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lake district canary

A game too far

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We put all our effort into beating Ipswich and then tried our best to beat Arsenal, which has backfired in the last two games.  Poor tonight, but then only a week ago we had just beaten the scum and were heroic in our match at the Emirates and gave a great account of ourselves. The point I am making is that there is still a long way to go this season and although those two results may have cost us in the league through injuries and tiredness with the amount of games left, there is no reason to be too downhearted.   Btw, Wolves made 9 changes last Tuesday in case anyone says they have played the same amount of games in the last two weeks. Yes, we looked very poor tonight, lacking in any direction or purpose, but the squad are on an energy sapping learning curve. Time will be the big healer - two weeks off after Saturday (with hopefully another three points away) and plenty of games to get us back up to speed and at least into the play offs.  Cliche, I know, but it''s a marathon not a sprint.  

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Wolves are as good as we''ll see at Carrow Road this season, so in that respect it''s no disgrace to lose to a quality team.

And while we are missing 3 or 4 players who would likely be in the team I think we could see enough tonight to see we are still a bit short of being a top side in this league.

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Except Wolves also took Man City to extra time and penalties.

Even if we were completely fresh the result wouldn’t have been different. It’s nothing to do with fitness, every home game has been marred by the same issues

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Wolves outplayed us tonight. But the goals conceded were very sloppy. Why are we so poor at defending routine routine set pieces?  Our form at Carrow Road is a major cause for concern. We just don''t look like scoring.

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Lakey, I don''t think we''re going to make the play-offs, despite you''re eternal optimism, but mid-table will be fine. And in the long term, I''m not sure that''s a bad thing. Farke needs time to get his ideas across to the players, he also needs time to build a squad with his stamp on it. Like you said, a week and a half ago we beat the binners and for 80 minutes, this time last week, we were doing well against the Arsenal, so in context tonight is not the end of the world. We don''t look like a side that are going to be struggling at the bottom end of the table, so that''s good. We have looked fairly sound over the last 10 games at the back, but are severely lacking options going forward, a lot of which is down to injuries. Get the right players in to offer an attacking threat in the next couple of transfer windows and I''ll be happy.When it comes to Farke, I have more of a feeling of Worthy''s first year rather than Hughton''s.

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Well said.

I''d have much rather seen Olivera saved for Derby though. The cup game was an epic display but one which ultimately would bring us no value.

We should have looked to take 7 from the last 3 league games and I''d have played our u23s at the Emirates and taken a 5-0 loss to be on 26 points right now.

If we get our blend right and get players fit we should just about make 6th, but there are 10 teams who currently look like they could edge in the 4 playoff spots!

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Not a game too far at all! Every team knows it’s Sat, Tues, Sat for most of the season though, it’s a manager who constantly changes the attacking 4 who cannot get into a way of playing together!

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[quote user="Pyro Pete"]Wolves outplayed us tonight. But the goals conceded were very sloppy. Why are we so poor at defending routine routine set pieces?  Our form at Carrow Road is a major cause for concern. We just don''t look like scoring.[/quote]Yeah, that''s the biggest concern - too easy to defend against. We''ve undoubtedly made progress, but the tiredness has shown in the last couple of games. Hopefully we''ll have enough in the tank to beat Bolton on Saturday, especially as we play better away from home, and we''ll still be in a good position.We are only one point outside the playoffs, and we have Pritchard to come back as well as a fully fit Oliveira if all goes to plan. Tettey also makes a difference when he''s available. The weaknesses in our system are evident, but it''s a more complex beast than playing direct 4-4-2 and it will take time to get the right balance. Can''t complain about the signings he''s made - Gunn, Zimmermann, Reed, Stiepermann and Trybull have all proved to be very good acquisitions, and Husband is getting up to speed. Watkins was only ever going to be a bit part player, and Franke and Vrancic are the only two real disappointments so far (although Franke hasn''t really done a great deal wrong in the games he''s played, Millwall aside). That''s a good ratio and shows that our recruitment is definitely improving, as well as speculative acquisitions such as Fonkeu, Phillips, Abrahams, Raggett and Mourgos.This was never going to be an overnight success, but there are enough positive signs to hopefully keep most of us optimistic for the time being.

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I think that sums it up Mr Wolf.Oliveira, Tettey, Pritchard, and Naismith would be a loss to any squad.the club us certainly heading in the right direction. At the moment there will always be clubs where someone is tgrowing the money around to get success. And there will be enough players who will see what a PL contract will bring.But there are also plenty like Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton, Blackpool who have had the money and fallen badly. Others like Villa, Fulham, Brum have not made it back while others such as Sunderland, Boro and Hull are curently struggling. And there are others such as Derby, Forest, Weds who would see their size as being in the PL.So maybe some of our lot should recognise that there is no right for us to be in the PL. Wehave to earn it - but not by selling our soul to the devil or any other money laundering shyster either.

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All amounts to a bit to do in the next window. Not unexpected considering that we are work in progress under the new regime.

A striker of decent repute or an undiscovered gem in the Jamie Vardy mode being the ideals. Perhaps one of either (or both is being lined up already and perhaps the latter is currently plying his trade in the German lower leagues.

