Wolverhampton Wanderers remain six points clear at the top of the Championship after a pulsating match against Birmingham City, ended all square
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Original post by Howard Swains
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/93740?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Patience+pays+off+as+McCarthy+proves+a+pointch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Wolverhampton+Wanderers+%28Football%29%2CChampionship+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_29c8=1126080c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Wolverhampton+Wanderersc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FWolverhampton+Wanderers” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpWolverhampton Wanderers supporters should be thankful Mick McCarthy does not hold grudges. Earlier this year, the club’s manager was patrolling the touchline at Molineux while “You don’t know what you’re doing” reverberated in the background. Fast forward 10 months and Wolves are ensconced at the top of the Championship, marching towards the Premier League and the natives have prefixed the manager’s name with the word “Super”./ppIt is quite a turnaround and one which those disgruntled with a few of McCarthy’s decisions last season would do well to recall when Birmingham City make the short trip to Molineux today for a top-of-the-table clash. Another Wolves win would equal the club record of eight in succession but, far more significantly, open a nine-point lead over Birmingham and leave the third-placed Reading 15 points behind by the time they kick off on Monday. It is a position that suggests McCarthy knows exactly what he is doing. /pp”There were some people who would have had me sacked last season,” the former Republic of Ireland manager admitted. “There were a number of names shouted towards the end of the season; Paul Ince and anyone else that could get a mention. I don’t mind that, I’m not bitter and twisted. If you can just see beyond the results on a Saturday you can sometimes see the progress being made. Results are not always perfect but, thankfully, my people could see things were being built and they kept faith with it.”/ppMcCarthy has been building from the day he arrived at Wolves. Keen to provide a dose of reality he pointed out when he inherited a threadbare squad from Glenn Hoddle three summers ago that “my initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician”. Some might have argued otherwise after he transformed a team that appeared to be destined for a relegation battle into one that reached the play-offs, before defeat to West Bromwich Albion. /ppExpectation levels had been raised and, while Wolves failed to live up to the hype last term - they missed out on a play-off place on goal difference - McCarthy has rediscovered the formula for success this season in the most spectacular style. Wolves are the highest goalscorers across all four divisions, they are on course to accumulate more than 100 points and have registered seven consecutive victories twice in a season for the first time in their history./ppThat the success has arrived without the chequebook being hammered makes McCarthy’s achievements look even more impressive. Michael Kightly, Kevin Foley, Matt Jarvis, Stephen Ward and David Edwards have all made an impact after being plucked from clubs outside the top two divisions while more seasoned campaigners, like Karl Henry and Chris Iwelumo, who arrived at a combined cost of only pound;500,000, have reignited stuttering careers under the Wolves manager./pp”When I came here I did not have pound;20m to spend. I only had pound;1m in the pot at the time,” recalled McCarthy, who is grateful to Steve Morgan, the Wolves chairman, and Jez Moxey, the club’s chief executive, for their “support” when the dissenting voices made themselves heard last season. “[But] it is nice when you are able to build and really pleasing when you find yourself at the top of the table. All the players are young and hungry for success [here]. That is what drives them on.”/ppThat attitude should also help to guard against the complacency that saw Wolves squander an 11-point advantage over Albion six years ago, when Dave Jones’s side stumbled at the finishing line. The only person at Wolves who looks like being unable to keep up with the pace this time is McCarthy, who has spent the last few weeks on crutches after ankle surgery. “We have not done anything yet except win a few games and put smiles on people’s faces,” added the Wolves manager. “But we have a damn sight better squad now than the one I inherited.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wolves”Wolverhampton Wanderers/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
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Original post by Stuart James
