Wolves 1 Villa 0. If only Dicko could look up verdict thread

[jd1981]

Loved that result, great team effort and agree Stear was MOTM. Three straight clean sheets now just shows what a bit of organisation can do.

 

[wombourne wolves]

I thoroughly enjoyed that. I thought we looked strong defensively and I was impressed with Mason. I also enjoyed being located in J2, right next to the Villa fans who seemed to be getting awfully wound up at their own ineptitude.

 

[Langers]

The back 4 looked solid and I thought we had several gears we never needed to use.

A good, solid performance and full credit to Paul Lambert - I wasn't ever panicking and that line up wouldn't have got 3 points a few months ago.

 

[Alan]

I love Dicko to death but if a Turkish club really has shown interest in him we should be seriously considering it. His mental state did us no favors today and it appears that an extended run in the team won't get him out of his rut, either.

How long is Niall Ennis out for?

 

[Langers]

I love Dicko to death but if a Turkish club really has shown interest in him we should be seriously considering it. His mental state did us no favors today and it appears that an extended run in the team won't get him out of his rut, either.

How long is Niall Ennis out for?

I'd rather we started with Bod next game but no way should we sell Dicko. He'll come good again.

 

[Alan]

I'd rather we started with Bod next game but no way should we sell Dicko. He'll come good again.

I wouldn't sell him for just any price but I would have to think about any offers rather hard.

 

[Carrotdude]

I'd rather we started with Bod next game but no way should we sell Dicko. He'll come good again.

His all round play was much more like the Dicko of old, I think his best chance is to come off the bench and nick a goal on the break in a game we're winning and hopefully that would settle him down.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

More thoughts:

Quite a strange game in some ways. We didn't really look to keep possession in any way - you might say that's an inevitability given the make-up of the starting XI - which meant at times we were giving the ball back under seemingly little pressure, it was clear though that it was part of a plan to hit Villa quickly on the break wherever possible and test a back four which in Hutton and Elphick contains two really poor players. And it mostly worked, we probably knew that Jedinak/Tshibola were not really equipped to hurt us from central areas and we had enough to worry them when we did spring attacks. So while we weren't in control of the game in the conventional sense, we rarely looked like conceding and indeed should have wrapped the game up part way through the second half.

I've seen a lot of stuff on here and elsewhere stating that Steve Bruce is as good as you're going to get in the Championship. I've always countered that his football is largely dreck and that I've never been especially impressed by any of his teams. All shown up tonight as they played a lot of aimless hoofs, he is bizarrely persevering with Agbonlahor - this is a deliberate thing, he was shifting Kodjia out wide to accommodate him even before ACON call-ups - who looks about 50 and leaves you more or less playing with ten men. He isn't really even trying to get the best out of McCormack (who's scored goals galore for years now in this league) and they looked very, very poor for a team that's had that much money spent on it. It might be that he ends up taking Villa up eventually, he's clearly not a no hoper. But he isn't someone I'd ever especially want as manager down here. I said when we appointed Lambert that if he could match his performance at Norwich in terms of results and entertainment that that was better than anything Bruce had ever done and I'm happy that our guy seems to be on the right path.

Ratings:

Ikeme: Had very little indeed to do, one good punch right at the death and that was about it.

Coady: Would not have been my pick at RB as Iorfa played well last week and Coady is not a long-term solution at all there, but he hasn't really let us down when he's played there (not in any of the games I've seen anyway) and he did ok tonight. Skinned once by Amavi for the McCormack chance which should have been buried, but otherwise defended ok and was reasonable in possession.

Stearman/Batth: Both had good games though Villa played into their hands a bit, if you hoof the ball at strikers who aren't especially powerful or good in the air then that's a dream ticket for them. Stears was my MOTM, full commitment and a few vital challenges, when he's on his game then he looks pretty decent still, shame it doesn't happen all that often. Danny dealt with Agbonlahor about three times in the opening ten minutes and then after that he didn't want to know.

Doherty: Continues to improve going forward, his use of the ball is actually quite decent at times. Messed up one first half opportunity when he should have gone outside Elphick but otherwise a decent outlet. I was worried before kick off that Adomah would have a field day against him but he was pretty subdued and I don't think he beat Doherty once while he was on the pitch. Nearly had a repeat of his Leeds nightmare towards the end but got away with it, cut that shit out please.

