Wenger, get back in your little pit: Steve Bull exclusive

WOLVES legend Steve Bull has told Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to “get back in your little pit and let us play football.”

Bull is furious over suggestions that his old club are guilty of being over-physical, along with Bolton, Stoke and Blackburn. We chatted about the state of the game at lunch-time today and Bully growled: “There’s got to be a scapegoat, and Wolves are exactly that at the moment.

“I’ve seen one tackle all season that was a bit late. Karl Henry on Joey Barton two weeks ago. That one deserved a booking. Apart from that, refs have been giving silly little fouls, handing out cards for shirt-pullling and all that. It’s ridiculous.”

Bully, 45, who has a stand named after him at the club, couldn’t resist responding to this morning’s comments from boss Mick McCarthy whose side face a £70,000 FA levy for their recent flurry of cards – they picked up 13 bookings and a sending-off in their last two games.

McCarthy insisted: “We are not dirty. I haven’t got a problem with the way we played in those two games.”

The first of those, a 1-1 draw with Newcastle, saw Barton suffer eight no-nonsense challenges, most of them from Henry. And during last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Fulham, Henry was involved in a tackle which saw Bobby Zamora’s leg broken and Christophe Berra was sent off.

But Bull insists: “Karl is a very, very good steady player. The Gareth Barry of our side. He gets on with the job, plays it safe. He hasn’t got a dirty tackle in him – if anything he’s just clumsy.

“How can Wenger have a go about being protected from bad challenges? You should see my ankles and my knees! He’s got to be back in his little dug-out, stop making excuses, let them play football, calm down again.

“And referees have to let them get on with, let the game flow. I wouldn’t say football’s got too soft. But if you ask any player from the 80s and 90s what it’s all about, it’s a good, hard game but fair. Physical. Like the game against Newcastle.”

Bull played 474 games for the Molineux club, scoring 250 goals and made 13 appearances for England in his time there. He was awarded the MBE for services to football in 1999. And with typical humour he grinned: “It’s a game of chess isn’t it? The big clubs says “watch out for this or that dirty player” and the referees fall for it.

“I don’t think the Premier League is split between rich and poor, teams that can play and teams that have to clump the opposition. Last year we didn’t do that. This year we are playing well again, with a bit of physical presence at well.”

Wolves are at Tottenham tomorrow, and Bull was more than happy to hear even Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has sympathy for the boys from the Black Country.

Redknapp said: "Wolves are competitive, they’ll get amongst us – that’s not unfair. Mick McCarthy's team always are always hard and aggressive, but I haven't got a problem with the way Wolves play.

"They did the 'double' over us last season, they beat us fair and square. They work hard, but that's what they are paid to do, and we will need to pass the ball quickly, with plenty of movement, to open them up.

"They are entitled to play the way they do. Having said that, after tomorrow, I might feel a bit differently about them!"

And boss McCarthy won’t be telling his players any different. Today he added a defence of Henry to yesterday’s tirade. Henry, 27, is under fire for the challenge which broke Zamora’s leg last week but McCarthy said: "It was a fantastic tackle and there should be no blame or any fingers pointed at Karl.

" Bobby knows it wasn't intentional, which is the main thing.

"So it's a case of 'carry on Karl.' He's trained this week and been his usual self. He's fantastic.

"Those that have supported him - great, thanks. And those that tried to whip up a storm should be ashamed of themselves, because Karl really is a very honest player and he didn't deserve that."

Sportingbet, official sponsor of Wolverhampton Wanderers, has brought back its free Wolves Accumulator betting game. Play now at www.sportingbet.com/wolvesaccumulator and pit your wits against Steve Bull. Players must be 18 years or over.

