Paul Trollope believes the foundations for a successful Wolves future have been laid during his four months assisting Rob Edwards – despite what happens at the end of this season.
Although the vastly experienced 53-year-old still holds out hope for Wolves to defy the odds and remain a Premier League side, Trollope feels the improvements the coaching staff and players have made at Molineux during their relatively short time together can be built upon and see the team return to their previous heights.
During this 25-day break between Wolves’ top flight fixtures, Trollope sat down exclusively with Wolves Express to discuss his first four months at the club, why he decided to reunite with Edwards following their time together at Luton Town and how the group have remained positive despite their current league situation.
Trollope also expressed pride of being part of a tight-knit coaching staff at Compton Park, while reflecting on his own managerial journey – which saw him rack up almost 300 games with Bristol Rovers and Cardiff City – how he’s using that experience to help the players and whether Wolves can achieve the impossible this season.
On his first four months at Molineux
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. We knew the situation we were coming into, but as soon as I received the call from the club and was told by Southampton that there was an interest, it was an opportunity that I really couldn’t turn down, and one that I was hugely excited by.
“I was really pleased to come along and to join up with Rob again, and the other staff, and join a great football club – it’s obviously one with a great history. We came into it the club in a difficult situation, but one that we thought we could improve and make progress on.”
On making the move to Wolves
“I had only joined Southampton in the summer when Will Still got the job, and I enjoyed working with Will, but it was another club in a difficult situation after the relegation. They obviously had quite a traumatic year, so it was a difficult situation for Will and for us as a staff to go in to, and for the players also.
“There was a lot of things to sort through, and there’s obviously a talented squad down there, as they’re proving now. I got on well with the staff and all the hierarchy at Southampton, but once the opportunity came along and I was aware of the interest from Wolves, then it was something that was massively appealing to me. Not only coming to such a big football club but also working with Rob again.”
On reuniting with Rob Edwards
“It’s been great. We knew each other from many years ago in the Welsh national team. I was coming to the end of my time with Wales, and I think my last cap was his first cap – we beat Azerbaijan at home 4-0 when we were playing at the Millennium Stadium. We bumped into each other a lot in terms of playing, but also in different coaching capacities, over the last 10 to 15 years.
“I was between jobs after leaving Nottingham Forest and connected with Rob again, and that was a really good opportunity for me to join up again with someone I’ve always had huge respect for, but he obviously did a good job at Forest Green Rovers, and then our journey at Luton was an incredible one.
“I always think your work environment and the people you work with is the most important thing. What I like working with Rob is the environment he creates, and the feeling he creates among staff and players, so I’m obviously delighted to be back with him.”
On their time together at Luton
“We joined at a time when Nathan Jones had recruited well and run the club in a very good way, in terms of the playing staff and the playing side of things, and we wanted to add our own stamp on it and try to improve it, which I think we did. We progressed the year we took over and it culminated in the promotion, but there was a real sense that we could achieve it, even at the turn of the year.
“There was a real energy and a drive about the place and Rob led it brilliantly well. We put our own stamp playing-style wise, but it was an evolution from the previous regime that worked really well. To end up with the promotion and the play-off win was an amazing achievement.
“The following year was an incredible roller coaster in the Premier League, which we enjoyed, and I think a lot of the country enjoyed seeing what we did and how we did it. But in the end, we fell a little bit short, although I think we went down with quite a sense of pride of what we managed to achieve with the budget we had.”
On differences between managing and assisting
“It’s very different, but it wasn’t the journey I planned. Coming to the latter years of my playing career, I really wanted to earn my stripes as a coach and go through Academy football, under-21s – or reserves as it was then – but as a senior player at Bristol Rovers, I was thrust into the caretaker role.
“I knew the talent in the group and what a good club it was, and enjoyed the caretaker role, so I bounced straight into first-team management, aided by an experienced Lennie Lawrence as director of football, which was great for me at the time, and five-and-a-half years later, we were still there and enjoying life at Rovers.
“After that, I probably missed a couple of opportunities to maybe go on and move upwards in terms of a managerial career, but I’ve always enjoyed being on the grass the most, I’ve enjoyed coaching the most and the tactical side of things.
“The next opportunity came with Chris Hughton at Birmingham, who had just been relegated out of the Premier League, which was an attractive proposition. I linked up with Chris and went on to about four different clubs with him as his assistant over the next 10 to 12 years. He was a great football man, a great manager and a really fantastic human being, so I was really proud to work with Chris at a number of clubs, and the journey we had together was fantastic.”
On being part of a tight coaching group
“We’ve all got different strengths and different attributes that we bring. We’ve obviously had different experiences, both home and abroad, and I think that’s a really healthy thing. Also, the fact we’re all different ages, it all works.
