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

[Jamwolf]

I thought we we were really good the first 20 minutes, with Mason superb. In the last 20 mins Bright did well, he's a very exciting prospect. Saville played well too, and he had the confidence to take a crack from 25 yards.

In between, I thought we were just OK.

I would have given MOM to Baath but for the fact that he should have cost us a penalty with that stupid tug.

Amazingly, Doherty is becoming an influential player too. Seems to work his way into some great positions.

 

[Alan]

Best left back in the Championship ay

 

[Jamwolf]

I thought Dicko did well for us yesterday, but his confidence did seem to drop when he missed that chance. He must be feeling the pressure big time.
I'd still keep the faith in him and Bod, just rotate the two. Plenty of talent around them in Cav, Costa, Mason and Bright.

 

[Norman Deeley]

MOTM? It was one of those games where you could have given it to three or four players. Price had any number of misplaced passes in the first half, but I thought he really improved after the break and made some crucial interceptions. As other people have said, the game was set up for Batth & Stearman – and I thought Mason showed some nice touches, especially linking up with Costa. Best moment of the game for me was Bright’s chance: OK, he should have hit the target but loved the way he made space for himself.
Now for the Dicko enigma – if we’d just signed him and that was his debut we’d be well pleased with last night. For the rest of the season I think rotating him and Bod is fine, especially if it allows more young players to come through. Yes, we do need a 20 goals a season striker, but the right one at the right price. Certainly not someone like McCormack who is clearly on a downward trajectory now.
Overall, I didn’t think we played that well: if I didn’t know the league positions I’d have said it was a team on the verge of the play-offs not playing that well, but comfortably beating a lower mid-table team. In terms of organisation, Lambert has done a great job since he came in.

 

[b3h]

I think I'm about done with the 'he needs to get a goal' line with Dicko and I hope we sign a striker. He's fast, and good on the ball, and he makes good runs and causes problems but he's lost the nack. Should we play him for the next half season and just hope he gets more confidence, gets a goal, gets some form? There's Mason who's popped up with a few but hasn't been given a run, and Bod who will always fight to the death for us but what if none of them score goals. We had Villa yesterday, and we've been playing better but plenty of teams are going to come and take 3 points from us if were still relying on Dave Edwards to score random goals and the magician Costa to do well, anything he can. We need drive. Surely we need to finish better in position and how were playing, attract some players and go at it again. I'm liking what we've seen so far under Lambert [compared to the rest of the season] but can't help but wonder how happy he is about finishing bottom half but safe etc. I really want us to sign Costa but are we really gunna be able to at this rate? (Actual question not rhetorical) The dude hasn't even got a decent finisher ahead of him to help put the bloody ball in the net. He's got to be frustrated as am I. *sigh* rant over.

On a positive note super glad we beat Villa. Hate em way way more than Baggies!

 

[east-coast-wolves]

Agree on Dicko. Think most of his performance was good, he looks physically near where he was pre-injury. He's quick, strong and chases everything.

However, his decision making undoubtedly affected the final scoreline in a negative way. That can't be allowed to happen every game. So I'd be starting Bod (how good did he look in his cameo btw, awesome stuff) for now, and hope he bags a few. Meanwhile Dicko can be coming off the bench and maybe he gets one in and his decision making returns to how it was.

 

[Tony Towner]

For me with Dicko it's not the missed chances that bother me, it's the desperation to score which in the last couple of games is leading to greed and selfishness. Against QPR there were a couple of occasions where he ignored obvious passes preferring to try and bulldoze his way through players and yesterday there was the silly Cruyff turn attempt instead of the layback to Cav and the shot from a ridiculous angle early in the second half. I don't blame him however for the shot when he could have squared it to Costa, 99% of forwards would have took the shot on in that position. It's a judgement call for Lambert as to whether his offering an outlet, pace, hassling and harrying is giving more to the team than his greed and desperation is taking away.

 

[Jamwolf]

I don't totally blame a striker for being greedy. It's the nature of the beast !

