By Mark Deeks
January 8 2003

NEW YEAR PERIOD (iii)
Wolves Away,
5th January.

You may find it helpful at this stage to click back on your browser and read my Bolton Away column from Boxing Day. Much of what is written there applies to our game at Wolves.

I might have only watched this debacle from the comfort of Gill's living room, but I felt the pain and frustration of all in the black and white crowds from there.

Rarely have I had my vocabulary for "rubbish" tested to such an extent. Words almost failed me for the vast majority of the 90 minutes. I cannot comprehend how NUFC has the ability to make an average first division team look as quality as we did Wolves in this game.

Let us not beat about the bush. Wolves are not very good. With the vague possibilty of an exception for Mark Kennedy, this was a team of players who will almost certainly never grace the highest level in this country (again, in the case of Irwin and Ince). Yet our defence (and on this occasion I include here the midfield four as well) conspired to make them look like the most inventive, flowing, well constructed attack minded team to ever come from the British game.

I can't even be bothered to go into details of the game or how the goals were scored. It barely seems worth it. But safe to say, the following two defensive commandments were broken time after time after time.
Neither are rocket science.

1: Defenders. Thou shalt not "get on the wrong side of your man". i.e. Do not let the player you are marking get nearer the goal than you are. If you break this law you will regularly find that your opponent, (yes, even the crap ones) will score. The aim of the game is to stop this happening.

2: Defenders. Thou shalt not, when your opponents are attacking down one side of the pitch (henceforth known as "the wing"), all, as a unit, head towards that wing and leave an opposing player (or sometimes two) free at the far post. If you break this law, you will regularly find that your opponent, (yes, even the crap ones) will score. The aim of the game is stop this happening.

Readers, I know this is tongue in cheek stuff. If you think that I am taking our defensive problems too lightly then I urge you once again to read the Bolton Away column for a true reflection of how much this situation is hurting and frustrating me, as I am sure it is many of you.

The truth is now, that I don't think I can deal with it any more. Things have to improve. Players have to be bought. Proven ones, not potential ones. I hear Reiziger at Barcelona (Dutch international, plays for Barcelona for god's sake, and can play right or centre back) has been told he is no longer wanted. He is available for £4 million pounds. Who is at the front of the queue? Man City. That is about as depressing as it gets.

(Try to) keep the faith.