Ireland’s bright young things eclipsed by Craddock

THIS had the look of an encounter tailor-made for Giovanni Trapattoni, an opportunity to check up on the form and fitness of Glenn Whelan, Liam Lawrence and Kevin Doyle in one fell swoop ahead of the tussle with France this month.

In the event, all three were upstaged by an ageing defender whose only claim to international fame is that he is currently keeping two England U-21 starlets out of the Wolves side.

Jody Craddock, 34, is reaching the stage of his career when a player’s thoughts usually turn to life after football.

But the veteran centre-back is defying the years and remains young at heart, even though he might be feeling the odd creak in his knees at the tail-end of a career which began at Cambridge United 16 years ago.

“When I am on the pitch I feel as young as the next man,” said Craddock, just 22 games short of 500 league appearances. “Day in, day out training does get a little harder for me but I try to keep my standards high.

“Just playing games is massive for me – before the start of the season I thought I was going to be on the sidelines as back-up, but that hasn’t been the case so far.

“I know I am not as quick as I used to be, but I am more experienced and that helps a lot.”

Craddock’s longevity was not lost on Doyle, who returns to Ireland tonight to play in a money-raising game for his former club Wexford’s youth policy.

“Jody is a shining example with the way he leads his life,” he said. “Since I came to the club in the summer I have seen it.

“He is in the gym every day, he trains hard, he is always getting massages. He is looking after himself and I think he has got plenty of years left in him. He is a fit man and your centre-halves anyway seem to get a few extra years over centre-forwards and midfielders. There is no reason why he shouldn’t get another five, six, seven years.

“He has had injuries but, if you have had long injuries, you take that as a positive as you get older because it means you’ve rested a year or two along the way and there are less miles on the body clock.

“You savour every moment you do get and you do look after your body to be able to play games like this.”

Craddock proved he’s still full of surprises by scoring twice for the first time in his career after Stoke appeared to have taken control of the match thanks to George Elokobi’s own goal and a sublime volley from former west Ham midfielder Matthew Etherington.

But this Wolves appear to be made of sterner stuff than the team – Craddock included – that was relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom five years ago.

Mick McCarthy’s side followed up their recent draws against Everton and Aston Villa with another solid point and it is a measure of the growing self-confidence around the club that those results are now considered an anti-climax rather than an achievement.

Ironically, Craddock might have become a Stoke player after spending a short spell on loan at the Britannia Stadium two years ago. He made four appearances, and Potters boss Tony Pulis wanted to sign him.

But he was recalled by McCarthy, regained his place, and skippered the club to the Championship title last season.

“He was a smashing lad; he mixed with the other players well. Everything was hunky dory and I just thought he’d do well here because he is a good pro,” Pulis revealed.

“He gets on with his job , he heads it and kicks it. I really enjoyed having him here but unfortunately Mick pulled him back – he’s a bad lad like that.”

REFEREE: Chris Foy (Merseyside) 6: Had a decent afternoon in control – but got the offside call wrong with Craddock’s first goal.

MATCH RATING: **** For a Midlands derby between two old and bitter rivals it was surprisingly open and there was some decent football played at times.