Date: 7th November 2015
Venue: Molineux
Kick off: 3:00pm
Competition: Sky Bet Championship
Now is simply not a good time for Wolves to be playing Burnley.
Stuck in mid table and with little confidence, Wolves manager Kenny Jackett seemingly doesn’t even know his best eleven, while Burnley on the other hand, sit second on goal difference and have a host of ex Wolves players including Sam Vokes, Micheal Kightly and David Jones, who will be ready to heap further misery on the struggling Wolves side.
Jackett needs either a win and/or a very good performance to save himself from further embarrassment and potentially save his job. The whispers of whether Jackett’s time and the club has run out, have turned much more more vocal.
Simply bizarre team selections and substitutions have not helped his cause. Notably the alternating of goalkeepers, the strange exclusion of Jack Price and the decision to recall Jordan Graham from his successful loan spell with Oxford United, only to have him sit on the bench for two games running. Bringing on defender Matt Doherty on Tuesday night when trailing 1-0 to Bristol City was the final straw for some, with the dreaded “You don’t know what you’re doing” chant coming from the travelling support.
However if any manager has bought himself some time, then it’s Jackett. After guiding us a comfortable League One title in his first season, he masterminded a fantastic first season back in the Championship, with a front three of Sako, Dicko and Afobe tearing apart defences and in the end were ultimately unfortunate to miss out on a playoff spot.
Fast forward to today and Wolves languish in mid-table of the Championship with little hope of salvaging anything from the season. Deemed perhaps with enough to stay in the division but not nearly enough to mount a serious playoff challenge.
Questions are being bounded regarding whether Jackett can take us any further. He performed miracles at Millwall but was never able to take them to that next vital step into the top six, is it the same case now with Wolves?
But with the vivid flashbacks to the times of Connor, Solbakken and Saunders, everyone connected with Wolves knows how simple things can go from a problematic to disastrous and that the grass is not always greener.
Jackett has more than earned his strips at this club and should be given the time to turn it around. Is there anyone creditable enough to take his place, especially under such difficult times with the club currently up for sale? Managers currently out of work include Malky Makay, Ian Hollway and Uwe Rosler. None of them could do a better job than Jackett is doing under these circumstances.
Saturday’s game should a most likely will see much rotation to the side. Jack Price and Jordan Graham are two must starters, both offering a much needed different dimension to our play.
However Jackett could spring a number of surprises with so few players deserving of a place in the side at the moment.
Danger Men
Wolves
Offering some much needed Premier League experience at the back is new signing Mike Williamson. On loan from Newcastle, if Williamson can continue positive displays like his one against Birmingham, Wolves may have a shrewd loan signing on the hands to support the younger members of the squad.
Burnley
Andre Gray, the £9 million signing from Brentford, will be the main threat from Burnley on Saturday. Gray is in fantastic from since signing for the Clarets, notching four goals in his last two games, and will be aiming to continue that form at Molineux.
Match odds
Wolves 6/4
Draw 23/10
Burnley 9/5
First goal scorer
Benik Afobe 9/2
Adam Le Fondre 6/1
Grant Holt 13/2
Andre Gray 9/2
Sam Vokes 13/2
Rouwen Hennings 7/1
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