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/29608?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Nervy+Blues+fail+to+convincech=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Championship+%28Football%29%2CBirmingham+City+%28Football+club%29%2CIpswich+Town+%28Football%29%2CFootballc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_26c8=1124138c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Championshipc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FChampionship” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpIt is difficult to criticise a team that is second in the table and on course to win automatic promotion but there remains something unconvincing about a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/birminghamcityfc”Birmingham City’s/a attempt to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. The three points here maintained Birmingham’s pursuit of Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of Saturday’s meeting between the two clubs but that this victory was witnessed by the lowest crowd of the season is symptom-atic of the indifference in these parts./ppOnly 15,689 turned up on a night when Birmingham could not have made a better start but were forced to endure a nervous finale after Alex Bruce headed his first goal for a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/ipswichtown”Ipswich/a six minutes from time. Steve Bruce, his father and the former Birmingham manager, would have witnessed the moment but he got up from his seat little more than 60 seconds earlier. He was not alone in believing that the match had been brought to a premature end after Birmingham swept into a comfortable lead./ppLiam Ridgewell, volleying across Richard Wright after Marcus Bent’s shot was blocked, gave Birmingham the lead inside nine minutes and a second goal followed five minutes later in more impressive fashion. Sebastian Larsson and Nicky Hunt linked adroitly on the right flank before the Swede skipped around Ben Thatcher’s reckless challenge and delivered an inviting cross towards the six-yard box that Phillips headed home with the minimum of fuss. A rout looked inevitable but Birmingham failed to kill the game./ppAlex McLeish pointed to injuries to the influential Nigel Quashie and combative Lee Carsley as the reason for Birmingham’s loss of their early momentum, with the Scot hopeful that both players will be fit for the trip to Molineux. “Our midfield was decimated and that disrupted our rhythm,” said the Birmingham manager./ppWith Reading drawing at Cardiff, Birmingham have extended the gap between second and third places to six points but McLeish dismissed talk that promotion is a two-horse race. “No chance,” said McLeish. His counterpart, Jim Magilton, hopes Ipswich can push for the play-offs but, Bruce’s header apart, there was little to encourage the visitors’ manager here. “I had hoped we’d give them a better game,” said Magilton./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/birminghamcityfc”Birmingham City/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/ipswichtown”Ipswich Town/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
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Original post by Stuart James
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/21986?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Iwelumo+shows+steel+to+settle+Sheffield+battlech=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Championship+%28Football%29%2CSheffield+United+%28Football%29%2CWolverhampton+Wanderers+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Richard+Jolly+at+Bramall+Lanec7=2008_11_25c8=1124140c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Championshipc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FChampionship” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpMick McCarthy is still hobbling but Wolverhampton Wanderers show no signs of wobbling. While their manager is moving around his technical area on crutches, the legacy of ankle surgery, Wolves are proceeding towards the Premier League at rather greater speed. Overcoming one of their promotion rivals, Sheffield United, means they can equal a club record of eight successive wins by beating another, Birmingham City, on Saturday. The calibre of the finishes from Chris Iwelumo, who scored twice, and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake bodes well for the end of a pivotal week./ppMcCarthy has long derived satisfaction from his ability to unearth a bargain but Iwelumo’s age - 30 - and status as a Championship player meant he scarcely conformed to his manager’s usual criteria. Nonetheless, his pound;400,000 fee has been swiftly repaid with the target man, infamously inaccurate for Scotland, proving prolific. His 14th goal of the season showed why. Accelerating on to Michael Kightly’s pass, Iwelumo evaded Sheffield United’s two central defenders, took the ball wide of their goalkeeper, Paddy Kenny, and finished calmly from an acute angle./ppIt was, however, an isolated attack. United were the more adventurous side, with their coveted England Under-21 international Kyle Naughton prominent. The reflexes of the goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme, were evident when he hared off his line to block from Billy Sharp and flung himself to his left to repel Matthew Kilgallon’s volley. It came from a huge throw from Halford, showing his credentials as Rory Delap’s Championship counterpart. /ppIt amounted to a spell of sustained pressure from United. They ensured the tempo remained high with Beattie providing a focal point to the forward line and Naughton offering an attacking outlet on the right flank. Wolves’ pace, however, remained a threat on the counter-attack. They were inches away from a second goal when Kightly was only fractionally off target with a crisp effort./ppIt was a bruising affair, as the removal of three players with first-half injuries indicates. The stretcher-bearers were kept occupied along with the fourth official. McCarthy made his final substitution at the interval. The centre-back Jason Shackell’s introduction entailed a reshuffle, but the goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey’s arrival brought a moment of panic. In United’s view, Brian Howard’s curling corner crossed the line before Hennessey clawed it back. The referee was unmoved. /ppWolves’ response was swift and devastating. The captain Karl Henry reached the byline to deliver a cross that Iwelumo met with a volley of power and precision in equal measure. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake then demonstrated that Wolves have two forwards capable of unstoppable finishes, lifting a rasping shot beyond the helpless Kenny. /ppMatthew Spring reduced the deficit with a well-struck half-volley, but it was insufficient for United, who now languish 15 points behind Wolves./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/sheffieldunited”Sheffield United/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wolves”Wolverhampton Wanderers/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
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Original post by Richard Jolly at Bramall Lane
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/57585?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Phillips+double+leaves+Swansea+feeling+dazedch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Championship+%28Football%29%2CSwansea+%28Football+club%29%2CBirmingham+City+%28Football+club%29%2CFootballc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_21c8=1122279c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Championshipc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FChampionship” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpa href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/swansea”Swansea City/a can only wonder how different things might have been if Kevin Phillips had been wearing white and not blue. Outstanding before the break, Roberto Martinez’s side were undone in five second-half minutes as Phillips emerged from the substitutes’ bench to illuminate a compelling contest with a textbook header and wonderful dipping shot to move a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/birminghamcityfc”Birmingham City/a to within three points of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the top of the Championship. /ppThe goals were Phillips’ seventh and eighth of the season and left Swansea’s players shaking their heads in disbelief. At times Alex McLeish was struggling to contain his frustration as he raged at his players on the touchline but the Birmingham manager was able to punch the air in delight at the final whistle after Phillips’ introduction brought to an end Swansea’s unbeaten league record at home and maintained the visitors’ promotion push. /ppAhead after 88 seconds when Jordi Gomez emphatically thumped home Federico Bessone’s left-wing cross, Swansea should have been out of sight come the interval. Their slick one-touch passing game was too much for Birmingham, although the failure to turn chances into goals proved to be costly three minutes before the break. /ppBirmingham brought parity against the run of play with their first meaningful attack when Marcus Bent converted Nicky Hunt’s inviting cross to register his first goal for the club. Swansea were in a state of shock but a reprieve came within minutes when Angel Rangel escaped on the right and delivered a low cross which Radhi Jaidi deflected over his own goalline. /ppSwansea had lost their momentum as Birmingham began to finally assert some control in the second half, with Sebastian Larsson prodding wide a half-chance from Kemy Agustien’s cross. Phillips would not be so careless, the forward bringing parity 16 minutes from time when he guided James McFadden’s sublime cross beyond Dimitrios Konstantopoulos before thundering an unstoppable second./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/swansea”Swansea/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/birminghamcityfc”Birmingham City/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227308262192112122575545965″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227308262192112122575545965″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
Original post by Stuart James
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/82372?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Phillips%27+rapid+double+leaves+Swansea+dazedch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Championship+%28Football%29%2CSwansea+%28Football+club%29%2CBirmingham+City+%28Football+club%29%2CFootballc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_22c8=1122279c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Championshipc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FChampionship” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpSwansea City can only wonder how different things would have been if Kevin Phillips had been wearing white and not blue. Dominant before the break, Roberto Martinez’s side were undone in five second-half minutes when Phillips emerged from the substitutes’ bench to illuminate a compelling contest with a textbook header and wonderful dipping shot to move Birmingham City to within three points of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the top of the