.

Missed so many fouls, 4 times our player was flattened, one time between 2 players no fouls, one of the worst I have seen

But as is often the case was giving them free kicks for every bit of contact

 

[Tony Towner]

The positives
In a season when we only need 30 points we got another and are on 19

Ref had a good game, let it flow and didn't buy the falling over from either side. I hope he doesn't get dragged down to the PL level.

The caveats
Players looked leggy, although there's some criticism for O'Neil in that

The wind made conditions difficult

The Negatives
Passive side to side bollocks pretty much from the first minute to the last. Clear very early on that the key to break them down was first time pass and move, Sarabia and Cunha tried occasionally, the goal being the obvious example, but was seldom seen. All against a very poor side

Their goal, Bueno doesn't try to stop the cross, if it is what GON is asking then I have no clue why, Semedo gets done at the far post yet again and not by a towering force, but Sa is the main culprit, had to come for it, no excuse not to

Bueno poor going both ways, the link up between him and Toti down that side was so timid and ineffective

We needed to go to a back 4 at half time, it was clear that it was going to be attack versus defence with them hoping for a break away, senseless keeping 3 centre halves on the pitch none of whom stepped up into midfield to carry the ball. Boly did it more for them than any of our players did.

The subs were again awful. Lemina has a niggle then Doyle is clearly the replacement, they were letting us have the ball, you need the guy who can pick a pass on. Traore was the wrong sub and poor.
Sarabia off, as above he was the one who be it rarely looked like he could pick a pass
Sasa for Cunha, even in injury time sticking with a back 3
Doherty at LWB doesn't need deconstructing again

Atmosphere soporific

Hwang's 2 dives were pitiful, I'd have booked him for the second

 

[Tony Towner]

Hwang. Definition. The opposite of a Weeble. Falls down repeatedly for no reason.

Whereas Doherty wobbles

 

[Alan]

Who’s doing the wibbling to go with the weebling and wobbling?

 

[Tony Towner]

Who’s doing the wibbling to go with the weebling and wobbling?

Lost on you young pups

 

[Lupo]

2nd boring game in a few days. Disappointing not to beat such a poor side that had just been tonked 5-0 but on the face of it I suppose 4 points from these 2 games will do.

Dawson was very good today and I thought Cunha played well too, good to see he is getting 1 or 2 goals here and there now.

Far too ponderous in attack and many times we should just go for it rather than thinking too much and either ceding possession or taking it all the way back to the edge of our own area.

Subs were turd. Doherty dire again, looks like someone plucked from the crowd with 5 pints and a Balti pie inside of him and almost fucked us up with his first involvement. Very poor outings for Traore and Bellegarde and what the fuck is the point of bringing Sasa on for injury time? Give a striker 20 minutes or don't bother.

MGW is still a cunt, Boly is not finished and at least Chris Wood didn't notch his customary goal against us.

 

[AndyWolves]

He could have taken a CH off today quite easily. Forest didn't even have anyone up front.

I suppose he could have put Toti at LB when Bueno came off and changed shape at that point.

 

[Johnny75]

Just boring.

Gary O'Lambert performance today. He needs to be better or he will rightly be binned at the end of the season.

You can't have a tactic that is Nuno 2018 and not be prepared to change it when it isn't working.

We're safe and that's about all this season holds which is quite a depressing thought.

I look on envious at Bournemouth right now as they have been proved right.

 

[Johnny75]

I suppose he could have put Toti at LB when Bueno came off and changed shape at that point.

Yes he could, the fact he didn't is fairly damming.

 

[Carsy]

A left side of Tori and Doherty was something to behold. A terrible second half in particular. Lovely goal at least.

I’m not sure that’s politically correct….

Jokes aside, fairly poor performance. No secret really we struggle to break teams down. Have done since the days of Nuno.

Toti was abysmal, so hopefully that’s out of his system.

Games like today we really lack that number 9 imo. Someone to occupy there centre backs as Cunha/hwang aren’t really a focal point. Bringing Sasa on that late is pointless. Worryingly looks as if GoN doesn’t fancy either of our ‘no 9’s

Amazing how players gets better when they’re injured? The drop off from RAN - Bueno in the way we play is evident.

Doc left wing back is a car crash waiting to happen. He seems to get worse every time he comes on

I’d be open to in those sort of games where we’re going to have 60+ of the ball to having Doyle and Sarabia in the team. Sarabia, albeit flitted in and out was our only real creative outlet

 

[AndyWolves]

Makes the immediate future pretty grim. I can't see how we elevate ourselves to a higher level. We aren't spending loads on players or more on a manager upgrade.

 

[jd1981]

We’re just bottom half/mid table PL now basically our immediate aim is to avoid relegation then try and come higher up the league ie 11th if we’re lucky. We’re now in that period of being in the PL for a prolonged time but having no real chance of getting into Europe basically in a situation of existence. Our excitement comes from a rare cup run or beating the super 6.

 

[Tom Hark]

We’re just bottom half/mid table PL now basically our immediate aim is to avoid relegation then try and come higher up the league ie 11th if we’re lucky. We’re now in that period of being in the PL for a prolonged time but having no real chance of getting into Europe basically in a situation of existence. Our excitement comes from a rare cup run or beating the super 6.

Nevertheless, I'd still rather be in the tent pissing out.

