Wolves 1-0 Birmingham City

Wolves won its second game in a row, moving up to 16th in the table and only five points away from the playoffs. Ironically, it was the Championship’s fifth leading scorer who got the winner; Marlon King deflecting Bakary Sako’s fiercely struck free kick past Jack Butland in the Birmingham City goal.

- Unsurprisingly, there was only one change from the team that beat Bristol City last week; the refreshed and rejuvenated Tongo Doumbia replacing the injured Dave Edwards. This did worry me a little – it’s fine going to Bristol City with four forwards, but I wasn't sure whether we'd manage to deal defensively with that amount of pure attacking players. 

- For the opening 35 minutes, Wolves' midfield was absolutely dominated. Birmingham played 4-2-3-1, with Wade Elliot playing just in behind Marlon King. As other similar players have this season, Elliot found a lot of space in behind Karl Henry and Doumbia. This is obviously the problem with two central midfielders against three, especially considering that neither Björn Sigurðarson nor Bakary Sako are the most diligent defensively. This also left Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley exposed on the flanks as the pace and trickery of Nathan Redmond and Robert Hall caused the Irish fullbacks all sorts of problems. Neither have ever been the best against pacey wingers, and both struggled today. Given that we were outnumbered in the centre, it was impossible for Doumbia and Henry to provide any cover. 

- When Wolves did come a little more into the game towards the end of the first half, it was when we bypassed the midfield completely. Both Henry and Doumbia were dominated in the middle and weren't able to provide any sort of platform for Sako and Sigurðarson. Wolves could have easily taken the lead when Christophe Berra clipped a long ball forward, Kevin Doyle won a good flick on, but Sylvan Ebanks-Blake slipped when clear on goal. Doyle also had a goal ruled out for offside when Henry crossed from deep. Whether it’s Ståle’s instructions or not, the team do seem a lot more prepared to play in a more direct manner than in the first couple of months of Solbakken’s reign.

- The second half was a far better performance, with Tongo Doumbia having far more of an influence. Whether this was down to Ståle Solbakken, in a reversal of recent half time team talks, I’m not sure. Certainly, Jon Spector’s injury may have had an impact; the US international taken off for the young Ravel Morrison. Morrison is certainly a talented player, but is a more offensive minded player. In the first half, Spector and Hayden Mullins had played simply, protecting the defence and stopping Henry and Doumbia playing. Without Spector, Doumbia was freed up, and was able to set up a number of attacks.

- One frustrating thing in the second half was the lack of a right winger. Sigurðarson was nominally playing on the right in the first half, but I doubt his boots got any chalk on them after the break. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem – I’m a big fan of having one winger hugging the touchline, with the other winger given more freedom to roam. But, on this occasion, this frustrated me given that Paul Robinson was cautioned just before half time. He must have spent the break considering the possibility of getting another yellow card, especially considering he’s a full blooded thug player. Yet, I don’t think any Wolves player ran at him once – I’d have loved to have seen Sigurðarson use his pace to trouble Robinson – either Robinson waves Sigurðarson past him, worried about being sent off or he makes a tackle and risks that second booking. It was so frustrating to see him given the easiest second half he’ll ever have.

- For the second game running, I thought Ebanks-Blake was excellent. But, equally good was Kevin Doyle. Their partnership has never quite blossomed in the way that all Wolves fans hoped it would, but this new system suits them very well. Ebanks-Blake is starting to develop into a decent figurehead for the team, receiving the ball into his body, backing his ample sized backside into the defender and laying the ball off. He did this on occasion under Mick McCarthy in the Championship, when we played Andy Keogh wide right and Dave Edwards in behind Ebanks-Blake. In addition, Doyle is appearing to like the role he’s been given playing a little deeper. This gives him the opportunity to receive the ball with his back to goal, but also allows him to turn and run at the defenders, as was seen perfectly in Bristol last week. This front-4 has its deficiencies, as seen in the first half today – if we are under the cosh, we’re basically playing with six outfield players. But, when we are attacking, it gives us two lightning quick players (sometimes) on the flanks, and two strikers who should be amongst the best in the division. Obviously they aren’t all going to play every game, but when they do there won’t be too many defences in the division who can live with them.