HENNESSEY, HENNESSEY

By Tom Bason
December 4 2011

 Wolves today beat Sunderland 2-1, thanks to a brace from Steven Fletcher. Sunderland had taken the lead through Kieran Richardson, before Sebastian Larsson missed a gilt edged chance to wrap the points up for the Black Cats, Wayne Hennessey saving his spotkick. 

• I'll start at the start, and the line-up. The obvious talking point was the absence of Roger Johnson from the team, Jody Craddock replacing him. My views on Craddock are reasonably well known - he shouldn't still be at the club, and if we are ever forced to play him, we are probably in serious trouble... My second thought was that it was a very attacking midfield, but more on that later.

• With Johnson (captain) out and Craddock (former captain) in, surely the former Sunderland defender would have taken the armband? But no, it was Stephen Ward. Evidence of both Craddock's new status at the club, and also the way that Ward has made himself both an integral part of the starting-11, but also the entire club.

• The first real chance came for Steven Fletcher, playing upfront with Kevin Doyle, whose goal bound header was saved on the line by Keiren Westwood (my sources assure me it didn't cross the line). But, what was interesting was the 'quick corner' that preceded it. When Stephen Hunt sprinted to gather the ball after the corner was awarded, I assumed he just being his usual spritely self. But no, he fired the ball out to Matt Jarvis who quickly crossed, leading to confusion in the box. I've often wondered why teams don't take corners quickly, before the defence has had chance to organise themselves. Unfortunately, the subsequent corners were taken at a normal pace.

• I said I'd talk about the midfield, and here we are. I'm sure there will be people adding together the fact that Karl O'Henry missed out and we won, and coming up with five, but I don't think the midfield pairing worked. Both Dave Edwards and Jamie O'Hara are similar types of box to box midfielders, and didn't work in tandem particularly well. They seemed to both either be too deep or too far forward. Admittedly, this probably wasn't helped by the inclusion of Jody Craddock, whose lack of pace forced us to defend slightly deeper than we do normally, leaving a lot space in the centre of the field that O’Hara and Edwards failed to fill. Had we playing against a more tactically astute manager, this space would have been utilised by moving Stéphane Sessègnon into a more central position. This would have caused real problems for the defence, as he would have effectively had no direct opponent. As it was, we were perhaps fortunate that Eric Black persisted with the relatively defensive pairing of Jack Colback and Lee Cattermole.

• Can two minutes define a season? We could easily have been 2-0 down, but instead were level at 1-1. I couldn’t see us fighting back had Larsson scored the penalty, but at 1-1 it was anyone’s game.

• Speaking of the penalty, it was a good save from Wayne Hennessey. It was noticeable that when Fletcher equalised, Ward ran to Hennessey, not Fletcher to celebrate the goal. But, I felt Wayne was at fault for the goal, although I think everyone expected Richardson cross across the face of goal. He also had a rush of blood to the head when he raced out of goal to a ball he had no hope of getting. The most worrying thing about this passage of play was the amount of time it took him to make the decision, and then getting it wrong. Still, he’s probably been our best player this season.

• I actually almost missed Fletcher’s equaliser – I saw the header but not the cross. I was too busy watching Christophe Berra having an apoplectic fit in the centre circle. Craddock had somehow injured himself as Larsson fell over his outstretched leg, and had left the field for the penalty. But, with the ball not going out of play, we hadn’t managed to get Johnson on. Ward and Ronald Zubar had bombed forward, leaving Berra on his own with Nicklas Bendtner and Sessègnon for company. It was not until Zubar noticed that he dropped back into the centre-back position. I feel this wouldn’t have happened had Henry been playing, he would have seen and dropped back. Neither Edwards nor O’Hara had the positional nous to notice.

• It feels strange to say, but until Fletcher equalised, I’d have said that Doyle was the more effective player – he certainly got a lot more involved in the build-up play. Fletcher looked disinterested at times, epitomised by allowing himself to drift offside that smacked of laziness. Aside from nice link up in the second half, again there was little to suggest that there is a blossoming partnership between the two. Maybe we’ve been unlucky that we’ve often had one of them injured, and so they haven’t had that much game together.