Championship./ppThe goals were Phillips’ seventh and eighth of the season and left Swansea’s players shaking their heads in disbelief at the final whistle. Alex McLeish punched the air in delight but for much of the opening 45 minutes Birmingham’s manager struggled to contain his rage on the touchline as Swansea’s slick, one-touch passing left the visitors chasing shadows. Only a cutting edge was missing but it was a weakness that Birmingham ruthlessly punished through Phillips’ opportunism./pp”I would like to say that we planned it and it was never in doubt,” said McLeish. “Credit to Swansea, who are a good football side. We were a bit ragged at the back and the opening goal knocked the stuffing out of us. But this was a victory for team spirit and character. Kevin is unbelievable. That’s the word to describe him. His finishes were amazing and typical of him. He made it look so easy.”/ppMartinez blamed defeat on injuries to key players, with Ferrie Bodde and Leon Britton both departing when Swansea were ahead. However, the Swansea manager saw several chances squandered after Jordi Gomez converted Federico Bessone’s left-wing cross inside two minutes. Gorka Pintado was unlucky to hit the post with a fine header but the striker ought to have given Maik Taylor no chance with an earlier one-on-one./pp”The game should have been over after 40 minutes,” said Martinez ruefully. Instead Birmingham equalised in the 42nd minute when Marcus Bent headed home Nicky Hunt’s delivery before Radhi Jaidi’s own goal restored Swansea’s advantage./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championship”Championship/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/swansea”Swansea/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/birminghamcityfc”Birmingham City/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071195112201002056189″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071195112201002056189″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
Original post by Stuart James
divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/87926?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Campbell+pushes+his+way+into+Pearce%27s+planningch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CCzech+Republic+football+team%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Stuart+Jamesc7=2008_11_19c8=1120079c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpThe preparations for next summer’s European Championships started last night, according to Stuart Pearce, and this was a performance that suggested everything is going to plan. Having used the occasion as an opportunity to experiment, the England Under-21 manager had good reason to be satisfied with the result as an under-strength line-up overcame a combative Czech Republic side through goals from the in-form Fraizer Campbell and Aston Villa’s Craig Gardner./ppHow many of these players appear in Sweden in June remains to be seen but Pearce was able to take encouragement from the fact that he has such competition for places. No one was more impressive than Campbell, with the 21-year-old striker, who has scored three times in his last two games on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, registering his first international goal and generally making life as uncomfortable as possible for the Czech Republic./pp”I thought he played well,” said Pearce. “He’s quick, darts in behind and is a constant threat. If he carries on the way he is, Manchester United and Tottenham will have a player on their hands.” Pearce also singled out the contribution of the Wolverhampton Wanderers central defender Richard Stearman, the sole debutant in the England starting line-up on a night when an inexperienced side extended the manager’s run to one defeat in 22 matches./pp”It took us an hour to knock them off,” added Pearce, whose goalkeeper, Peterborough’s Joe Lewis, was taken off on a stretcher in the first half with his ankle heavily strapped. “We probably needed to show a touch more devilment and grab the game by the scruff of the neck early on. But we wanted to get a win, keep a clean sheet and for three or four players to come in and do well and I think I got that out of this performance.”/ppCampbell capitalised on Jan Halama’s weak header before lobbing Jakub Divis, Gardner’s 25-yard free-kick doubled England’s lead and a third should have followed two minutes later but Jamie O’Hara telegraphed his intentions with a weak penalty after Jakub Heidenreich bundled over Campbell. There should have been another England spot-kick within seconds after the same two players clashed but Campbell was harshly booked for diving./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/czechrepublic”Czech Republic/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227057980222111901285839760″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227057980222111901285839760″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
Original post by Stuart James
Wolverhampton Wanderers came back from trailing at the break to beat Coventry City 2-1 and reclaim top spot
Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import
Wolverhampton Wanderers stay top of the Championship after they edged out Crystal Palace 2-1
Original post by Phil Shaw at Molineux
Mick McCarthy, Nigel Pearson and Mark Robins have won the inaugural Manager of the Month awards of the season
Original post by Victoria J Fode