Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 West Ham 2:THE SONG remains the same, as new Wolves vice-president Robert Plant may have observed of victors West Ham United.
On the pitch Gianfranco Zola’s side doled out a lesson in Premier League ruthlessness to the Championship champions. Off it, a newspaper suggested the Italian manager was ready to quit over proposed player sales.
Victory here owed much to the contributions of England internationals Robert Green and Matthew Upson, and it is this much coveted pairing, along with Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, whom the collapsed Icelandic bank Straumur, the London club’s owners, are supposedly keen to sell.
“As far as I am concerned we are looking for some players, not for selling any players,” said Zola, who suggested the club were looking for another striker as long-term injuries to Luis Boa Morte and Dean Ashton leave Cole as the only out-and-out attacker available for selection.
“It wouldn’t do any harm if we have some more striking force. I’m sure the club is doing everything it can to, you know, fill this space. I rely on them and we’ll see what happens.”
Zola had emphasised the importance of players in all positions contributing goals to take the pressure off Cole.
The midfielder Mark Noble obliged with an exquisite first-half effort from outside the box, as did Upson, heading home a second-half corner from the right-sided midfielder.
The club may have begun the season with a home defeat, but Wolves supporters can take solace in a level of financial stability that their opponents yesterday can only dream of. Steve Morgan, the founder of the construction company Redrow, bought the club from Jack Hayward for £10 in 2007 and has subsequently invested sensibly.
The most significant investment Morgan has made to date was breaking the club’s transfer record by signing Kevin Doyle from Reading, but the striker was not even fit for a place on the bench having picked up a groin injury during the Ireland friendly against Australia last Wednesday.
Manager Mick McCarthy, who said he was proud of his team’s performance against West Ham, is hoping the €7.6 million player will be fit for tomorrow’s visit to Wigan, especially as last season’s top-scorer, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, had to be withdrawn with a groin injury.
Guardian Service
