It's not the first time, and we're sure it won't be the last, but Wolves boss Mick McCarthy committed the cardinal sin on Wednesday night of waving the white flag and quite literally tossing three points into the bin.

After back-to-back wins, you could be forgiven for thinking Wolves would be brimming with confidence for their trip to Old Trafford. But no, Mick decided to make 10 - yes TEN - changes and rested his first choice team. I bet that cheered up the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

The first serving of ire comes from Tony Evans over at The Times, who is quick to suggest that Thierry Henry is more saintly after his handball against Ireland.

Did you hear that noise, about 7pm last night? It was the sound of a nation groaning. When Mick McCarthy’s team-sheet to play Manchester United at Old Trafford showed ten changes from his Wolverhampton Wanderers team that beat Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the disappointment of football fans across the country was palpable.

It was the most dispiriting moment in many a season.

But not an isolated incident. Bryan Robson has taken his reserves to Chelsea before with West Brom. And is it really any different to United playing their reserves at Hull on the last day of last term?

Football is a resilient game. It has survived scandals, cheating — most recently Thierry Henry’s handball for France against Ireland — and an obsession with money. Yet it remains compulsive because of its unpredictability. It is uplifting because it retains the capacity to surprise.

A will to win courses through even the worst sides and the fan can relate to that. The journeys up and down the motorway filled with expectation and the long hauls home after defeat are made bearable by the knowledge that manager and team are sharing the belief and agony. The only thing that shakes a fan’s faith is the suspicion that no one gives a toss.

So the Wolves supporters at a freezing Old Trafford last night must have felt like fools. It was a night when old gold shirts on the players’ backs could easily be mistaken for yellow. McCarthy, it appears, did not believe his team could win and rested them for the match against Burnley on Sunday.

McCarthy is the villain of the football year. At least Henry was trying to win.

So, finally, let's get another point of view, this time coming from Sam Wallace at the Independent.

Mick McCarthy's decision to rest all but one of his first team for last night's game at Old Trafford is a dangerous new development in the Premier League that could undermine the nature of the competition itself.

If the managers of clubs at the bottom of the division are effectively to throw games against those at the top whom they feel they have no chance of beating, the league will become even more dull and predictable than some people already believe it to be. This was a new low for a league that is dominated by the same old teams.

Thing is, Sam, it's not a first. Do your homework.