First of all, can I just say what an excellent preview thread Gem lad has put on for us, well done Gem lad
I was going for 4-0 but I'm not so sure now .....It could be 5
I suppose the usual suspect will be soiling their undergarments but fear not, Halfy will deliver the points and if anything should go horribly wrong,
I'll blame Gem
Live @ http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewLiveArticle/380468
One match ban enabled
Birmingham City have the option of bringing back fit-again Wolves old boy David Davis for the visit of the Championship leaders to St Andrew's.
Fellow midfielders Stephen Gleeson and Craig Gardner are also available, while on-loan Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson is back in training after a dislocated shoulder on his debut in August.
Wolves go in search of a sixth straight win without record signing Ruben Neves.
He collected his fifth booking of the season in the 5-1 win over Bolton.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo got involved in a touchline confrontation with opposite number Phil Parkinson - and both are now up on a Football Association charge.
Birmingham have twice faced the Championship leaders this season - and have won both games, 2-1 against Bristol City under Harry Redknapp in August and 1-0 against Cardiff City in October, in Steve Cotterill's first game in charge.
"I'm comfortable with any system. A lot of it is just talk. It's about what suits the players, not what the coach wants to do. There's lot of plus oplusses in the 3-5-2 system we played at Sheffield United last weekend, but there are also pitfalls and I do know the pitfalls.
"Wolvers have brought in a few players that were perhaps already used to that system. If you look where he's acquired players from, they would have been pretty au fait with that system.
"I don't think it would have taken as much coaching for him to have done what he's done, in recruiting for that system, as opposed to changing from a conventional back four, or 4-3-3, or whatever.
"I don't mean to take any credit away from him for that but it's easier when you recruit for a specific system if you already have a picture in your mind of how that system would work."
Wolves head coach Nuno told BBC WM:
"It is a derby. We cannot forget that. Derbies are different. They are special games. We look at Birmingham as a tough team.
"I have been involved in many derby games. And taking care of your emotions during the game is the most important thing.
"We still have a long way to go. It is not done yet. It is important that we do not lose our focus.
"Of course we are confident. What gives you confidence is the way you work."
Match facts
Birmingham City are still the lowest scorers in the EFL this season, having netted just 10 times in 19 matches. They have scored three times in eight games since Steve Cotterill took over as boss.
Wolves are comfortably the top scorers in the Championship (40), having fired in nine goals in their last two Championship games - more than their opponents have managed in the last 17.
Blues have lost three of their last four home league games against Wolves, who have not won three in a row at St Andrew's since a run of six straight wins in Small Heath between 1957 and 1963.
Wolves have won their last five Championship matches by a margin of two or more goals - the last Championship side to win six in a row by this margin of victory were Reading in December 2005 (eight in a row) on their way to winning the division that season.
Birmingham have failed to score more than twice in a league game in their last 52 attempts since beating Rotherham 4-2 at home in October 2016, having scoring just 36 goals in that time.
Gianfranco Zola won only two of his 24 matches in charge of Blues last season - but one of them was with 10 men against Wolves at Molineux when the two sides last met in February - and David Davis got what proved to be the winning goal.
🔥Blues v Wolves🔥 [LIVE]
posted on 5/12/17
comment by Vicious Wolf (U8869)
posted 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
remember danny crainie ?
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Yes why? A shining light in a very poor Wolves team
posted on 5/12/17
comment by Oldgoldilox - CI1 (U17303)
posted 10 hours, 22 minutes ago
Not sure what you're on about there Ken, we've played well in most of the games we won this season apart from maybe Reading away and last night.
And looks like Herb's been talking in his sleep. Or maybe that strange outburst was meant for the cricket forum, who knows.
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Really! We played badly in two matches? What about Cardiff and Sheff Utd and QPR? I didn't see those matches but the write-ups and reports weren't too complementary. Additionally, some of the matches I did see; Millwall and Preston come to mind, we were not great.
I think that Spangles has hit the nail on the head in that this Wolves team is not able yet to dominate matches for a full 90 minutes. There is room for improvement and for me; that is an exciting thing.
