Birmingham Mail

Wolves chairman Steve Morgan is probably not a vindictive sort, and lest we forget he remains a boyhood Liverpool fan, but even he could be forgiven a knowing smirk at events up on Anfield just at the moment.
Morgan, who of course has tried and failed to take over at Liverpool on several occasions in the past, was never really in the frame when it came to the ridiculous amounts of money thrown into the pot by American duo George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
But as Morgan went on to point out when he took the reins at Molineux, this was not Gillett and Hicks’s wonga to spend.
It was all based largely on finance agreements, and such has since been the state of the markets that it appears the pair now need to sort out another re-financing agreement to safeguard their position.
Meanwhile the Dubai International Capital conglomerate, who were very much interested at the time Gillett and Hicks took the helm, are also now believed to be once more waiting in the wings to pounce on this current sign of weakness.
Steven Gerrard says it’s all taking its toll on the players, and Rafa Benitez can hardly be thinking life is going swimmingly after the owners admitting talking to Jurgen Klinsmann about possibly moving into his job.
What a farce!
So what has this got to do with Morgan and Wolves?
Not a fat lot other than Morgan, should he so wish, being able to stroll back into Anfield sporting both a knowing smile and a big “I told you so,” t-shirt.
But what it does indicate is how perhaps Wolves have struck lucky with a entrepreneur as prudent and business-savvy as their current owner.
Let’s face it, it’s not been a fantastic season at Molineux thus far.
A decent run when not playing well followed by a far from decent run when not playing well has left supporters – admittedly only those seemingly suffering from amnesia – questioning whether Mick McCarthy should remain as manager.
Morgan meanwhile has kept his calm, kept his counsel and kept his faith, not diverting from his preferred course to avoid becoming a “rent-a-quote” chairman whilst at the same time letting it be known he is more than happy to give McCarthy the time to turn things around.
Of course he won’t be happy with how events have transpired, and rest assured there will have been some ‘lively’ discussions behind the scenes with McCarthy, one of which is known to involve Wolves’ style of play.
There have also been murmurings about possible interference in the identity of transfer targets, but that’s all it’s been, murmurings.
Providing those sort of events are officially kept in-house, and providing Morgan keeps the pressure off McCarthy in the way that he has by remaining cool, calm and collected, the manager is given the freedom to be able to crack on with the job in hand.
And that can only be of benefit to everyone.
You haven’t heard any Wolves player echoing Gerrard’s words about any off-field tensions affecting gold and black performance.
There isn’t, and never will be, the slightest suggestion Morgan is going to potentially damage Wolves by operating beyond his means.
So while there is still a mighty long way for Morgan to achieve the promotion blueprint he has in place at Molineux, just maybe current events at Liverpool will show that the Merseysiders’ loss is to prove very much Wolves’ gain.

WE’VE not even reached ‘Twelfth Night’, and yet the season of goodwill towards Mick McCarthy has seemingly evaporated quicker than the bottle of Scotch stuck away by Grandad on Christmas night.
Sections of the Wolves’ fanbase, not yet openly but certainly via the perennial ‘Strop Shop’ of phone-ins and Internet messageboards, are vociferously calling for the manager’s head.
And the widespread booing and chants of “You don’t know what you’re during” after replacing a chest infection hit Andy Keogh with Stephen Elliott against Sheffield United certainly shows McCarthy’s honeymoon period has now departed with the tinsel and mistletoe.
It’s a question which has split the Wolves public like a political hot potato.
While those phone-ins and messageboards have been enveloped by angst and vitriol, we must always remember that it is far easier to criticise than to compliment, and those wishing to vent their spleen are always far more likely to put finger to keyboard or telephone dial than those keen to maintain the status quo.
And from talking to a variety of fans from all generations and different corners of Molineux, there is still certainly mixed feelings about where Wolves should go from here.
So what’s the story? Is he under pressure? Should the Wolves fans – those demanding a change – get their New Year wish? Or will the resolve of McCarthy, his team and the Molineux board prove decisive?
It seems inconceivable that the man who could do no wrong last season has certainly built up an army of doubters.
We’re too far down the line for the jury to be out, but there are those who delivered their verdict last season all of a sudden fearing a miscarriage of justice.
So talking of juries, what are the cases for prosecution and defence?