• A win is a win, but it could all have been so different. From my seat in the South Bank, it looked like Phil Dowd got three big decisions wrong. Firstly, it didn’t look like a foul on Larsson. Secondly, O’Hara maybe handled the ball in the build-up to the winning goal (although this was admittedly at the other end of the pitch so my view wasn’t brilliant. And finally, it looked like Ahmed Elmohamady was clearly onside with Sunderland’s last chance. I hate that it when the defence runs out like that, and we were very fortunate to escape.

• Next week, we are away at Manchester United, who have only conceded one league goal since THAT defeat to their Manchester rivals. Similarly, they have only scored one goal in each of those matches.

Two Vital Minutes Change The Game - Wolves 2-1 Sunderland

Discussion started by Wolves , 04/12/2011 20:38

Wolves
04/12/2011 20:38

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ernesto hunt
05/12/2011 01:00

Just on the Richardson goal - I think it would have been a cross across goal but for the lack of any pressure on him from our full back. H e just wasn't there,allowing him to shoot for the gap between Henner's and the near post.

You say that two minutes may define a season, in reality it may be that moment. Without it no first goal or any of the proceedings after and perhaps no victory.

Having played for 45 years and watched for 55, I smile at some of the absolute convictions some have on here as if possessing prescience on these matters.

Stats are the nearest we have to for-knowledge and very few of those appear on here to any great detail.

As for £15m in Jan, Al. Would be nice but I don't think there will be sufficient quality players available even if MM got that much. £6m and 3 is more likely. But hey, what do I know?

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Arthur Tannen
05/12/2011 11:52

Harsh on Craddock, the fact he's still here says more about McCarthy's inability to sign a quality centre half than it does about Jody. For the 5th season in a row we've tried to replace him and failed - Darren Ward, Stearman, Mancienne, Mouyokolo, Roger Johnson, Christophe Berra have all been brought in during the last 5 years and every single year at least one of them has suffered a massive drop in form and Craddock has had to come back and each and every time we have improved. So for those reasons alone he should still be here but of course, well into our 3rd season in the Premiership we shouldn't still be relying on a 36 year old.

He still doesn't look out of place though and I'm not sure we defended any deeper than usual, as even at 36 he's no slower than Roger Johnson.

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Stourport Wolf
05/12/2011 14:36

I thought Craddock looked in great shape and he did well. Just his presence lifted the crowd too and may well have also have contributed to greater patience after going behind. Lets face it Wolves fans quite rightly love Jody Craddock and also quite rightly are non too keen on Roger Johnson. Lets hope Johnson can turn it around like Craddock has so many times.

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wolverina
05/12/2011 15:46

Always a good servant, Jody. I think he did OK - it was clear to all but the referee (and the assistant, who incidentally was a disgrace and couldn't keep up with the game) that it wasn't a penalty. Cheating Larsson will not be allowed to forget it. I don't think Jody would have made it to the end of the game because he gives his all. Pity about the hamstring, though. It took the pressure of Johnson not having to start. Perhaps his composure will return.

I did think there was more purpose - we had a bit of luck, but then we had a bit of bad luck, too - so all in all, a good three points. We don't have to be brilliant - just better than the team we are playing - and we were yesterday.

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Ivybridge Wolf
05/12/2011 18:26

I'll add to the chorus of approval to our beloved F@nny C.

Put simply, he lets his football do the talking .... unlike a recent high profile purchase from Blues (he has time to improve though).

He is the consummate pro .... if Teddy Sherringham and Gary Speed (god rest his soul) can carry on until 40, why not Jody?

Remember he used to be sh$te but now he's definitely alright! Shame about his injury.

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Hall_Green_Wolf
05/12/2011 18:37

I dont like that song although it is funny.

In my book he was never 5hite. My favourite player of the last ten years by a mile.

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irishwolf
10/12/2011 11:40

I though Jodi was excellent last week... he can read a game so well which makes up for a lack of pace..
I can see him Managing Wolves some day.

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