Charlton post-mortem.

Well Blackburn wasn’t just a one-off.

The 25,000 Wolves fans at the Molineux now know what the 4,000 at Ewood Park did – that life in the Premiership is very hard.

I was reasonably confident of Wolves being able to match Charlton, but even after gifting them an opening goal, we never really competed in any area of the pitch.

The fans got right behind the team from the start but when it went 2-0 the doubts spread through the stands.

As the third and fourth goals emphasised the difference in movement and ability between the teams, all we could take from the game was that we were being hammered by a Premiership team.

With the game over at half-time, Jones introduced Rae and Cooper to try a 4-5-1 formation probably with Old Trafford in mind on Wednesday. However, even with the extra player in midfield, Charlton still had too many options and too much time and space. The half resulted in our first even scoreline of 0-0 but Charlton still had the better opportunities to increase the scoreline.

Ok lost, but what was worrying was the lack of appetite for a battle from the majority of players.

There was no hassling, no closing down, no denial of space.

You could have steered an oil tanker between the gap that Butler and Craddock left open in the centre of defence in the first half.

Charlton, whenever we had possession, were right on top of us in groups so that we had no time to think or pass.

Add to this the fact I think we played even worse than we did at Blackburn, where at least in spells we were ok.

In terms of the personnel on the pitch there were again some disappointing performances.

Silas once again was very poor. I think that like Okoronkwo he’s not ready for the Premiership as yet and should be taken out of the firing line. He had to switch with Iversen to play up front with the forward going out wide on the left, tells the tale that Silas just couldn’t compete and was further exposing Naylor.

Cameron’s dreadful mistake summed up his forty-five minute spell. Ince unfortunately, doesn’t have the legs to chase and harry unsupported for 90 minutes at this level any more.

Butler was as exposed as any centre back you will ever see. Clearly, one division too many for former captain.

As for the rest well the consensus was that only Naylor and Blake came out of the game with any credit. Once Blake gets a decent strike partner, whether that be the returning Miller or someone else, there is the hope of a real goal scoring threat.

If Naylor can get someone in front of him that can double up, then again that might not be too weak an area of the pitch.

However, the central spine of the team is woefully lacking. Sure Lescott will make a difference as will Miller but the midfield needs some new faces and quickly.

Seeing Leicester almost get something from the game at Chelsea for me shows the difference. They might not be the most attractive team to watch but they collectively work hard to make it difficult for the opposition.

However, we’re neither team at the moment and Jones needs to work out the best formation with the players he has at his disposal before we start to have a mountain to climb.

We know the injuries have been a real set back, but it’s down the remaining squad members to give it their all. Alarmingly when the goals have started to go in against us, some players seem to be giving up the ghost.

You could almost see the smile on Des Lynam’s face when he read out the table showing us with a -8 goal difference already. Let’s get things going so that he has to give us some credit other than for just making up the numbers.

And now to Old Trafford on Wednesday. Perhaps they should play the game on the cricket pitch as the scoreline, in the bookies minds, might resemble a game played with oak and leather.

There is no hiding place; the live TV coverage broadcasts it around the world. Even if we lose let’s make sure we come out of the game with some respect at least.

It’s time to make our mark.

Welcome to the Premiership!

Wolves-mad in the Premiership 2003.

E-mail me with any comments or feedback to: dave@wolves-mad.co.uk