Price: Not sure how Sky gave him MOTM, he wasn't very good in the first half, a lot of misplaced passes and runners were going off the back of him quite easily. Improved greatly after the second half, picked up a lot of loose balls and even produced 2-3 headed clearances along the way. Should have been booked for scything down Hutton, the ref obviously figured that the thug bastard is fair game and let him off.

Edwards: Did really well in the first half, you'd probably say he carried Price through it. Didn't offer a great deal going forward this time (if you were generous you'd say his run to the near stick influenced the goal) but did the conventional midfield bits better than he normally does. Elbowed by Jedinak just after HT and never really recovered, wanted to play on but couldn't.

Costa: Not as influential in terms of chance creation as normal but he put one hell of a shift in and just by being there he terrifies defences. Would have had a goal if Dicko had looked up. Magic player.

Mason: One of the best games I've seen him have for us. I'm not his biggest fan because he doesn't do enough of anything generally, but this time he picked up little pockets of space very effectively, there were some lovely touches in the link up play and of course he got his goal - I think he mishit it, but who gives a fuck. I don't think you're ever going to get 20 goals a season out of him, he probably isn't really going to create all *that* much for you as a #10 either, but he does tend to influence games and be at the heart of our attacking play when he's on the pitch.

Cavaleiro: Not really his night, some nice moments here and there but as Villa came back into the game - without really threatening much - his influence dropped off and we couldn't afford for him to keep giving away fouls in wide areas as he was. Also another lazy offside today which ruined a good position - move your arse, Ivan, no excuse.

Dicko: I genuinely think he had a good game. He works the channels so well and when we're playing this way it's vital to us in taking pressure off and gaining territory. He stood up well physically to Chester, pulled wide intelligently, general play was fine...and yet. Yet. He *really* needs a goal and soon because it's affecting his judgement in and around the box. I definitely don't think he's a lost cause, I think he can get back to how he was, I think the way we're set up will eventually really benefit him and us...just knock one in and then we can get on with the rest of our lives.

Enobakhare: You can see that there's plenty to work with, a really intelligent footballer and confident lad. Should probably have hit the target with his chance.

Saville: I know he's not flavour of the month on here but he did well when he came on, I don't think he misplaced a single pass and he dug in defensively. Probably not a long term answer, every chance he won't be here next season but he was fine tonight.

Bodvarsson: Only a brief appearance but did so well in the limited time, won the ball in the air a couple of times, chasing and hold up play was excellent especially for Bright's chance, in the same boat as Nouha really where he isn't playing badly as such but does need to score soon.

Lambert: Fair play, it's not the team I'd have picked but you'd have to say when Villa have had 0 shots on target all game that he got it spot on. Encouraging that we can slightly tweak our approach here and there and if we carry on as we are then we'll carry on getting results. I think his own confidence in what he has is improving by the week too, he's getting the balance right between managing expectations and praising the squad's ability, you can see that we have a much better shape now than we did pre-December and you can work out what we're actually trying to do. Small steps, but definite progress.

We still have a long way to go, that is clear, but we're heading the right way.

 

[big mean bunny]

Whats our ceiling this year under Lambert? In typical Championship fashion we aren't too far away from either end of the excitement stakes, however there are a hell of a lot of bodies in our way. Are we going to strengthen and be ambitious or is Lambert using this year to see who can help from the youth players before showing his hand in the summer ready for nexy year?

 

[Tredman]

Bizarrely Kevin Thelwell has just walked into the social club I'm in, I'm really tempted to ask what the fuck Gladon is about....

 

[YoungWolf]

More thoughts:

Quite a strange game in some ways. We didn't really look to keep possession in any way - you might say that's an inevitability given the make-up of the starting XI - which meant at times we were giving the ball back under seemingly little pressure, it was clear though that it was part of a plan to hit Villa quickly on the break wherever possible and test a back four which in Hutton and Elphick contains two really poor players. And it mostly worked, we probably knew that Jedinak/Tshibola were not really equipped to hurt us from central areas and we had enough to worry them when we did spring attacks. So while we weren't in control of the game in the conventional sense, we rarely looked like conceding and indeed should have wrapped the game up part way through the second half.

