When Wolves finally do get the chance to return to action, at West Ham next Friday, they will do so knowing that pretty much perfection is a necessity over the coming weeks.
But that particular part of East London hasn’t necessarily been a happy hunting ground, with one or two exceptions. Paul Berry looks back on one of those, with the help of Karl Henry, David Jones and Matt Jarvis.
Karl Henry recently watched the game back between Wolves and West Ham at Upton Park from March 2010.
“That was one of the first of our Premier League games I wanted to watch back and I wasn’t disappointed,” said the former skipper.
At one point there was a passage of play when Wolves stroked the ball around with speed and confidence. The likes of Henry, David Jones, Michael Mancienne, Kevin Foley and Kevin Doyle quickly moving the ball on with both accuracy and a purpose. The sequence ends with a deflected shot from Jones flying wide of the post and a cacophony of boos from a disgruntled home crowd.
“Wolves are giving West Ham a footballing lesson,” enthused co-commentator Nigel Winterburn.
“Some of the stuff they are playing is sensational.”
Wolves won 3-1 that night. Doyle opened the scoring in the first half before clinical second half strikes from Ronald Zubar and Matt Jarvis sealed the points ahead of a late West Ham consolation.
It came at the end of a ‘Claret & Blue’ ten days in which seven points from three fixtures at Burnley, Aston Villa and West Ham pretty much secured Wolves’ Premier League status in their first season back at the level under Mick McCarthy. Wielding the ‘Hammer Time’.
But that memorable night under the lights at one of football’s famous venues proved a rare hotspot of Wolves’ joy over the last 50 years or more.
Going back to March of 1969, Wolves have won only four of 25 games away at West Ham. Two of those came during the tenure of Nuno Espirito Santo, and were both extremely notable, starting with the first Premier League win of 2018/19 thanks to Adama Traore’s last gasp winner. And then, the first game back behind closed doors during the Covid lockdown, when Traore set up Raul Jimenez before Pedro Neto’s emphatic volley secured a 2-0 success.
Further back in time came a victory in March 1978 as goals from Willie Carr and Billy Rafferty delivered a 2-1 win.
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Dave Jones fires home for Wolves | Sam Bagnall/AMA
Slim pickings all in however, so let’s take a closer look at that evening just over 16 years ago in which, although Wolves are in a far worse position now, both clubs were also battling away at the lower end of the Premier League table.
Wolves, in 16th, were four points above the relegation zone with West Ham, in 17th, a point behind. The game had been postponed due to bad weather earlier in the season, and its timing now made it perfect fodder for the Sky TV cameras. So, it was the proverbial six pointer, played out not just in front of the near 34,000 inside Upton Park, but a gleeful audience of television viewers boasting a macabre sense of footballing mischief.
As it was, it was Wolves who looked the far more confident, Foley hitting the bar before Doyle dispossessed James Tomkins before marching towards goal and finding the bottom corner from an acute angle, a lead that just about survived until half time as Scott Parker struck the inside of the post and saw his follow-up denied by Marcus Hahnemann
“We were building some real momentum and confidence at that stage of the season,” recalls midfielder Jones, now looking forward to a very different excitement in his role as first team coach with Championship promotion-chasers Wrexham.
“We didn’t score a huge amount of goals that season, but we were starting to look a threat, and I felt we went into that West Ham game not feeling too much pressure.
“It just felt like we had a great opportunity to put some daylight between ourselves and West Ham, and we had such a strong mentality both as individuals and together as a team.
“Throughout the side we had a mentality, from those with a lot of experience like Marcus and Jody (Craddock), to Doyler, Foles, Karl – so many players who had worked so hard to get to the level and had built that mentality as a result.
“I remember being in the tunnel going into that game and looking around at the lads and thinking, ‘we’re alright here, I really fancy us’, and fortunately that was proved right.”
Jarvis concurs.
“Because we were such a tight knit group, because so many of us had come through together in that team which won the Championship, it felt like we were all in it together,” he explains.
“I always thought that when the going got tough, that collective spirit always helped us, because we had the structures and routines in place that developed a strong mentality.
“We had so many banks of experience among the staff from the gaffer through to TC (assistant Terry Connor), Dales (fitness specialist Tony Daley) and all the others in the backroom team, as well as the players, that we were able to feed off each other.
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Sam Bagnall/AMA
“Off the pitch we all knew what each other needed, and then when we crossed the white line, we were able to take control of situations, and be ready to overcome obstacles.
“And then, on that night in particular, Doyler getting that opening goal in such a massive game was huge.
“It gave us something not just to hold onto, but to build from, and the performance after that showed what a great group we had not just in terms of mentality but also quality.”
That quality came to the fore in the second half particularly in the shape of the second and third goals that took the game away from the hosts.
And was due both to clinical finishing and the creativity and technical nous of Jones, who assisted both.
First, he played an inch perfect pass into the path of marauding right back Ronald Zubar on 58 minutes to hit a first time shot into the bottom corner with shades of Brazilian Carlos Alberto against Italy in the 1970 World Cup Final.
And then, three minutes later, another Jones pass for Jarvis who took the ball in his path with a superb first touch and a tremendously precise second, fired into the bottom corner.
