A trip to the Midlands and Boring Diving Time-Wasting
Wolves at Molineux with their spirit crushing style of play and spirit crushing
manager Bruno Lage. Every time we play them, I look at their team and think
it’s a good opportunity for three points but it never happens and in a wider
context, I always think they are going to struggle but they always manage to
win enough games 1-0 to keep their head above water and indeed push into the
top half of the table. It’s one of those things I will never quite understand.

Over the last few years they have had a team that has been built on
defence and built on the organisation of Conor Coady who is one of the best at
organising a back three. Coady has now moved on to Everton, so now it’s down to
the likes of Max Kilman.  Leander
Dendoncker has moved on this transfer window as well, probably something to do
with the fact is Belgian and not Portuguese. They have signed a couple of
forwards in Guedes and Matheus Nunes who are unsurprisingly Portuguese and
Sasha Kalajdzic, a 6 foot 7 striker who amazingly, is not Portuguese.

Every time we play Wolves I always mention their Super Agent approach to
recruitment that they have where virtually every player is Portuguese and every
player comes in through Jorge Mendes. Every so often they sign someone for a
ridiculously over inflated price or they do the same when selling, and every
time I think it’s very questionable. Let’s leave it there.

Since the last game we had the closing of the transfer window and
deadline day, or as it should be known, “Dildo in the Ear day“. To cut a long
story very short, DITE Day saw us recruit Juan Larios, Sam Edozie, Ainsley
Maitland-Niles and Duje Caleta-Car. Going the other way permanently were Yan
Valery and Oriol Romeu and out on loan for the season went Jack Stephens and
Jan Bednarek. Some very exciting talent and some pragmatic signings coming in
during this transfer window and we have got rid of a load of players who were
very questionable when it came to what their contribution was going to be over
the following season.

The first outgoing was Oriol Romeu who was sold to Girona, in the
heart of his Catalonia homeland. It looks like Saints bent over backwards to
allow this move to happen for him as a reward for the seven-year service that
he had given to the club and exemplary attitude he displayed throughout.  What a guy and it’s genuinely sad when a
player like him leaves but if you look at it brutally from a playing
perspective, he’s lost his place this year to an 18-year-old and though he
would’ve undoubtedly have played 10 to 15 games this season, he wouldn’t have
been first choice and that, combined with a desire to go back to Spain and
particular to Catalonia, made this a good move for all parties. How Oriol never
got sent off plan for us is one of life‘s mysteries but he has had some
fantastic moments in a Saints shirt. The three incidents that spring to mind are
the Jack Grealish incident from the game against Manchester City last season,
when little Jackie apparently waited for him in the tunnel, the Raphinha tackle
which he made at full pelt after a 50 yard recovery run and when everyone outside
of Southampton thought he was public enemy number 1 for a particularly bad
tackle on Mason Greenwood, which I think everybody would now be applauding. Ori
left a particularly classy leaving message and there shouldn’t be a single
Saints fan anywhere that begrudges him his move and I hope that we invite
Girona over for a pre-season friendly next season so people can show
appreciation for what the man did for the club. One of the good guys at a time
when there are not many good guys in the game.

Yan Valery was in the last year of his contract at Saints and
unlikely to get another one. He wanted to play at right-back but Ralph clearly
didn’t want him to play at right back and though he had a chance of minutes
when we were playing a back three, now we are not and basically there was
nowhere else for him to play. Again, this strikes me as a move that suits all
parties and he too has returned home this time to Angers, near his home city of
Paris. He too has had some good moments in the shirt, particularly the
long-range missile that he caught David de Gea out with at Old Trafford.

I Be the Cornish Maldini and You can Fuck Roight Orff mate!

Out on a season long loan to Bournemouth went Jack Stephens. To be
honest, the way Bournemouth have started, he will improve them if given a run
of games. It makes me laugh when I read Bournemouth fans saying that they think
Chris Mepham is better. He isn’t, because he’s shit. Jack is one of those guys
that you wish no ill will to and I hope he goes there and does really well but
it will ultimately be in a losing cause as looking at their squad at the end of
the window, they have absolutely no fucking chance of staying up regardless of
who they appoint as the next manager.

