In the company of Wolves

Grass isn’t always greener — you hear this saying quite a lot in the football world and, in the case of Wolverhampton Wanderers, it’s probably something that has run through the owners’ mind a gazillion times since their decision to relieve Mick McCarthy of his very successful tenure as the manager in February of last year — especially when they are now a further three managers down the line and, going into last night’s game against Watford, in the bottom three of the Championship.

I made my debut for West Brom in what proved to be Mick’s final game in charge of Wolves, a crushing 1-5 defeat for them at Molineux. Having spent nine years at Wolves from the age of 15, I was fully aware of how important this fixture was to the respective fans and, from my point of view, I was delighted to mark my debut with a goal as we won the match in a very convincing manner.

But I have to say it took a lot of the pleasure away in the aftermath that speculation about Mick’s likely dismissal immediately went into overdrive. I was sad to see him go, although I’ve never worked under Mick, he is someone I have always admired and respected. He is a manager I wouldn’t have second thoughts about signing for as I think he’s a genuinely honest man who wears his heart on his sleeve. My admiration for him goes all the ay back to his book, Captain Fantastic, which I read as a kid after watching him captain our country at our first World Cup finals at Italia ’90.