One thing about Lambert is that he seems a good man manager, in that he recognizes the importance of keeping harmony in the camp and sticking by his players. For example yesterday, he gave a big feel good factor to Baath by not letting Williamson take his place. These things are important in keeping a large squad fully motivated. That's why I think he'll be quite careful deciding whether to add a striker ahead of Bod or Dicko. At least while we are playing only one pure striker. And especially when Bod and Dicko are not exactly getting a hatful of chances.
Anyway, the main thing is we keep winning, and just maybe, if we can get within say 7 points of the sixth placed team over the next month, the season may not be totally over.

 

[AndyWolves]

We've got our confidence back and those little bits of luck that can ruin a good performance (Baath shit pull).

If we aren't getting Costa on a perm I'd be looking to give someone else some experience in his position. Controversial...

 

[Jamwolf]

I highly doubt we'll keep Costa if we are in the Championship. But he's still a must play. Contrast with Lambert's curious attitude to dropping Saiss for two games before he went to the African nations, and he's a full signing ! Personally, I reckon Saiss will be sold.

 

[AndyWolves]

I highly doubt we'll keep Costa if we are in the Championship. But he's still a must play. Contrast with Lambert's curious attitude to dropping Saiss for two games before he went to the African nations, and he's a full signing ! Personally, I reckon Saiss will be sold.

If we have a chance of being promoted / relegated then he should play. After that I think it's in our benefit to get some other experience there.

I think your right about Saiss which is a shame. If nothing else he wound up Shelvey enough to get him suspended despite having limited English skills

 

[Tony Towner]

I don't totally blame a striker for being greedy. It's the nature of the beast !

One thing about Lambert is that he seems a good man manager, in that he recognizes the importance of keeping harmony in the camp and sticking by his players. For example yesterday, he gave a big feel good factor to Baath by not letting Williamson take his place. These things are important in keeping a large squad fully motivated. That's why I think he'll be quite careful deciding whether to add a striker ahead of Bod or Dicko. At least while we are playing only one pure striker. And especially when Bod and Dicko are not exactly getting a hatful of chances.
Anyway, the main thing is we keep winning, and just maybe, if we can get within say 7 points of the sixth placed team over the next month, the season may not be totally over.

Couple of points here. Is there more than one way to spell Batth's surname? Not aimed specifically at you Jamwolf but I often see it with a double 'a' or an apostrophe.
Secondly, at current average points per game 6th is looking at 80 points. I think that's probably a little too high, but to get 78 we'd need to go 14 4 2. We have clearly improved but nowhere near to that degree.

 

[Freddeno]

Couple of points here. Is there more than one way to spell Batth's surname? Not aimed specifically at you Jamwolf but I often see it with a double 'a' or an apostrophe.
Secondly, at current average points per game 6th is looking at 80 points. I think that's probably a little too high, but to get 78 we'd need to go 14 4 2. We have clearly improved but nowhere near to that degree.

No we won't reach that tally Tony

 

[Johnny75]

Whether the TV didn't show the game in a great light or not I don't know but the game itself was very poor. I'm glad we won and I think we did this despite Lambert's selection.

This sounds like a rant and it isn't it is only based on what i saw on the TV and not at the game itself.

The back 4 was much weaker than last week and it showed, to a ,an they looked less confident and had less ability. Coady was particularly poor at right back and Batth still looks crap on the ball and a liability marking. I also noticed how poor his jumping was yesterday given he's had a rest. Stears played well but some of his positioning is downright disgraceful for a player of his experience. We are a much weaker unit without Williamson and both Iorfa and Hause were better than their respective fill-ins last week. One thing that baffled me was that Doherty was much poorer defensively with Stears beside him than Hause. He did have a very good game with the ball at his feet though and I thought some of his distribution was excellent.

Our midfield was very poor in possession first half and only marginally better in the second and I think that was to do with a steadying influence in Saville. Price was pretty poor first half but much better second and a different player with Saville next to him. I though Dangerous was very poor, he worked hard but offers nothing except this and we were in desperate need for a controlling influence yesterday. Oh for a Lee Evans yesterday. Luckily both of our central pair were up against 2 players as mobile as concrete.

I felt for Cav, he worked very hard and had some delightful touches, not least in winning the ball back and using his quick feet to release Doherty. He unfortunately was making runs off Dicko who wouldn't have passed to him if he was out there now.

