Source: FOOTYMAD
80 minutes is the new (gold and) black
In 1863 a group of finely moustached, pipe smoking men gathered in a mahogany-stained wood panelled smoky room to formalise a list of rules that all professional football clubs should adhere to. Whichever of these tweed-suited gentle fellows proposed that a game should last 90 minutes was obviously a madman and has a lot to answer for. If only his suggestion had been politely refused and replaced with an 80 minute proposal or something a little more ‘out there’ like a 75 minute game, Wolves would now be sitting comfortably and proudly in the middle of the ever punishing Premier League table (and probably in the next round of the Worthless Cup). 90 is a strange number anyway, why not 100 or 80? 90 looks a bit ugly and odd if you ask me. I’m not suggesting the rules be re-written, merely clinging to any consolation I can that proves Wolves are indeed a fine team and our league position does not reflect our great degree of effort and skill. So why can’t Wolves see out a game and pick up those deserved 1 or dare I say it, 3 points? Having dropped points against Manchester United, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Fulham so late in the game it's clear there is a pattern of disintegration. Is it a fear factor knowing they’re so close yet have failed before? Is it a fitness issue and after an hour and a half of swash-buckling effort they just can’t clear that 90th hurdle? Is it a management issue and the players simply haven’t been trained to see out a game by keeping the ball by the corner flags or clearing it to row Z? Or are they just unlucky? In my opinion it simply comes down to a lack of experience at Premier League level which has led to a contagious fear of making a mistake that multiplies with every near miss, every flapped cross, every misplaced pass, every goal line clearance and every dangerous dribble into our box. When the clock is ticking down with the crowd becoming increasingly nervous and aggravated, the players struggle with the basics and invite their opposition upon them. Most of the goals Wolves have conceded in recent times could have been prevented if space was closed down and runners were tracked. We haven’t seen any wonder goals against us, no, all our hard work and new-found 80 minute-lasting confidence has been undone by the simplest of goals, hence Mick McCarthy’s disgust after Saturday’s Old Trafford heartbreak. So in reality I can’t blame Geoffrey Rupert Jefferson-Blake* and his chums of 1863 for coming up with this ridiculous 90 minutes ruling, and I really don’t want to blame anyone at Wolves for we are so close to turning the corner, and once we have the last of these Champions League-like horror fixtures against Arsenal on Wednesday out of the way I’m certain we will find ourselves sitting comfortably in or around mid-table come Christmas. Wolves players have earned the right to be called Premier League players. They’ve shown over the last few games against daunting opposition that they can play like Premier League players, they just need to know that a Premier League player plays with no fear and does it for 90 minutes**. *I’m pretty certain this is not his name.**Yes, yes, I’m well aware there will be injury time, but that kind of ruins the piece doesn’t it?!
