Verdict: Summer can't come soon enough for Wolves fans

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? If Jeff Shi is still drawing up his three-year promotion plan, he could do worse than to have a chat with the folks in charge of Brighton.

Having knocked on the door for the best part of three seasons it looks like they've finally made it to the Premier League - with a side short of many recognisable 'star' names - by having an effective playing style and players who understand their roles and positions.

There aren't strikers playing on the wings, central midfielders at full-back and their central midfielders actually play in the centre of the park, not roaming around the park chasing the ball like six-year-old kids in the playground.

Make no mistake, this was a footballing lesson from a team who never got out of second gear while, for the second week running, we looked like a team already thinking about their post-season breaks in Dubai/Marbs/*insert new trendy destination here*.

Both goals came from individual errors as Wolves spread a little Easter generosity out a couple of days early. Having survived an early warning shot from Hemed that smashed the top of the crossbar, Hause misjudged the flight of a ball to let Knockaert in for a run on goal. Although he recovered to force a fairly tame shot from distance from the winger, our chocolate-wristed back up goalkeeper made a mess of a routing near post save and we were behind.

Those were the most memorable pieces of action from a first-half so interesting that the discussion in our row was on the colour of the match officials' shirts (eventually we settled on it being somewhere between plum and maroon).

Half-time came and went with no changes from the bench and no changes to the flow of the game. While we did create a few half chances there was never any belief that we were going to score and, inevitably, we were undone again thanks to more comedic defensive work.

Batth turned like a tanker on the half way line attempting to chase a ball over the top and, despite a good covering challenge from Hause sending the ball looping up into the air, Captain Fantastic still couldn't manage to get near it as it fell from the sky before Knockaert finished past (through?!) Lonergan's second half-hearted attempted save of the game.

On the plus side at least we look pretty much safe from the drop. If we were still in the mire I'd be mighty worried about where any more points would be coming from during our run-in.

Let's get to May still with Championship status intact and get to work on shedding some of the deadwood from this squad (there's enough to build that bonfire the South Bank want) and get some quality signings in for key positions through the spine of the team so that we don't end up in this position next season.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Marshall was the pick of the players. It wasn't an outstanding performance but he at least managed to beat his man a few times to put in a couple of crosses and get a couple of shots on target.

Saiss was busy in midfield and generally played well, though gave the ball away a few times. That said, it's hard to keep finding teammates when they're so static and easily marked.

As for the rest, it was pretty much a mix of bad to mediocre. Edwards was everywhere - except for in his actual central midfield position - but was generally half a yard behind wherever the ball was.

Batth was bullied by Murray for most of the afternoon and Doherty looked like he'd been on the beer all night. Bodvarsson, when he did manage to win one of the long balls lumped up to him, headed everything out of play and was ineffective while Weimann, who'd been doing well in that lone striker role recently, again went missing when moved back out wide.

Saving the best (worst) for last with Lonergan though. Even though I don't think Ikeme should be our long-term first choice keeper I'll be happy to see him return if it gets this clown out of the team. His command of the area is terrible, his kicking is awful and he was beaten by two shots that Ikeme - and likely Burgoyne - would have saved.

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? Well if Paul Lambert had any doubts about his priorities for the summer, it should all be crystal clear now.

This was another lacklustre home performance which showed exactly why we haven't been troubling the top half of the table.

I never really expected us to beat Brighton; they've have had a fantastic season and, as predicted, they thoroughly outplayed us.

But what I did expect from our players was a bit of passion and desire to at least make it more of a challenge for them.

Instead we made it incredibly easy for them to take home three points thanks to our willingness to give them the ball back so many times it looked like we were trying to set a world record.

We've rarely been able to make the home advantage count this season and that's what is, for many of us, so frustrating. This was another game where we looked like the visiting side.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Overall we were pretty poor and there wasn't one player for me who impressed. Worrying how much Costa was missed. Big changes needed in the summer.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Not quite good enough. Nothing too extreme but a stark reminder of how far we have to go.

Passes were just not right or just not in the right places. Tackles the same. Not a million miles away but far enough to worry.

Missing a good player like Costa brings the reality home but hopefully we are safe. We simply cannot persist with an isolated body up front it still doesn't work. Leeds here we come!

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Lonergan was shocking, everyone else average or below.

Sarah Connolly

What's your verdict on the match? Well, a Good Friday that wasn't. More like a back to earth with a bump reality check. Brighton are a very organised and disciplined team and I don't think many Wolves fans would have expected a result before the game.

What we didn't expect however, was for us to make it so easy for them. They showed what patience in building a team can do. They didn't play pretty football but you can see they are conditioned to get the job done. Love or hate him, Knockaert was absolutely incredible for them, as was Bruno, showing us the type of players we are just longing for.

I don't think it was our poorest game this season, but that was definitely nowhere near good enough for Championship standard either.

We need a huge clearout in the summer. Anybody can see that. The question is...who goes? My answer would be the majority of players on the pitch today. Wolves, or more precisely Lambert, needs to decide on who he wants and who sees the door, and that should make up his team selection for the remainder.

Lambert deserves a chance to put his own team together. Aside from Weimann and Marshall, who have generally done well, Lambert is playing with other manager's players. Ultimate responsibility lies with Lambert but he deserves a chance to get it right first. He's proved he can do it before with Norwich and I have faith he can do it again.

We all like to think we are managers in the stands, and for me, the kids need to be given a chance for the rest of the season now. Watching the under-23s play has been a breath of fresh air this season and such a contrast to the first team.

