Match Thread: Wolves v Ipswich Town 14.12.24 KO 3pm
Champions of the World!
By Ivybridge Wolf
December 13 2024
Away from the actual Wolves footballing problems of today, I open with a much more positive story which will be celebrated at Molineux on Saturday afternoon, namely the 70th anniversary Wolves v Honved match played on 13th December 1954. The game itself was played under the old impressive Molineux floodlights and screened live on BBC television which given the year seems remarkable to me, however the glossy gold shirts Wolves wore on the night would have been totally lost on the black and white viewing public. This tussle brought together the European greats of the age and became the historic forerunner of the European Cup, now Champions League. Honved, like Wolves, were the national champions and contained many of the players who trounced England in the year previous, 7-1 in Budapest and 6-3 at Wembley, the latter a scoreline that shocked the English footballing world! The match summary is that Wolves found themselves 2-0 down within the opening 15 minutes but turned it around in the second period with goals from Hancocks and Swinbourne (2) to grasp victory 3-2 following which Wolves were dubbed ‘Champions of the World’! Great days for Wolves indeed.
Fast forward to 14th December 2024, the situation could not be more different and Molineux welcomes Ipswich Town for the first time in the league since our Championship game in December 2017. Wolves won 1-0 in our promotion winning year with all that excitement which followed the side back then. Great days again.
I’d take a 1-0 this time around, I’d take any kind of win to get us closer to the pack above us and be a little more upbeat than at present. We simply cannot fail to win this one but confidence is low both on the pitch and in the stands. Many thought GON would have been gone by now, and so it is difficult to fully understand the Fosun strategy, even with the soothing explanatory words of Jeff Shi published on Friday. Other names have been linked as the new Wolves manager and there are rumours that the job has been declined. Should the performance and/or result be poor this weekend then it is possible terrace toxicity may turn to a great extent on the board rather than GON. I truly hope it doesn’t come to that. The defeat in London on Monday was yet another blow, and the gap to safety widened, however by Wolves recent relative standards, at least it was a closer affair – goal wise.
What about the team? We all know about the defense and current predicament, so I’ll leave it there. Sam Johnson will be the keeper due to the reported injury absence of Jose Sa. Sarabia is another on the injury list and unfortunately Joao Gomes is suspended due to getting another yellow at West Ham. Whoever is in midfield, they must connect with the defense better. Interestingly, we have been told that there is sickness in the Ipswich camp, so that may lead to some changes. They are not a team to take lightly, they can and have scored goals and upset the flow of opposition, however overall the quality of the opposing teams has usually shone through. Where have I heard that before?
From the stats side, Ipswich have won 8/10 of the last top flight meetings, though the last was in 1984!! The most recent game was in the League Cup in September 2023, we were winning 2-0 but lost 3-2 in a very poor performance. We on the other hand have now lost 20 top flight matches in 2024, just 5 (!!!) more than anyone else. That is awful, with Molineux failing to hold any real advantage – us losing 9 of the last 12. On the up, Cunha and Larsen have been a handful of the last month or so, and we need them to shine again this time around. Sadly when Larsen scores, currently we don’t!
The other big positive, possibly the biggest, is that I will be there to continue my unbeaten track record of Seen 2, W1 D1 L0. It was thus written that we will plough though the Tractor Boys with ease!! If only it was that simple.
Enjoy the match, or try to, and lets hope for better fortunes and grasp all the 3 points we so desperately need. Again, in the usual way, please leave your comments and thoughts in the thread below.
Finally, below I have listed two Wolves starting line ups, the first from the Honved match in 1954 and then from our last Championship match against Ipswich in 2017. Just look at the names of both. My word, how we could do with a few of those magnificent players tomorrow.
UTW!!
1954
|
GK |
1 |
Bert Williams |
|
RB |
2 |
|
|
LB |
3 |
|
|
RH |
4 |
|
|
CH |
5 |
|
|
LH |
6 |
|
|
OR |
7 |
|
|
IR |
8 |
|
|
CF |
9 |
|
|
IL |
10 |
|
|
OL |
11 |
2017
Goalkeeper John Ruddy
Defender Ryan Bennett
Defender Willy Boly
Defender Matt Doherty
Defender Barry Douglas
Defender/Midfielder Conor Coady
Defender/Midfielder Romain Saïss
Midfielder Rúben Neves
Midfielder/Forward Diogo Jota
Forward Léo Bonatini
Forward Ivan Cavaleiro
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:01:06:12:16:01 by Ivybridge Wolf.
O'Neil has to leave because it was toxic at the end and it's just going to get worse.
Jeff shi and fosun are deluded and sinking to the championship faster than the titanic.
Where was the passion and fight in a must win game?
Awful.
You’d hope with all the speculation over weeks that Fosun already have a good idea of who they want? Hopefully somebody wants to take ‘the project’ on.
The two Ipswich goals were school boy stuff. Their first was laughable as Semedo languished helplessly to make a tackle. I didn’t realise it was a depressing comedy ricochet from where I was sat. The second goal was just as depressing, due to the regularity of the circumstances. Zonal marking yet again failing to pick up the free man to nod home.
The first half was a turgid and drab affair with Bellegarde sending our only gilt edged chance skyward. So bad how he addressed the ball.
Second half was largely the same and I was shocked to see us score, a really good Guedes through ball and a great Cunha finish. After that we had a 15 minute spell where we created so many good chances, I couldn’t quite believe how we did not score. During this spell the Molineux crowd stopped the Shi chants and really got behind the side, it was vociferous and enthusiastic support.
This Wolves good spell ended and in the final few minutes Ipswich came back into it.
Some really poor performances by our players, Semedo,
Andre, Bellegarde and Lemina top of my hit list. The lack of discipline at the end was terrible, RAN and Cunha frankly pathetic, but there again it seems the discipline has evaporated. Dreadful.
Over to you Jeff. Sort it out.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:12:15:13:01:15 by Ivybridge Wolf.
The sacking is too late, 9 points approaching Xmas is hopeless. We have less points than the same stage in 03/04 when we finished bottom under Dave Jones. There is certainly nothing sad about sacking that waste of space
At full time, although Molineux was already emptying, I thought the crowd would be really angry and vociferously chanting anti Shi and Fosun stuff. There was a little bit but not much. The
Crowd seemed weirdly resigned and apathetic. Apathy represents a real danger and worry for club in my view.
Quote:It'd be even sadder if he was kept on. All managers get sacked at some point or at least 90% - who was the last wolves manager not to get sacked, Hoddle who arguably should have been sacked anyway.Ivybridge Wolf
The sacking of a manager means our club is in deep sh&te. I find that sad. For the bulk of that match yesterday I felt strangely detached, especially the first half, I find that incredibly sad too.
He Dow hang around much though! Click for Managerial career