A colleague came up to me today and said “How many points are your lot on now – 16?” and I said that it was 15 before backtracking quickly.. Saturday’s game felt like a loss and it’s easy to forget that we did actually come away with something, albeit a solitary point when 3 looked so likely in the first half.

I’m not going to go through the game in detail but rather concentrate on some points from the game..

Wilkinson – Has come in and done very well in Huth’s absence but displays time after time the lack of composure he has, on 3 or 4 occasions what should have been a simple ball down the line went into touch. Yes, he tries hard, yes, he is a good defender on the back foot but it’s plain for most to see that Huth will walk back in to the right back berth on Sunday.

Collins – Is looking better with every game but still gets outjumped and turned far, far too easily, a centre back by trade much like Higgy so it’s a different heading discipline but I can’t help thinking that Higgy is just better for our more defensive set up. People will go on about how much Etherington has improved but I think it is coincidental and you could argue that is because he is now fit or that Whitehead has the energy to cover the space left by his runs.

Faye – Seems to have some sort of curse on him at the moment. The usually solid defender is a shadow of his former self and something just isn’t right. His moments of brilliance have turned into nightmares waiting to happen and he just doesn’t seem to be as vocal as we know he can be, the ‘rookie’ Shawcross bailing him out on an almost weekly basis now it seems.

Delap – Has had a few poor games now, mostly from the right of midfield, I’m unsure if Lawrence is still unwell or whether he is being left out deliberately, either way Delap is not the answer to the right side. His throws against Wolves were better than they have been of late but away from home when he isn’t in the middle he is taking up a space on the right better occupied with Lawrence or another option like Tuncay (maybe!?)

Whitehead – Continues to baffle and frustrate me. He cost £3m rising to £5m and I simply cannot see what he brings to the table that we don’t already have in Delap, Whelan and even Faye in the middle? I get the feeling he is already a permanent favourite of Pulis so it would take the loss of a limb or similar to dislodge him from his midfield berth now.

Etherington – What an upturn for the lad. He has been immense in the last 3 games and I don’t use that term lightly – utterly brilliant. Ran the Wolves defence ragged and every bit of the player we hoped he would be when he first signed. I think he is now fit and settled and long may it continue.

Beattie – Is doing well enough but sometimes goes missing for long periods, I guess as long as he scores the goals it shouldn’t matter but the calls to include Tuncay and Pulis’ reluctance to try the Turk in midfield is just putting a bit of pressure on Beats at the moment.

Sidibe – Great to see the big fella back after so long. I’m very concerned however at the urgency with which he is being brought back into the first team picture. Pulis said our style of play needed to evolve and we have seen him revert back to early last season’s two defensive midfielders and bringing Mama back into the fold. Without Mama we adapted and started to play on the floor a bit more and I think by bringing him back so soon in front of Tuncay and poor old Kitson it sends entirely the wrong message and dare I say it, his latest injury as a result, could be a blessing in disguise.

Pulis – Results have been great of late but for this match the Manager has to take a lot of the blame, the main issue was the inclusion of Sidibe for the reasons above. It will be interesting to see how he is used going forward but to bring him on with that long left and reverting to lumping it to Mama just concerned me more than anything else in this game.

The Fans – I was very disappointed to hear the boos at the end of the game, I know it was a poor second half but please have a look at the table and maybe instead of berating the team who had a bad second half, maybe appreciate Wolves’ attacking play a bit – we’ve done it ourselves before at Villa/Newcastle last season…

First XI player ratings will be for the first half only as they were all equally as poor in the second half;

Manager Rating - 4

Player Ratings

Sorensen – 7
Wilkinson – 7
Shawcross – 8
Faye – 6
Collins – 6.5
Delap – 6.5
Whitehead – 6
Whelan – 7
Etherington – 9.5 (Man of the Match)
Beattie – 7.5
Fuller – 7.5

Subs

Lawrence – 6
Sidibe – 6
Tuncay - 6