The former Wolves midfielder and current loans manager at Compton Park is the latest guest on the Old Gold Club’s My Golden Game podcast, as he joins Mikey Burrows to discuss the feeling of coming so close to taking the club to the Premier League.
As Wolves’ top scorer of the 2006/07 season, Olofinjana had helped the club finally reach the play-offs after three years at Molineux, and despite scoring the goal to put the team 2-1 ahead in the first leg, reaching the final ultimately proved a step too far for a young Wolves side.
On the meaning of the fixture
“This game is more than just a game. It’s the gravity of what the game meant to the fans, what the game meant to the club and what the game meant to us as players.
“It was one game that we needed to win, it was the semi-finals of the play-offs, we were playing at home and we were expected to put one over on them. West Brom are our fiercest rivals and we didn’t manage to do it on the day, but it was all the effort.
“The game itself, that 90 minutes of the game was just a small fraction of the what the game means. The build-up to it, how we got to that destination, being 9th in the 2004/05 season, having been 7th and just missing out on the play-offs in the 2005/06 season, and then the 2006/07 season we came 5th, and we had to go and play West Brom, so it was a long run to that point.
“There was a lot of emotion, not just for the players but for the fans and for the football club.”
On losing Murray to injury the day before the match
“It was a big blow. Matt Murray was a game winner, any day. On a day when you’re not doing well or when you are doing well, and you needed someone to keep you afloat and win the game, or even get you a draw in a game when you’re struggling, Matt Murray is your man.
“However, we knew we had a good deputy in [Wayne] Hennessey, but there was nothing we could do about it. The disappointment was there, but the game was too big to be crying about Matt not playing.
“Anybody could’ve been playing that game, you didn’t need the motivation, because the atmosphere and the feeling in the air told you everything you needed to know and tells you the amount of preparation that you learn to put in.”
On the atmosphere of a home Black Country derby
“It was electric and we didn’t expect anything less. There’s been banter playing left, right and centre from both sets of fans as soon as the moment we knew we were going to play West Brom. We were ready as players and we felt the atmosphere.
“Let’s not forget, West Brom is just down the road and we live next to some of their fans, and vice versa, so you could sense the atmosphere, you knew what was going on and you knew what it meant to both sets of fans.
“West Brom being our enemy and being the standing block in between Wolves getting back into the top-flight is what made this game so important. How wonderful would it have been to go past our fiercest rival to get into the Premier League?
“The players felt so much pressure going into the game. More fans would turn up to training than were at the ground; the training ground was packed, and people were just expecting miracles to happen.
“I’ve played in many derbies over my career, but nothing beats that for me. When you have a normal derby in the league and there’s three points up for grabs, that’s one thing, but when you play in the play-offs, something that stops you from making that big jump from the Championship to the Premier League, there’s no words that I can use to describe that feeling.”
On putting Wolves ahead
“I remember it went very, very quickly. It started and then, all of a sudden, it was over. I’d had a very good goalscoring season and was in form, so there was no stopping me, and when the ball fell to me, I just tapped it in.
“Jody Craddock scored and when I scored the second, it felt like the whole stand was going to collapse. We just wanted to get this one over the line and then we could think about playing the Albion again in a few days time.
“But we lost the game. Even though we had played well and had lots of chances that we could’ve put away – myself, [Michael] Kightly, Neill Collins, Jay Bothroyd, we never put our chances away, and when they have a player like Kevin Phillips on the pitch, they’ll punish you.
“And that is what they did. They were just more clinical than us, and that was the main difference.”
On being unable to see the game out
“Such games only come once in a lifetime and I don’t think I’ve ever played in another game like that because it was a unique game.
“That game wasn’t about what the manager told you to do, you knew what he wanted you to do and you just went with your instinct. If it had been a normal league game, it would’ve been a little cagier.
“We were ahead 2-1, playing against a very good team, so let’s just work together and try to grind this one out. But at that time, we played the occasion, and rather than just sit back and hold on to our 2-1 lead, we’re going to try and attack again and try and score as many as we can and give our fans what they want.
“Rather than letting the fans worry about the occasion, we should’ve been there to perform and play the game.”