 

[jd1981]

Nevertheless, I'd still rather be in the tent pissing out.

Definitely the longer we stay away from the EFL the better if anything to just diminish the memory of how crap it is.

 

[Kenny]

We're safe and that's about all this season holds which is quite a depressing thought.

Well considering the thoughts leading up the Utd game under GO we would be lucky to scrape out of the bottom 3, so have to take the silver linings I guess.
After the Luton performance I would have taken the depressing thought of "just being safe" as it genuinely felt like we were fucked, then the Ipswich game happened and the thoughts were we were nailed on for relegation were doubled.

GO is suffering from a couple of things - 1) This was only his 50th game in management and across his career he has been asked to do one thing - don't relegate the team you have. His inexperience shows at times, especially with his in game decision making. Got a few calls right but still an area he struggles with. 2) He has no direct replacement for the most potent threat we have in Neto. I would suggest Tuesday and today would have been very different affair's if we had him or a similar player to break through the solid banks they put in front of us. Its an area we need to sort out in January.

He clearly doesn't trust us with a back 4 so he is not going to change to the formation, even in the game and 100% hasfound Nuno's playbook in the office drawer.

Its going to be a season like this where we have moments we love (City, Spurs), ones we hate (Palace, Luton) and just plain old "meh" (today and Tuesday). Essentially we are the new Palace - In the Prem but not doing a lot right. Just get to the points we need and move on to the next one and hope the new structure behind the scenes allows us to actually start building towards something other than blending in and going around unnoticed by others.

 

[Tony Towner]

Don't disagree with a word, but would add while being charged an absolute fortune for the privilege of watching it

 

[Reanswolf]

Footballers or frauds?

That’s how I felt when I saw Wangi Chan trying to get a penalty when he had already skinned the defender.

Cunha was the same, diving all over the place.

Total Lack of attacking intent today against a dispirited Forest made it a piss poor performance all round.

Very disappointing.

 

[sycophantia]

Well considering the thoughts leading up the Utd game under GO we would be lucky to scrape out of the bottom 3, so have to take the silver linings I guess.
After the Luton performance I would have taken the depressing thought of "just being safe" as it genuinely felt like we were fucked, then the Ipswich game happened and the thoughts were we were nailed on for relegation were doubled.

GO is suffering from a couple of things - 1) This was only his 50th game in management and across his career he has been asked to do one thing - don't relegate the team you have. His inexperience shows at times, especially with his in game decision making. Got a few calls right but still an area he struggles with. 2) He has no direct replacement for the most potent threat we have in Neto. I would suggest Tuesday and today would have been very different affair's if we had him or a similar player to break through the solid banks they put in front of us. Its an area we need to sort out in January.

He clearly doesn't trust us with a back 4 so he is not going to change to the formation, even in the game and 100% hasfound Nuno's playbook in the office drawer.

Its going to be a season like this where we have moments we love (City, Spurs), ones we hate (Palace, Luton) and just plain old "meh" (today and Tuesday). Essentially we are the new Palace - In the Prem but not doing a lot right. Just get to the points we need and move on to the next one and hope the new structure behind the scenes allows us to actually start building towards something other than blending in and going around unnoticed by others.

Agree with all this, made the Palace comparison to my lad earlier.
It seems very hit and miss with GON which is what you would expect I suppose given his experience. Hopefully we will start to see more hit than miss as the season progresses.
Last 2 games have been dull but overall this season I think we've been a better watch than previous couple of seasons.

 

[Charlie Wolf]

The positives
In a season when we only need 30 points we got another and are on 19

Ref had a good game, let it flow and didn't buy the falling over from either side. I hope he doesn't get dragged down to the PL level.

The caveats
Players looked leggy, although there's some criticism for O'Neil in that

The wind made conditions difficult

The Negatives
Passive side to side bollocks pretty much from the first minute to the last. Clear very early on that the key to break them down was first time pass and move, Sarabia and Cunha tried occasionally, the goal being the obvious example, but was seldom seen. All against a very poor side

Their goal, Bueno doesn't try to stop the cross, if it is what GON is asking then I have no clue why, Semedo gets done at the far post yet again and not by a towering force, but Sa is the main culprit, had to come for it, no excuse not to

Bueno poor going both ways, the link up between him and Toti down that side was so timid and ineffective

We needed to go to a back 4 at half time, it was clear that it was going to be attack versus defence with them hoping for a break away, senseless keeping 3 centre halves on the pitch none of whom stepped up into midfield to carry the ball. Boly did it more for them than any of our players did.

The subs were again awful. Lemina has a niggle then Doyle is clearly the replacement, they were letting us have the ball, you need the guy who can pick a pass on. Traore was the wrong sub and poor.
Sarabia off, as above he was the one who be it rarely looked like he could pick a pass
Sasa for Cunha, even in injury time sticking with a back 3
Doherty at LWB doesn't need deconstructing again

Atmosphere soporific

Hwang's 2 dives were pitiful, I'd have booked him for the second

Agree totally Tony with your summary

Perhaps today you could sum Wolves performance in Traore’s woeful effort that I’m not even gonna call a shot.

Continually we seem to be able to lower our standards to just below the opposition, instead of playing with pace and sustained intensity. This has been the same since Nuno’s last season with us.