Wolves fans' verdict v Ipswich: Seven points clear

Russ Evers

What's your verdict on the match?

Mad Mick returned and witnessed a hard working, committed and gritty Wolves display so he must have left thinking nothing has changed since his tenure.

What would have opened his eyes was the sheer class on display especially from Saiss and Neves who bossed the midfield for the entire 90 minutes.

Cavaleiro kept up his recent scoring streak with a great strike before half time but both defences remained on top.

The large crowd like the game burst into life occasionally but witnessed another game where we bossed it from start to finish.

And that plus the seven point gap was enough to have everyone rocking around the Christmas trees in the various packed pubs in the city centre.

Merry Christmas ay it.

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match?

Well our bad run continues! Another clean sheet, making four consecutive games and six of the last eight. No surprise this run coincides with the return from injury of Boly.

He is immense and covers the whole width of our box during games. Not one for hoofing the ball clear, he much prefers to get it down and pick a pass to a teammate. Class.

So, Lambert reckons he’d have us top of the league too. Not a chance, as he wouldn’t play half this team (he messed about with Cavaleiro and Saiss last season).

The first half an hour was pretty non descript. The pace of our play can be frustrating, but you can’t deny the quality.

It’s worth remembering that the football is head and shoulders above anything we saw last season, or any other for that matter!

We stepped it up in last 15 minutes of first half with Jota and Neves going close, before a fabulous goal from Cavaleiro. He posed our greatest threat and put away his 5th goal in the last 7 games following a break down the right from Jota. He’s certainly playing with a smile on his face.

I can’t recall Ipswich getting behind our defence, so they limited to just the two free kicks from outside the box.

We were much better in the second, as we started with 10% more urgency when in possession. This makes all the difference, as we can exploit any gaps in the opposition defence with exceptional passing and ball control.

Cavaleiro, Jota, Bright and Costa all went close, as we amassed 17 shots on goal. A Jota free kick also hit the side netting.

There was no danger of an equaliser, until the last minute when an Ipswich corner went straight through the six yard box without anyone getting a touch.

Overall, a very satisfying result. Not our very best, but good enough to see off anyone in this league. The other results confirmed that the gap had got bigger.

Happy Christmas!

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Everyone played their part in this comfortable victory.

Doherty and Douglas did not get forward, as we are so used to seeing now. I don’t really think that was forced upon us by Ipswich, so can only think it was part of Nuno’s gameplan.

Boly was the pick of the defence. Coady didn’t have much to do, but almost got on the scoresheet with a wayward back pass!

Cavaleiro, Neves, Saiss and Jota ran the show from start to finish.

Bonatini was a little subdued and had no opportunities on goal. Bright looked decent for his 25 minutes and maybe should have done better with his one chance on goal.

Man of the match was Cavaleiro.

Enjoy Christmas Wolves fans. This doesn’t happen very often.

Clive of Burton

What's your verdict on the match?

There is not much tinkering from Nuno with his team selection. No real surprise then that our performances are equally consistent. When teams play a conservative game against us we have to be patient, pass the ball well and be solid in defence. More often that not we manage to grind out a favourable result.

There was little chance of Ipswich being anything but conservative while the score was Wolves nil. Three minutes into the game and it looked like Mick and Co had watched a video of the Cardiff game. Off the ball Jota was on the floor injured for a couple of minutes.

Looking back, that Cardiff game, coming when it did, probably did us a favour. Rough stuff no longer phases us.

How ironic then that a piece of Jota 'rough stuff' on halfway won the ball and left his man on the grass. From the break away Jota's cross found Cav just outside the box and his turn and shot found the far corner of the net. A typical Cav finish.

That was certainly the highlight of the half. Wolves worked hard - Neves prompting, with Jota and Cav looking a threat near goal. Defensively we looked comfortable. Ipswich played the Mick-way and had to work even harder chasing the ball as we played it side to side and front to back.

At the risk of sounding like a TV expert - it was good for us to get the 'all important goal'.