“I’d have to give Terry Connor a lot of credit for those two goals,” the ever-modest Jones says of Wolves’ assistant manager of the time.
“I’d had a pretty bad injury earlier in that season and I got back into training around the November or December time.
“I got closer to being back in the team which I did from January onwards and started to play what was a more advanced role than before, almost like a number ten in behind Doyler.
“I really enjoyed the new role, and remember a lot of sessions that TC did with us where, if you were playing the ball backwards, it had to be one touch.
“But as soon as anyone was able to turn, we needed forward runs, and that is what happened with both of those goals.
“With Zubar, you knew he would bomb on whenever he got the chance, and I’m not even sure you can see him in the picture on the TV when I got the ball, but I knew he’d be coming!
“It was a great finish, and then the same with Jarvo, who was also always available making those forward runs, and he produced a couple of great touches.
“For me, as a number 10, I wasn’t someone who could dribble with the ball, I was a number 10 whose game was about being efficient, getting hold of the ball and sliding those passes through, which is why I needed forward runs.
“Those goals and combinations fell perfectly into the sessions which TC was doing with us at the time, and it was great to see it come to fruition.”
Jarvis celebrated his strike with a somewhat out-of-character ‘goggles’ celebration in front of a new delirious away end, long before Ruben Neves or John McGinn
“I think that was the only time I ever did a really personal celebration,” he laughs.
“Basically, it was something I did for my mates, as it was something we used to do at school, messing around on photos and stuff like that.
“I’d always promised I would do it at some point, but I always forgot in the excitement, until that night, live on Sky!”
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Ronald Zubar celebrates | Sam Bagnall/AMA
It was a fitting way to round off the scoring on such a brilliant night for the thousands of Wolves fans packed into the away end, and a fitting reward for such a committed and impressive performance.
Little wonder it remains one of Henry’s favourite recollections of Wolves’ three years in the Premier League under McCarthy.
“Watching it back I remember that yes we were hard-working, but we also had quality, and so many honest players throughout that squad,” he recalls.
“Kevin Doyle was magnificent, running the two West Ham centre backs ragged, and they just couldn’t handle him.
“Kevin Foley was the same, playing on the right wing, and then the three of us in midfield, myself, Jonah and Mance (Michael Mancienne), I think we could all look after the ball
“We were coming up against Scott Parker and (Valon) Behrami in there, both very good players, but we got the better of them on the night.
“Sometimes, and as a coach now I realise this more, you just find a rhythm and a balance in a team that clicks, even maybe with just different combinations, like having Zubar who was so good going forward but a bit unpredictable at the back, but with Kevin Foley as the midfielder ahead of him to steady the ship.
“We didn’t play out from the back, we had Jody (Craddock) and Christophe (Berra) who were great defensively, and we knew we had to play our football higher up the pitch.
“Then we had Jarvo stretching them out wide, and such a good balance that ended up getting the results which meant we stayed up pretty comfortably in the end.”
After the heights of Upton Park Wolves almost limped their way over the finishing line, with four draws in the next five games, which could have been a nap hand but for Nicklas Bendtner’s injury time winner for Arsenal at The Emirates.
That midweek three points proved decisive, albeit there was certainly no time for exuberance or over-celebrating under McCarthy, as Jones vividly recalls!
“I wouldn’t say I can remember the gaffer saying ‘well done’ all that often, but to be fair, the mentality he had was similar to what I experienced growing up at Manchester United,” he explains.
“It was always a pat on the back, but what’s next, because we’ve still got jobs to do and we can’t let go.
“In the job I am in now, I have sometimes seen how it works when players are given a rocket when things are going well, to make sure they don’t get carried away.
“I am fully on board with that, and I think with the mentality we had in that squad at Wolves, so was everyone else.
“When you have that collective mentality, when everyone is putting it in, whether it's a midweek night in the cold and wind or whatever, no one ever slips through the net.”
And now? It’s a very different situation to back then with Wolves currently cast 13 points adrift of safety with only seven games remaining.
As well as being in an unprecedented run of 25 days without a fixture. Pretty much unheard of.
“Such a long break is a difficult one because I think both teams had built up a bit of momentum with some good performances,” says Jarvis, with a strong foot in both camps given he now mentors Wolves Academy scholars as well as being an ambassador at West Ham, where he moved after Wolves.
“At the same time, the Premier League is so intense, not just physically but mentally as well, especially when battling relegation, so I think a bit of respite is great.
“They will appreciate the game getting closer after a break because you always want a purpose in training to work towards.
“Even with Wolves’ situation I would expect them to keep giving it all until the end of the season because there is always something to play for, both for individuals and as a club.
“And they also have the chance to have a big say in everything that happens at the bottom as they have to play all the teams around them.”
“For me, as a coach now, I would see this as a great chance to get some proper work done on the training ground,” adds Henry.
“Coming in midway through the season as Rob (Edwards) did is very difficult, because you really want to work on things and implement your philosophy but there are constant games which make that a challenge.
“Obviously the games are always key but I think it is also on the training pitch that you can make a difference and we can see that Rob has started not only to get his ideas across but also get results.”
Another one of those next Friday night would continue to keep the pot bubbling. And potentially burst the West Ham bubble in the process. At the very least, football will be back!
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