We can but aspire.

Alternatively, I''ve previously mentioned Bradshaw of Barnsley and I wouldn''t object to us offering a couple of million for Waghorn down the road (with a decent wage incentive) as both of these would offer the goal threat we seem to be lacking. The latter is a silly thought I suppose but has some ingenious merit.

Now down to finances then. I cannot believe that we are totally skint and another parachute instalment must be due soon in any case, but I could be wrong about either matter.

There is always the loan market.

Nevertheless it would be useful to unload a few.

The Naismith/Jarvis liabilities of various kinds have been well documented. Both would seem to be unsaleable though.

Despite his pace, his moments of brilliance and potential match winning capabilities (?) young Josh Murphy doesn''t seem totally convincing these days by all accounts. He certainly is currently not the player we once thought we could pin our hopes upon. I suspect many attendees will disagree with this view from the sofa.

Would cashing in on his (perceived) reputation be such a sin?

Unless Jarvis metamorphosises into the player he once was (and some hopes there) we also need another wide man and somebody who can at least cross the ball with accuracy.

I believe that we are well set in midfield, although Vrancic courts controversy and doesn''t set a game on fire despite being useful in parts and would therefore be on my ''for sale'' list, even though it''s early days. Some players don''t work in some situations as talented as they might be.

Dare I say it. I would also cash in on Oliveira if a proper offer were to be repeated. This was the last thing I wanted in the Summer but his season thus far, a mixture of reward and unavailability, is not serving our interests too well. We seem over-reliant upon his goals, yet who can forecast the number of games he will be able to score them for us and the whole scene surrounding the player seems to have gradually become disruptive for one reason or another.

We have some very decent players on the injury list and some extremely promising youngsters in many positions, but even so that ''goals for'' column needs improving as a matter of some urgency.

The most optimistic appraisal of our position by January is that we could be handily placed for a last third of the season push for something meaningful. It all depends upon Farke''s ability to address needs when he is offered the window of opportunity.

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If it was a game too far then it was only a game too far for the players who played in all our League Cup games. And of course that''s entirely down to the Manager who has insisted in picking nearly all our best players for those games who are then either knackered or injured for more importantant league games (e.g. Hoolahan, Oliveira etc etc).

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Beaten by the better side, but attacking wise we didnt lay a glove on them and thats happened at most home games this season regardless of the stature of the opposition. You can play a team with more "quality" than yourselves, but you still have to identify a way of creating more chances than we do currently at home. Saying all that, i still feel confident Farke will get there.

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We have Cameron Jerome, Marley Watkins, Josh Murphy and Yanic Wildschut in our attack.

We won''t be troubling many defences while this stays the same.

The back line is developing well and most of the midfield is solid, creative and passes well enough but it all falls apart when it gets in the opposition final third unless Nelson is playing.

We were crying out for at least one more striker and better wide players in the summer but nothing happened.

If this isn''t addressed in the January window then expect to see the remainder of the season to repeat itself thus.

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@LDCWolves made 9 changes against Man City.That was an option open to booth managers, ours chose to play his strongest side, wont berate him for that as it is good to see he takes the cups seriously, but he was fully aware of what fixtures were coming up and the likely toll.

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[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]@LDCWolves made 9 changes against Man City.That was an option open to booth managers, ours chose to play his strongest side, wont berate him for that as it is good to see he takes the cups seriously, but he was fully aware of what fixtures were coming up and the likely toll.[/quote]Indeed. Given his career to date in lower German leagues, I think the buzz for him of coming up against a club like Arsenal was just too good an opportunity for him to pit his wits against a top PL club and play the strongest team he could.  I don''t blame him for that either - and he has said all along he wants to win every game, league and cup.  Whatever, we lost to the top side last night and they were better than us.

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Would like to make a point that although Wolves might have played the same number of games as Norwich in the last two weeks, their players didn''t, seven Norwich players started all four games while only one Wolves player did the same over that period, not having a pop at the manager he knows best, but Wolves must have been a bit fresher and less jaded, perhaps they have a bigger squad less injuries and can rotate more.

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[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Lessingham Canary"]@LDCWolves made 9 changes against Man City.That was an option open to booth managers, ours chose to play his strongest side, wont berate him for that as it is good to see he takes the cups seriously, but he was fully aware of what fixtures were coming up and the likely toll.[/quote]Indeed. Given his career to date in lower German leagues, I think the buzz for him of coming up against a club like Arsenal was just too good an opportunity for him to pit his wits against a top PL club and play the strongest team he could.  I don''t blame him for that either - and he has said all along he wants to win every game, league and cup.  Whatever, we lost to the top side last night and they were better than us.

[/quote]

Although, I was surprised we didn''t make wholesale changes for Arsenal, I could see the logic behind his selection:

We were on a good run, so keep momentum going.

Also, I think it may have been a reward for those players that have been integral to the turnaround since Millwall.

I just hope we have enough in attack to defeat Bolton and then have a well deserved international break.

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Wolves have bought the title, what chance did we have? None. There''s a theme here if that money keeps on rolling in. I''m sick of it tbh.

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