Ipswich were forced to go to Plan B and the second half proved a more open game. Wolves counter attacks always looked more likely to result in a goal than Ipswich's attacks.

Saiss, Neves, Enobakhare and Costa had chances but the second goal would not come, despite 17 shots in total.

A couple of nervous moments for the home crowd to cope with and three more points were safely collected.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Ruddy yet again had a routine sort of game being well protected by those in front of him.

Doherty was closely marked in the first half but had more space and time to attack after the goal. His good form continues.

Douglas was steady throughout. A good free kick was just off target.

Boly - so dominant generally but still appears too casual at times. Lost more headers than usual, although none close to our goal.

I saw Coady cross halfway with the ball once. Hopefully Nuno will let him off. Doing his day job though he looked excellent, a good eight out of ten.

Bennett looked more in control than at Hillsborough and defended well.

Like in many games Saiss got better as the game went on. He did lots of leg work in midfield and has started to arrive late in the attacking box to offer an added goal threat.

Neves was again influential in midfield. A bit careless with his tackling he picked up yet another yellow card. His passing was good today, long and short range. How can someone who passes so well be pants at shooting?

As usual Jota played a significant role in the win. He showed more energy than the last couple of games and got a huge reception when subbed. It was a worry to see him kick out once when he had been floored. He did it also at Blues. If he continues then he will eventually see a red.

I felt sorry for Bonatini. If you watched him off the ball he was constantly on the move, making runs, but rarely receiving the ball. A very unselfish player.

Cav had a typical game. Sixty odd minutes with some wastefulness and some great skill too. With no outstanding performances he just gets man of the match ahead of the others.

Enobakhare was the first sub ahead of Costa.

Both had a decent chance to score and helped Wolves to constantly offer a goal threat.

Team selection will be interesting over the next two weeks. I wonder how the fringe players will feel if their only selection is in the FA Cup.

Nuno might not look at the League table, but if he did, he would see a pretty picture, seemingly getting better each week. We are halfway, in what continues to be a most enjoyable season.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match?

I’ll start this verdict by being completely honest. I’d let the negativity consume me this week. Press & media coverage in the build up to this game was like being in A Christmas Carol.

It all started with interviews with Paul Lambert trying to convince us that, given the funds we had in the Summer, he would have us in a similar position to where we are now.

His reappearance was like the visit of Jacob Marley coming to warn us of the visits of three spirits to come. Though Lambert was less Marley and more Lew Hayward in Scrooged, come to dangle us out of an office window with his fractured, decaying, bone of an arm in an attempt to terrify us.

Then came the visit of the first spectre. The Ghost of Failures past. Dave Edwards with a book-signing in the Molineux club shop, accompanied by an excerpt from his book being released to the press about the departure of our former manager, Mick McCarthy, who would form part two of the Ghost of the past’s visit.

Ah, Mick McCarthy. If Brexit were a football manager it would come in the form of Mad/Magic Mick (delete as appropriate). If there’s a furore over the time it’s taking for people to accept the Brexit vote then they should look at Wolves Twitter during the week of a McCarthy rematch.

Almost six years on and there’s mass debate over whether he should have stayed or gone & whether it was too early or too late when he eventually did go. I have to admit that I went and got stuck in again with a few tweets of my own this week. Resistance is futile.

All of these memories of the recent past had sent me spiralling into thoughts of Ipswich turning up and stealing a 1-0 win, with McCarthy stood in the visiting dugout like Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park, grinning massively as his dinosaur tactics steal another three points and preserve his unbeaten Molineux record since leaving us.

But then, the second spirit visits. More specifically, the Espirito. Already Nuno has dispelled the ‘November curse’ by gleaning 100% of the points available last month, so why I felt he wouldn’t be able to hammer the McCarthy hoodoo, I just don’t know.