Costa was his usual box of tricks and I thought he played well against probably Villa's best player in Amavi. Hisdelivery from set plays is very good. Again suffered playing next to Dicko.

I don't get the love for Mason and I thought he was pretty average, offering zero physical presence and very little on the ball to create chances. I didn't think he took his goal particularly well but at least he was there to score. I thought he was anonymous for large parts of the game and in a very influential position you can't afford that. Bright on the other hand looks like a dominant force in that role and whilst his end product isn't there yet I think he's a much better option right now, especially if we are playing Edwards. We can't afford to be playing with 9 for large periods of the game.

Which leads me to Dicko, first the good, he worked hard and looked to have his touch and anticipation back which is a good thing and he looked sharp in his thinking. Now the bad, he was terrible in his shooting and decision making and ultimately he was detrimental to his team. He needs a goal but he also needs to remember he isn't playing a live version of FIFA. Overall Lambert left him on far too long and Bod in his cameo showed why he is in better form than Dicko and should be playing.

As I say I'm pleased we won and I'm pleased we win playing poorly. I think Lambert got his team wrong but I'm pleased for him on a personal note to get one over on Villa and he looked delighted at the final whistle.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Very happy with that performance, good to see the Mol nearly full.

I want to mention Coady and how well he played. First half he had some great link up moments with Costa, kept the ball in play after a few loose passes along the byline and played some amazing lofted passes, one beaut which Dicko was wrongly flagged as offside. Defensively he held the line well and you could see him communicating with Batth and Stears during the set plays where we set the offside trap. Credit where it's due, he played well.

I thought Edwards also did well, managed to get his foot in to break up play at a few key moments as Villa came forward. He put himself about and offered an option going forward in the first half as Price seemed unfocused and was lucky not be booked after spearing through Hutton. Second half it was the other way around as Price marshalled the midfield and played some lovely passes around the pitch.
It was obvious that Dicko has still not clicked into form, his pace is still terrifying but his decision making is garbage, at least 3 times he held up the ball near the byline and had an outlet in Costa or Mason and he tried to turn his man which failed each time. Should have been subbed much earlier than he was.

Doherty seems to be picking up some form, looked quite good going forward, nearly turned his man twice in their penalty area, but he still panics when the opposition attack. He gave away possession after we knocked around a few nice passes, which allowed Villa to come forward and almost score. His passing is poor, he shoots it at his teammates instead of stroking it, as we saw when he fired it at Costa who did well to keep the ball in. Despite all that, Matt had a good game and won some good headers under pressure.

A great result all in all, and a very encouraging performance. Does anyone know what that hashtag #stawawayruss is about? Wolves tweeted it yesterday.

 

[Aikiwolf]

I hate Coady, I think he's a dreadful player, but yesterday he had a really good game. Aside from once when Amavi completely did him he was completely untroubled and made some positive contributions going forward.

I think Lambert is playing a percentage game with us at the moment, play the ball forward quickly and hope our pace can damage teams, I would say there has been a real shift from trying to keep the ball and play it about.

 

[Banjo]

Couple of points here. Is there more than one way to spell Batth's surname? Not aimed specifically at you Jamwolf but I often see it with a double 'a' or an apostrophe.

No, it's Batth. Pronounced 'bart'. It's Punjabi.

For reasons unknown, it is repeatedly confused by some with the name of an Arabic political party (the Ba'ath Party).

 

[Tony Towner]

I hate Coady, I think he's a dreadful player, but yesterday he had a really good game. Aside from once when Amavi completely did him he was completely untroubled and made some positive contributions going forward.

I think Lambert is playing a percentage game with us at the moment, play the ball forward quickly and hope our pace can damage teams, I would say there has been a real shift from trying to keep the ball and play it about.

I've seen 3 of Coady's games at right back and think he's been OK to good in each one.

 

[Lycan]

I thought Coady played well defensively but his crossing let him down. Still doesn't look like he knows what he's doing with the ball at his feet in that position.

 

[Tony Towner]

No, it's Batth. Pronounced 'bart'. It's Punjabi.

For reasons unknown, it is repeatedly confused by some with the name of an Arabic political party (the Ba'ath Party).

Thanks, so just another Goldbourne then!