The former Wolves captain is the latest guest on the Old Gold Club’s My Golden Game podcast, as he joins Mikey Burrows to discuss the stunning 6-4 victory over Rotherham back in 2014.
Having already sealed promotion to the Championship, Wolves faced one of their title rivals, but no-one could expect the game that was about to play out at Molineux.
On taking down a title rival
“We went into that game really driven as a side. Even though we’d already got promoted, they wanted us to win the league and that was what the big motivation around the club was, right up the club from the bottom to the top.
“They wanted us to make a statement, because getting promoted wasn’t enough, they wanted us to win the league and do it like we eventually did in style, with the record points total and many records along the way.
“We would’ve been going into that game wanting to win, against a team who were on a really good run at the time, and we wanted to remind them that we’re the best team in the league. A mentality of, ‘You’re good, but you’re not as good as us.’”
On a topsy-turvy clash
“We approached the game well, and we were fairly comfortable in the game. We were a couple of goals up until about 10 minutes to go.
“I remember they got the first one to bring it back to 4-3, and then when they got a second to equalise, you were quite frustrated because you wanted to be the team that rolls out wins after wins.
“It wasn’t too long after the kick-off that I managed to get the goal. The real big thing was that I wanted to win to just reaffirm that we are the best team in the league, we’re at home, we’re in a packed out stadium, it was a great atmosphere, and you want to win the game and win in style.
“3-1 or 4-3 would’ve been a good result, but then no-one could have written the last six minutes of the game.”
On putting Wolves 5-4 ahead
“I could just see a big hole inside and remember rolling the ball into ‘Eddo’ [Dave Edwards] and thinking, ‘Cor, there’s a lot of space,’ and I just drove into the space, shouted to Eddo to set me, and it’s a good job it was to Eddo, because he was possibly the only player who would set me back in that situation.
“I don’t think [Bakary] Sako would’ve done, James Henry definitely wouldn’t have, Michael Jacobs probably not, [Nouha] Dicko no, so it was only Eddo who would’ve given the ball back to me, so I’ve got him to thank for the goal.
“I hadn’t scored all season, I’d hit the post, I’d hit the crossbar, and I probably should’ve scored about four or five goals by this point – that’s probably why I was a defender because I was still on zero when I should’ve had five!
“But it just came back to me and fell really nice on my left foot. I can’t remember too much other than just making a nice contact on it and it’s probably one of the nicest viewing goals – it just curls into the far top corner, clips the underside of the bar and the ball bounces around in the back of the net.
“It’s one of the dream goals. When you’re playing in the park when you’re a kid, it’s the goal you’re always trying to do, side foot it and bend it into the top corner, and fortunately it happened that afternoon. It couldn’t have been any better.”
On the pitch invasions
“It was pandemonium. I think that’s one of the moments in football, because you have huge ups and huge downs, but on a personal note, scoring that goal was probably one of my highlights.
“There’s no better feeling when you’ve scored one, which I thought was going to be the winner because it’s so deep into the game and supporters are running onto the pitch.
“You can’t really get much better than that on a personal point, and it won us the game as well. But then trying to get everyone off the pitch was a thing as well, but once they were off the pitch, they were nearly back on again, and they virtually were on the pitch when Kev Mac actually put the ball in the net.
“They [Rotherham] were threatening to walk off because our fans were on the pitch, but at point, you just wanted everyone off it so you can finish the game.”
On securing the title on the bus home from the next game
“We weren’t good against Crewe and we weren’t good against Leyton Orient, but we won both games, and as a team, I think that was the only time we could properly relax because we’d won the league.
“We still wanted to go on and get all the record points and everything, but that was the first time when we’d got promoted, we’d won the league, we’d done our job and we’d done it really well.
“I think even Kenny [Jackett] might have relaxed after winning the league, to be fair.”