There he was at the final whistle, energetically pumping his fist in triumphant celebration of another controlled, confident performance, another clean sheet, and sending that dour, big-nosed, faux-Irish, Yorkshireman home with no smug grin, no chance of arrogant remarks about money not being able to buy fight, and, most importantly, no points!

There’s little point in discussion of the game itself. You all know the scene by now.

Visitors arrive with a plan to sit deep, pack players behind the ball, hoof clearances on a repeating cycle, and time-waste, dive and take any opportunity to push/pull/kick our flair players that they get. We just did what we do. Played our football in the knowledge that, at some point, there would be a crack in their defensive shield that we could exploit.

When that moment did come, it was an absolute belter of a strike from Cavaleiro. His first touch completely took his marker out of the game and his second sent the ball rifling into the corner of the net, sparking some Christmas celebrations in the stands. Never troubled at the back by Ipswich, the most work Ruddy had to do all afternoon was dealing with some wild back-passes from his centre halves!

So what of the the third spectre, the Ghost of Christmas Future? Hopefully, it will be a Nuno-led Wolves sat in a comfortable position in the Premier League this time next season.

The short-term future appears to be a string of teams, with little confidence in their ability to take us on, turning up at Molineux praying that they can escape with more than 0 points by packing the defence and sitting in front of us. If so, expect some more 1-0 wins, more points, and, a piece of silverware come May.

Seven points clear of second, ten points clear of third, 16 points in front of Villa, and with more than three times the points and goals totals achieved by Blues in half a season.

Not bad is it? Add to this that the Blues are bottom and the Albion are sat in the Premier League relegation zone and it all makes for a very Merry Christmas for Wolves fans!

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match?

All I want for Christmas is to be top of the championship, ten points clear of third and playing some delightful football…Thanks to Nuno Santo, Christmas wishes do come true.

Yesterday was relatively comfortable as far as 1-0 wins go. A masterclass in shape, organisation and defensive responsibilities stifled the rare Ipswich attacking forays and gave us the platform for our more creative players to do just enough to win the three points.

Coady, Boly and Bennett are proving an unlikely axis of steel, pretty much making Ruddy as redundant as Damien Green’s internet privacy settings. Another game and another clean sheet and no real save to make…that’s some going for a team supposedly not playing that well.

The centre midfield of Saiss and Neves continue to offer a hearty mix of defensive cover and attacking intent, interchanging roles with the fluidity of a F1 engine. Our Portuguese playmaker seems to be getting better the further we move into Winter, sending a clear message to Potato Head down the M6 in Aston.

A couple of his passes second half were out of this world, threaded through the eye of a needle to find Costa and Saiss, who both should have done better.

That vision is far removed from the midfield dross we were served last year, where rapidly moving your arms around in a circular motion was preferred to the craft and guile we are currently enjoying.

Jota continues to be my player of the season and was again the architect of the only goal of the game, shrugging off a defender before bursting forward and – somewhat luckily – crossing to Cav.

The finish was fantastic, arrowing into the bottom corner and shutting me and my mate up, who were discussing replacing him with Costa at half-time. That’s the sort of player we’ve got in Cavaleiro.

For the first forty minutes, he looked like we’d found him on Fowler’s Park, playing with a hangover. His touch was all the over shop, he kept falling over and one of his corners ballooned that high up in the air North Korea thought we were firing a warning shot.

Then he produces that wonderful finish, giving the goalkeeper no chance.

Second half saw us pretty much control the game and, with a bit more confidence in front of goal, we could have sewn the game up with plenty of time to spare.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

I’m going to focus on our manager…Nuno Espirito Santo. What a phenomenal job he’s doing at WV1.

In just six months he’s managed to shape a team that is defensively sound, pleasing on the eye and is strolling what is considered to be one of the toughest leagues in the world. He has done this by combining a team of international flair with domestic talent and the result is a joy to behold.

He has an aura about him that makes you believe in everything he says. If Teresa May had anything about her she’d put him in charge of Brexit negotiations…We’d definitely not get a bad deal with Nuno at the helm!