Also out on loan went Jan Bednarek. I couldn’t quite understand why
we let him go on loan to Aston Villa to cover for the injured Douglas Costa for
a season. Surely, we should’ve said buy him or fuck off. However, there have
been a few rumours about his attitude and the fact he didn’t really want to be
at the club this year and the fact that he refused to play against Manchester
City in the FA Cup quarter-final last season did seem to be a bit of a turning
point. Another turning point was that basically, when we abandoned playing with
three at the back and took him out of the defence, the defence improved
massively so the writing was on the wall and he was likely to spend most of the
season with us on the bench. He has been going downhill for the last year or so
and has become a very passive presence in the defence and had started this
season in the same crap form he ended of the last one in. Never one to lead the
defence, even when he was the most experienced player in it and I can’t imagine
he’ll be missed.

After four years at the club though, there really was no need to
make the absolute fucking knob headed statement that he did make saying he was
delighted to be moving to a bigger club and it was important to him to go to a
place where he could improve. Absolute prick. First off Jan, you are only on
loan so they are going to see you play and if you play like you’ve played for
us for the last year, they will be sending you back without a second thought.
Then you will have to rebuild some bridges that you’ve just burnt down. I can
understand people having a pop if you leave a club permanently but not when
you’ve only gone out on loan. Fucking idiot.  I guess this shitty attitude was one of the
main reasons why we booted him out the door though I do admit that Villa are probably a bigger club than our Carabao Cup XI where Jan would be getting a game.

Incoming…. Ainsley Maitland-Niles. I’m on record as saying that I thought this
wouldn’t happen because he turned us down once before but we have decided to
offer him a second opportunity and this time he has taken it. A full England
international let us not forget, capable of playing in both full-back positions
and in the centre of midfield, so in terms of positional profile, he is
absolutely ideal, covering for both the departed Romeu and also for the injured
Livramento. It’s a season long loan with an option to buy so it’s up to him
really. He’s at an age now, 24, where he really has to make it happen.

A further raid on the Manchester City Academy brought to two more youngsters
south in the shape of Sam Edozie and Juan Larios. Edozie is primarily left
winger and Larios a left back. All we are hoping is that they are anywhere near
as good as Romeo Lavia and if so, Larios will certainly give Perraud
competition for the left back spot and Edozie has a real chance of staking a
claim in our problem number 10 positions.

Right on 11 o’clock, having booted three centre backs out of the door, we had
one coming in the shape of Duje Carleta-Car, a Croatian international who
performed well at the Euros. He is another big unit standing 6 foot 4, with a
decent turn of pace so on the face of it, he sounds like a similar profile
player to ABK and Salisu to play in the centre of defence. There is a school of
thought that having found a centre back partnership, why do we need another
high-profile one like this. Well, the injury to Lavia shows you that you can’t
over play these young players, so you need to have a good option for rotation
should ABK or Salisu need a break at any point.

It has been a massively busy transfer window for us and one which we emerge
from with a much stronger squad in terms of quality. A number of stagnant
players have been shipped out and replaced with young, hungry players. Yes we
could probably have done with the striker/winger that we needed and there is an
obvious issue if Che Adams gets injured. We desperately needed a clear out and
this has been amazing effort for one window and I can’t imagine many have any
issue with any of the players who have left.. Nathan Redmond and Theo Walcott
are still around and won’t contribute much, but everyone else is gone, either
permanently or for the season. What we end up doing with the likes of Thierry Small,
Dynel Simeu, Will Smallbone, Nathan Tella, Jack Stephens and Jan bloody
Bednarek at the end of the season, is anyone’s guess.

Back to today and no real surprises in the team news with Aribo coming in for
the injured Lavia and JWP dropping back next to Diallo.  Our bench includes three of our very new
signings with Maitland-Niles, Edozie and Larios all included.  Caleta-Car’s international clearance has
apparently not come through yet.  Wolves
have indeed given a debut to the new giant striker Kalajdzic in place of Raul
Jimenez.

The game starts in the usual way that it always
does against Wolves with the first physical challenge of any nature whatsoever
leaving a Wolves player rolling around in agony before getting back to his feet
and being perfectly okay. Wankers to a man.

The first goalmouth action is all of our own making but in a bad way as Adam
Armstrong sells Diallo a bit short and Diallo gives it away in midfield.  Wolves attack quickly on the right hand side
with Perraud out of position having run forward and Nunes picks out Neto and we
are waiting for the inevitable goal  but
he drags it wide.

Aribo is making some good breaks forward from midfield and his cross from the
left is deflected by a Wolves hand out as far as Adam Armstrong on the edge of
the penalty area and he bends one wide of the far post. Not a bad effort and
now Saints are looking better with Elyounoussi putting Adams away on the right
hand side and it gets to the line and belts it across and Aribo’s flick is
blocked by Neves.
 
Saints are having a good little spell now with Aribo and KWP combining down the
right hand side which allows KWP to get the cross over, which is blocked by the
knee and then arm of Nathan Collins but as we all know, we aren’t getting a
penalty for that even though the ball coming off his arm from his own shit
touch, stops the ball going through to Adams at the back post. We do get a
corner though and we should go from there as JWP is delivery perfectly picks
out ABK 15 yards out with a free header but he nods it wide.

Wolves do actually look better going forward than they usually do with Nunes
and Neto causing problems. When they win a corner, the problem is the giant Kalajdzic, and he heads wide from one in the typical fashion of a player who is not used
to having to jump.

At the other in Neves gives it away in midfield and we break with Elyounoussi
with Adams ahead of him but in typical Moi fashion, he takes too long to
release the ball, so Adams has to check back to stay on side and when he does eventually
release it, all the angles have gone and the attack dies.

Half time approaching and a Saints attack breaks down as Elyounoussi tries to
flick it through to Adams and Wolves break fast down our left. Perraud closes
down the ball carrier Neto, but Diallo has not tracked his runner Nunes, who
gets down the right-hand side delivers a low cross which meets the run of
Podence at back post,… a run which has not been tracked by anybody, and he bobbles a
finish over Bazunu and into the net. Lucky bastard. If he’d heard it properly
then Baz would’ve saved it. Fucks sake.

Even with half time only a minute away, we create another chance as Adams
muscles a defender off the ball and via Adam Armstrong and Aribo, the ball gets
laid back to Ward-Prowse to have a shot from the edge of the box and with
unerring accuracy, he picks out Che Adams arse with the shot.

Half-time.  Here we fucking go again and
I expect we’ll get about 15 minutes of actual play in the second half as they
roll around and shithouse it.

The first 10 minutes of the second half don’t amount to much so Ralph and the
Brains Trust goes to the bench and we take off our two worst performing players
in Diallo and Elyounoussi, for Moussa Djenepo and Stuart Armstrong. 

We immediately start putting pressure on with Stuart Armstrong to the fore,
running at the defence and playing Aribo through on the right.  He smashes it across and Jose Sa makes a
complete bollocks of it and palms it up in the air and it comes down about
a yard out to Che Adams who can’t miss and he knocks it into the net in untidy
fashion.  Doesn’t mater… get in!!!.   Oh shit, it does matter – disallowed.  What the fuck?  Oh fuck me, he’s missed it with his head and
bundled in with his arm.  Dear Oh fucking
Lord.

Unperturbed, Saints come again with Stuart Armstrong having a cross blocked and
then volleying a second one over and Adams gets up brilliantly above Ait-Nouri
and thumps a header on to the bar. Fuck me, this isn’t happening.

We’ve gone 4-2-2-2 now with Sam Edozie, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sekou Mara
all on with Perraud, Adam Armstrong and Aribo making way.

Wolves are still dangerous on the break with Guedes sprinting into the box and
being muscled out of it by ABK and collapsing like a sack of shit.  The referee doesn’t want anything to do with
it but he does want something to do with Rúben Neves a second later, who hacks Edozie
down after he went round another Wolves player and picks up the most deserved
yellow card you’ll ever.  It’s the sort
of challenge that I would absolutely have no problem with people getting sent
off for because it’s totally premeditated and you are just wiping someone out.
In a classic case of whatabouttery, Neves is pointing to the other end of the
pitch and the ABK challenge – as if that’s relevant you fucking twat.

Edozie isn’t bothered and the next time he gets the ball, he nutmegs Neves and
burns the full back and gets the ball in but we’ve got no one in the box, which
considering we’re 1-0 down with a couple of minutes to go, is ridiculous.  Full time.

And it’s happened again, another fucking defeat against the play-acting, time-wasting
Wolves team. Also today of course, they have the luck on their side with the
finish by Podence being a complete fluke and us and Che Adams conspiring to
miss two of the clearest, simplest chances you will ever see.

The bottom line is we deserved the point from that game and we created two gilt-edged
chances to get a point. Hitting the bar from 5 yards with a header was bad
enough but the one where he only had to nod it into an empty net and managed to
handball it was on a different level altogether. It’s such a shame that for all
Che’s improvement this year, sticking the ball in the net is still a bit of an
issue.  It was good to hear Ralph backing
him afterwards, mentioning his improvement and also that it was the first bad
miss this season.  His importance to our
attacking play this season has been massive and this doesn’t change because of
one off bad day in front of goal.