PERHAPS it’s down to managing teams that seem to be perpetually struggling against high expectations but, now well into his sixth decade, Mick McCarthy is showing no signs of mellowing.
He had insisted that he was not feeling the pressure ahead of the trip to Turf Moor, maintaining he was not deluded in believing in his team and that their luck would change.
But even after this victory, which saw his team largely rely on that change of fortune to come out on top against a team that has won just once in the equivalent of half a season’s football, he was pricklier than he might have been and, as always, seemed to take issue with any type of question thrown at him.
When encouraged to reject any suggestion that his team would see the victory at Turf Moor as anything other than a small step and might rest on their laurels, McCarthy said: "Like I ever do.
"I could even take offence at someone suggesting that me or any or my players might. Don’t ask me the questions. Just say it, don’t ask me that bloody question."
The bluster would say that the result was all that mattered but it was not just the statistics that suggested that McCarthy’s team were fortunate to come away from Turf Moor with three points and although a win is a win is a win, this performance did not suggest that the Premier League’s lowest scorers have turned a corner.
Give them a lead and they can hold on to it but they will rarely be handed a two-goal start in the way they were by Burnley, who are trying to stay up under the weight of conceding an average of two goals a game.
Kevin Doyle was key to Wolves’ supremacy, offering an outlet, occupying the Burnley back four and running himself into the ground, but not even the subject of the Irish striker could bring some life into McCarthy.
"He’s been different class but I keep saying it every week, not that I’ll get bored saying one of my players is playing very, very well but I have to give credit to the rest," was as far as his praise went.
McCarthy claimed that the division had closed up thanks to the weekend’s results but the smart money suggests, with Portsmouth all but gone, that two of Hull, Burnley and Wolves will be heading back to the Championship and there appears to be little joy to the Molineux club’s run-in.
It is certainly not hard to see why Wolves have found it so hard to score goals in their return to the Premier League. Like so many others, they have adopted a 4-2-3-1, to allow them to get men behind the ball, have a solid base in front of a back four and break quickly, with wide options.
But McCarthy’s take on the formation is particularly conservative, with Kevin Foley, who has spent much of his career as a full back, playing right wing, with Dave Jones and Matt Jarvis also supporting Doyle.
Such limited ambition has meant that McCarthy has at least been able to expect a certain level of consistency but compare that three to Wigan, for example – Charles N’Zogbia, Paul Scharner and Hugo Rodallega – and you can see why they are struggling.
They have actually managed more goals on their travels and it says much that Jarvis insists Wolves are confident away from home.
"We have Villa and West Ham to come, both away. We have done quite well away from home so we have worried about travelling there and trying to get a result," Jarvis said.
"We’re looking forward to it after this win. It is about making sure you stay in games when you go away, that you are still in it at half time and towards the end. It has worked for us."
Jarvis opened the scoring when he latched on to Tyrone Mears poor back-header and skipped around Brian Jensen before touching into an empty net from a yard out before Adlene Guedioura’s shot, which was heading a long way off target, flew in off Clarke Carlisle.
Burnley battered Wolves for the rest of the game but only had a close-range effort from Steven Thompson to show for their graft and, after all the optimism at the start of the season, there is now a feeling of resignation around Turf Moor.
As well as the worst defence in the division, Burnley also have the poorest record against bottom-half teams in the Premier League and so even the fact that three of their next four matches are against Wigan, Blackburn and Hull can be of little consolation.
Thompson was not being flippant when he said: "We’re running out of games and we’re going to have to find something from somewhere. We do believe we’re good enough but we need to start getting points. It’s difficult to keep getting beaten. Everyone is trying to be super-positive but it’s hard to take. If we don’t believe in ourselves then we might as well chuck in the towel now."
In the unlikely event that Wolves fans ever see McCarthy being "super-positive", that really will be time to worry.
MATCH RATING: *** – Neither team could afford to lose but it was an open game, with Burnley having to do most of the attacking. A decent spectacle.
REFEREE: Steve Bennett (Kent) 7 - No big calls for the official who was barely noticed throughout a feisty match. A job well done.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 15, 2010