Terry will be lucky to stay on the park against Wolves says Molineux legend Bull

JOHN TERRY will be lucky to stay on the park when he makes his return to Chelsea’s starting line-up at Wolves on Saturday – according to Molineux legend Steve Bull.
Bull believes Terry will come under intense pressure from the hard-working Wolves striker Kevin Doyle. The 26-year-old, signed last summer from Reading for a club record £6.5million, is “the business” according to Bull, who still holds all the scoring records at Wolves.
Bull, 44, said: “Look, I watch this lad every week, he’s the business. I’d put him in my side, even if I was at Manchester United or Arsenal.
“He’s been working up front on his own. He runs hard, chases everything – and he’s a real sniffer in the box. He’d be a handful for anyone – and I can see John Terry getting at least a booking on Saturday trying to keep Doyle quiet.”
With Wolves coming off the back of a 1-0 win over Spurs and Chelsea losing 2-1 to Everton in their last Premier League clash – when Terry was at fault for both Louis Saha goals – Bull insists: “I can really see Wolves pulling off another of those shock results.
“I know it’s going to be hard, but the way Mick McCarthy has got them playing against the big clubs – giving 100 percent, rolling up their sleeves, working for each other – suggests to me Chelsea are in for a hard time.”
With financial problems hitting clubs from Cardiff to Portsmouth, Southend to Notts County, Bull says: “I felt for Mick in the transfer window. It’s a struggle when you can’t sign big players, but he’s got those boys working. Wolves are young, eager, keen – and McCarthy knows some of the players demanding the big money out there won’t roll up their sleeves and give their all.
“I watch every Wolves home game and I travel to the away games sometimes too – I can tell you there are no big-time Charlies in this team. But Chelsea have two great strikers – Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka – so it will be tough. Half a chance and they’ll have you.”
Chelsea play old boss Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan next Wednesday and Bull insists: “If Wolves can take something off them on Saturday, it will shake Chelsea’s confidence before one of their biggest games in recent years.
“With the Champions League coming up after the Wolves game, they’ll want a win and they’re a great side. But Wolves got a 0-0 draw against Liverpool last month, they’ve beaten Spurs twice and they can produce another upset if they work as hard as they did against Spurs last time out.”
Worryingly, Wolves were crushed 4-0 at Stamford Bridge when the teams met in November and, with 10 goals, nobody has scored less at home this season.
Doyle (pictured) is top-scorer with just six strikes this season and Bull, who scored a record 250 in 474 League games for the club, grins when he is reminded of how much he cost when he moved from West Brom in 1999: “It was a joint deal with Andy Thompson,” he recalls, “And they paid £65,000. Doyle cost £6.5m. That’s how times have changed. But given the way he works on his own up front, Doyle will prove he’s worth that. I’m sure of it.”
On the thorny subject of Terry and Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge, Bull – who played for England in the 1990 World Cup despite never reaching the top flight with Wolves (they failed at the play-offs in 1995 and 97) – said: “They have to get their heads together. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter what has happened off the field.
“Terry has proved he can play well no matter what is happening in his life, now Bridge has to show he can put England first. They may already have sorted this out. They have to for the sake of our World Cup hopes.”
Terry, who missed Chelsea's FA Cup win over Cardiff last weekend to see his wife Toni in Dubai, has fallen out with Bridge since news of the Chelsea captain’s relationship with Vanessa Perroncel – the mother of Bridge’s son – broke three weeks ago. While Terry lost the captaincy, Bridge was rumoured to be considering international retirement over the affair.
But Bull reckons all this could just make the squad stronger. He recalls: “In 1990 we were under incredible pressure off the pitch. But we pulled together for Bobby Robson. We worked as a team and we got to the semi-finals.
“That’s what this England team have to do in South Africa this summer. Bond together. Don’t let anything affect them. And that’s what I expect them to do.”
Steve Bull was speaking at the launch of Sportingbet’s Wolves accumulator www.sportingbet.com/wolves. Every time you beat Bully in the Sportingbet accumulator (predicting match result, match scoreline and first goalscorer), you earn a free £5 bet. But you’ll have your work cut out. Bull laughs: “I have a little flutter on the horses and football but I’m worried Sportingbet are going to fire me - my account is bulging at the moment, I must be doing something right!”

See also today's Express: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/158830/Kevin-Doyle-will-play-John-Terry-off-park-says-Steve-Bull