Wolves announce Griffiths Deal

Indeed, Ad Mant......a good signing for the future....whether that future be in the Premiership or in the Championship, for the future one plans in the present. And the fact that Mick is guranteed a job next season is responsible thinking by both the other M's - it takes the pressure off Mick, who can then concentrate fully on the job without having to worry about the axe; that reassurance makes for a confident manager, the result of which,in turn, can only be stress-free players. Supporting the Wolves is supporting The M's.

I can agree with you on this one, Ad Mant. Interesting follow-up point by lovesw too, though I veer towards the negative view rather than the positive one (again, like Ad Mant).

I see both Southbank60 and Ad Mant are, on their own admission, somewhat negative. Now because it is quite evident that I am not negative at all, let it not be understood that I am positive on account of that. I am not saying Wolves are staying up. Not at all. I am neither positive nor negative - I am a realist. The possibility of relegation is there; that very same possibiliy was there last season; only after the Upton Park win did it become only a remote possibility - but back then, Pompey were near certs for relegation, and Hull and Burnley were dropping more points than Wolves were. This time it will be harder. It looks like as many as 40 points will be needed. Certainly I will be pleased if events prove me wrong. One thing looks clear, though: with no 4-6- point cushion from the drop zone to defend - indeed, Wolves find themselves IN the drop zone, and it is more than likely that they will still find themselves there after the Arsenal game - the lone-striker formation, aiming for a point per match to 'defend the cushion', will not be reverted to. It cannot be reverted to. And that is a great relief.

I am no one to comment - much less judge - on whether Griffiths, and Hammill, for that matter, have what it takes to make them established Premiership players; or, to be utterly realistic, established Championship players. I trust those in charge of youth policy and player assessment at Wolves know much more about it than I or than anyone on here. What I am all for is this Club policy of 'one for the future' - it shows there is vision, a plan is in place for that vision, and that plan is being carried through.

I get the point.........actually, both points. The first has been aired by quite a few here and elsewhere: the signings that will keep Wolves up. Mick has stated on several occasions that he is confident of staying up with the squad he has. Now, either he is being totally sincere in this, and as far as I have read, he is known to be very sincere and straightforward, in which case, if Wolves are relegated, it can be put down to a gross error of judgement on his part, or he isn't being sincere, and if so,- point 2 - as you say, the purchase of future prospects is an admission of defeat, the defeat being the realization, from experience now, that the Club does not possess the financial structure and muscle to compete with the big boys, at least not as yet (spending 30-40 million on two quality defenders, for instance), then yes, it will amount to an admission of defeat in this sense, and in this sense alone. For one will have to be sincere with oneself to come to see this. It is success in facing and admitting to the reality. If the goal be unattainable now, the next best that can be done is to do all that is possible to relaize the goal in the future. Clubs have gone into administration on account of 'playing' beyond their means, of playing blind to the financial realities of the club. If the Championship it is to be, then so be it. Rather a healthy - and, hopefully,short! - life in the Championship than 'doing a Portsmouth'

Again - you (and many others) say we need to fill 'one or two problem positions' and Mick states he is happy with the squad as it is. This is the whole of the matter. That is why I started off with this point in my previous post, and, in a still previous one, that it all comes down to trust. You hint at the possibility that I do not care if we get relegated - come now, which fan does not? We are all fans of the same club here, and we do our best to get our view across as best we can. Sometimes it happens that another's view is taken for a lack of 'loyalty' to the club, we get touchy....as I feel you have. Well then, here is more: you mention West Brom. Now West Brom are my second team. Am I now being cruel? Is it my intention to hurt? No, I am just being me. This will be incomprehensible to someone who comes from the Black Country, and seems outright insulting to a Wolves fan. But I am not English, much less a West Midlands bloke, so I am entitled to it, just because the local rivalries there cannot touch me. So I may now expect some stick on account of this too. Go on then, shoot! Wait.......to spare the embarrassment of the first shot, I will have that first shot myself -at myself: ' No wonder.This 'W' at the end of the name.....what does it stand for? '!!!!!!!!!

Again, you should read what I actually did say. The whole tenor of your contribution was that we should trust MM when he says that he is happy with his squad and that his policy of building for the future is the correct one. Clearly, his squad isn't good enough at the moment or we would not be languishing in the relegation zone. Given the situation, it is not surprising that fans should query a statement claiming otherwise. In this respect, buying for the future rather than shoring up weaknesses at the present seems like an admission of defeat. Apparently, you accept this outcome with equanimity, hence my parting shot! It's not a case of me being touchy about a different point of view (in my job it goes with the territory) but a reasonable inference drawn from from your argument. Regarding WBA: if you read my analogy carefully, you will see that I was not making a cheap jibe against the club but rather warning Wolves against following the same path. Learn from the Baggies' experience and fill up the gaps to ensure survival ... now! Scroll through my earlier blogs and you will see that I view WBA as no different from any other team. Indeed, I would l like to see all West Midlands teams stay up. In that respect, like you, I am a supporter of WBA ... but only in the wider interests of regional football and for the exhilaration of a closely contested derby.

