Matt Jackson believes John Ruddy’s return to Molineux will see the veteran goalkeeper make a significant impact at Wolves both on and off the pitch.
The 39-year-old brings a wealth of experience to Cesar Peixoto’s squad, having already demonstrated his importance to the club during his five-year stint at Wolves between 2017 and 2022.
By bringing Ruddy back to the Black Country, Jackson feels Ruddy’s leadership, goalkeeping expertise and understanding of the demands of the Championship will once again prove invaluable to Wolves as the side look to push for promotion back to the Premier League.
On bringing Ruddy back to Wolves
“I’m really pleased. He will be a massive addition for us. Obviously, he’s got good friends here already in the squad, in the likes of Kieran [Trippier], who was with him in the dressing room at Newcastle last year and has been brilliant here, so it’s rare that a signing can affect all areas of a football club, but it really feels like he can do.
“We’ve taken risk out of the equation completely. We know exactly what we’re getting, both as a man, and as a footballer, and we think that he has attributes that really help the goalkeeping group from a technical perspective.
“We’ve talked as well about club culture, we’ve talked about a core of leadership in that group as well and John just provides so many aspects of that, so we’re really pleased.”
On the process behind the deal
“There’s been a good level of trust. I’d started having discussions as soon as he became a free agent again and had floated the idea, asked him to be patient, to keep us informed and gave him my word that as soon as I was able to call, I would call and that’s exactly what I did.
“I would hope that he was appreciative of that and the fact that we’ve now been able to turn it into this sort of deal, I just think we should all be very, very pleased with ourselves.”
On bringing vast experience to the squad
“It is invaluable. Understanding that sometimes you’ve got to go and win a game one-nil on a Tuesday night when the boys are feeling low physically, and maybe it's a tough period and you find a way to win, and you find a way to prepare correctly for games when it's hard-going. It’s relentless in the Championship and the more people that you have who understand that, the better.
“I’m sure he will guide the squad an awful lot and he can concentrate on that side of his game without us having to teach him the fundamentals of being goalkeeper – that’s the last thing we need to worry about. It’s very much the qualities elsewhere that we’re looking for. But that’s not to say that he’s not also still a very, very good and capable goalkeeper, which absolutely is important.”
On adding another homegrown player to the group
“People know about the homegrown elements that are required for the squad makeup now and that understanding is starting to be better for our supporters.
“But we like the core of the group. We like how they’re getting on now, and I think in these early games they’ve demonstrated a togetherness that’s been excellent.
“We like the group’s spirit and certainly they’ve been really diligent in taking on the ideals and the disciplines from the coaching group, and we’re seeing early benefits from that.”
On freshening up the goalkeeping department
“He’s going to have a close relationship with Pedro, the goalkeeper coach, which will be great as there’ll be a lot of learning going on there, but as a mentor in and around that goalkeeper group, for the wider squad, and for the other senior players to lean on as well, he’s just going to be a really valuable asset for us.
“It's been an interesting summer in the goalkeeper department, obviously with Jose’s late return from the World Cup. We felt like it needed a refresh in the whole group and now we certainly have that.”
