COLUMNIST KEN BUCKLEY

From my seat: Wolves (A)

Another point toward Europe from a largely disappointing game due to some woeful finishing from a hatful of chances created. The omens were not good before kick off when our talisman Arteta was not in the line up and as the game panned out his undoubted qualities were missed and as the game went on I thought other players missed his influence.

From the off Wolves had the first chance from a cross that was side footed wide then for the next fifteen minutes it was all Everton and that period on its own should have seen us out of sight but for some poor finishing. From what was to be the best move of the game after only 5 mins Pienaar played a great one-two with Saha and got to the bye-line, looked up and picked out Osman all alone six yards from goal but instead of putting his foot through it he merely scuffed straight at the keeper.

Then the Wolves defence failed to clear a throw in properly and the ball fell to Osman who fired wide. Another good run down the right from Neville saw his cross expertly dummied by Pienaar for Saha to trickle one to the keeper. Then a move down the left saw the ball fed to Osman but his shot had all the pace taken off it from a deflection and the keeper picked up.

After this passage of play where we really should have at least been two up Wolves seemed to sense we were not in scoring mode and came more of a force going forward and had passage of play that kept our defenders on their toes but we dealt comfortably with the threats posed. Our next effort came when Osman did well down the right and his cross was headed out to Baines but from distance he did not get the power to test the keeper who gathered comfortably.

I then, for a brief moment, thought we would score when Distin strode out of defence and delivered a superb long diagonal ball that Saha controlled beautifully on his chest and turned took a couple of paces and sent a 20-yard rocket that beat the keeper but not the crossbar. Wolves came back just a little as half-time approached but with nothing more than a shot over and a tame free-kick that went straight to Howard.

Half-time and it was incredible the score line was 0-0 and many a fan thinking this may not be our day.

The second half was a bit of a scrappy affair where I thought we were too anxious and snatched at things instead of weighing up options and Arteta’s absence became more acute. We did however create some chances and early on Osman made a good run down the right after Heitinga had won the ball for him, he put in a cross right on to the head of Saha who somehow managed to miss the target maybe he was to aware of the centre-back bearing down on him.

We then got a free kick which Baines hit the wall with the ball deflecting for a corner from which Cahill headed wide. Rodwell powered into a good position for a shot, he kicked the ground as well as the ball and that trickled through to the keeper. Wolves then had another spell and twice they fired over from presentable opportunities and when the giant fullback Zubar got in down the right and cut inside Heitinga only to smash it powerfully over I started to think the unthinkable that after all our chances they might fluke it.

The game was now more end to end but in frenetic fashion and Pienaar found himself in good positions twice but first he his shot struck a defender and the next one he miss-kicked and on each occasion he had better options either side of him. Wolves attacked in numbers and deep in the box Heitinga got a foot in and then an almighty scramble took place where anything could have happened but the outcome was a Wolves player skying one over the bar much to the relief of all assembled.

With just over ten minutes to go the manager swopped Saha for Yak without any reward and just before the end Gosling and Bilyaletdinov replaced Rodwell and Osman which almost brought a reward when a cross found Gosling with just the keeper to beat but he seemed to delay long enough for the keeper to pounce on the ball and in doing so left Gosling a hobbling passenger, why he stayed on I don’t know because he looked in some pain.

Then right on the death from a melee in the box Cahill used the bicycle kick to beat the keeper but it lacked power and a defender cleared from near the line. Final whistle and the end of a most disappointing and frustrating game.

Overall I thought we played well until it came to finishing, we certainly created chances and played some good football in patches. The pitch looked bobbly which may have hampered some of the passing but it certainly was not to blame for the chances missed.

Before the game we had a young lady belting out songs via an overloud PA system and by the end of the game I wondered if her efforts had put the influence on our players shooting boots.

MotM was difficult to call as no-one played badly yet no-one really stood out and made a difference, I thought perhaps Distin and Baines were as consistent as anyone but I wouldn’t argue with anyone’s choice. Still plenty to play for as a Europa place is still achievable and with four out of the last six games at home why not?

West Ham next and providing the kit man can find shooting boots and Arteta is available we should be up and running again.

It’s a strange old game. UP THE BLUES

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