Murray Should Be England Player; Managers Reaction

By Scott Cooper
September 16 2006

BARNSLEY boss Andy Ritchie couldn't understand why Matt Murray wasn't playing for England after the giant keeper put in another tremendous performance at Oakwell. McCarthy however was less complimentary of his side following a poor 1-0 defeat.

Less than 7 days ago Wolves were celebrating a Jay Bothroyd wonder goal at Leeds United, however just six days later Wolves are left wondering what has gone wrong following the second single goal defeat in a row.

The fact the Wolves players were cheered off at the end of the Derby game and again today at Oakwell shows the change in culture surrounding Molineux. Expectations have been drastically reduced with fans expecting no more than a mid-table end to the season. A push to the play-offs would be nice however nobody was getting carried away following the best start to a season from a Wolves side for 5 years.

Four of the Wolves side in the starting eleven were under the age of 21 with Lewis Gobern (who replaced Daniel Jones) making his first ever start for the club having excelled through the Wolves youth academy.

Little, Clarke and Murray were also part of the academy and it was the Wolves goalkeeper who was again left to take the praise from the opposition manager. Wolves realistically could have been five down at the break but three world class saves from Murray ensured Wolves trailed by just the one goal at the break.

"It could have been five at half time and their keeper should be playing for England after a display like that." Said Barnsley Manager Andy Ritchie after the game.

He made two world class saves from headers and stopped ones from Antony Kay and Paul Hayes in the first half as well. They could not have done any more but he managed to stop them."

After being so poor in the first half it was clear that McCarthy had dealt his Wolves side a strong hand of words. A vast improved second half lead to great chances for Olofinjana, Cort, Clarke, Johnson and Ricketts, but neither were able to find the back of the net.

"We can't perform like we did in the first-half. We had no platform to build on, it was embarrassing, and if it hadn't have been for Matt (Murray) then they could have been two or three up - and that's probably doing them a disservice," said the Wolves boss after the game.

"But, we created chances in the second-half and we could have got the equaliser. The players obviously aren't happy. They have been much better than that. Maybe I have to look at myself because of the team I picked, it's about all of us - not just the players.

"A week ago people were talking about promotion after just a few wins, then we lost on Tuesday and today and now that's calmed down a bit. That's the way football goes, but there's a lot to do yet."

Thanks to: Barnsley & Wolves Official Websites