“But like anything, it took a couple of weeks to really find the dynamic of who does what and how we do it, but I feel like we’ve really progressed as a coaching group very well, and Rob’s happy with the dynamic and how it works on the training pitch. We’ve set into a nice rhythm of work and they’re all a joy to work with.
“Rui [Pedro Silva] has a lot of experience and did very well here at Wolves previously. I’ve come across Danny [Alcock] a couple of times from different clubs, and H [Harry Watling] obviously has good experience for a younger coach as well, so I’m really pleased and proud to be working with such a talented group of staff.”
On the advantages of having a small staff
“There are different ways of working and I’ve experienced the full range. When I was a young manager at Bristol Rovers I had one physio, one kit man, and that was basically it. Even the programme editor used to help us on a number of different levels, on and off the pitch. We had no sports science staff, no analysts – that was all done by the manager.
“But the bigger the club, normally the bigger the staff. But we’ve got a really good professional backroom staff here that’s obviously good in size for the Premier League, and I think for our department, in terms of the coaching team – the assistants – it works well in terms of the working days and the workload, but also has the right balance of good experience, good numbers, but also not too many.”
On using his experience to help Wolves
“That range of staff has helped because we knew it was a tough situation that we were coming into, but in life, it’s all about embracing these challenges and hitting them head on. I think the players have been fantastic in terms of their reaction to the work we’ve done since we’ve been here, but the environment Rob has created is a very, very strong one and a good one.
“I don’t think there are many times when a team in our situation have been enjoying it as much as we have – because you shouldn’t be enjoying it and because we’re not enjoying the league position – but to get the best out the players, to get that motivation and get the spirit and the fight and the togetherness we want to show on the pitch, there has to be an enjoyment to it – and we feel like we’re making good strides on that.
“The results didn’t start straight away, but there were performances that showed good promise and hopefully now, the results are following the performances. But the best thing for me is the spirit of the group, and the spirit that individual players have shown, and the progression that some have shown, which I think is testament to the staff, but especially to Rob – as the leader of the group – and what he has started to create here.”
On the positivity around the club
“I have to say the supporters have been terrific, especially considering the situation. Everyone’s well aware of what happened last season and how this season started, but it’s the Premier League and it’s a brutal league. There are big clubs that have found this league very, very difficult, and we have to remember that we did inherit a difficult situation, and the players individually were in a difficult situation.
“It certainly hasn’t been easy for anyone, and we’re not in a position that any of us would want to be in. If we look back, we would have loved to have won three or four of that first group of games to get us out of it, and if we’d have done that, we’d be pushing up towards mid-table right now, but that wasn’t the case.
“But I think the progress has been pleasing on a collective and individual basis, and we’re looking forward to the final group of games. We’ll go into every game looking to win it. We’ll try to win the next game and the one after that, and that’s been the mantra, that’s been the focus. If we can do that over the next few then you never know.”
On creating a fighting spirit in the squad
“With the spirit and the togetherness the group is showing, and also the football we’re playing as well, we’re always in games, and I think we will be in every game between now and the end of the season. Sometimes we could be a little bit of luckier or a decision here or there could help us on our way, but certainly this little break we’re on is a strange one.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced an almost four-week break in March and April, but it’s one that we’re trying to use to our advantage. We’ve obviously got a number of internationals away, but we’ll get the right balance for the ones that are here, between a little bit of rest to refresh, and also get some work that needs doing so that we can really attack the last group of games.”
On giving their all until the end of the season
“It’s really important to keep fighting until the end. I’ve been in this position in my playing days, many, many years ago with Derby County who were a newly-promoted team that was fighting at the bottom to stay up, then a couple of years at Brighton we were near the bottom, and just kept our head above water, and finished well.
“Then I’ve had the Luton experience, relatively not long ago, which was a similar thing – you’re looking to claw back. We know we’ve got a huge challenge, but it’s one we’re embracing and showing the right application for. The staff and the players have responded really well to what is a difficult situation.”
On building foundations for future success
“Obviously, we’re still hoping that the dream becomes a reality if we win the next game, then we win the game after that, and we keep ticking those boxes. But whatever happens, wherever we end up and whatever next season brings, I think it’s really important the spirit we built continues, the good play and the processes we’ve built continue.
“We’re also pleased that we’ve helped the football club to discover how to win again and get that feeling of winning back. That’s why those last few home wins were so important for us. I know we had the cup wins, but those home wins against Aston Villa and Liverpool, under the lights, were very special evenings.
“The outpouring of passion was incredible and there was a lot of emotion in those celebrations. I think it showed how much people care and what we’re trying to do, so that feeling of winning again will be very important for next season – whatever the outcome of this one.”
