Brendan King endures an afternoon at Molineux.
Sad news from the new Molineux; the cold and sleet-lashed, North Bank Bunker (AKA: the wheelchair supporter viewing platform).
As the late Hugh Johns (former Central TV commentator) would’ve said: “This was a game of two halves” and, after the half-time break: “A whole new ball game”.
In the first half, Wolves were a typical McCarthyite hard working, rather dysfunctional, team, dominating sufficiently to be leading 1-0 at the break. After the break, however and, no doubt, having received a long pep-talk from manager Mick McCarthy, Wolves fell apart in a catastrophically alarming fashion.
So, I ask, in ranting, rhetorical fashion what Mick said to his ‘put-in-a-shift’ 11 starting players, at the half-time break.
A hint comes from a post-match admission from Mick, when generally blaming refereeing decisions for the second half losing of this match: “I’d have been happy with a 1-0 win”. Of course he would, the idiot, so would’ve every Wolves fan in the ground – including me, sitting drenched and cold in my icy, sound-proof, sleet lashed concrete bunker!
This begs the question: did Mick say as much to his ‘shift-putter-inners’? Like: “Yer doin’ well lads, let’s keep it at 1-0, just sit deep and try to keep the ball and we’ll all be happy with a 1-0 win”. If this, as all Wolves supporters suspect, was the case – then Mick should be out of the Molineux door before the New Year, never to return as the Wolves manager. Because the way the Wolves team fell apart in the second half bears every hallmark of that type of negative and suicidal team talk.
So, the rhetorical queries all Wolves fans were spitting out as they left the grey and sombre Molineux last Saturday evening goes as follows.
a) What did Mick McCarthy really say to his team at the half time break?
b) Why was Adam Hammil (speedy and effective young right-winger) only given ten minutes,
when the rest of the ‘shifters’ had already given up the ghost?
c) Why can’t our number nine (Kevin Doyle) get into the goal-scoring areas and strike on goal
occasionally?
d) If Wolves fail to beat Norwich convincingly on Tuesday will Mick McCarthy get the sack?
e) How on earth has this dysfunctional Wolves team remained out of the bottom three,
relegation zone, all of this season?
f) What did Mick McCarthy say to his team at half time?
g) And, finally, what did Mick McCarthy say to his team at half-time?
Cuz it was a disaster!
PS –final bit of rhetoric from me personally:
What bizarre stadium architect/club official decided to isolate all Wolves wheelchair-using supporters into sound-proof, concrete, cocoons which drain all of the excitement and atmosphere out of attending a live, 20,000+ supported football match?