Terry Connor - Was he the right choice?

When Mick McCarthy was sacked back in February, I thought to sack Mick was a tough decision to make, I felt that they must have someone lined-up who is a strong and experienced replacement....

So when the news broke on the 24th February 2012 that Terry Connor had got the job I thought, very strange choice, he's a top bloke but seriously giving a man that has never managed a team before the job, when the club is in deep relegation trouble surely wasn't the right step to take. I genuinely hoped he could turn it around because Wolves always seem a decent team and there fans are a decent bunch but I very seriously doubted Terry Connor had the credentials to turn the clubs fortunes. 

He was quite clearly delighted to get the job and who wouldn't be, saying in an interview he was "privileged" and "it is a great honour". It was a chance to put his name on the map as a manager, a chance to show his qualities and put his desire into the football club.

A draw in his first game against Newcastle showed he had potential and that the players were behind him, however this initial optimism slowly trickled out, as he lost the next 7 games in a row and left fans of the club questioning if he was seriously the best option the club had when looking for a new manager. I have got to say though the Wolves players and the fans have been brilliant to Terry, they have always fully supported him as he has a great affection with the Wolves fans and is just a genuinely nice guy and above all a football person who will always give 100% to the cause. 

However, the thing that I thinks left most people perplexed is the fact that, managers with genuine experience in the game, such as; Walter Smith, Alan Curbishley and Steve Bruce (who said he wanted the job)  were tossed to the side, I'm not saying they could have saved Wolves from relegation that is impossible to tell but the experience they had would surely have stood them in better stead than the inexperienced Terry Connor. 

I think Michael Gray from Radio 5 Live puts it well here;  "It was farcical what went on. Mick got the sack and they said they were going to bring in the right person."They have obviously ended up getting Terry in charge for the last 13 games, which was the wrong decision."They should've got a new face in the dressing room. It was just unfortunate and the performances just haven't been there."

Wolves have now been relegated to the Championship, where I wish them well and hope to see them back in the top flight as soon as possible!

You can follow me on twitter ; @lstacey1992

Title race is not over yet - Sir Alex Ferguson

VS

Sir Alex Ferguson has today said the title race is still up for grabs despite Roberto Mancini saying it was over a few days ago. 

This is a really interesting battle between the two top managers in the English Premier League, there is currently a 5 point gap between them at the top of the division with the two teams still needing to play each other in the Manchester derby, therefore meaning a City win in the derby match would mean the gap would down to only 2 points.

Roberto Mancini is clearly trying to use mind games to affect the Manchester United players and to get his players to be a bit more relaxed, because surely when back in the dressing room you certainly can't imagine him saying its over, in there he will be telling the players to believe and try win every game left in the season to give them a strong chance. 

The main reason he said this I believe is to try and make the Manchester United players feel more relaxed thinking they don't need to do as much but with Sir Alex's comments today; "There are five games still to go. The twists and turns of the Premier League, it's fascinating." He is clearly trying to get his players back focused and not listen to what anyone else is saying.

In my opinion, the season is still very much up for grabs but Manchester City can not afford another slip up, surely I feel they must win every single one of their remaining games. Looking at the run-ins of the teams;

Remaining Premier League games;

Man Utd                                                       Man City

                        Aston Villa (h)                                                 Norwich (a)

                        Everton (h)                                                     Wolves (a)

                        Man City (a)                                                   Man Utd (h)

                        Swansea (h)                                                    Newcastle (a)

                        Sunderland (a)                                                 QPR (h)

They both have pretty tough run-ins, looking at Man Utd's games I can see them beating Aston Villa comfortably, Everton will be tough and that could possibly be the game they could slip-up in as they are on a good run and have some real ability in their team, the derby is massive and isn't possible to predict but for some reason I can see Man City nicking it. Swansea, I can see United winning that relatively easily as Swansea have lost their form recently and struggle to score goals. The final game of the season at the Stadium of Light has the potential to be a tough game, with Martin O'Neil at the helm anything thing is possible and Man Utd will have to be at their best to beat them. 

Looking at Man City's run-in next up is Norwich, who have impressed me a lot this season but I feel City on on a good day will have far too much quality for the Norwich defence to cope with. Wolves, I can say a pretty much guaranteed 3 points in that game. The derby game is next which I can see them nicking, they will be really up for it and they cant afford to lose it otherwise it is over. Newcastle is a very tricky game, this has massive potential to be the game that they slip-up in with Newcastle on fire at the moment. QPR in the final game of the season, on paper should be an easy win but as it is the last game of the season QPR may need the 3 points to survive it has the potential to be a cracking game. 

My overall verdict is, I can see Man Utd just nicking it down to having the experience of title run-ins and having a more settled team with no disruptions from players like Balotelli. I'd love my prediction to be wrong however! Would love to see City come back and grab the title, it would be an outstanding end to the season!  

Can Newcastle make the top 4?

Newcastle's story this season has been nothing short of remarkable. Last season saw a 12th place finish, 7 points away from the relegation places. The season was also marred by the hate towards Chairman Mike Ashley who the Newcastle fans hated with a vengeance, protests took place nearly every week to try get him to step down from his position.

However, luckily for Newcastle Mike Ashley didn't budge and continued his job bringing in Alan Pardew for the remaining 5 months of the 2010/11 season, Alan then steadied the roller-coaster season and drove his Newcastle team to Premier League security.

Alan Pardew this season has done something which Newcastle fans or even the owner Mike Ashley could ever have imagined in their wildest dreams. Newcastle are challenging for the top 4 in the league and the final Champions League place. They are currently in 5th place level on points with Tottenham in 4th and they are in outstanding form going into the last 5 games of the season. Based on the last 8 matches they are 3rd in the form table with only Manchester United and Arsenal on a better run of points.

This incredible run of results from what I can see is down to the 'much hated' Mike Ashley's spending structure and the 'not so popular when appointed' Alan Pardew who has done an outstanding job of blanking out the Newcastle fans hate when he took over and has built a really impressive team that have genuine quality.

When the likes of Jose Enrique, Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton were sold Newcastle fans were left seriously concerned and doubted the club could bring in better quality players to replace them. However, they needn't have worried, Alan Pardew and his scouting team had already line-up ready made replacements, Demba Ba was brought in to replace Carroll and was straight away perfect for the club and couldn't stop scoring, next was Yohan Cabaye in to replace Joey Barton/Kevin Nolan and he has been outstanding picking up a number of assists and looking a miles better player than Barton or Nolan. Finally to top it all off they signed an unknown player to most fans called Papiss Demba Cisse, who had been scoring goals for fun at SC Freiburg. This would prove to be the master-stroke from Alan Pardew and possibly the signing of the season, his return of 10 goals in his first 9 games, many people already liking him to legendary Newcastle striker Alan Shearer. 

From watching Newcastle's last 4 games I can genuinely see them making it into that top 4 of the Premier League, they have genuine quality throughout the team, from the Goalkeeper Tim Krul, who has really come of age this season, Danny Simpson who has looked solid all season, James Perch who has recently been a rock at the back, Coloccini who is now back to full fitness, then into midfiield, Cabaye is truly an inspired signing he has the ability to control the midfield, then onto Hatem Ben Arfa who is looking better every time I see him, his goal at the weekend was truly outstanding. Up Front the duo of Demba Ba and Cisse in my opinion is the best strike force in the premier league at this moment in time.

I find myself really wanting Newcastle to break that top 4 now, its great to see a bunch of players really putting in the graft for a manager like Alan Pardew who seems a genuinely decent guy, he has got them working as a team and every time I watch them play I can tell that every player on that pitch wants it and its brilliant to see.

C'MON NEWCASTLE!!!