So honours even at the Hawthorns today after a competitive and entertaining derby if never really a classic.
That was certainly good news for Wolves, after barely threatening to get close to Albion during last season’s two visits to the Hawthorns.
And also in a way for Albion too, as it was enough to lift them back into the top two ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Plymouth.
Injury worries for both teams however, with Baggies striker Ishmael Miller out for four to six weeks with a knee injury and Wolves facing an anxious wait over talismanic winger Michael Kightly, who left on crutches after picking up an ankle problem.
A few quick thoughts from the gold and black perspective:

1. After such a bad week for English football on the international front how refreshing to see two fully committed teams really giving it a go (albeit in club football’s second tier!) The game produced a fascinating clash of styles with Albion’s free-flowing passing pitted against Wolves more earthy brand of pragmatism combined with pace on the break.

2. Jody Craddock and Darren Ward. What an impressive performance from Wolves’ experienced centre back pairing. Genuine pre-match fears about how they would cope with Miller’s power and pace and yet they used all their wiles to great effect. The fact that Craddock was almost out of the door a couple of months ago doesn’t bear thinking about.

3. Darren Gibson. Doesn’t half look a player. No wonder it’s very much a loan deal when it comes to Manchester United allowing Wolves to have Gibson. Has got all the touch and poise of a United player, and should be of massive benefit to Wolves if they can keep him for the season. Also possesses a powerful shot which should see him snaffle a few goals as he beds down in the side.

4. Wayne Hennessey. Was there a calmer presence among the 27,000-plus audience than the clean sheet king? This really was Wayne’s World with his first penalty save for Wolves following an even more impressive stop from Felipe Teixiera shortly after the break. And carried out his post-match interviews in such low-key fashion that you’ve have thought he was talking about a trip to the shops rather than his new-found status as a Wolves’ latest derby hero.

5. No crowd trouble reported as yet. Good news. Both sets of supporters traded ‘insults’ over last year’s play-off semi finals without it ever spilling over.. Although the Wolves fan throwing the ball at the prostrate Ishmael Miller was perhaps a bit naughty. Still, the crowd of 27, 493 surpassed the 26, 539 at the recent Second City derby. Fair play.

6. I am now £1 poorer after taking a punt on Leon Barnett as mentioned in my previous blog. Actually. Make that £2 because to even things up I had a pop on Darren Ward as well. As did Teixeira in the second half. Still, perhaps every derby needs a bit of spice from time to time.

So that’s it for now, until March 8 anyway.
Unless of course they meet in the FA Cup. Again. Surely not………

So just a few hours and counting – and Wolves and Albion will, yet again, square up for the latest Battle of the Black Country.
Six derbies in 13 months, five in the year 2007, what’s that phrase about having too much of a good thing?
Certainly too much of a good thing where Albion are concerned, as with four out of five wins last season, including both legs of the play-off semi final, all the bragging rights are certainly currently occupying the blue and white corner of the region as opposed to gold and black.
Indeed those 2,000-plus Wolves fans making the short sojourn down the A41 tomorrow morning must surely be doing so more in hope than expectation.
After all, Wolves haven’t won in seven visits to The Hawthorns stretching back to “Iwan Roberts Day” in 1996.
And with two wins to Albion’s nine from the last 15 derbies the weight of recent history is akin to that of one of those Darts boys currently plying their trade at the Civic.
And yet, such is the up-and-down nature of life as a football fan that the ultra-optimistic will head off in their cars, coaches or trams somehow dreaming that Wolves can upset the applecart not only of those recent meetings and also current form.
Can they do it? It’s a big ask.
The suggestion that Wolves have an advantage because of possessing more derby-day experience for me doesn’t wash.
Does it matter that it might be a first Black Country derby for the likes of Bostjan Cesar, Felipe Teixeira, Roman Bednar?
Of course not. There are big games, derby games, all over Europe, not just in England and not just in the Black Country.
No. The only way for Wolves to get a positive result tomorrow, and by that I include what would be a very good draw, is to defend stoutly, try and suppress Albion’s free-flowing style and avoid any Scott Carson-esque mistakes.
Then, if Michael Kightly can do his stuff on the break, or Jay Bothroyd or Freddy Eastwood produce something out of their ordinary, just maybe Wolves have a chance.

