Sacked Mick McCarthy can leave Wolves with his head held high

COMMENT
By Rob Stewart

Wolves fans might have lost the local bragging rights and Mick McCarthy might have lost his job due to the 5-1 humiliation by West Brom, but the Yorkshireman can still leave Molineux with his head held high.

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Wolves are languishing near the foot of the Premier League but, in time, McCarthy will be judged kindly by fans and students of football history because the Black Country club are in a far, far healthier state than they were when he took over.

When he arrived in the summer of 2006, Wolves were in a dark place. There was not even a team full of first-team players on the club’s books when he succeeded Glenn Hoddle as the Premier League parachute payments had ended and owner/benefactor Sir Jack Hayward had fallen out of love with the club.

Despite this, McCarthy pledged to get the club promoted from the Championship to the Premier League within three seasons and, after a near-miss in the play-offs, they went up as champions in 2009.

That was despite a 6-0 home defeat by Southampton during April 2007 towards the end of his first season in charge that saw fans voice their backing for the manager. They saw what he was trying to do even though it was Wolves' worst defeat at Molineux since they were beaten 6-0 by Liverpool 39 years before.

"McCarthy is the sort of manager who places an emphasis on work-rate rather than the flair and it proved to be his undoing"

Sir Jack sold the club to Steve Morgan for a nominal £10 just a month after that harrowing defeat and the new owner was eventually rewarded for keeping faith with McCarthy.

The former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland manager was widely lauded on the club’s return to the top flight as Wolves finished 15th and were immune from relegation with two games left of the season.

However, that Wolves were unable to kick on – and only escaped relegation last season by the skin of their teeth - can be attributed to McCarthy and his recruitment policy.

The 53-year-old former Manchester City and Celtic centre-back is set in his ways when it comes to signing new players and that helped precipitate his downfall.

McCarthy is the sort of manager who places an emphasis on work-rate rather than the flair and creativity that is vital to Premier League survival and it proved to be his undoing.

He dabbled with signing players who put an emphasis on style rather than substance in bringing Freddy Eastwood to Wolves from Southend but, when that failed, he resorted to his old ways, although Matt Jarvis remains a notable exception to the rule.

As far as McCarthy was concerned what was most important was the need to “put in a shift” and that explains why his team are full of good, honest, hard-working footballers who were like a chip off the old block for their Barnsley-born boss.

They have come up short on too many occasions this season and ultimately so did McCarthy because together they have run out of steam as honest toilers are prone to do.

The writing was on the dressing-room wall when Morgan rebuked the avuncular McCarthy’s players following a 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool.

It was only a matter of time before McCarthy was then dismissed but five years and 207 days after he took the helm no one can argue that the club is in a far better place than it was when he arrived. That is a fitting epitaph.

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