Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has named a 24-man squad for the upcoming international friendly against the Czech Republic in Dublin on February 29th.
Speaking after the squad announcement, the Irish boss said, "This game is the beginning of our Euro 2012 preparations.
"As we face this fixture, it is important for our players to remember the attitude and performance that brought us qualification.

Back down to Earth for Liverpool, as they travel to the West Midlands to face 19th-place Wolverhampton. It's a stark contrast from the action of the past week, facing opposition at the bottom of the table, away from Anfield, and with nothing immediately at stake. And if you've paid attention to Liverpool at all this season, it's cause for concern, with form against the mid- and lower-table sides worlds apart from the displays we've seen the last two times out.

Arsenal's ambition to improve position in the league was halted again as the Gunners only picked up one point from their home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.

A quick goal by Gervinho didn't resulted in a goal flowing result for the home team as their visitor managed to pick up an equalizer through Steven Fletcher, and hold it until the final whistle.

Surely he's embarrass of his own performance too

It was a good night for Arsenal last night, even though none of the games involved us. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City all dropped points in their Boxing Day fixtures. A win for us tonight will see us leapfrog over Chelsea and go level on points with Tottenham (depending on the outcomes of their own match against Norwich).

Surely he's embarrass of his own performance too

It was a good night for Arsenal last night, even though none of the games involved us. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City all dropped points in their Boxing Day fixtures. A win for us tonight will see us leapfrog over Chelsea and go level on points with Tottenham (depending on the outcomes of their own match against Norwich).

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Norwich City Premier League 19th December 2011

A hard-working Wolves came back twice against Norwich City At Molineux to secure a vital point which inches Mick McCarthy's men another few steps away from the drop-zone.

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Stoke City Premier League 17th December 2011

You have to hand it to Tony Pulis, you really do. For all the (often justified) criticism of his team's tactics and style of play, Stoke continue to ground out decent results season after season, never looking like getting themselves embroiled in a relegation dogfight.

Wolves vs Stoke 1-2 Highlights 2011 Video Goals Hunt Doyle OG Crouch is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Wolves vs Stoke 1-2 Highlights 2011 Video Goals Hunt Doyle OG Crouch is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Wolves vs Stoke 2011 ( Wolverhampton vs Stoke video below) Final score and result:- Wolves vs Stoke 1-2 ( Stephen Hunt/ Doyle own goal, Crouch) Molineux, Wolverhampton- 17 December, 2011- 15.

Whatever the hell you think is going on at Chelsea right now, whatever you think the club is mired in A Carlo-esque bad moment, crisis, et al. it doesn't matter. What we all can agree on is that anything less than a win this weekend at home to Wolves is going to see the shit hit the proverbial fan.

By Alan Duffy

Everton 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League 19th November 2011

Both sides benefited from penalty kicks in this rather dour encounter at Goodison Park.

Wolves' Stephen Hunt opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 37 minutes after Marouane Fellaini fouled David Edwards in the Toffees' box.

szólj hozzá: E2-1W

Everton came from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 at Goodison Park today, Stephen Hunt gave Wolves the lead slamming home a controversial penalty, before Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines made sure the home side won all three points having dominated with most of the possesion.

Ireland confirmed their place at next summer's European Championships with a 1-1 draw against Estonia in the second leg of their Euro 2012 play-off.
Already four up from the first leg, Ireland looked to be coasting when Stephen Ward fired home the opener after keeper Pavel Londak failed to hold Kevin Doyle's header.

John O'Shea and Kevin Doyle are back in the Ireland team for tomorrow night's Euro 2012 play-off second leg against Estonia in Lansdowne Road.
Stephen Kelly at right back and Jon Walters in attack are the players that make way for the returning duo.
O'Shea comes back into the side following a hamstring injury, while Doyle returns from suspension to partner Robbie Keane in the Irish attack.

Robbie Keane's 88th minute penalty after a foul on Stephen Hunt all but ends the Rep. of Ireland's long wait to qualify for a major Championships as they beat 9 man Estonia 4-0 in Tallinn in their Euro 2012 play-off first leg.

Grab your Euro 2012 Kits at Soccer.com

Wigan Woes Continue in '6-Pointer' Clash - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Halloween may have come and gone, but Wigan Athletic's form remains scary. After the Latics' 3-1 away loss to fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers, the losing streak has stretched to eight Premier League games.

By Alan Duffy

Manchester City 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League 29th October 2011

Roberto Mancini's star-studded squad had to dig deep to secure yet another league victory, this time at Molineux.

2-0 up, courtesy of strikes from Bosnian Edin Dzeko and Serb Alexander Kolarov, the Citizens then saw captain Vincent Kompany sent off for a last-man challenge on Kevin Doyle in the box after a shaky-looking Joe Hart had spilled the ball.

Giovanni Trapattoni has included Shane Long in his 26-man Ireland squad to face Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offs next month.
West Brom ruled Long out for 'up to six weeks' after he was injured by Alan Hutton's two-footed lunge during the first half of their 2-1 Premier League win at Villa Park.

Liverpool 2-1 Wolves | Premier League match report

His achievements have given Kenny Dalglish a line of credit not available to the likes of UBS or Northern Rock. He could have survived an early exit from the Carling Cup and a home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers, which so bankrupted Roy Hodgson's regime.

By Alan Duffy

The ubiquitous Joey Barton netted his first goal for QPR before getting involved in a fracas as only the former Newcastle man can.

Additional goals from Alejandro Faurlin and DJ Campbell secured the comfortable victory against a dismal Wolves side.

Ireland's hopes of automatic qualification for Euro 2012 are in the balance after an abject 0-0 draw with Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium.
The home side produced a nervous and sloppy display that allowed the visitors to control possession and territory.
A number of fine saves from Shay Given and a Sean St Ledger block on Marek Hamsik made sure the visitors left with just one point.