Heather Large

What’s your verdict on the match?

It was a well-deserved win that leaves us top of the tree and seven points clear of second place for Christmas - a perfect present for Wolves fans.

Certainly not the most action-packed of matches but it was one where we dominated from the start and outplayed an Ipswich side that was prepared to mostly sit back and defend (when they weren’t trying to foul us, that is).

Ruben Neves and Romain Saiss ruled the midfield with the visitors unsure how to deal with their skill and creativity - some of the passing from Neves, in particular, was superb - and it was great strike from Ivan Cavaleiro for the goal.

Our defence was again resilient, solid and, except for a couple of nervy moments, including one just minutes from the final whistle, coped very well when Ipswich did attempt to put us under pressure.

Last season, Mick McCarthy’s men came to Molineux to play for a point and it made for a dire stalemate game that was far from enjoyable to watch so it was good to see our new era side fight back against his tactics.

We’re continually able to win games comfortably even when we haven’t played our best, and it was great to get three points to kick-start a busy run of matches during Christmas and into the New Year.

Who played well and who didn’t impress?

Willy Boly and Conor Coady were again strong at the back while Neves, Saiss and Bonatini were all excellent going forward.

This season there is no doubt that we’re playing as a team.

Adam Virgo

What was your verdict on the match?

Three points and a clean sheet are both becoming a bit of a recurrence this season, same with us breaking curses under Nuno. We had never beaten Mick in 13 attempts prior to yesterday, six of those being at Ipswich but Nuno goes and does it at the first time of asking.

Seven points clear of second and ten points clear of third is a fantastic position to be in at the halfway point. According to other fans, we’ve been average recently but in this so called “blip” we’ve extended our lead at the top and not conceded a single goal in December.

Once again we didn’t have too many chances, especially in the first half but the one big chance we did have in the first 45, we took. Great determination from Jota to win the ball, leading up to the goal and a delightful finish from Cavaleiro.

Late on in the second half we should have killed the game with two glorious chances, both presented on a plate, beautifully by Neves. His vision is just exceptional and I genuinely don’t think anyone else on that pitch would have been able to find Saiss and Costa like he did.

Who played well and who didn’t impress?

Just like always, the defence were rock solid and limited Ipswich to a few shots. It’s like we have 3 centre halves who all do/have different jobs when playing the position. There’s Bennett who just does the simple stuff, gets stuck in and will clear his lines if needed.

Boly, who every attacker is scared of and do anything and everything. Unbelievable at defending, so calm at all times and always looking to pass it out to keep possession.

Then you have Coady, the leader, the sweeper and the guy who can offer so much. Covers superbly for Bennett/Boly if ever they go for a ball and it’s past them, he knows when to keep the ball and then when to ping one out wide.

It’s great to see that we have three different types of players in the roles because they all offer something different which then all comes together as a fantastic centre back trio.

I bet John Ruddy looks forward to the training sessions more than the actual games at the moment as he probably has more to do. I’d say he’s bored but with the way we attack at times I’m sure he just loves admiring it all.

Jota looked sharper than he has done in recent games but he still wasn’t at his best. Did really well to win the ball which led to us scoring.

Bonatini looks to be struggling at the moment which isn’t his fault, there isn’t many other options unless we use Jota up top and bring Costa in. We’ll have to make do until January, we’ve certainly coped well so far though.

I was a bit surprised Cavaleiro was the first to come off considering it’s always him and with all the games coming up, I thought Jota or Bonatini might have been the first one to go off. Great finish by Cav for the goal though, he left the keeper standing and just accepting his fate.

Neves and Saiss both had very good games. Saiss broke up a lot in midfield, both him and Neves kept the ball well, plus a few sensational passes from the Portuguese midfielder throughout the game too.

The two in the second half which should have resulted in assists for Neves were sublime, the weight of pass on the ball for both were perfect. He really does possess so much talent, by far the best footballer I’ve seen at Wolves and he’s only 20.