Ricardo's report v Wolves

[ricardo 8,034]

Games against Wolves are invariably tight affairs and I was expecting

nothing different when the teams ran out on a mild, damp, grey afternoon

at CR. Alex Neil stuck with an unchanged side after the victory at

Charlton and it seemed the right choice as the opening minutes were

staged largely in midfield with Tetty and Johnson engaged in a physical

battle with their opposite numbers.There was little action until

the 10th minute, when Redmond beat the offside trap and raced away on

the left. Unfortunately he dallied too long and eventually blazed a wild

shot high into the Barclay. Wolves looked happy to contain and

consequently we saw little from them in an attacking sense. It took a

while but as the half wore on City gradually assumed an ascendency that

never released. Howson found space in the box but couldn''t connect well

enough with his head and then a little later made space for a long range

shot only to send it straight at the keeper.Neil Swarbrick

earned the wrath of the crowd for booking Tetty over a perfectly fair

tackle and then let one or two similar offences by Wolves defenders go

unpunished. Just as we were beginning to wonder where a goal would come

from, City won a corner when Hoopers shot was deflected well wide.

Redmond slung over a peach of a corner and Johnson was right on cue to

flash home a header from six yards.Wolves tried to react but in

truth there was very little danger apart from a couple of hairy moments

when defenders reverted to old habits with injudicious passes across the

back four. Right on the stroke of halftime a poor pass from Bassong led

to Wolves first shot on target and although Ruddy collected easily

enough it was ample warning that not all was done and dusted.The

second half kicked off with City maintaining a high tempo game which

the opposition found difficult to combat and consequently much of the

game was being played in the Wolves half. Johnson and Tetty maintained a

stranglehold in midfield and with Hooper and Howson linking up well

with Grabban, City continued to offer a goal threat. I felt it needed a

second goal to be comfortable and with ten minutes of the half gone, it

almost came. Howson robbed a Wolves defender and a Grabban latched onto

the loose ball, unleashing a low shot from 25 yards that looked goal

bound until Kuszczak flew to his left to palm it away.It got a

bit open for a time as Wolves began to go long but City seemed to have a

newfound defensive strength and there were few alarms to worry the

crowd. Andreu replaced Redmond just after the hour and within a minute

of the change City moved two goals clear. It was a peach of a goal with

Bassong picking up the ball in our half before releasing the overlapping

Olsson down the left. The fullback centred hard and low and There was

Louis Grabban rushing in to slide the ball beyond the keeper.From

there on in there was no sign of all the old failings as City continued

to dominate proceedings and look comfortably superior to the opposition

in all departments. It was something that we have been waiting all

season to behold. All that was left was for Kuszczak to produce another

astonishing save, this time to his right to again foil Grabban before

Hooper left to huge applause and Jerome came on for the last rites. With

time running down City continued with their uptempo game right to end

as they squeezed any remaining life out of a well beaten Wolves side. In

my opinion this ranks as probably our most complete performance of the

season.Its hard to name a MOM from this all round good team

performance as there was not a weak link anywhere but if pressed for a

name then I will give it to Alex Tetty for a strong combative and

skilfull disply. Having said that, I''m sure the names of Johnson,

Olsson, Hooper and Grabban are just as likely to feature highly on other

peoples lists for each had a good case to argue.

[Surfer 1,547]

Thanks Ricardo, as always your match report is much appreciated. Good to hear we maintained effort and concentration, sounds like AN is having the desired impact on the players, who we always knew we had the quality...

[? 0]

Great report Ricardo, are you Mick Dennis in disguise?

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

That''s a particularly complete report Ricardo, even by your standards.

You identified the tempo we played at and that might be something we have been missing.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]That''s a particularly complete report Ricardo, even by your standards.

You identified the tempo we played at and that might be something we have been missing.[/quote]I''ve felt that something has been missing all season. Today looked to me like a complete performance at long last.Nothing is impossible if AN can keep them playing like this.

[Guest]

Today was very much a team effort but i agree that Tetty stood out slightly from the rest of an excellent team. I don''t know what the new gaffer is saying or doing but he seems to have players coming back to the kind of ability they were signed for. Today was a good day.

[lake district canary 4,830]

Thanks Ricardo.  Missed all coverage today - and your report is exactly what I would have wanted to hear. Great stuff.

[Canary Jedi 610]

thanks for the report - performances are really encouraging and there is hope....