It was revealed today that Wolves owner/chairman Steve Morgan has something in common with the Queen.
Namely being misrepresented in a television documentary.
In Morgan’s case, it was all to do with ‘Millonaires Mansion’.
The Channel 4 series, screened in September and October, followed Morgan and seven other self-made millionaires as they went out to a remote part of Uganda to try and help the poverty-stricken villagers become more self-sufficient.
The key was to help them to help themselves rather than dish out charity, and while Morgan set about – with villagers’ assistance – trying to set up a water supply the other seven embarked on some potty scheme of building a hotel which would offer future volunteer helpers somewhere to stay.
Daft, Hare-brained. Ridiculous. But of course probably more entertaining telly than the far more sensible and ultimately life-changing notion of fresh and accessible water for 3,500 residents who otherwise faced hours carrying buckets up and down the valley.
So Morgan was then turned into the bad-guy for the purposes of TV, filmed constantly bickering with colleagues and supposedly storming off early.

All self-respecting football teams have a bogey team. One whom it seems they can never beat, regardless of form, fettle and fitness.

For Wolves, for a long time that team was Albion.

No no not that one. Albion of the Brighton and Hove variety.

Painful thing the end of a relationship.
When a partner says, ‘right, that’s it, give me my Chris De Burgh CD’s back, I’ve found someone more attractive.’
Can leave a broken and forlorn heart blubbing into his/her pillow and wondering just how he/she will get through the night.
O-k then, that might be over-egging the pudding somewhat.
But so it was that winger Michael McIndoe was allowed to leave Wolves in the summer for Championship newcomers Bristol City.
McIndoe felt City were a better option, that they would produce more attractive football, play to his strengths.
And he probably wanted sole control of the Chris De Burgh CD's.
Meanwhile Mick McCarthy, certainly never one to be blubbing into his pillow, simply made sure Wolves got a decent price for a self-labelled ‘footballing gypsy’ who only stayed at Molineux for nine months and was then happy to send him on his way.
Of course the explanation wasn’t that simple, it never is.

Sometimes even journalists end up wishing that a story would run its course.
That after endless bouts of seemingly going round in circles, there could be some resolution, some closure.
At Wolves this season there have been enough column inches written about Freddy Eastwood to bring down a small rain forest.
From his arrival as a big-money ‘star’ signing, to his opening the season on the bench, to his coming in and scoring goals for club and country, and then back to sitting on the bench, Eastwood’s Molineux inauguration has provided the Wolves fans with plenty of debate to sink their teeth into.
Then, with five minutes on the clock at Ipswich on Saturday, came the chink of light press and public alike were all hoping for.
Eastwood, having knuckled down and started to adapt his game to Mick McCarthy’s demands, placed the ball on the penalty spot after Michael Kightly was felled by home keeper Neil Alexander.
For Eastwood, and all followers of the story, possible salvation.
A fifth goal of the season, a place back in McCarthy and supporters’ hearts, and the chance to relaunch his Wolves career.

Wolves’ midweek win in Cardiff offered a fascinating glimpse between past and present when it comes to the club’s managers.
A fascinating contrast between Dave Jones and Mick McCarthy.
In many ways the two are so much alike.
It wouldn’t be derogatory to describe them as ‘old school’ bosses – tough, uncompromising defenders in their day whose management skills were honed through their personalities and life experiences rather than any coaching badges.
That’s not to say they haven’t fulfilled the necessary coaching criteria – McCarthy indeed completed his UEFA Pro Licence this summer.
But at Ninian Park on Wednesday we saw the contrasting ways in which both are trying to get their respective clubs up to the Premiership.
And the Jones approach certainly brought back a few memories of his dances with Wolves.
Bringing in the experience and established quality of Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is a typically Jones decision.
“I bring in good players and just let them play,” was one of the mantras from a manager who was never disposed to wield too much weight on the training field.
Throw in Darren Purse and Trevor Sinclair – and you could have been transported back to Molineux of old and the acquisition of the likes of Paul Ince, Denis Irwin, Mark Kennedy and Colin Cameron.
Heck, Jones has even brought in a ‘Rae’ – though this time Gavin and not Alex!
In contrast McCarthy’s masterplan both last and this season is a more vibrant and energetic one driven by the exuberance of youth as opposed to the wiles of experience.
Yes there are years of established know-how from figures such as Gary Breen and Jody Craddock, but in the positions which tend to dictate your attacking thrust, the front six, Wolves boast an average age of 23.
And it showed the other night.