Good shot! Honestly now, does it all not boil down to this: that MM is either wrong in judging that there is enough in the present squad to stay up, or that he is lying when he says so. Either way, I am not in a position to judge. Many, if not most, pretend they are. I just do not know. How can I know? I watch eleven Wolves players giving their all for 90' every week or so. Surely others have more time and opportunity to watch the reserves playing, training sessions, perhaps ; their opinion will then be more valuable than mine can ever be. But who is better placed than MM in this matter? True, his judgement could still turn out to be wrong, for all that. 'The whole tenor of your contribution is that we should trust MM....' Again, you should read what I actually did say!: The whole tenor of my contribution is that I trust MM. To this much I should be entitled. Others PLEASE differ.

I have only been on here for about a week or so, and I am sure you have hit on most of the problems in those other questions, Southbank 60......one of which must be, as I see, that the team raise their game significantly against distinguished, if not illustrious, opponents. Would the problem be a psychological one, then, partly at least? Most clubs employ a professional psychologist. I do not know whether Wolves do; please inform me. I think I would be expressing the opinion of most when I say that Wolves' league position would be somewhere below mid-table had the performances against Wigan (h & a), Bolton, Blackpool and Blackburn matched the recent ones against Chelsea, Liverpool (a) and Man.C (h AND a). On a light note, why a psychologist? Why not a hypnotist? Next up are Bolton in the league. The entire squad could then be subjected to a sort of collective hypnotism and told that they will be facing Spurs! Only, an illusionist will be needed also. His bit will be to have them see the Reebok as if it were White Hart Lane. Illusions.......the danger of relegation certainly is not one. Thanks for your comments, Southbank 60.

Stone the crows- I feel like I've been in a time warp- missed out on a good old back and forth here. Dubya, I extend the welcome. Brand new to the site, you've raised some cracking ideas, bred healthy discussion, and whilst opinions have clearly differed on several issues, everyone, as is the way 99% of the time her on Vital Wolves, have proven attentive and respective of others differeing opinions. There are so many issues to talk about with the club right now it is hard to know where to begin; as for this thread alone I had to hit the top of the screen just to remind myself what the story was about- there proves the bearty of discussion. I don't know where you are from, but no one has, and I doubt they will, give you any ear ache for Albion being your second team- it's one I've never heard before but fair play, means no difference to me. You are here writing for and with Wolves, and obvious passion for the club. It's impossible, and would prove boring for me to even attempt to hit on every point but in summary, without reading back pertinent issues have arisen. It would appear, after some wobbling at times, not neccesarily from people here, that Mick has out backing, at least from everyone who has comented on this article. His life has been football and we have to accept that he knows the ins and outs of daily football life better than we do. Sometimes I have thought he has not done himself any favors with his remarks, recent one springs to mind ' I'll be here next year regardless.' I'm not entirely sure he actually said that, it was a report in the Express & Wooden Spoon, again, if I remember correctly it was more along the lines of even in the event of relegation he would take some shifting and that over rode for me any mention of his lack of care for the club. He is on a rolling 12 month contract so he is not a mercenary who thinks, alright, we go, pay me up my 3 years. He was a player, and is a person who epitmoizes honesty and integrity in spite of his often bizaree choices, but guess what- he got us up, kept us up, and I think he will again. My main concern, aside from the immediate, is our future. Rationally, every year you spend in the Premiership you bring in more revenue, you prove stability, attract better players, can afford their wages and trnasfer fees, but we did stay up against the odds, then spent 17 million and are at the time of writing, 19th. It's not an acceptable position- it's all very well saying May is what matters, and whilst this rings true on paper, there has to be a plan in place for next season for developent. I do believe we will stay up. I do believe Morgan will go ahead and give the stadium the green light, and come summer more money will be made available. For the likes of Wigan, staying up again is almost like another 9 months of Christmas day, every day. At Wolves, assuming we stay up again, we MUST show signs of development regarding league position and such next year (if and when)- I still can't bear to think about relegation- those he don't think it is a big deal, or will boost moral when we go and win the title again should realize the likes of Stearman are now on more than 30,000 a week, our best half dozen players will leave, the heart of the squad will need to be reconstructed, we might have just ploughed multi millions into a new stadium, the Sky Money will be gone, attendances and revenue will plumet. He turned us down but the fact we went in for Woodgate raised the spirits. It shows we are not merely fixated on the 'cheap, useless, unproven (fill insults bandied around by some)- it just goes to show, thankfully, that behind the scenes we are going for the right players and I do believe we will see two more faces in training Tuesday morning.

I agree with your analysis. If only we can conjure up one or two points by the end of the Arsenal match- a draw and a victory against Bolton (?) - we have a decent run-in and the chance to put sufficient points on the board to avoid the drop. I, too, would like us to keep Fletcher and Doyle up front but that does put greater pressure on the defence, starting in the middle of the pitch. We lost against Liverpool because we conceded the midfield and made mistakes at the back. That's why I want us to buy a couple of defenders in this window.

Crete our kid, you get the heart Beat going with these discussed signings, like a Nick Berry program, riding around on a *****tered motorbike like its nineteen fifty niiiiiiine. First Woodgate, now this! You can put that packet of magic markers back......hang on, why are all the lids missing? Nun jokes follow (clue- dry (pens) )- I see no signings....yet. I wish our mate Willis (AVFC) was here- I've stayed up all night to watch this game, okay, it's 7.58am and I got in three hours ago but, can I find it anywhere? Nope. For lack of anything else to do but stare at vidi print text, I shall share my feared prediction- a draw. Worked last time. (judging by the team I think we will win.)

Hey! All of you have been reading my report.