This is what I wrote in 2010 ; a repost ; how times(and money from a rich Chinese conglomerate) and fortunes have changed for the Wolves !

W is for 'Wolves' and in Old Gold Too ! 

         This is the $ 64 million question I think I need to answer. My formative teenage years were in the 1970s and the top entertainment during those times was the colour TV (introduced during the 1974 World Cup Final between Germany and Holland). Oh how, it changed people's lives forever. We could actually see in S.E.Asia what was going on 'live' as it happened halfway around the world. There was no Internet, no Facebook,Twitter, no PCs (first introduced in the early 80s), no mobile phones, no IPhones etc. It was really like living in the Stone Age !

        Every week, Singapore would get the English Premier league shown on Channel 5 maybe delayed telecast (2 - 3 weeks later) IN COLOUR. And the games then were played in a very passionate and rough and tumble manner, and of course being part of the Commonwealth, English football took a firm hold in the hearts and minds of many ordinary Singaporeans and Malaysians. The games were less skillful than those today and we had no Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga etc. to watch.

        So, in those days, one of the more unique sounding teams was Wolverhampton Wanderers, or Wolves for short and I kind of fancied myself like their chief striker John Richards, who played once or twice for the English national team. I had no idea where they were or if they were even champions. But I faithfully bought the SHOOT ! magazine every week after school (it was available at the neighbourhood shop for about S$ 1 a copy, a princely sum then) and followed their fortunes. I was kind of naive, not wanting to follow a big name team like Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United etc. but the uniqueness of supporting an obscure West Midlands team had its appeal. So I stuck with them, even though their glory days of winning the league twice in the 1950s to early 60s were long gone, even before I was born.

       Since I followed them (say around 1976), they have only won the League Cup TWICE, once in 1974 (against Manchester City) and once more  in 1980 against Nottingham Forest. AND THAT'S IT ! 

      Andy Gray headed in a solitary goal against Nottingham Forest and it was 1-0. That's the  2 major silverware they have won in the last 30 years. YES VERY PATHETHIC. They have been relegated several times since the 1980s and their last stay in the lower regions has been almost 15 years. I forgot them altogether, although I visited the stadium Molineux in 1987 (23 years ago) with some University friends. So I am not a true blue die hard supporter. I am just a FAIR WEATHERED SUPPORTER - ALTHOUGH AFTER THIS SEASON THAT MAY CHANGE FOREVER ! 

    Call me a romantic, but the PLUS POINT of supporting a no-hope team is that :

     Whenever they win a game against any other Premier league team, its like WINNING THE CUP FINAL .No one expects them to win anything, let alone stay in the top flight of the Premier League, so their being in the top 20 for  2 years (2008 till now) is already a cause for celebration.

     They invest a miniscule amount of money on players, have no brand name stars, and have been using their stadium for 30 years with little upgrade. Money is tight. I have been to the town of Wolverhampton and it is woefully sad and run down many factories have closed shop decades ago (it is an industrial town) and the only revenue is from their university and polytechnics which offer decent degrees and diplomas in Engineering.

     So when they win a match I celebrate like they have WON THE CUP FINAL  !

      Compare that to someone who supports Arsenal, Liverpool,Man U or Chelsea,their supporters expect them to WIN A TROPHY EACH YEAR. When the do, its EXPECTED. When they don't its a massive DISAPPOINTMENT. So the supporters are JADED, winning is like so boring. So when a team like Liverpool loses a match to Wolves, its a MAJOR DISASTER.  So their emotions are OK we won (this week), BOO we lost to XXX.

       Life must be quite torturous for those fans, the expectations are always rising each season.

      My approach with Wolves is this ; They lost last week (OK) ; This week they won (YEAH, OLE,OLE, OLE !!! )

     So I am a FOREVER OPTIMIST.

      So on 30th Dec 2010,  Liverpool  0    Wolves 1.

      Its TIME TO PARTY !  OLE ! OLE ! OLE !

Well done you Wolves ; you left Etihad stadium with your head held high ; So proud of this performance.

The championship leaders took on the Premier league leaders AWAY on Tuesday 24th October and the score was 0 - 0 at the end of extra time after 120 minutes of regulation play. 

Santos played 9 alternate players like Helda Costa, N'Bakare, Bright, Price, Will Norris (goalkeeper who in my mind was the Man of the Match), Vinegre, Marshall. Their regular strike force of Jota, Bonatini, and Cavalero did not start the match.

Wolves had 3 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper Bravo who is so aptly named, a Chilean International and the coach Guardiola only blamed Wolves defensive stance and the Mitre ball, which in my opinion was an absolute joke, as he then did not have to justify why his team of 300 odd million pounds worth of skill couldn't beat a 30 odd million pound team put together by brilliant Nunos in just 6 months. Guardiola is a master tactician but a sore 'loser' in this instance. 

In the end it came down to penalties, and while City netted all 4 of their tries, Wolves only got the solitary one from Bonatini. 

The ball is kicked, dribbled and headed by both sides, so where can there be any criticism of a FIFA sanctioned 'tool'.  A lousy workman blames his 'tools' so Guardiola just gave me a lousy impression, not much of a sport.

Manchester City vs Wolves Tuesday 24th Oct ; What a Matchup !

Top of Premier League versus Top of Championship teams.  This is the penultimate game of the season for me ;  I will watch it live on TV ; that is for sure !