I've seen a lot of stuff on here and elsewhere stating that Steve Bruce is as good as you're going to get in the Championship. I've always countered that his football is largely dreck and that I've never been especially impressed by any of his teams. All shown up tonight as they played a lot of aimless hoofs, he is bizarrely persevering with Agbonlahor - this is a deliberate thing, he was shifting Kodjia out wide to accommodate him even before ACON call-ups - who looks about 50 and leaves you more or less playing with ten men. He isn't really even trying to get the best out of McCormack (who's scored goals galore for years now in this league) and they looked very, very poor for a team that's had that much money spent on it. It might be that he ends up taking Villa up eventually, he's clearly not a no hoper. But he isn't someone I'd ever especially want as manager down here. I said when we appointed Lambert that if he could match his performance at Norwich in terms of results and entertainment that that was better than anything Bruce had ever done and I'm happy that our guy seems to be on the right path.

Ratings:

Ikeme: Had very little indeed to do, one good punch right at the death and that was about it.

Coady: Would not have been my pick at RB as Iorfa played well last week and Coady is not a long-term solution at all there, but he hasn't really let us down when he's played there (not in any of the games I've seen anyway) and he did ok tonight. Skinned once by Amavi for the McCormack chance which should have been buried, but otherwise defended ok and was reasonable in possession.

Stearman/Batth: Both had good games though Villa played into their hands a bit, if you hoof the ball at strikers who aren't especially powerful or good in the air then that's a dream ticket for them. Stears was my MOTM, full commitment and a few vital challenges, when he's on his game then he looks pretty decent still, shame it doesn't happen all that often. Danny dealt with Agbonlahor about three times in the opening ten minutes and then after that he didn't want to know.

Doherty: Continues to improve going forward, his use of the ball is actually quite decent at times. Messed up one first half opportunity when he should have gone outside Elphick but otherwise a decent outlet. I was worried before kick off that Adomah would have a field day against him but he was pretty subdued and I don't think he beat Doherty once while he was on the pitch. Nearly had a repeat of his Leeds nightmare towards the end but got away with it, cut that shit out please.

Price: Not sure how Sky gave him MOTM, he wasn't very good in the first half, a lot of misplaced passes and runners were going off the back of him quite easily. Improved greatly after the second half, picked up a lot of loose balls and even produced 2-3 headed clearances along the way. Should have been booked for scything down Hutton, the ref obviously figured that the thug bastard is fair game and let him off.

Edwards: Did really well in the first half, you'd probably say he carried Price through it. Didn't offer a great deal going forward this time (if you were generous you'd say his run to the near stick influenced the goal) but did the conventional midfield bits better than he normally does. Elbowed by Jedinak just after HT and never really recovered, wanted to play on but couldn't.

Costa: Not as influential in terms of chance creation as normal but he put one hell of a shift in and just by being there he terrifies defences. Would have had a goal if Dicko had looked up. Magic player.

Mason: One of the best games I've seen him have for us. I'm not his biggest fan because he doesn't do enough of anything generally, but this time he picked up little pockets of space very effectively, there were some lovely touches in the link up play and of course he got his goal - I think he mishit it, but who gives a fuck. I don't think you're ever going to get 20 goals a season out of him, he probably isn't really going to create all *that* much for you as a #10 either, but he does tend to influence games and be at the heart of our attacking play when he's on the pitch.

Cavaleiro: Not really his night, some nice moments here and there but as Villa came back into the game - without really threatening much - his influence dropped off and we couldn't afford for him to keep giving away fouls in wide areas as he was. Also another lazy offside today which ruined a good position - move your arse, Ivan, no excuse.

Dicko: I genuinely think he had a good game. He works the channels so well and when we're playing this way it's vital to us in taking pressure off and gaining territory. He stood up well physically to Chester, pulled wide intelligently, general play was fine...and yet. Yet. He *really* needs a goal and soon because it's affecting his judgement in and around the box. I definitely don't think he's a lost cause, I think he can get back to how he was, I think the way we're set up will eventually really benefit him and us...just knock one in and then we can get on with the rest of our lives.