[R Mellie 0]

Spot on report (as usual Ricardo), I heard Johno got MoM, and though I thought he had a great game, I had Tettey for my MoM, I thought he bossed the midfield from the back.

It was great to see the team (on the whole) moving and working as a unit - I know it''s a cliche trotted out often, but we really did seem to up the work ethic slightly for the whole game today compared to some games this season.

Yes, a few misplaced passes across the back very occasionally, but I really can''t criticise too much and overall a superb all round performance IMO - here''s to many more like that.

otbc

[Mutley 167]

Great report as ever. I agree with your sentiments: ''In my opinion this ranks as probably our most complete performance of the season''.

A very solid professional display against a side that are no mugs. Perhaps the top two is not beyond us?

[Lessingham Canary 108]

great report Ricardo, well written and 100% accurate as a reflection of the game, which was an excellent day at the office.

MOTM for me was Tettey, though BJ never gave an inch all game, and the whole team showed a new found confidence and sense of belief.

[ca 1]

Great report Ricardo, do love to read it when I get home from the game to see if we''ve seen the same game and we usually do lol

[Dubai Mark 0]

Thank you Ricardo.

I like what I am hearing...higher tempo..and a team that appears to at last be performing to its potential.......so far so good with our new management team!

[AJ 1,358]

For the first time today I think we looked confident and classy, a side that can beat others in the top six. If we can keep the ball, play at that tempo and cut out of silly mistakes there''s no doubt we could beat any of those above and around us and if we can keep that form up we''ll give ourselves every chance to sneak into the top two. It''s been done before so we just have to keep believing. Some big, big games coming up in the next few weeks.

Once again great report Ricardo, still hard to believe Archant have never contacted you to write on behalf of them!

[Mello Yello 2,572]

Alex Tettey was tremendous today, and Bradders came a very close second. I agree that it was the most professional and organised display we''ve seen at Carra this season......All the squad ''put a shift in'' and long may it continue......Oh, and the ref was a soggy pudding......OTBC!

[ron obvious 1,711]

Many thanks again Ricardo. Professional & entertaining as always.

[Herman 11,136]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]Alex Tettey was tremendous today, and Bradders came a very close second. I agree that it was the most professional and organised display we''ve seen at Carra this season......All the squad ''put a shift in'' and long may it continue......Oh, and the ref was a soggy pudding......OTBC![/quote]

Was the ref as bad as he sounded? Was the commentary biased towards City or was he a Wolves fan?

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

Pretty accurate reflection of proceedings, Rick.To my mind we are looking more and more cohesive with each passing week. Clearly after the Charlton hiatus, there is still work in progress, but it''s obvious from yesterday that AN is addressing this problem, and we are beginning to look a good deal stronger defensively. Wolves'' threats were really kept to a few half chances. Although Wes has his fans, it''s a no-brainer for me to put Tettey in before him, as we just appear far more sold. Unchanged side at Vicarage Rd , anyone ?The only pity about this is that one is now coming to the inescapable conclusion that if  this, or a similar, regime had been here from the start we''d be looking nailed on for a top 2 place now, as opposed to having to settle for the play-offs. But there''s no point crying over spilt milk, and we''ve just got to go with it, as it stands.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

Yes the ref was as bad as he sounded, and worse. We''ve had 2 so called premier league referees in the last month or so and both have been as bad as the usual championship rubbish.

Was a shocking decision to book Tettey. He clearly got the ball and also he only gave the free kick and booking because of the high pitched girly scream and ludicrous jump in the air from their player. A worse tackle on Redmond some minutes later only resulted in a free kick (he forgot the dive and wailing).

It''s the inconsistenty that''s most frustrating. I could accept the decision on Tettey (although wrong and simply disrupted the flow) if all similar tackles were punished which they weren''t. At times it looked like he wanted to let the game flow as both sides got away with shoves and pushes and at others he couldn''t wait to blow his whistle.

The most comical thing about the Tettey tackle was all that actually happened was he lost his contact lense and so subsequently sat down on the pitch, disrupting play and delaying the game for another few minutes.

Also give the 4th official some purpose other than to be berated by both managers for the entire match (as funny as that is to watch).

[Herman 11,136]

Ta. It was the Tettey decision that caused most consternation but a few others that caused head scratching.

[Newton 0]

Tetty was booked because yes he won the ball but had his studs raised to shin height

That was the reason - cant lead with your studs