My finger is hovering over the panic button.
West Ham at home is the type of game you must win if you want to stay in the Premier League.
It was a soft penalty – the latest in a string of bad decisions against us – but it was evened out by one that went in our favour.
The disallowed Piquionne goal meant we could have no complaints with the 1-1 draw.
I continue to be a defender of Mick McCarthy against those that have already started freaking out about our form.
But I’m not blind to some of his tactics which I think have started to become a little confused.

Last season, in the post Christmas run that kept us up, it was Mick’s tactical awareness that did it.
He found a system that worked, selected the players that best suited the positions in that formation, everyone knew their role and played their hearts out to make it work.
I can still recite it now: Hanneman in goal, a back four of Zubar, Craddock, Berra and Ward, five across midfield with Foley, Henry, Jones, Guadioura (or Milijas) and Jarvis with Doyle up front on his own.
The only player outside of his favoured position was Foley, and that was because he had insufficient cover for Kightly on the right wing.
When injuries came, replacements like Stearman, Mancienne and Elokobi slotted in because they were like-for-like replacements.

Noble equalises from the spot ©PA Photos

Mick correctly assessed his squad in the summer and signed accordingly.
We were the lowest scorers in the division last year so he signed a quality striker – Stephen Fletcher.
Left-back was a weak link in our defence so he signed one – Jelle Van Damme.
Plus he addressed that lack of cover on the wing by bringing in Stephen Hunt.

My hope was that we now had two big tactical options – balls out 4-4-2 to try to outplay and outscore the likes of West Ham, Fulham and Wigan, and 4-5-1 to try to frustrate and catch out teams like Tottenham and Villa.

I think the problem has been that neither of these systems have been used effectively because they have not been adopted with the same rigidity as 4-5-1 last season.
Fletcher is a striker with three goals this season but he played wide against Tottenham, Villa and Wigan.
He put Wolves ahead against Spurs playing wide left before coming off the bench against Villa and figuring on the right.
Jelle Van Damme is homesick apparently, but that doesn’t explain why his fleeting appearances have been on the wing.
Sylvain Ebanks-Blake can’t get a game despite starting the season with two goals in four starts – even when we go 4-4-2.
It all just seems a bit confused.

Two things are preventing my mood from turning particularly dark at the moment.
First, this is Wolves – we don’t do things the easy way.
It would be just like us to drop points against West Ham and Wigan and then pick them up at somewhere like Man City or Arsenal.
Second, we’re not playing badly and our point tally is only slightly behind where we need to be.
Extrapolate six points from eight games to the end of the season and we would be relegated.
But do the same with eight points (what we would have if not for one dodgy penalty decision against West Ham) and you end up with a total of 38 – usually comfortable survival.