Wolves Preview

By: Stephen Bateman
Date: 20/11/2000

The games come thick and fast for the Mariners from hereon in as they visit luvverly Wolverhampton on Tuesday night, looking for revenge against the club that dumped them out of the Worthington Cup earlier this season.

Grimsby Town

After another shambolic defensive performance on Saturday, many Town fans will be reasonably left wondering how many times Danny Coyne will be picking the ball out of the net on Tuesday.

Grimsby boss Lennie Lawrence will be forced to make the change that many fans have been crying out for over the last few weeks as Tony Gallimore is sidelined with a torn retractor muscle.

The former Cumbrian's antics both on and off the pitch have left many wondering why Lawrence has persevered for this long, but Town fans will now be able to look forward to the possibility of sighting a lesser-spotted tackling left-back against Wolves.

Knut Anders Fostervold

The man who looks set to replace Gallimore is Knut Anders Fostervold. 'Fossie' looks set to stroll (a word with which most Grimsby fans are familiar when discussing our beloved Corporal Jones) into the starting line-up as a ready made replacement for Gallimore. Although manager Lennie Lawrence has spoken of switching Steve Livingstone back into the centre of the Mariners defence, it seems unlikely that he will do so just yet as a result of the prolonged injury to Bradley Allen.

Paul Groves looks set to continue in defence after his sending-off against Sheffield United and Wayne Burnett looks set to start his second game in four days.

In the event that Lawrence decides that Groves is incapable of dealing with the Wolverhampton aerial threat it would seem that Livingstone will slot into a back four with Daryl Clare partnering David Nielsen up front. It is also expected that this match will see John McDermott set a club appearance record after equalling it against the Blades on Saturday. This Grimsby Town fan for one will certainly never forget the monumental contribution that 'Macca' has made to the club over the last decade and a half. Thanks John.

Wolves are not a happy bunch - then again, are they ever? As they continue to throw money at their lack of success (enter Paul Butler from Sunderland) the pressure on manager Colin Lee increases by the week. Lee was given the dreaded vote of confidence last week and may be running out of time. A late penalty decision saw Lee's men collapse to their fourth successive defeat against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, and while Grimsby are also left licking their wounds they may glean hope from Wolves' poor home record against the division's 'lesser sides'.

Colin Lee

Every football fan's favourite antippodean, Kevin Muscat, looks set to continue his one man mission to cripple any opposing player that comes within ten yards of him and Tuesday's officials may be well-advised to check the hatchet-mans boots for concealed weapons.

This is of course only an individual opinion of Muscat's contribution to the beautiful game and in no way represents The Fishy's opinion in any way shape or form. (Much)

When the Mariners visit Molineux one thing tends to happen. They lose. Back in the golden days of the old second division Town won by a lonely, solitary goal in 1984/85 - sadly, that was the last league win in the Wolves den and only Billo can remember it!

If the Mariners can defend adequately then there is no reason why they shouldn't steal this, although on the other hand, after recent performances there is no reason why the Mariners should defend adequately either.

Prediction: Wolverhampton 2-1 Grimsby (John McDermott pen. 90)

Grimsby Town (possible 4-4-2): Coyne, McDermott, Fostervold, Groves, Handyside, Campbell, Coldicott, Burnett, Donovan, Livingstone, Nielsen.

Wolves (possible 4-4-2): Oakes, Muscat, Naylor, Emblen, Butler, Pollet, Bazeley, Dinning, Robinson, Branch, Ndah.

Last season's games between the Mariners and Wolves ended up 1-0 at home and 0-3 away

For a complete list of fixtures between the Mariners and Wolves click here

For those unable to attend the game, Real Audio commentary of the match can be found here which we recommend should be supplemented by communicating with fellow on-line Mariners fans in our Chat Room

For a directions to Molineux look no futher than our counterparts on the Wolves Rivals Site directions page.

For a guide to pubs in around Wolverhampton town centre check out our counterparts on the Wolves Rivals Site list.

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