Some will say they aren't ready to be thrown in, but we all see the impact that Ronan had. For most young players, they will get a huge confidence boost from a manager saying 'I believe in you, go do it'. Even just half an hour game time will give them valuable experience. Why waste game time on players we don't want here next season now?

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Most of the team shouldn't score above a five out of 10 in all honesty.

Longergan is possibly, no, definitely, the worst keeper I've seen in my time watching Wolves. Easily the poorest player on the pitch. If Ikeme isn't fit, it has to be Burgoyne between the sticks for the remainder.

Hause and Batth have had some good games of late, but today was a very poor showing. Midfield just lacked anything - not just creativity - there was just nothing there. We look devoid of ideas without Costa as Cav struggles to have any impact on his own as he is out marked.

I feel for Weimann, taking a bit of stick on Twitter but he definitely isn't a winger. Back up front please, Lambert.

I thought Coady had an OK game, got stuck in with some tackles and made some decent runs forward at times. Marshall was OK in patches, had a few chances and so was Saiss. I can't really say anyone 'stood out' though, so to speak as even these three still made occasional mistakes.

As has been the norm, it's the usual culprit taking the brunt of the stick on Twitter, and we all know who that is. But there were several more deserving of the stick yesterday that seem to get away with it because the focus is on one player. It's awful to see. It wasn't just that one player that let us down performance wise yesterday, it was the majority.

Peter Abbott (London Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Pretty much as expected - a lesson for Wolves as to how far our beloved club needs to progress to catch teams currently at the top end of the Championship table.

I'm sure Brighton will go up and, although at times they could practice a passing game in preparation for the Premier League, I was more impressed (and worried) by the way they easily isolated our defence from the midfield, from attack and from ourselves.

As Brighton took a grip on the game, individual mistakes crept in all too often, something we can't have been accused of in the recent run of five straight wins. Harried into too many poorly judged passes, no one seemed exempt and inevitably the visitors would took advantage.

Wolves had barely a couple of worthwhile attacks and I only recall one real goal attempt, the header from Coady.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Lonergan - looked like weak hands for the first goal.

Doherty - allowed to play wherever he wanted but with little effect.

Batth - I thought he was under much more pressure than of late, possibly to be expected against a top team.

Hause - culprit of a couple of poor passes ending up straight at the feet of such dangerous forwards.

Coady - mistake-laden first half but good improvement in the second half.

Edwards - isolated and little involvement at all.

Marshall - ditto Edwards.

Saiss - another guilty of big mistakes however probably our most productive player back sitting just in front of defence.

Weimann - out wide, another to be isolated hence no impact.

Bodvarsson - individually, a much improved performance buoyed by last week's goal and although winning headers, no-one to work with up front.

Cavaleiro - ever skillful on the ball but easily kept at bay, another example of Brighton's plan to breakup our teamwork.

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match? Losing to the eventual champions (hopefully, as nobody wants the arrogant Geordies to win it) is no embarrassment, however the performance will have offered up some timely reminders of the work Lambert has to do this summer.

Brighton, shaped by the excellent Chris Hughton, played with us for the first 30 minutes before delivering two clinical goals to set up one of the easiest away victories they'll ever enjoy.

Wolves, like so many times this season, got completely bossed in the middle of the park. Sidwell (none of us wanted him right?) dictated play and Dale Stephens found enough space to even try some tricks, whilst we had to endure another 90 minutes of arm waving, falling over and having zero influence on the game from Dave. I actually think the ref touched the ball more than him.

Saiss fared slightly better, at least for the first 15 minutes. He wanted to get on the ball and make things happen, but in my opinion, needs to up his game massively to deserve the sort of praise heaped on him by some of our fans.

If I was Lambert, my first job would be to identify two new centre midfielders. First criteria, they need to be comfortable on the ball and not just be able to run the DK 10K in less than 45 minutes. As clinical as it sounds, if we start the season with that midfield pairing (or Evans/Saville/Price) we might as well prepare ourselves for another season of dross.

Cav, who I believe needs to be in the team, has to raise his game massively. There's no way he's performing like a £7m winger at the moment and I can't tell whether that's because he's not motivated, being dragged down to 'our' level or is all style and no substance.

This brings me on to the curious case of Bodvarsson. I mistakenly thought we could build the team around him as the focal point of our attack, but we all know that's not going to work now.

I doubt I've ever seen a forward look less likely to score in my life (ok maybe Frankowski -the missing piece of the jigsaw) or even get into positions where he might score. It's almost like he's allergic to the six-yard box.

So in addition to the two centre midfielders, I'd also look to buy a 20 goal a season striker. Note to Thelwell and co, that doesn't mean a striker who holds the ball up, it doesn't mean a striker who runs a lot, it doesn't mean a striker who has had ten clubs so must be a good player, it doesn't mean a player who likes a curry and it certainly doesn't mean a 'raw striker' plucked from the IPL. It means a striker who puts the ball in the net.

All of this equated into a pretty toothless attacking threat, exacerbated by Weimann being shoe-horned out wide.

With nothing going forward, it came as no surprise when Brighton broke the deadlock, a goal gifted to them first by Hause and then Lonergan, who would struggle to stop a wet fart.

So another bad day in the Molinuex office and a 'to do list' for Lambert the length of Waterloo Road. At the top of said list he should write 'no to mediocrity' and keep uttering this every time Thelwell darkens his door with a player suggestion or he considers starting that midfield two again!

Who played well - and who didn't impress? I actually can't think of one player who deserves praise. Instead, I'll give it to my Brighton supporting Nephew Michael, who braved the Bank Holiday transport system to watch his team all but secure promotion. He even infiltrated the home only pub after the game, showing more invention than the entire Wolves midfield.