Mick McCarthy may have been called many things by his Irish detractors down the years.

But even they must surely never be able to doubt his courage.

The Wolves manager made a quick hop across the Irish Sea on Tuesday night to take in England under-21s game with the Republic. And it wasn’t to check on the progress of his own winger Michael Kightly (who wasn’t even on the bench, probably to McCarthy’s satisfaction!).

OKAY not Rod, Jane and Freddy but Steve, Jay and Freddy.
But you see where I’m coming from.
In Wolves’ case the question of the week is who gets the nod to partner Andy Keogh up front in Saturday’s clash of the promotion-chasers with Charlton at Molineux.
Keogh and Stephen Elliott have been Mick McCarthy’s main partnership of choice so far this season.
But with Elliott having last week returned home from Republic of Ireland duty with a hamstring problem and unlikely to be fit for the weekend, it’s down to a two-horse race between Jay Bothroyd and Freddy Eastwood.
And Bothroyd’s lively performance and goal for the reserves against Shrewsbury on Monday afternoon means he’s probably just about nudged his nose in front.
With the fallout of his two public and early-season spats with McCarthy now pretty much eroded by his knuckling down since, the former Charlton man said this afternoon he is now desperate to be “let loose” against his most previous club.
And I don’t think he was talking about the 90’s boyband with the dodgy barnets.
Eastwood may have to come up on the rails as his travails with Wales on Saturday were about as subdued as his last Wolves performance as a second half substitute against Coventry.
But like Bothroyd, he boasts explosive finishing power, and remains the club’s top scorer with four so far.
Don’t forget too that Eastwood may get the chance to stake another claim and don his shooting boots for Wales against San Marino on Wednesday night.
So Steve, Jay or Freddy?
Whoever of the latter two gets the nod will be hoping to see some light at the end of the rainbow come 3pm on Saturday.

Foot-and-Mouth disease is something that regularly comes and goes in the news.
Well when it comes to John Toshack, Foot-in-Mouth has never been away. (see what I did there!!!)
The ever-insightful Welsh boss can now add Mick McCarthy to the expanding list of footballing folk he has alienated after his ill-advised comments about Freddy Eastwood last week.
Tosh decided to throw a few brickbats at both McCarthy and Derby boss Billy Davies for spending big bucks on Eastwood and Robert Earnshaw in the summer – and then not playing them.
As McCarthy himself said with a smile: “Good old Tosh.”
After all, Toshack is of course the manager who has seen Eastwood play in all his games so far this season.
He is of course the manager who sees him train every day, who chats to him about his game, what improvements are required, how he is settling into his change of environment.
Oops. Sorry, I forgot. It’s not Toshack who manages Eastwood day-to-day and knows how best to treat him. It’s McCarthy. Silly old me. Good old Tosh.

IT’S been quite an eventful start to life at Wolves for striker Freddy Eastwood.
A debut Wolves goal followed by a short, sharp burst of a few more – a debut Wales goal followed then by another – then finding himself dropped before last weekend allegedly dropping someone else in a Basildon nightclub.
With Eastwood having so far probably wisely kept his own counsel on his police caution following Saturday night’s fracas, Mick McCarthy today answered questions on the subject in his usual forthright and honest way.
The crux of his response was that unfortunately incidents like this tend to follow footballers around - an “occupational hazard” if you like.
McCarthy himself has presumably found himself on the end of several flashpoints down the years – wrong place, wrong time, and then, as he admitted, “you find yourself in a situation over which you have no control.”
Without ever condoning whatever transpired last weekend, having spoken to his striker McCarthy is certainly not going overboard other than reminding his players of the potential pitfalls when they are out and about - as Eastwood was perfectly legitimately - on the night after a game.
The player himself is also far from the sort of footballing bad boy which the tabloid press were probably hoping for after discovering the story.

