Wolves 3-1 Barnsley

Wolves tonight got its Championship season up and running with a 3-1 home win over Barnsley. Stephen Ward gave Wolves the lead before Sylvan Ebanks-Blake grabbed his second of the season. Dave Edwards extended the lead before Tomasz Cywka grabbed a late consolation.

- The line-up won't have surprised too many, with the inclusion of Christophe Berra mooted during the day. Berra and Roger Johnson were Mick McCarthy's preferred pairing for much of last season without ever looking like a proper partnership. The only other change from the team defeated in Leeds was the full debut for Slawomir Peszko, in ahead of the disappointing Anthony Forde. Forde looked out of his depth at Elland Road, and it was no real surprise he was left out.

- Given the poor defensive performance of Saturday, it makes sense to take a look at the defence first. I thought Roger Johnson had a very good game; one block late on was exactly what I was expecting see more of last season. As I mentioned earlier, Johnson and Berra have never been the most natural of partnerships, but on the whole I thought they did well tonight, helped perhaps by Barnsley striker Craig Davies deciding to shoot from further and further out throughout the match. The major problems defensively tended to come from Barnsley midfielders breaking beyond the strikers. Barnsley played two upfront (both former Wolves strikers, Marlon Harewood and Davies), who were generally picked up by Johnson and Berra, meaning that when a Barnsley midfielder broke beyond the forwards, it was down to a midfielder to track him. Generally, Karl Henry and Tongo Doumbia did this well, but one time David Perkins broke through, and with a little bit more composure, Barnsley would surely have gained an equaliser.

- One notable aspect of Ståle Solbakken's tactics appeared to be that he plays two narrow wingers. Today, with Peszko and Matt Jarvis on the flanks, there was plenty of width. Jarvis especially caused his opposing fullback plenty of problems, and it was of no surprise that the opening goal came from down that flank, with nice interplay between Ward and Ebanks-Blake freeing Ward in the penalty area, and the full back converted nicely. Interestingly, in the first half, both wingers appeared to be free to wander a little, with both popping up on the opposite flank to good effect. Firstly Peszko found himself on the left and his clipped cross to the far post was headed over by Kevin Doyle. Later on, Jarvis beat the left back and whipped in a right footed outswinging cross which found Ebanks-Blake at the far post, who tried to nod down to the onrushing Peszko, but was intercepted. When the wingers found themselves on the other flanks, it was noticeable that the other winger didn't switch sides as well, so at times both wingers were on the same flank. This suggests to me that Solbakken doesn't particularly want them to switch flanks, and indeed in the second half both were more positionally disciplined.

- If you count Ebanks-Blake's goal against Aldershot as Wolves' first of the season (and for the sake of this point I'm going to), this was the second season in a row where Stephen Ward has scored Wolves' second goal of the season.

- In the middle of the pitch, Henry and Doumbia's partnership is starting to gel. It has been thought over the past few years that as formations develop, midfielders are becoming more specialised and the classical 'box to box midfielder' is dying a death. However, Wolves appear to have two midfielders who are enjoying playing this role, taking it in turns to push forwards. Perhaps the single box to box midfielder is dead, but as a pairing it is very much alive. Doumbia was the pick of the players again tonight, looking stylish in possession yet covering the entire pitch. I'm not sure he's of Arsenal quality, but in the small glimpses I've seen of him, it's of no surprise that he'd been linked to Premier League clubs. He could well prove to be one of the signings of the season.

- It was very noticeable that it was after Doumbia and Henry were substituted that Wolves lost control of the midfield. Despite Edwards grabbing the third goal, he is still a far from convincing midfielder, and I was very surprised to see him be introduced ahead of David Davis when Henry was withdrawn (incidentally, this substitution of Henry was very different to the last time he was taken off, the infamous booing against Newcastle United). I felt that Davis' style was more conducive to the style of football that we were playing, but he failed to impact on the game when he did come on. Doumbia and Henry look a very good partnership, but Edwards especially is not in their class. I very much hope that we are not keeping Edwards while letting Nenad Milijaš leave, whose calm passing style would have been ideal to introduce late on.

- One day, perhaps in 50 years time, Ebanks-Blake and Doyle will click, but at the moment they both look like two players playing on different teams. There were one or two moments of decent interplay, but generally both appeared happier to interact with other team members. Individually, I thought Ebanks-Blake was very wasteful in possession, but looked lively around the penalty area, and was always a goal threat. I've not seen a replay, but I thought he was clearly onside for his goal (Peszko looked offside in the inside right channel, but wasn't interfering with play) which he took very nicely. Doyle looks like he's forgotten how to score goals, although he forced the keeper into two decent saves, and went close from a narrow angle. Björn Sigurðarson played well again when he came on, with one or two excellent flicks to bring other players into play. I suspect he will soon be introduced to the starting line-up, leaving a straight shootout between Doyle and Ebanks-Blake. In terms of goals, Ebanks-Blake is already two to the good, but who knows which way Solbakken will turn.

- As I mentioned earlier, upfront for Barnsley were two former Wolves strikers. An indication of how little Mick McCarthy progressed the side during the Premier League years can be demonstrated by this fact - of the 11 starters tonight, six were at the club when Marlon Harewood was in the side. Alongside Harewood was Craig Davies, in his first start at Molineux since the 2006/07 FA Cup defeat to WBA. That still ranks as one of worst performances I've ever seen from anyone in a Wolves shirt.

- Last night's result was more than just three points. The players didn't seem to relax until we were two goals clear, and seeing as it was 261 days since we last won a match at Molineux, and 199 days since we won a match anywhere, it's hardly surprising that the players would be nervous. They had forgotten what it feels like to win a match, and the mental battle is arguably the most important that will face Ståle Solbakken this season.