Don't Panic! What else is there to do?

...Many Wolves fans know this feeling all too well.Incandescent with rage at what's happening at the club without any real idea how to fix it...What else is there to do but panic indeed...

When a club suffers relegation many fans fall under the belief that they were unlucky and that the core of the squad that failed will miraculously hit the ground running the next season in a lower division and secure promotion fairly easily.This rarely happens  but since when did football fans have realistic expectations of their clubs ability?

This season Wolves began well results wise with many fans---me included---recognising that even though we  were'nt playing well when we did eventually gain some coherent form results would get even better.Sadly the opposite has happened.Whilst our form has got even worse the results have gone South,and how...

We're now near the bottom of Division One having not won for nine games.The players are not responding to the new coaching regime,overall fitness seems to be very poor----We normally start games well,indeed we have taken the lead in many of the last nine games but fade alarmingly within sixty minutes,sometimes sooner----Confidence is at a very low level and the natives are getting restless.If this downward spiral is'nt addressed toot suite then another relegation is a very real possibility...

The truth is the rump of the squad is'nt good enough and has'nt been for a couple of seasons now.That momentous day when we saved ourselves from relegation with a last gasp goal at home to Blackburn eighteen months ago papered over a lot of cracks within the playing squad.We did'nt rebuild when we were in a position of relative strength.Since then the spiral has been down down down...

In the summer Boss Morgan and his CEO Moxey drafted in Stale Solbakken with the remit to totally change the ethos of the club's playing style from top to bottom.This is an admiral aim but takes time and also means that many of the current squad will need replacing asap.They're either not good enough or not willing to partake in the revolution.

However will Morgan & Moxey back their hunch by backing Solbakken? If so they  have to make funds available for him to buy the players he needs.

Or will they crumble in front of ever increasing pressure to sack Solbakken and start all over again.If they decide to go down this route they had better act quickly and not repeat the laughable debacle of last season when sacking McCarthy a day after the transfer window closed.Then they compounded this total balls up with their badly thought out search for a replacement.We became a joke club in the eyes of many.A feeling it was hard not to argue with.

Can they be trusted to make the correct decision this time round? Only time will tell but the prognosis is'nt good...Let's hope it's only the fans who panic cos' when leaders do there's only one outcome...

10 man Wolves make positive moves...

Last saturday's home 3-3 draw against Brighton may well prove to be something of a catalyst for the club this season.On paper  two points dropped and a further drop down the table may seem an odd starting point for a revival in fortunes but the circumstances of the draw showed the spirit within the club is on an upward curve...

There has been a feeling of unrest lately.Poor results coupled with equally poor results have started a bit of a groundswell of unease amongst the fans.This game was generally seen as a "Must win" If only to quell the fans ire for a little while and also give the squad a much needed confidence boost approaching the end of the year.

Summer signing Bakary Sako grabbed the opening goal firing into the bottom corner after a stunning four man move.Sako is quickly becoming a fans favourite.He has a wonderful left foot and usually hits the target be it the goal or another teamate from a dead ball situation.This makes him one of the most dangerous midfielders in this division in my opinion.My only worry is that occasionally he loses concentration and gives the ball away cheaply in his own half as was the case for Brighton's equaliser.

Up until that moment the game was drifting along to half time in a serene manner however straight after that goal Karl Henry decided to lunge at a Brighton player which resulted in a red card.From my vantage point of queueing at the North Bank bar glancing at the TV it did'nt look a bad challenge but on reflection i maybe did'nt have the best view...Manager Stale Solbakken later said it was deserved and the hole he punched out of the dug out roof probably tells his feelings of Henry's challenge at the time...

Brighton are a good team who move the ball around well.Not many Wolves fans were feeling confident that the second half would see anything other than a backs-to-the-wall display resulting with inevitable defeat.The ineffective Ebanks-Blake was sacrificed upfront to shore up the midfield .

However Brighton appeared not to really know how to best play against a depleated Wolves team and we grew in confidence making sporadic forays into their half.In the 61st minute there was a bad challenge on a Wolves player near the centre circle--It was easily as bad as Karl Henry's---Luckily the ball fell to sub Doumbia and the ref played advantage as he strode on to bury a cracker into the bottom corner.

This was the first goal Wolves have scored at the North Bank end this season but for a while we all thought the ref had pulled it back to give the original foul---I fear had he done that there may have been a riot and Solbakken would have demolished the dug out!---However the ref should have gone back and red carded the player who chopped down our player.

Brighton came alive now and put us under pressure and unfortunately we conceded shortly after.Everybody in our section could see Buckley making his run to receive the through pass.The defenders did'nt see the run though and he slotted passed an exposed Ikeme...

To be fair to our defence we coped well after that apart from one header off the bar and a great Ikeme save.Then in the last minute the ref made a monumental cock up...

The ball was just outside our area and a Brighton player back heeled it into the area.Ward was barely two feet away with his arms at his side and the ball hit his left arm.When a penalty is awarded,especially a potential winner in the 89th minute,the ref has to be sure it was deliberate.There's no way on this earth that was a deliberate action.A disgraceful decision...

So 2-3 to Brighton in injury time with Wolves down to ten men and visibly knackered .They thought they'd won and their braying fans were mocking us to that effect...How sweet then to equalise deep into added time...

We had already gone close to equalising twice in those last four minutes before Roger Johnson's downward header nestled into the bottom corner of the net...Cue mayhem and a very boisterous drunken train trip home...

Only time will tell if this game is the catalyst that kick starts our season.We all hope so...