Soapbox: keeping the Wolves from the door

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Debate? What debate? Pete Sixsmith watches Sunderland score five without quite performing as if about to storm into the top four. But one thing that did please him (apart from reaching a points tally that leave us just 28 short of safety) was goal number three. It prompted Pete to give short shrift to doubts about Kenwyne Jones …


The great
Kenwyne Jones debate was surely shelved at 5.35 when he moved across the front of the goal, left two defenders for dead and whipped a 20 yard shot past the Wolves keeper. It put us 3-2 up, and as Mick McCarthy’s men s legs were beginning to wobble, set up what looks, on paper, like a comfortable 5-2 win.

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Who are you? We’re Wolves (2)

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If Andy Nicholls played the long ball, with a few elegant runs here and there, our second Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter, Garry Dingley*, found via the Wolves-Mad fan site, prefers it short and sweet. And he grows in confidence as he goes on: an unknown third slot for relegation is filled, a few questions later, by Stoke City. Read on to see who else he reckons will go down, and who he thinks will win on Sunday. Salut! Sunderland thanks all Wolves fans for their interest – plus Jody Craddock for permission to showcase his art …

Salut! Sunderland: A lot of our fans wondered how Mick McCarthy might have done with the money available to Keane and Bruce. Has he had enough at Wolves and has he spent it wisely?

I think he could of done with a little bit more so we could get one or two players in with Premier experience. He does seem to rely on players who have played for him before thought.

On that note, Greg Halford seems to be picking up a lot of five out of tens in newspaper player ratings. He was a great disappointment at our place. Still not up to it? What about other signings from Sunderland eg Neil Collins and Jody Craddock?

Halford as been moved to full back now and as played well there. I never liked Collins but Jody isn’t a bad player at all now.

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Who are you? We’re Wolves (1)

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If no one minds, this week’s Who are you? feature, ahead of SAFC v Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, is an in memoriam edition. It honours David Graves, a Wolves-supporting colleague and great friend who died in a diving accident seven years ago, and Jake, the baby taken by cot death syndrome a year later from Jody Craddock, a centre back who has been a model of commitment and professionalism at both Sunderland and Wolves. Fittingly, the game is previewed – in the first of two Black Country contributions – by Andy Nicholls*, another Wolves man with a Mackem connection

Briefly, David was a reporter I had known since our days together at the Press Association. He was extremely good at his job but also a committed family man. He, his wife Diana and their two boys deserved better than that he should die while diving in the Bahamas. He would have been my first choice to answer questions prior to a Wolves v Sunderland encounter.

Equally briefly, Jody – coincidentally a big fan of Bahamas holidays – was still a mainstay of our defence when he and his wife Shelley, lost Jake at just five months. Jody, a gifted art student when at school, returned to canvas to work through his grief. His work – which can be seen and bought at his own site – illustrates (with Jody’s consent) this series of excellent responses from Andy Nicholls, from the top Wolves fan site Molineux Mix. Our thoughts are with both families.


And here are the questions …

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