'Wolves' last laps in Premier League for now need not be a bitter experience'
· Yahoo Sports
Readers with long memories will recall the days when Wolves used to play football matches.
Their elongated 25-day gap between games was the result of an unfortunate combination of circumstances and was unwelcome. Football seasons have a natural rhythm and before this break, for the first time, Wolves had at last seemed to be moving with the beat.
Visit mwafrika.life for more information.
Seven points from the past three league games did more than just ensure they would overtake Derby's 11-point record, of which they had been reminded all winter.
They were not always fluent or attractive in those games, but had at last begun to appear regularly competitive even against strong sides.
The possibility of somehow tunnelling out of the bottom three has remained just within sight for those willing to believe in it.
While the club and their fans have been coming to terms with what relegation means for some time now, there is no harm in talking up that faint chance. You have got to have a dream.
It should also ensure that the players, who kept trying even when prospects were at their most bleak, push hard to the end. Their supporters deserve that, at the very least.
Clearly, some will also have personal motivations. Several Wolves players are World Cup probables for their countries. Some will want to leave. Some will probably have to, and the sooner in the window the better to give Wolves time and leverage to regenerate their squad.
Of those, some will be missed more than others, as Dazzling Dave's paean to Joao Gomes on this page on Tuesday explained.
Wolves' last laps in the Premier League for now need not be a bitter experience. The atmosphere around Molineux on matchdays recently has been brighter.
If that can be maintained when Wolves finally play there again after an absurd seven-week gap between home games, while it is a lot to ask of supporters who have been given thin rations in recent years, it will be valuable.
By then, for all their wriggling on the hook, it may be that the last hope of Premier League salvation will have disappeared. That will still feel sad if it happens, but there can yet be honour in relegation.
While the squad that finishes this season may look very different by the start of the next - and maybe different again by 1 September - Wolves can still carry more momentum into the Championship than those just above them who fall into the trap late. They must.
Listen to full commentary of West Ham v Wolves at 20:00 on Friday BST on BBC Radio WM 95.6FM
Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights