The morning after.

It doesn’t look any better this morning in print in the Sunday newspapers and on the TV. 5.1 was the result and it wasn’t a fair reflection, probably 8-1 was more realistic.

I had to laugh at the end of yesterday’s game because we were so bad at the end of the game that Blackburn were politely queuing up to score. Fortunately they were also polite enough to miss most of the chances.

It didn’t bode well when the team was announced. A 4-4-2 formation to me, seemed the wrong choice.

We basically lost the game in midfield.

To have two ‘creative’ players in Silas and Newton out wide, gave Cameron and Ince no chance to stop Blackburn surging forward. The defence, with the exception of Naylor, held it’s own but it was only a matter of time.

The first goal, a thundering header from an unmarked Amoruso, was a bad way to concede the first of potentially many goals this season.

The second was something we’ve not seen in Division one. Amoruso again was involved. He picked up the ball in his own half and just ran straight down the middle of the pitch unchallenged. We know that central defenders in Division one can’t play the ball but this bloke is a different class. No one challenged him as players stood on their own opponent. Eventually the ball found its way to Thompson who blasted in a rocket of a shot leaving Murray helpless.

At this point I thought that it was down to Blackburn as to how many they wanted to score. It was men against boys. Blackburn were too physically strong for us, using their upper body strength to wrestle Wolves players off the ball. Blackburn were too slick in their passing and movement. They also could control and retain the ball with ease. What little possession we had was squandered with mis-control or a stray pass.

Fortunately the hosts seemed to lose interest in ripping us apart and sat back on their 2-0 lead giving us a little bit of possession prior to half time to regain some composure.

However, Blackburn decided that they fancied another after the interval and this time it was Emerton who thundered another shot across a defenceless Murray.

The introduction of Blake however, was the one bright spot for Wolves. When he came on, for the woeful Silas, he wanted to play well in front of the fans of one his previous teams. He showed Iversen how to link up the play and having adopted an attacking formation we looked dangerous going forward for a spell.

However, when Iversen was put through for what would have been a one-on-one with Friedel, the Spurs reject failed to control the through ball and mis-controlled it straight to Friedel instead.

With the atmosphere in the Blackburn end resembling a library or a morgue, Wolves fans took it on themselves to lift the gloom and started getting behind an already beaten team.

Therefore, it was just rewards when we got our first ever goal in the Premiership when Newton’s trickery led to the goal. His cross found Iversen unmarked on the six-yard box he almost managed to miss but his header hit the post and came back to him and even he, well he could, couldn’t miss. Some relief if nothing else. Shame that it wasn’t King Kenny or a more deserving player to go down in the record books though.

The headless chicken (a.k.a. Luzhny) replaced Deano on the right but Blackburn thought it was time to give Andy Cole a run out. You could see that Cole was class as he ran rings round our defence. His two goals were superbly executed and you have to take your hat off to him. That’s the difference between a free transfer and someone of value Mr.Jones.

Just to add to our host’s already great opening day we brought on Henri Camara. His bright orange boots made the Blackburn fans roar with delight. At least something woke them up. Personally people who wear coloured boots let themselves in for abuse and he must have had too long a set of studs in them as he kept getting the ball and his feet stuck in the turf whenever he had possession.

With the Wolves defence having run itself into the ground added to the heat exhaustion and mental tiredness, Blackburn could have gone into double figures but for poor finishing. It was a huge relief when the referee blew his whistle to end the agony.

I had to pinch myself to remind me from what division we’d been promoted from last season. Was it the third? No, it was one division lower on paper but several in terms of playing ability, skill, strength, stamina, cohesion, tactics, ball control - you name it.

So was it a one-off? Well no we are in for bigger thrashings if we play like this week in week out.

I think that the blame lies totally with Jones. Wrong formation, wrong team, wrong tactics.

Jones must have thought we had a chance of getting something out of the game with the team he selected and formation. I’d have gone for 4-5-1 with Rae in for Silas and Luzhny in for Sturridge. We could then have competed in the middle with more compactness and given the overworked defence some cover.

Sure we were missing Super Jo, King Kenny and Sparky but even they’d have struggled to make a difference yesterday.

As for the new signings well I despair already.

Silas was a joke. He must have thought he was still playing in Portugal where you get an hour on the ball and don’t have to tackle anyone. He reminded me of that fake trialist Southampton had several years back when the lad claimed to be George Weah’s cousin.

Iversen was a donkey. Considering he had prior Premiership experience his anticipation was very poor. When Blake came on you saw the difference and Nathan was definitely more promising at this level.

Luzhny, the headless chicken. I can’t see him helping the defence. He seems to have no concept of where to play and wouldn’t fit into a cohesive unit.

Craddock the only one who made an impression. Was solid for the majority of the game with Butler, it was just they were carrying the midfield as well.

Sure it’s early days and you can’t judge on one performance but we are going to have to learn to move from an O’Level to Degree status in two or three weeks.

If we lose at home to Charlton next week then we’ve got real problems as we’ll be marooned at the bottom of the table after just three games.

Man of the match was Matt Murray. If it hadn’t been for him we would possibly have set the record defeat in the Premiership which stands at 10-1. Great shot stopping and reflexes a real gem for the future.

Irwin, Butler and Craddock coped well and did what they could. Cameron was all over the place chasing four players as was Ince. Newton did ok in spells but his defensive qualities mean he’s a real luxury player and that doesn’t really justify his inclusion over the course of the season.

Sturridge wouldn’t normally have started but this is a thank you for the 20 goals he scored two seasons ago. I think it’s time for a move to Smalsall for Deano.

Oh well, life goes on. We’ve got longer highlights on the Premiership than we could have hoped for!!!

Anyone got that play-off video at hand???

Wolves-mad in the Premiership 2003.

E-mail me with any comments or feedback to: dave@wolves-mad.co.uk