IF any Wolves fans are concerned about Mick McCarthy getting into a blind sense of panic at the below-par start to the season then there’s certainly no need to be.
McCarthy was in top form at this morning’s usual pre-match press conference, recognising the seriousness of the situation but also able to keep a lid on any fears of anxiety.
And let’s face it, with what McCarthy has been through in his managerial career already the loss of back-to-back games in the Championship isn’t going to knock him out of his stride.
As well as discussing the following day’s game and his reasons for recalling Jody Craddock, McCarthy also revealed his trusted lieutenant and right hand man Ian Evans is having to scale down the more physical side of the job due to problems with an old hip injury.
Terry Connor, a hugely popular figure among the players, will step up to a more hands-on coaching role while Evans will do more scouting and oversee games from the stand on matchday as well as still being involved around the camp in the build-up to games.
And that’s important.

A staple diet of more training for Wolves today - this morning in the rain back at the AUL ground on the way to Dublin and this evening more fitness work and running drills on the beach.
And for Mick McCarthy, a press conference at Bohemians training ground to promote Sunday's second and final friendly of the tour.
That also brought him into contact with a footballing figure sporting a bit of Birmingham history.
Sean Connor, the Bohemians manager, spent just over a year as Blues' press officer in the early part of the decade, picking up valuable footballing experience as he pursued his coaching badges.
From there he went to coach out in America under Wolves' public enemy number one John McGinlay, before taking the helm at Sligo Rovers in the League of Ireland.
Success there landed him the post at Bohemians, one of Ireland's biggest clubs, where expectations are high.
Connor, still in regular contact with Blues boss Steve Bruce, was keen to catch up on all things Birmingham and to be remembered to the Mail's 'Mr Blues', Colin Tattum.
Having sat on the other side of the fence, Connor knows all about handling the questions from the Irish press contingent.
And so too McCarthy, who in his usual top form was able to comfortably fend off any movements towards asking about, you guessed it, Sunderland and Roy Keane.
It was an entertaining 20 minutes, including one particularly surreal moment midway through.
A chap walked through the main entrance to the site, each of his feet covered in plastic bags, carrying a bike.
McCarthy's fit of giggles said it all.

Change of routine for Wolves this morning, as after the exertions of last night's friendly with Bray it was a morning down by the seaside on Portmarnock Beach.
But this was not a trip to the beach of the bucket-and-spade, writing your name in the sand, running in and out of the sea variety.
This was still work. And damned hard work at that.
Several of the squad nursing slight aches and pains such as Darren Potter, Michael Kightly, Freddy Eastwood and Matt Jarvis were 'treated' to a dip in the sea to soothe those weary limbs.
But the way Kightly emerged after his half an hour in the water describing the "freezing water" meant it certainly wasn't one he was hoping to repeat!
Meanwhile the rest of the squad were back doing their running and fitness exercises under the expert guidance of fitness coach Kunle Odetoyinbo.
They did indulge in a fiercely-contested game of beach football, including some skills from Darren Ward which had manager Mick McCarthy describing him as the "Cantona of Crystal Palace."
Keep an eye on the Post & Mail over the next few days for some superb shots of the team in beach action taken by our Mr Murphy.
Meanwhile, it's now 11.40am and there's a copy of the Irish Independent lying untouched outside room 328? Mmm.....