We won the game last night despite only really dominating for 20 or 25 mins against a team in the bottom 3. Great result, poor performance.
posted on 5/12/17
We will never be able to 'dominate' games for 90 minutes. No team can. Even with 75/25% possession, there's no guarantee of winning matches. I watched Liverpool get that amount against Burnley and they lost 0-2.
What we are doing is accumulating points, whether we're playing well or not. That's the sign of a good side, playing with confidence.
posted on 5/12/17
Barcelona are the only side I have ever seen that would regularly dominate entire matches.
Pretty silly to expect a championship side to do so to be honest given the nature of the division and the fact football is often removed from the equation.
That said, we have won 75% of our games and are talked of as arguably the best champo side ever seen and that is based on merit given how good we have looked for plenty of games this season.
Some folks just won't be able to adapt to a more continental style of play where discipline and control are key and not just going 'balls out' like puppies chasing a shatty stick.
posted on 5/12/17
comment by wolfieintheSunshineState (U16306)
posted 11 minutes ago
We will never be able to 'dominate' games for 90 minutes. No team can. Even with 75/25% possession, there's no guarantee of winning matches. I watched Liverpool get that amount against Burnley and they lost 0-2.
What we are doing is accumulating points, whether we're playing well or not. That's the sign of a good side, playing with confidence.
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How long do you think we should dominate for then? Last night I estimated 20 to 25 minutes. This was enough for a narrow win against a Birmingham side who couldn't muster a shot on target. It wouldn't have been enough against a decent side.
By most accounts including my own, we were poor last night. I expected better when I tuned in and was disappointed with all except the result. Of course we can play better and have done so on many occasions this season. It would therefore suggest that we are inconsistent. Hopefully this will be addressed of the remaining course of the season.
Agree with your point about accumulating points.
posted on 5/12/17
It would therefore suggest this is football in the championship and a derby game to boot.
We will lose more games this season and we will also win plenty more because we are the dominant force in this division.
posted on 5/12/17
comment by Ken Dixon (U21403)
posted about an hour ago
comment by wolfieintheSunshineState (U16306)
posted 11 minutes ago
We will never be able to 'dominate' games for 90 minutes. No team can. Even with 75/25% possession, there's no guarantee of winning matches. I watched Liverpool get that amount against Burnley and they lost 0-2.
What we are doing is accumulating points, whether we're playing well or not.
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Wolfie's right. We're matching our previous, and most recent success to the letter, (or number?) we should enjoy the ride.
posted on 5/12/17
Kinda sucks that we will lose on Saturday
posted on 5/12/17
comment by Ken Dixon (U21403)
posted 2 hours, 33 minutes ago
comment by wolfieintheSunshineState (U16306)
posted 11 minutes ago
We will never be able to 'dominate' games for 90 minutes. No team can. Even with 75/25% possession, there's no guarantee of winning matches. I watched Liverpool get that amount against Burnley and they lost 0-2.
What we are doing is accumulating points, whether we're playing well or not. That's the sign of a good side, playing with confidence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How long do you think we should dominate for then? Last night I estimated 20 to 25 minutes. This was enough for a narrow win against a Birmingham side who couldn't muster a shot on target. It wouldn't have been enough against a decent side.
By most accounts including my own, we were poor last night. I expected better when I tuned in and was disappointed with all except the result. Of course we can play better and have done so on many occasions this season. It would therefore suggest that we are inconsistent. Hopefully this will be addressed of the remaining course of the season.
Agree with your point about accumulating points.
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we were brilliant for 30 minutes then comfortable, albeit below our usual standard, for the rest of the game. but I do not accept that we were poor, or even average. we never looked in danger of dropping points at any stage last night, because we never gave Birmingham a single sniff of goal.
I've read a few times comments such as 'if we had been playing someone better', 'a better side would have punished us'...but the reality is you can only play (and beat) the side in front of you and it would be foolish to assume wolves would not have reacted to better opposition by raising our own levels.
sometimes a 1-0 in first gear can be a perfect result for the night. no wasted effort or energy, no red cards, no injuries, no drama. no team is going to go away and win by 4 or 5 goals every week. some suggestions that wolves have not played well in games fail to recognise how far we've come in just a few months from relegation battlers to a side being talked about as potentially the best ever in the championship.
posted on 6/12/17
Ah! So there is hope for us yet!...