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The times they are a changin'.Comment
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WOLVES OWNER STEVE MORGAN MADE IT TOUGH FOR MICK MCCARTHY.
Thursday February 16,2012
By Graham Taylor
EVENTS at Molineux this week struck a chord with me, having been “asked to resign” by the Wolves board in 1995 after a poor start to the season.
I too came under pressure from a section of supporters who were increasingly disgruntled with matters on the pitch, with the result that owner Jack Hayward and his chairman son Jonathan were getting it in the neck.
It was my head on the block and off it went, having spent only 20 months at the club. It was my biggest disappointment in many years of club management.
Wolves have so much potential. They are the club of Stan Cullis, Billy Wright, Ron Flowers and Bill Slater. To anyone of a certain age, they were one of the biggest clubs in the land and one of the most successful. I felt I could harness that potential and bring Premier League football back to Molineux, only we missed out in my solitary full season when we lost to Bolton in the play-offs.
Fast-forward 17 seasons and Mick McCarthy has paid the price for declining results. And I am saddened, but not surprised.
A few weeks ago when owner Steve Morgan walked into the Wolves dressing room and gave the players a coating after they had lost at home to Liverpool I said to my wife it was only a matter of time before McCarthy would be fired.
Owners can do what they like – it is, after all, their club. But Morgan should think long and hard about his actions on that day because he severely undermined the authority of his manager.
Fair enough, he is an owner as well as a fan and watching your team getting beaten is never easy. But the moment he stepped into the dressing room was the death knell for McCarthy’s authority over his staff.
Results had been poor under McCarthy and Saturday’s show against West Brom, especially in the second half, was wretched. But he deserved slightly better than that. Mick is honest, and to have his owner interfere in his dressing room must have been difficult to take.
My hope now is that the board get the right man. Sacking a manager is the easiest thing in the world; the hard part is getting in the right person to replace him.
If you asked 100 angry fans who they would want, I guarantee we would get 20 different candidates. Morgan has to assess all the applicants – and there will be plenty of them for a club with such vast potential.
The modern trend is to go for youth, but Wolves would be very foolish to ignore the claims of older managers. Our three best are all over 60 – Arsene Wenger, Harry Redknapp and Sir Alex Ferguson – and Morgan should not dismiss the more experienced managers such as Alan Curbishley, Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock.
It is certainly a post where you need a lot of experience because Wolves supporters are tough to please.
All supporters are increasingly so these days, but Wolves fans know they are a big club and for decades now there has been little to shout about at Molineux in terms of silverware. That is not a criticism of McCarthy. He did a fine job in difficult circumstances, but results dictate everything in football management.
Losing so heavily at home, 5-1 against Wolves’ arch-rivals, was the final straw for Morgan.
However, the camel’s back had been broken a fortnight ago when the owner walked into that dressing room.Comment
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2 points.
We dodged a bullet with Morgan.
Why are clubs that have had some distant past glories generally viewed as having potential? Potential to do what? Win the league? Stay in the premier league? Qualify for Europe?
What they have is the the opposite of potential. They have no more potential than West Brom. But they have a slightly better history.Oh I don't know.Comment
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Curbishley has ruled himself out of the running for the job.
And the fans have made it clear they dont want Steve Bruce
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Bruce is 2/7 for the job now
Rooney wants him
These made me chuckleWayne Rooney @WayneRooney
Hope to see Steve Bruce get the wolves job be good to see him back in football #bruceyforwolves
Mirko Bolesan @mirkobolesan
Sacking Mick McCarthy and appointing Steve Bruce is football's equivalent of "turning it off and back on again". It might just work...Danny O'Neil @DannyONeil2
@stokesy62 All Wolves fans can tonight relax, Steve Bruce's is back in work but not in football pic.twitter.com/hdEBaGaF
View photo
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Where's the 'Curbishley has ruled himself out" stuff come from? Having been out of work for 4 years and desperate to get back in, why would he do that?
Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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No idea.
But Curbs is a London boy isn't he? Has he ever managed a team outside of London?Comment
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Sky Sports understands Wolves have asked Brighton permission to speak to their manager Gus Poyet.
The Molineux club are currently on the lookout for a new man at the helm following Mick McCarthy's sacking last week after five-and-a-half years in charge.
The Premier League side held talks with Neil Warnock last week, although the ex-QPR boss has now been named as Leeds' new manager.
Wolves wish to speak to the Uruguayan tactician, who guided the Seagulls to promotion from League One last season.
The former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder has been in charge at Brighton since November 2009 having previously worked under Juande Ramos at Tottenham and Dennis Wise with both Leeds and Swindon Town.Comment
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Ha. It's not often managers get a job offer the day after a 6 - 1 drubbing.Oh I don't know.Comment
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@GuillemBalague
Fascinating situation at Wolves. Club approached Brighton about Gus Poyet. But clubs DIDNT REACH agreement. I ask ... http://tmi.me/m9RcPMember #1 of the Luis Suarez fan clubComment
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This is madness. The short termism in football never ceases to amaze me. To sack a manager without any sort of back up or succession plan in place is crazy.
What good is this possibly doing to them?
Wolves have failed in a fresh attempt to make Alan Curbishley their new manager, BBC Sport understands.
Curbishley was interviewed for the job last week but pulled out of the running because he and the board did not share a vision for the club.
Wolves made another approach to the ex-Charlton and West Ham boss three days later but he turned them down again.
Wolves have also had talks with Reading manager Brian McDermott, but he looks to be staying at the Championship club.
Brighton boss Gus Poyet, another reported target, is also a possibility but the former Uruguay international and Chelsea midfielder would cost Wolves a "prohibitive" £2m in compensation.
Wolves owner Steve Morgan had wanted someone with Premier League experience to replace Mick McCarthy, who was sacked on 13 February.
Former Sunderland and Wigan manager Steve Bruce remains in the frame, while former Chelsea assitant and ex-QPR boss Ray Wilkins has said he would be interested if approached.
But relegation-threatened Wolves look no nearer to filling the vacancy before their next game at Newcastle on Saturday.
Caretaker manager Terry Connor looks set to take charge at the weekend and is demanding a positive response from the team following the 5-1 home defeat by West Bromwich Albion on 12 February.
Connor said: "We're asking the players to respond positively, like they always have done at bad times, and come back ready for another fight."Oh I don't know.Comment
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Steve Bruce or Butch Wilkins
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