So that's the first Irish game out of the way for Wolves, a blistering second half display and two goals apiece for new boy Freddy Eastwood and Jay Bothroyd clinching a 4-0 win at Bray.
Although the first half wasn't exactly thrill-a-minute, it will have done Wolves no harm at all, and as well as that second half goal blitz they have now kept two clean sheets in two pre-season friendlies.
Bray, a delightful little town about half-an-hour out of Dublin, had staged the friendly as a testimonial for their former striker Kieran 'Tarzan' O'Brien.
Why Tarzan?
Well according to the local Irish journos as a young whippersnapper O'Brien used to swing from tree to tree in a ravine not far from his home.
Marvellous.
Meanwhile there was also an added bonus for the Wolverhampton press core attending the game.
On arrival, the photographers were tipped off by an Irish colleague that new signing Stephen Elliott was at the game.
Within minutes all the necessary photos were in the can and thanks to Wolves' later on an interview was secured with Mick McCarthy's latest signing.
Spare a thought too for Wolves' club secretary Richard Skirrow.
Having flown out in the afternoon to bring the relevant papers to complete the Elliott deal, all was signed and sealed by just after midnight, leaving Skirrow with barely time to say "Make mine a Guinness" before departing back to Molineux in the early hours of the morning.
Meanwhile the mystery of room 303 has been solved.
Amid fears that the untouched newspaper outside the room meant some great horror had befallen the guest inside, turns out it's the current residence of Post & Mail photographer Steve Murphy.
And while that prompted all the usual stereotypical gags about snappers struggling with spelling and long words, Murphy assures me he'd read the same paper down in the restaurant while consuming a herculean breakfast.
Our pictures are in safe hands.

Wolves were certainly - to use one of those marvellous pre-season phrases - "put through their paces" on their first training session of their Irish tour at the
nearby Athletic Union League complex in Clonsmaugh.
Meanwhile messrs John Hendley and I, having missed the chance to tail the coach following the late submission of copy, once again made a devil's job of
actually finding the place through the region's country lanes.
There seems to be a theme developing here.
Still, we got there just a few minutes into the players' warm-ups at the small facility to join the smattering of Wolves fans who had travelled to get a close
eye of their heroes.
Included among their number were the indefatigable Swedish Wolves, regular attenders at both pre-season and regular season games for plenty of years.
They were there to present their Player of the Year award to Matt Murray, who looks like making his comeback from injury in tonight's friendly at Bray.
Meanwhile the training session was conducted among the constant sights and sounds of aeroplanes making their low descent into Dublin Airport.
Apparently, as someone pointed out to me, that particular airport is the biggest in the world.
Every year, it just keeps Dublin and Dublin and Dublin....
Meanwhile, the complimentary copy of the Irish Independent, left outside our rooms each morning, still lies, completely pristine and untouched, outside Room 303 down the corridor.
Do you think we should investigate?

WOLVES' base for their pre-season tour - Portmarnock Hotel - houses a championship golf course designed by Bernhard Langer and was once the family home of the Jameson Whisky dynasty.
And some of the travelling party could have probably done with a tot or two after an eventful plane journey from Birmingham to Dublin.
Thanks to some more wonderfully seasonal weather - rain, rain and yet more rain - as well as a brief and fierce thunderstorm, Wolves' plane endured some pretty hefty turbulence, including at one point a ten second spell where one staff member remarked, "it was going sideways!"
As for myself, photographer Steve Murphy and Wolves press officer John Hendley, it was the more sedate, and lengthy, route of travelling to Holyhead, a pleasant one-and-a-half hour ferry across the Irish Sea and then, why are all capital cities the same, a far from pleasant crawl through Dublin City Centre in rush hour.
For the players last night was just about having a quick bite to eat, walk down the beach and acclimatising to their 'home' for the next six days.
Today it's a light training session ahead of tonight's first friendly with Bray Wanderers.
With the Irish Wanderers already well into their League of Ireland season, there could yet be a spot more turbulence to cope with from 7.45 tonight

So just as the nation’s schoolchildren prepare for a wonderful six weeks of doing absolutely nothing – he said without any hint of envy or bitterness – the nation’s footballers prepare to go back to school.
Or at least that’s how some of the Wolves players described returning to pre-season training after their own six week ‘holiday’.
It’s been just over a week since the Wolves squad checked back in at work and, almost to a man, they seem absolutely delighted to be there.
Infact Michael Kightly, Stephen Ward and Andy Keogh were so desperate to get back in the swing of things they actually came in a day early!
Presumably they also left an apple on Mick McCarthy’s desk and asked if he wanted the blackboard wiping just to make sure.