Wolves take the points as Deadman ruins game

Last Updated : 09-Nov-2008 by
Steven Caldwell
Steven Caldwell - Man of the Match
I thought Wolves looked a good side. They might be more direct than Reading and they might not play quite so much football as the Berkshire side. But it is no surprise to see them top of the league. They get the ball forward very quickly to two strikers on top of their game and with the likes of Michael Kightly alongside them they are formidable opposition.

Despite the defeat I'm not too down about the way we played. After a torrid spell in the first half, when in all fairness we defended superbly, we got ourselves back into the game and could quite easily have got an equaliser and come home with something.

We didn't, and on reflection I think Wolves were the better side overall, but we've all come home wondering how on earth we've collected six yellow cards and one red card. No one will understand, not even the most biased of Wolves fans could explain it. Only the incompetent (and I really want to use a word stronger than incompetent) Darren Deadman will have any idea.

But he won't be worried, his colleagues will close ranks of which we've already seen evidence on the message board, he's earned his money for his afternoon's effort and he will have gone home and put his feet up and believe he's done a good job.

Sorry Deadman, you stunk. And if there is any justice in the game then it will be a long, long time before you are ever allowed to pick up a whistle again. Sadly there is no justice, and he'll be around next week or the week after upsetting another team (almost certain to be the ones playing away from home).

In all fairness he did get some decisions right. He gave us a throw in at one point that looked fair enough and I think he was right to allow us to kick off on each occasion after Wolves had scored. Other than that you would be hard pressed to find anything else.

Now to the players and the game - and as expected it was same again for the Clarets with Owen Coyle naming the side that had beaten Norwich a week earlier and with the same five substitutes.

Wolves came into the game on the back of three successive wins and they set off like a house on fire. They got forward quickly and they were giving our defence a real test. There was an early scare when Brian Jensen made a mess of punching a ball out and there were some difficult moments for the defence as a whole.

We did have the occasional attack, usually via Wade Elliott on the right, but in all fairness it was Wolves doing virtually all of the pressing and we were thankful that our back line were playing well.

Stephen Jordan was the first player to receive a yellow card and in all honesty I can't explain it. Everyone on the ground could see that he'd won the ball fairly against Carlos Edwards and certainly the well positioned assistant saw nothing wrong. Deadman did and incredibly held his yellow card aloft.

Those pre-match worries about this referee were starting to become reality but I didn't think even him would miss the handball by Kightly that led to the opening goal. He got away with it and hit his shot against the post but it rebounded just right for him and he made no mistake as he stuck it into the empty net.

Burnley were incensed at the decision and Jensen responded by kicking the ball onto the roof of the Steve Bull Stand to his right, and that takes some doing. Deadman of course didn't know he had but the assistant told him and the Beast got probably the only justifiable yellow card of the afternoon.

Did I say the handball was easy to spot? Then you should have seen the next one two minutes later from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake that allowed Wolves to break again. Did he give it? Of course not, and it took a superb challenge from Steven Caldwell to thwart the Wolves striker.

Overall though I don't think we could have many complaints at the 1-0 half time scoreline. Wolves had looked as good as anything we'd played this season, but things were to change in the second half as we came more and more into the game.

In our very first attack of the half goalkeeper Carl Ikeme didn't hold a shot and that all seemed to lift the Clarets as we started to commit men forward and take the game to them.

Robbie Blake got clear just inside the box but Deadman finally spotted a handball and carded the Burnley forward. Did he get this one right? Many people in that end of the ground were convinced Wolves defender Spearman was the one to handle the ball and not Blake.

He wasn't going to give a penalty though was he? And he wasn't interested either when Elliott cut in from the right and went down under a challenge. Deadman was proving to be the biggest influence on the pitch for Wolves and Burnley were having real difficulties getting the better of him.

Little had been seen of the Wolves attack but they did force Jensen into a terrific save midway through the half but generally the play was towards the Wolves goal.

Coyle made two changes in quick succession bringing on first Jay Rodriguez and then Martin Paterson for Steven Thompson and Blake as the Clarets pushed for an equaliser. A good move ended with Joey Gudjonsson having a shot blocked but our very next attack led to the game being settled.

Paterson's touch was a bad one and that allowed Wolves to break. Jordan allowed the ball to bounce around the half way line and that allowed Kightly and Ebanks-Blake to get through with Kightly scoring his second goal.

It was all over now but Deadman was always going to have the last word as he continued to wave his card around. You knew that someone would get sent off, and the unfortunate victim was Clarke Carlisle who will now miss the trip to Chelsea.

The final whistle couldn't come soon enough now, but there were five extra minutes before it finally came to an end and I left Molineux with mixed emotions. I was IMPRESSED with Wolves, they do look a good side. I was PROUD of the way Burnley - my team - played against all the odds but I was ANGRY that Darren Deadman had been allowed to ruin my afternoon.

We shouldn't be talking about him, so please Mr Hackett do the decent thing and make sure no one else is talking about him next week.

As for our team, I thought we defended superbly in the first half before getting into the game more after the break, and it is to the defence I look for the man of the match. For me it just has to be Caldwell who I thought was very much an inspirational captain for us. I remember his performance at Molineux two seasons ago when we narrowly lost 2-1, today was every bit as good as that.

We're all off to Chelsea now, that is apart from Clarke. He didn't deserve that.

The teams were;

Wolves: Carl Ikeme, Kevin Foley, Richard Stearman, Michael Mancienne, Stephen Ward, Michael Kightly, Karl Henry, David Jones, Carlos Edwards (David Edwards 84), Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Sam Vokes 87), Chris Iwelumo (Andy Keogh 78). Subs not used: Wayne Hennessey, Neill Collins.
Yellow Cards: David Jones.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Graham Alexander, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, Joey Gudjonsson (Kevin McDonald 75), Chris McCann, Chris Eagles, Robbie Blake (Martin Paterson 67), Steven Thompson (Jay Rodriguez 63). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Michael Duff.
Yellow Cards:Stephen Jordan, Brian Jensen, Clarke Carlisle, Robbie Blake, Chris McCann, Kevin McDonald.
Red Cards: Clarke Carlisle.

Referee: Darren Deadman (Peterborough).

Attendance: 23,711.