Are you taking the Mick?

This was very much the question of over 2,500 travelling Wolves fans as they learnt in many cases less than an hour before kick off that the entire outfield had been changed from the victors of White Hart Lane who had secured the teams second away win against an in form Tottenham outfit. McCarthy certainly had his reasons for the extreme alterations as his injury ridden squad face relegation rivals Burnley at Molineux on Sunday, a game that only kicks off what is always a make or break Christmas period in the struggle for survival in English football's top flight. Despite McCarthy's dismissive tone stating that he was "not prepared to get injuries before the weekend." having lost Kightly, Keogh and Edwards already until late January at least - it has been suggested that his selection acted out of the spirit of the game and was most certainly seen as defeatist by the fans who had made the journey to Old Trafford.

The game itself (which I myself attended) did not reflect the hiding some may have expected the Champions to have handed out to McCarthy's second string and the United's own flaws were exposed by a backs to the wall half an hour in which the multi million pound attack looked hapless to break down a makeshift back pairing of loanee Michael Mancienne and unpredictable full back George Elokobi. The breakthrough was dubious to say the least with Rooney converting emphatically from the spot as Referee Steve Bennett spotted a handball by Ronald Zubar amidst the melee of players following a Darren Gibson corner that not one of the 22 players or 70,000 in attendence appeared to see themselves.

As the game wore on and the Gold and Black Army watched on as Greg Halford's long throw caused chaos in the United box and the lunacy of Thomasz Kuszack became a goal threat in itself - many began to wonder what might have been had the likes of Kevin Doyle, Sylvain Ebanks Blake and Nenad Milijas been on hand. McCarthy described in a post match interview to have already had at least 3 changes from the side that won at Tottenham forced on his through injury and exhaustion however many would argue this is no basis to all but surrender valuable points against an unconvincing United side on the premise that a win against Burnley is more important. Given the nature of inconsistent Premier League scorelines this year - the Molineux men were just as likely to steal a cheeky point at Old Trafford as they are to secure 3 points on home soil on Sunday.

On a more emotional level the team selection can be seen as an act of disrespect to the fans that paid to watch and the players that were denied the opportunity to play at the biggest stadium in the league. Surely ex United striker Ebanks Blake would have relished the opportunity to bite his former employers back, and childhood fans Karl Henry and Richard Stearman would have been honoured to have played for their beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers on the biggest stage of them all. As it happens the pressure is now piled on Sunday's game as in order to justify his decision McCarthy needs a fairly successful Christmas period starting with a win against Burnley that is by no means guaranteed.

Disgruntled fans voiced their disgust with chants of '40 quid to watch the reserves'; 'We want our money back' and 'Where is a first team.' There were still muffled renditions of 'Super Mick McCarthy' even on a night where many felt he had sold the loyal fans out. It is unlikely that Jez Moxey's merciless opinion towards the issue of refunding fans tickets will be ignored lightly on Sunday by a South Bank that has had no quarms about ridiculing the Chief Executive in the past for much more minor crimes than this. After Wigan's 9-1 pummelling at the hands of Spurs at White Hart Lane (ironically) was apologised for by refunding the humiliated fans tickets - at least The Latics faithful can take heart in the knowledge that their team simply did not turn up on the day and they met a relentless Defoe-Lennon combination at precisely the wrong time.

The Wanderer's away following have the added displeasure of knowing that the game was deliberately written off by their manager - who frankly should be appalled with himself for his ludacris suggestion of 'This is my first team' after he decimated the starting XI which beat the in form team outside of the current top 4 on their own patch. One fan who had taken his child to what he thought was 'the biggest day of the season' for his youngster told me that he had paid full price for a child ticket due to an administration error at the Molineux ticket office and that he had not been given a reduction refund as due to excess demand for tickets the club could afford to sell all of the tickets for full price.

In an albeit mixed season so far for Wolves having appeared to have just turned a corner I hope as a usually blindly loyal, optimistic fan that McCarthy's decision is proven to be wise and the fresh faced starting XI is back with a vengeance for Sunday's clash with Burnley - the team who first proved to the world that the Ronaldo-less United were anything but invincible with the shock they inflicted upon the reigning Champions at the fortress of Turf Moor. Let us hope and pray that this has not set the tone for all away fixtures that pose what is deemed as too much of a challenge and the energetic, attacking outfit that brought the Wanderers to the dizzy heights of the Premier League returns to pit their wits with the best of the best after yesterday evenings bizare events.