Blues once again fielded the same starting eleven for something like the 308th league game in a row. However, this was one game where those eleven who have performed so brilliantly of late had to rely on others coming off the bench to get them out of trouble. There will be changes for the next league game at West Ham, both enforced and tactical ones, I would imagine.
Of late, Blues have tended to start a little slowly. They had to come from behind against Spurs, were behnd very early on against Chelsea, never really got going in either game against Notts Forest and were outplayed in the opening half against Manchester United. It was different here though, as Blues went at Wolves from the off, perhaps encouraged by the fact that a few days previously a lower league right-back had hit a hat-trick against Wolves in six minutes, after having only mustered one goal in the previous six seasons. Equally, that might have had no relevance at all, but I wanted to mention it because of how funny it was.
Blues' bright start didn't actually yield anything, which was a disappointment, and you sensed that both the Wolves players and travelling support started to feel that they could get a grip on the game. The away contingent demonstrated the remarkable intellect that is inherent amongst those from the black country by taunting Blues fans about the empty seats in St Andrews, even though Wolves had contributed to that by returning some 1,800 tickets themselves. Genius.
After Blues had been wasteful in front of goal in the opening 20 minutes or so, the game became scrappy as they started hurtling towards Wolves' level, defending poorly, giving the ball away and generally looking clueless. Playing against useless opponents suited Wolves, being useless themselves.
As the game headed towards half-time, Wolves took the lead. Blues were sloppy defensively and a deflected cross rebounded off the post for Kevin Doyle to tap home from about three yards out. The orange clad inbreeds in the Gil Merrick Stand could barely contain themselves, tripping over all the empty seats as they celebrated.
Wolves led at half-time and then started the second half much the better team. Again though, they were helped by Blues being sloppy. After a few months of excellent performances, a number of players struggled for Blues. Scott Dann and Stephen Carr were both as poor as they've been all season, whilst Lee Bowyer, James McFadden and Seb Larsson all struggled in front of them. The front two also seemed to have lost a bit of spark and impetus. For the first time in a long time, Blues were really struggling to get going.
And then came the substitutes…
Kevin Phillips came on for Benitez, who was set to go off anyway before he picked up a nasty looking injury, before Craig Gardner and Keith Fahey came on for Larsson and McFadden respectively. Gardner in particular gave Blues some drive from wide on the right, and the freshness of all three contributed to Blues finally bucking their ideas up.
With ten minutes to go, Blues equalised thanks to all three substitutes. Fahey took the ball from Roger Johnson and clipped a ball to the far post where Gardner cleverly nodded it back across goal for Phillips to swivel and beat Marcus Hahnemann at his near post. This equaliser came ten minutes earlier than the one against Spurs last week which meant that Blues had the opportunity to push on for the win, which they did.
And they got the win…
Five minutes later, Carr produced about his only positive contribution all game with a storming run down the right. Wolves backed off and backed off and backed off, and all of a sudden Carr was in the penalty area. He clipped a ball inside that Phillips took down on his chest before finishing extremely well, finding Hahnemann's far corner. It was a tremendous finish, as was the first.
From about the hour mark, Wolves had dropped deeper and deeper and begun to waste time. Once Blues had gone in front, it was difficult for Wolves to get out of that kind of mentality and get themselves going again which meant that Blues were largely untroubled and held on fairly comfortably for the three points.
There was no doubting the man who stole the headlines, in Phillips - and deservedly so. His two strikes were, well, typical Kevin Phillips. Credit also needs to go to Gardner, however, who gave Blues real drive and impetus when he came on. Fahey too helped out. In recent times Alex McLeish has been reluctant to go to his bench to look to freshen things up, but with Michel's impact against Spurs last week and the three substitutes against Wolves all making a difference, it's nice to see that Blues do have some of those options.
It was needed here too, as Blues were poor for a lot of the game and looked a tired team. Lee Bowyer, for me, needs a rest now, and it might be an opportunity to give McFadden or Larsson a break too. It should not be underestimated just how superbly these eleven players have done over the past three months - it's been a sensational effort. However, when Chelsea or Manchester United only lose once in eighteen games, they probably use about 18-20 players. Blues have done so using about 12 or 13.
However, the three substitutes having such an impact will probably help Blues in the long run now, as I think it was fairly obvious that the same starting eleven had been caught out by Wolves and were heading for defeat. No one can blame McLeish for keeping faith with those players at all - it's natural. Still, this game will have shown that a few changes are probably needed, and with those three doing so well (plus Michel last week), McLeish will be justified in making those changes.
There will be a fear about Benitez's injury, as it appeared to be his knee and we will all remember his failed medical that showed up a knee issue. Here's hoping that it's not too serious, because as well as Phillips did, he won't be able to do 90 minutes each week and Blues have been left horribly short of options up front after the transfer window. Of course, getting McFadden up front (where he played so well up at Everton in the FA Cup) eases that slightly, and with the midfield now looking stronger, that may be an option.
Overall though, those eleven players needed a hand and thankfully they got it. There will be changes at West Ham now, I guarantee it, but as I've said above, that shouldn't be a reflection on those eleven players for what they've done in these consecutive games. The eleven of them set a Premier League record for an unchanged side (twelve games, I think), and all eleven deserve tremendous credit for what they did in those games. Messrs Hart, Carr, Ridgewell, Johnson, Dann, Larsson, McFadden, Ferguson, Bowyer, Benitez and Jerome, I salute you.