It’s only right to start with a tribute to the man that led Wolves to a UEFA Cup Final place in 1972, and a League Cup Win in 1974. Bill McGarry, who passed away this week aged 77, was a great man, who did a lot for Wolves in the early 1970’s, and did a lot for football on a whole.
As a player McGarry gained 4 England Caps, two of those coming in the World Cup. An old fashioned wing-half, he made nearly 600 league appearances for Port Vale, Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth between 1946 and 1962, scoring 32 goals in the process.
McGarry’s funeral will take place on Saturday 19th March in South Africa.
Meanwhile it looks as though Wolves will be losing the service's of Dean Sturridge who is set for a free transfer move to QPR.
Sturridge stated on Wolves official site, “I had a tremendous three and a half years here and the fans were always behind me, because of injuries over the last 12 months, and then not being in the team, I didn't make as many appearances as I would have wanted to.”
Sturridge joined from Leicester 2001 and has made 91 appearances for Wolves and scored 33 goals. I am sure most fans will be sad to see the hard-working forward leaving for free. If and when he does leave, I’m sure all Wolves fans will wish him well in his new escapade.
A must-win game for this weekend, much like the ‘must-win’ game midweek where Wolves managed to defeat Burnley 2 – 0, with chants circling the ground of “There’s Only One Paul Ince”. Ince was once again the catalyst in a brilliant performance on Tuesday night, flying tackles, pure passion; he looked like he’d only just turned 21. The only worry fans is, what happens when Ince retires? Wolves have not found a player capable to replicate what Ince does for the side. Ift they are to get back to the Premiership they must find someone who can emulate him.
The defence too deserve credit for the midweek win. Craddock is ever improving, Lescott is dominant and Naylor had a great game and looks like he is returning to form. Naylor’s role as set-piece taker has given Wolves an extra edge and he looked ever threatening from corners and set pieces. Rohan Ricketts entertained for 12 minutes, with nifty touches and quick feet he will give Wolves some extra attacking ‘oomph’. All-in-all it was a happy night at Molineux; Wolves are becoming the team to fear in the Championship.
And so onto saturday and what can you say about the reverse fixture earlier this season? Stoke 2 – 1 Wolves… Unexpected? Shocking? Poor? Wolves were under-par and it was the first sign that this season wouldn’t be as simple as most first thought. Since then, Stoke have risen to 9th in the table and can easily gain promotion through the play-offs, but they have lost Akinbiyi... This will have an effect on them, he was strong, pacey and gave them more options up front, and without him they will find it very hard to score. Stoke have scored just 28 goals in 37 games, the worst record in the league and Wolves should take advantage of this.
Prediction: 2 - 0