Wolves Fans' Verdict v Newcastle: A solid display with more VAR madness

Rob Cartwright

It seems like Gary O’Neil is beginning to win over the Molineux faithful, after a shaky start to his tenure. Five games unbeaten now, plus all the plaudits for his appearance on Sky.

You can’t fault his team selections or tactics since the Ipswich cup defeat.

Of course, without some absolutely ridiculous VAR decisions we would now be sitting a very healthy sixth in the table, after 10 games.

We were treated to yet another blunder in this game. Hwang’s challenge didn’t look like a penalty at the time and looks even less so on the replays. I can understand the referee giving it from his view, but there is no excuse for VAR not to correct a wrong decision. So another two points go into the VAR pot of errors.

We were entertained by a good game with both teams attacking. Newcastle enjoyed more possession but Wolves looked more dangerous with Neto causing problems and Semedo and Ait-Nouri getting forward continually. Things have changed and it’s fair to say we now expect Wolves to score in every game.

We went behind to a poor goal, with a mistake by Sa presenting the ball to Wilson.

The equaliser came from the training ground, with Lemina meeting Neto’s corner at the far post to head home. I think if we’d gone in level at half-time we would have gone on to win the game. This makes the penalty in added time at the end of the half very difficult to accept.

For the second week running, it was the introduction of Tommy Doyle that sprung Wolves back onto the front foot and it was looking very likely that we would get at least one more goal. This came with 20 minutes still to play. Excellent play by Toti Gomes who played in Hwang with a super finish. That’s six consecutive home games Hwang has scored. You have to go back 50 years to John Richards to match that!

Wolves were now well on top. That was until Neto pulled up injured. This had a big impact on the crowd and the players from which we never really recovered. I think we were happy with a point by the end of the eight minutes added time.

Neto has looked brilliant the last few weeks. Finally back to full fitness only for this to happen. A big loss. He has more assists this season than anyone else.

I hope it isn’t too serious. He’s been a pleasure to watch lately.

Clive Smith

Let’s discuss the controversy first. Yet again the officials played a key role in the result by making what seems another mistake. That’s the third game out of our 10. A 30 per cent error rate. What other multimillion pound industry would tolerate that? Imagine visiting the cash point and only getting the right cash 70 per cent of the time.

The game itself was the sort that left you feeling exhausted. Everyone put in a shift, including those on the pitch, as the enthusiasm and encouragement from the stands provided a terrific atmosphere. Does the rain and floodlights make that much of a difference? Maybe, but not as much as the performance on the pitch.