SOCCER/ENGLISH LEAGUE WOLVERHAMPTON'S PROMOTION:WOLVES CHIEF executive Jez Moxley has revealed it was Mick McCarthy's handling of the "Roy Keane affair" in Saipan that played a big part in persuading the board to entrust the rebuilding of the club's squad to the former Republic of Ireland boss in the wake of Glenn Hoddle's resignation short of three years ago.
Paul Ince was the supporters’ favourite for the job but Moxley appeared to have been leaning strongly towards McCarthy even before he and the club’s then owner travelled to London to interview him.
“Sir Jack Hayward and I interviewed Mick in London,” Moxley said in the wake of promotion back to the top flight being secured at the weekend. “And I told him very early on when we met that the job he had done at Sunderland when he took them to the play-offs and then the Premiership having been in such a bad state – was as good a job as any I have witnessed in my 20 years’ involvement in the game.
“That really summed it up for me and very shortly after the interview we appointed him. What really resonated with me prior to meeting him, though,” he continued, “was the way Mick had carried himself throughout the whole Roy Keane affair.
“It was an illustration of a guy with charisma, character and determination. If a man can deal with that pressure with that sort of dignity then we knew he would be able to deal with the problems that would face him as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“None of us could have imagined what he had been through and he was caught up in the crossfire of a situation that was not really of his making. I didn’t know Mick McCarthy from Adam but I just couldn’t imagine the pressure he must have been under and the odds stacked against him in that situation.
“Yet his integrity and humility struck a chord and I’m pleased that those are permanent characteristics.”
Moxley went on to pay tribute to the way McCarthy has handled the job since taking it on. “I said we were going to forget about any footballing targets. We just asked Mick to rebuild the team and explained how we wanted him to do it and the money we’d got, which at that stage wasn’t a great deal.
“It was a case of bringing in young players, unheard of in some cases, getting them for buttons and turning them into successes in the Championship. He has delivered what we wanted.”
It remains to be seen the extent to which the squad will be reshaped for life in the Premier League but the club is expected to provide its manager with substantial funds to strengthen during the summer months.
A special fund for the development of the club, established by current chairman Steve Morgan, contains in excess of €20 million while promotion is expected to boost revenues next year by some €65 million (€33 million from television rights, €26 million from league payments and €6 million from additional sponsorship).
“What we need to do is supplement the young and hungry team we’ve got with some tried and tested, experienced Premier League players,” says Moxley.
“We’re going to go about that as of today. We are in the most competitive, richest league in the world now so we will need to play by those rules.”
Many members of this year’s squad will be nervous about who might be brought in but three of the club’s young Irish players will be hopeful of featuring for the club in the Premier League next season with Stephen Ward, Kevin Foley and Andy Keogh – who cost a combined €2 million to buy – having each featured in at least 40 games during the promotion-winning campaign.
