Special Feature: Mick's The Man
The seeds of the delight of Wolves' promotion to the Premier League at a frenzied Molineux yesterday were sown almost three years ago at a three-man gathering in London.
That was when Mick McCarthy was interviewed by Wolves' CEO Jez Moxey and then-chairman and now President Sir Jack Hayward.
Wolves were a club at a low ebb.
Stung by two successive failures to secure promotion and the loss of the parachute payments following the previous relegation from the Premier League, Wolves had been hit further by the resignation of boss Glenn Hoddle.
So then to the hunt for Hoddle's successor, and a short-list quickly drawn up.
Soon into that interview with Mick, it was clear the Wolves hierarchy already knew they'd found their man.
A man whose belief, determination and integrity made him such a perfect fit for the difficult and challenging job that lay ahead.
"We only interviewed three people," recalls Jez.
"Stuart Gray, who as assistant was the incumbent at the time, Paul Ince, who was something of a fans' favourite, and Mick McCarthy.
"Sir Jack Hayward and I interviewed Mick in
"And I told him very early on when we met that the job he had done at Sunderland - when he turned the club around and took them to the play-offs and then the championship having been in such a bad state - was as good a job as any I'd 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."
But Jez was already impressed by the managerial acumen of Mick long before even meeting him.
The somewhat epic 2002 World Cup spat between the Wolves boss and Roy Keane during their times as
At the time it was quite probably a negative, but in the single-minded and unflinching way he dealt with the whole extraordinary affair, Mick's conduct hadn't gone unnoticed.
"What really resonated with me prior to meeting him was the way Mick had carried himself throughout the whole Roy Keane affair," says Jez.
"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 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.
"He is a generous, conscientious, hard-working man who carries strong principles through his life. I don't think I'm over-stating the case to say he is someone of strong moral fibre.
"He is a genuine guy and we are a genuine football club - we needed someone to embrace the new direction we were going in."
That "new direction" was something discussed at length during that initial and crucial interview.
"Will you expect me to get promotion or reach the play-offs?" asked Mick.
"No," replied Jez, who went on to explain it was more about setting up a new Molineux culture than immediately seeking instant results.
"I said we were going to forget about setting any footballing targets," he says.
"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.
"Before Glenn left the club we had a very clear vision of what we wanted our team to look like going forward.
"We were losing the parachute payment and had a blueprint, we needed to re-jig what had gone before.
"We wanted to place greater emphasis on youth, play a much higher-tempo game and from talking to people we knew that was something Mick was comfortable with - he believed in young players.
"We also needed someone who could deal with the expectation and difficulties of managing this club and wouldn't be phased by it.
"We set out clearly to Mick what we wanted him to do and he convinced us very quickly that our ideals matched his and his matched ours - it looked like a good fit.
"Whether or not we could succeed in achieving what we all wanted to achieve was another thing but the relationship got underway and Mick has been completely good to his word of sticking to our plan and believing in it.
"As a result we have developed the club on the same page which is an essential ingredient for a successful and professionally-run club."
Jez continues: "When Mick came in we had about 14 senior professionals.
"They were depleted, depressed, feeling let down and at an extremely low ebb.
"There were probably huge question marks surrounding what we were going to do.
"That is why what Mick had done at
"He has delivered what we wanted.
"He over-achieved in his first season when we reached the play-offs.
"We had injuries to several key players one year later when we missed out on the play-offs on goals scored. And now this.
"It's almost story-book progression, and in terms of bringing in players is a sign of the great work that Mick, Ian Evans and Dave Bowman and others have done in picking out players.
"Michael Kightly, Karl Henry, Andy Keogh, Stephen Ward, Matt Jarvis, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Kevin Foley, Dave Edwards, Sam Vokes - these were players that we brought in who in some cases were being overlooked but we picked them up for good value money.
"And that wasn't because we didn't want to spend the money but because Mick believed they were players who could come in and be very successful in the Championship."
So it has proved.
Wolves chairman Steve Morgan also appreciated the no-nonsense and honest approach of Mick as he took the Molineux helm one-third of the way through the three-year plan and the resulting stability - and relationship between the 'three M's' - has certainly stood the club in good stead.
And it is the manager's raison-d'etre, both on and off the pitch, that has struck such a chord with both club colleagues and supporters alike.
"I think Mick's honest approach is what we are about as a club," says Jez.
"He's a really honest, straight, down-to-earth guy who is doing nothing other than what we are trying to do
"He has no other motive than trying to be the very best manager he can be and bringing as much success as possible to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and I'm not sure that can be said for all managers.
"He wanted to get involved in the club and one of the first things he said when he arrived was that he wanted to buy a house.
"Quickly he moved in to a house a few miles away from the stadium and when you want him to turn up for something at 8 o'clock in morning or evening or 4 o'clock in the afternoon then Mick McCarthy is there.
"That's great for a chief executive to know, and I think it has to be that way if you are going to succeed.
"And he will speak to young players in the corridor.
"There's none of this: 'I'm the manager, don't speak to me,' bravado that goes with some - there's no pretentiousness.
"He comes in early, works out every morning, and is keen to speak to everyone at the club.
"And when he comes to Molineux, he'll pop in to the ticket office, commercial office, just talking to people and finding out what's happening.
"I just think he's driven by doing the right things, living his life the right way.
"And that means being conscientious, being professional.
"He is driven I think by wanting to be comfortable at night, going home and going to sleep knowing he's done everything he can that day in his personal and professional life."
There have been moments when sections of the Wolves support have been less supportive of Mick than others, particularly after missing out on reaching the play-offs last season.
But Jez believes that over-riding majority of McCarthy admirers has grown by the day and is grateful that supporters have "bought in" to the new culture of the manager's thinking.
"It is a wonderful football club and I don't know whether it's a Black Country trait, but the glass does seem to be half-empty, rather than half-full, a lot of the time," he says.
"But I think we have built a relationship back up with our supporters over the last two or three years which is probably as healthy a relationship as we have had with them for a long time.
"I think they have bought into this expectation issue that we can't afford to be negative and have to be positive and support the players.
"Whilst sometimes individual players have taken stick this season by and large the fans have really played their part and I think that's because they have seen what we as a club are trying to achieve and the way we have gone about doing it.
"When we had that run of one win in 11 during January and February the fans stuck with us and that was hugely important.
"I think Mick has built a bond with the supporters and they know he's not going to fill their heads with anything unrealistic."
In final reflection, those leadership qualities which first suggested to the Wolves board that Mick was very much the man for the job, will clearly be needed more than ever as the Molineux men head into the unforgiving environment of the Premier League.
From Jez's point of view, he certainly has all the right credentials.
"Mick's track record as a club manager is impressive, and what happened in the Premier League with Sunderland was taken out of his hands," he explains.
"He's a proper football leader and has led from the front.
"He stands up and is counted in every single situation and will say things which might upset people and it's not to upset people but it's because he believes it's logical and right.
"He will ask people questions, listen to what they've got to say and take it on board and then make his own decision
"And that makes him hugely respected by players, coaches and managers alike.
"We're certainly delighted with how he has done since arriving at Wolves.
"Maybe the first two seasons should have been the other way round to make it a natural progression, but it's an almost perfect three year plan that's come together."