As a fan with renewed optimism for my boyhood club, I am relishing the prospect that Wolverhamption Wanderers have the chance to play against the top of the Premier League in the Carabao or League (4th round) Cup. Manchester City with all their expensive signings will be playing at home, and Wolves record for their away games is at an all time high, only having lost 1 away match all season (that to Sheffield United) ;  

The play by Wolves is a very continental and flowing ; so if the teams employ the 3 - 4 - 3 which is an attractive attacking formation with the powerful Portuguese front line of Jiota, Bonatini (who is on fire at the moment) and Cavalero, we have a team of world beaters.
Jota has scored 7 brilliant goals, Bonatini 9 and Cavalero 4. 

Midfield of Siass, Neves, Doherty and Douglas is very strong ; Coach Santos knows that all games are won in mindfield, so the Midfield 4 are really clicking well and stringing passes together. Romain Saiss is apparently the top passer of the ball in the Championship.  

Defenders such as  Miranda, Coady and Batth form the defensive trio, while they can lose their heads sometimes, have an able goalkeeper in John Ruddy.

Saturday's 3 - 2 win against Preston North End resulted in 2 scrappy on field goals and 1 penatly while Preston had 2 good goals scrambled in before the final whistle.

In the substitutes, they have Bright Enobakhare, Helda Costa and Alfred N'Deave who have all scored on the pitch.

All in all an excellent team with an excellent visionary coach in Santos.

Bring on Tuesday 24th !!! 

Fat Cow 17th October 2017 - Camden Medical Centre ; My Review

The beef literally almost melts in your mouth ; such is the marbelling of the meat 

Last week, a friend and I tried the Fat Cow restaurant at #01 - 04 Camden Medical Centre.

While we tried to reserve a table for 12.15 pm at the last minute, the 'Chope' app on the phone only gave us a time slot of 1.30 pm. Undaunted, we tried to gatecrash the lunch venue anyway and the front desk lady was kind enough to arrange a seating at the Kaiseiki style counter with about 10 other guests even though we had arrived at 12.20 and the reservation at Chope had indicated that there was no more seating available.

We ordered the Wagyu Beef Bowl with a side salad, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the beef ; I would love to eat it every other week, but the cholesterol levels will not allow it, so I will keep this only for a special occasion, perhaps once every 6 months.

The meat was very tender, and almost melts in your mouth, and with the medium rare cooking on the grill, I dare say this rates one of the best Wagyu steaks I have eaten recently.

The only other steak comparable is the one at Mohammad Sultan Road, Bisteca, an Italian fine dining restaurant.

Flavourful and al dente chewy (not too chewy), the meat is prepared at the grill while you dine on your salad. The rice is typical Japanese sticky rice and with a slight flavouring of sauce, garnishing and a world best half boiled egg (Japanese style). Price per bowl : $50 ++.   

Verdict 

Food Quality         :  9 upon 10

Service Standard  : 9 upon 10

Ambience              : 8 upon 10

Total  :  8. 6 upon 10   (par excellence) 

Will I come again ; most definately.

8 km run in Dongguan China 12 Oct 2017

My run last week as recorded on the Polar M340 watch. Its a really functional device with heart rate monitor, GPS, activity tracker, steps tracker, split km timing and sleep tracker, in addition to telling the time. I would recommend it to those 'weekend warriors' who need a "Personal Kick yourself off the sofa trainer" like myself. 

Outside Dongguan Park 12th Oct 2017 

The coolest feature is of course the software where the owner of the watch can connect with other like minded individuals from all over the world who put up their runs to be scrutinised and dissected although most people would be very encouraging about each newbie's progress. 

This feature to 'relive' the run gives me the opportunity to analyse my fastest speed in km, the max. Heart Rate (177 which is pretty damn high) as well as elevation, cadence, average heart rate and it encourages the scribe in me to record my Run Diary in my own account, so that I a relive how I felt (from Awesome to Horrible) and then take it from there.

As I have put up 2 BHAGs, I had better put my money where my mouth is, so I am really fired up to  do a decent time for the Paris 2018. As I am in Australia in January 2018, I may very well take in 1 marathon (the Tasmania Cadbury Marathon which is held on  Sunday 14th January - I will keep this 3rd BHAG goal in mind).

So I have 3 months to get up to marathon shape ! 

Wolves move to the top of the English Championship (formerly Division 2)

         
         I have never seen such an attack minded Wolves side in all my years of following the team. It has exhibited class, tremendous attacking skill, great coordination and team spirit from the Coach Nuno Epserito Santos all the way to the substitutes. I will make the effort to watch the team play 3 games at home and away, soon.


      Diogo Jota's strike against Aston Villa makes it 1 - 0 at Molineux. An absolute stunner of a goal from the Portuguese striker on loan from Athletico Madrid. Sign him please ! 

        Leo Bonatini's goal to make it 2 - 0 was pure class from start to finish ; I am totally in awe with the skill level of the Wolves strike force leaving the Villa defender's all floundering in their wake. 

        So my visit to Molineux will be my second BHAG for 2017  - 18 and as the year is running fast away, I can only say that this opportunity of watching my boyhood team is probably once in 30 years, so I had better get my act together !



       

      When your team plays well, it is a Godsend, so I had better get my tickets ready to watch them play in the Premier league next season. Wolverhampton Wanderers, it is high time you had played up to your Founder Member status ! 

      There is the Carabao Cup in November against the No. 2 or No. 3 team in the Premier League. if Wolves can pull off an away win at Manchester City, then the skies the limit for this tremendously talented and hardworking team.

       Come on You Wolves !  

Crystal Jade Golden Palace