A Gripping End To The Season: Wolves 2-3 Blackburn
You've Kept Us Up Again
By Tom Bason
May 22 2011
Football, bloody hell. I'm not sure I can go through at again. In theory, I'm only 25 but I feel 65 today. My hands and legs are still shaking and my heart is beating nineteen to the dozen.
- I headed to Molineux dreading it. No-one in the press seemed to be considering us for relegation, while our odds of 8-1 seemed far too generous given our history of messing up against the teams around us. I thought we would get a draw, and was just praying that the other teams would not get the wins they needed.
- The team was exactly how I expected it to be, Matt Jarvis reinstated after his cameo at the Stadium of Light last week. Personally, I don't think Jarvis plays well in a 4-4-2 as it means he has to start slightly narrower and he doesn't have the security of the three man midfield behind him.
- No matter how euphoric the management and players feel now, it should not erase the memory of a first half performance that was arguably the most inept and pathetic of the season. Even the successive disintegrations against Newcastle United and Everton were better than this.
- The defence was very poor. Junior Hoilett and Martin Olsson gave Kevin Foley a tough time in the early stages before he started to get to grips with them. On the other side, George Elokobi looked the most secure; probably aided by the fact he was up against Brett Emerton whose primary strength is his size rather than pace.
- The central defenders allowed themselves to be battered by Jason Roberts and Hoilett, and neither played well. While it was Michael Mancienne who was withdrawn at halftime, it could easily have been Jody Craddock who now looks his years. While he adds a degree of calm and leadership to the defence, his creaking body isn't up to the pace of the Premier League. If we are still relying on him next season, I will be extremely worried.
- In the middle of the park, Blackburn's defensive pairing of Steven N'Zonzi and Jermaine Jones dominated Karl Henry and Jamie O'Hara. When we did manage to the get the ball, there was often too much distance between them and so the ball either headed backwards or high balls forward that was food and drink to Phil Jones and Christopher Samba.
- Each and every one of you will have had your own emotions this afternoon, so I'm not going to repeat them. All I will say is that I've never had a range of emotions like them - anticipation, anger, sadness, hope, despair and ultimately joy. Even when I've been waiting on exam results that could decide the path that my life will take in the future, I've felt nothing like I've felt today.
- I barely noticed the play on the pitch in the second half, other than the two well taken goals. O'Hara's was similar to his goal against Albion. Hunt's is a late contender for goal of the season, a swerving, dipping strike that gave Paul Robinson no chance.
- The second half was spent concentrating on the other games. As usual, reception for my phone was rubbish, so it was the old fashioned wireless for me. I ended up updating all the people around me, quashing the rumours that were flooding through the fans. Unless one fan was psychic and predicting goals 10 minutes before they went in, there was a massive amount of disinformation.
- The reaction of the crowd was excellent. From chants of 'United, United' following Manchester United's equaliser against Blackpool, to 'One Goal, We Only Need One Goal' when we realised we were going down on goal difference. I didn't really need the radio; you could almost work out what was going on just by looking at the faces of those around me.
- The atmosphere after the match was excellent. Blackburn's players were deservedly applauded back onto the pitch and joint chanting with their fans was like nothing I've ever seen before. I've particularly been a fan of Blackburn, especially during the Mark Hughes era, but I think that today brought both sets of fans together, united in relief at another Premier League season.
- Finally, a word on those around us. Before the match, if I had to pick a team I wanted to be facing next season, it was Wigan. I have a lot of time for Roberto Martinez, his teams always to try to play football, and to stay in the Premier League for 7 successive seasons is a remarkable achievement, especially if you think that the likes of Leighton Baines, Titus Bramble, Wilson Palacios, Antonio Valencia, Lee Cattermole, Emile Heskey, Jimmy Bullard and Pascal Chimbonda have all departed the club. I like Blackpool as a club, but Ian Holloway has annoyed me more and more over season, and his rant this week that the Premier League wants to see them relegated was laughable.
- Most of all, I'm pleased we've registered our place in the Premier League next season, but if ever Mick McCarthy needed a reminder that this team needs investment, today should have done the job.
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I'm happy and not happy, Enjoy tonight but I'm going to grizzle big time tomorrow.
And spot on about Wigan - caps off to them and their manager...
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:05:25:19:07:33 by wolverina.