Enobakhare: You can see that there's plenty to work with, a really intelligent footballer and confident lad. Should probably have hit the target with his chance.

Saville: I know he's not flavour of the month on here but he did well when he came on, I don't think he misplaced a single pass and he dug in defensively. Probably not a long term answer, every chance he won't be here next season but he was fine tonight.

Bodvarsson: Only a brief appearance but did so well in the limited time, won the ball in the air a couple of times, chasing and hold up play was excellent especially for Bright's chance, in the same boat as Nouha really where he isn't playing badly as such but does need to score soon.

Lambert: Fair play, it's not the team I'd have picked but you'd have to say when Villa have had 0 shots on target all game that he got it spot on. Encouraging that we can slightly tweak our approach here and there and if we carry on as we are then we'll carry on getting results. I think his own confidence in what he has is improving by the week too, he's getting the balance right between managing expectations and praising the squad's ability, you can see that we have a much better shape now than we did pre-December and you can work out what we're actually trying to do. Small steps, but definite progress.

We still have a long way to go, that is clear, but we're heading the right way.

Pretty much how I saw it.

Thing about Cav is that even when he isn't playing well he gives the opposition something to think about and this frees up opportunities for others. Definitely more to come from him with more time. Much like Nouha

 

[arklowolf]

Bizarrely Kevin Thelwell has just walked into the social club I'm in, I'm really tempted to ask what the $#@! Gladon is about....

Go for it Tred. Fully entitled.

 

[arklowolf]

Just watched the game as was out earlier (unavoidably). Agree with most of what DW posted. Although for me Coady, Costa and Mason were our best players. All players gave 100% and all look like they know what their roles are. They all looked 'together' as well which is good to see. I thought Cav had a poor game but not for lack of effort so no complaints from me. Well done Lambert. Play offs are highly unlikely but not impossible if we can win the next two or three games.

 

[Tredman]

Go for it Tred. Fully entitled.

He's here to watch his sons band and apparently Gladon came recommended.

TBF I think the underlying subtext was fuck off you pissed nobhead

 

[AndyWolves]

He's here to watch his sons band and apparently Gladon came recommended.

TBF I think the underlying subtext was $#@! off you pissed nobhead

Was that you to KT or vica-versa?

 

[Tredman]

Was that you to KT or vica-versa?

More him I reckon

 

[sycophantia]

Only just got in and seen the result.....excellent and from the reports on here sounds like we didn't play badly. Really pleased with another clean sheet, seems like PL has at last got em all organized. On the subject of his defensive selections, think its possible Willo wasn't quite up to another game so soon after his long layoff and he thinks Iorfa and Hause need his experience and organisational skills.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

We played alright and did what we had to do. I don't think you'd want to play like that against a Rotherham or a Wigan at home, but this is the here and now. And all too often under previous managers, we've just set up the same way regardless of opposition even when it's clear that there's a different approach required. Good to have a gaffer who will analyse from game to game if we need to switch it up.

I have a suspicion that the return of Willo and Hause's good performance last week has led Lambo to tell Batth and Stears that ok, you have the shirt for now as we kept a CS in the last league game but one slip up and you're out, because these lads are ready to go in instead. They both seemed way more focussed today, it was reminiscent of how they played together in Dec 2014-Feb 2015 when they actually looked a fair partnership, nothing fancy but everything on the line, do the basics right first and no silly mistakes. They both always look better when we have two CMs in front of the back four too, just one is no good for us/them.

 

[Aikiwolf]

With regards to defending; almost every permeation we have has consistently kept clean sheets until this season. What we've not done is score goals and keep clean sheets.

I'm more of the opinion that the lack of defensive solidity is due to the lack of defensive coaching under Zenga. As much as we loved his enthusiasm he has really fucked our season up.

 

[Aikiwolf]

Should say, that despite Villa's pitiful attacking threat, I thought we played with real solidity. And, as much as I despise his football, I thought Coady played well for the most part.

Really surprised sky gave Price MOTM as he was the one I picked at half time that needed to up his game.

Thought Stears played well and would happily give him motm.