Premier League chalkboard analysis | Michael Cox

Manchester City allow Samir Nasri to roam, Mick McCarthy uses his bench to good effect and Charlie Adam keeps it simple City allow Nasri to roam Samir Nasri made a wonderful start to his Manchester City career with a great performance in the 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur .

The fans who stayed away from this dirge fest in droves were the lucky ones; only surprise inclusion Chris Herd and Gabby Agbonlahor provided anything worth getting excited about. The ~12k empty seats generated more talking points during the game than the "action" on it.
There's nothing to say about the first half, it was truly awful.

This is a big, big game for Alex Mcleish today. The last of a run of home games and a derby against an opponent that caused his predecessor so many problems. It's also something of a "top of the table" encounter and the winner, should there be one, will get boasting rights over the rest of the league for at least a while today.

In our final View from the Enemy preview, David Johnston from the Wolves Offside blog has talked to us about his hopes for Wolves this season.

Scott the Red: Were you happy with your team's performance last season?

David Johnston: I think in the first two seasons in the top flight the target has to be survival.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has announced a provisional 32 man squad to face Slovakia and Russia in September's crucial Euro qualifiers.
Kevin Doyle is his biggest concern, having departed the squad on Tuesday with a recurrence of a knee ligament injury suffered in the 2-1 win over Macedonia in March.

Quick Reminder, Real Life Despite a load of money spent on transfer window signings, Wolves found themselves in the relegation zone on the last day of the season but miraculously survived - finishing the season with 40 points - only one more than both Birmingham and Blackpool. Despite a -20 goal difference on the season, Wolves had some memorable wins at home (they beat Manchester United and

Goals from Keith Andrews and Simon Cox in either half saw Ireland pull off a famous victory over Italy in Liege.
Andrews scored with a low effort into the corner of the goal on 36 minutes after an excellent back heel from the impressive Stephen Hunt.
Giovanni Trapattoni's 'Boys In Green' then had to withstand pressure from the former world Champions before substitute Cox tapped home a Hunt cross at the death to make sure of the win.

The in form Wolves midfielder Stephen Hunt was behind both goals for the Republic of Ireland when they overcame Italy with 2-0 tonight in Liege, Belgium in a friendly. The first one came after the first half hour when Hunt fooled the Italian defence by playing the ball back to Andrews after a free-kick.

The Republic of Ireland beat Italy 2-0 in Belgium to-night to cap a great week for the Irish as Simon Cox scored the Republic's second goal with a simple tap-in, after great work from Stephen Hunt who also assisted Keith Andrews goal via a set-piece.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane has been passed fit for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje on Saturday night.
Keane, who suffered a groin injury during a training session on Thursday, will partner Simon Cox in attack.
Darren O'Dea starts in defence along with Stephen Kelly, John O'Shea and Kevin Kilbane.

Robbie Keane's 49th international goal saw Ireland claim the inaugural Carling Nations Cup with a 1-0 win over Scotland.
Keane grabbed the winner midway through the first half after running 30 yards and firing low under Allan McGregor.
The skipper's place in the history books in international goals scored owes much to the work of the much-maligned Paul McShane.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will make four changes to his side for tomorrow's Carling Nations Cup decider against Scotland.
The Italian today named his team for the final match of the four nations tournament in the Aviva Stadium but said he may review his line-up after another training session.

This is a chronological look at Wolves' season, exploring the tactical issues and themes that came up along the way:

Summer Plans

Mick McCarthy's summer spending appeared to be designed to re-establish a 4-4-2 formation. The decision to spend £7m on Steven Fletcher would not have been made if he was intended to be Kevin Doyle's deputy – this was a clear statement that a return to two up front was planned.

Robbie Keane grabbed a double as Ireland destroyed Nigel Worthinton's IFA side 5-0 in the Carling Nations Cup in Dublin.
Already Ireland's all-time record goalscorer, Keane claimed his 47th and 48th goals in his 106th appearance for the national team.
It proved to be a shockingly poor display by the North, who were cheered on by a sparse band of supporters numbering less than 300.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

The last time Lille won the French top flight, the European Cup didn't exist yet. Now, after 57 years, the club will enter the UEFA Champions League as French champions for the first time in its history.

Lille entered the weekend needing only a point from its match at Paris St.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

The last time Lille won the French top flight, the European Cup didn't exist yet. Now, after 57 years, the club will enter the UEFA Champions League as French champions for the first time in its history.

Lille entered the weekend needing only a point from its match at Paris St.

1. In terms of material for OTP, losing Ian Holloway but unexpectedly keeping Mick McCarthy is akin to being relegated but your star player announcing he wants to stay at the club. 2. OTP has been pretty harsh on Ian Evatt at various points throughout the season, but we would just like to put on [...

MANCHESTER, England Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday as Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season. Blackpool's fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2 by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were [.

By Chris Wright

Permutations, permutations, permutations. That was all a little bit manic, wasn't it?

Despite being firmly rooted in the bottom three for the majority of the season, both Wigan and Wolves hauled themselves out of the relegation zone right at the death to ensure that Birmingham and Blackpool (along with already-relegated West Ham) will be plying their respective trades in the Championship as of next season.

What a final day for the English Premier League. Fans of Blackburn, Wigan and Wolverhampton will be cheering for months (and Aston Villa fans too) as their beloved clubs stay up. Meanwhile, there was nothing but heartbreak for Birmingham City and Blackpool fans.

Nearly every scenario came into play over the 90 minutes of the league's final day, with Wigan and Wolves both looking like they could be going down with less than 20 minutes to play in each of their games.