Wolves appoint man who claims he was McCarthy’s assistant
Monday 27 February 2012 14:39
His team may have fought back to draw at Newcastle on Saturday, but there's still mystery surrounding Wolves' new boss Terry Connor. Back of the Net's John Foster investigates...
Wolverhampton Wanderers have chosen as their new boss a 49-year-old man, Terry Connor, who claims to have until recently been Mick McCarthy’s assistant at the struggling Midlands club.
The appointment comes as something of a surprise, given Wolves’ initial statement that McCarthy’s successor should be a manager with a track record of doing well with struggling teams, with Premier League pedigree, and who people had heard of.
But instead Connor was offered the role after Wolves were reportedly rejected by Alan Curbishley, Brian McDermott, Gus Poyet, Walter Smith, Steve Bruce, Neil Warnock, and Diego Maradona, who called the situation at Molineux “unbefitting of a serious manager”.
“We were starting to wonder if we’d done the right thing in letting go of Mick,” admitted club chief executive Jez Moxey. “But fortunately Terence [Connor] got in touch with us, reminding us that he was Mick’s assistant and was therefore the obvious choice.”
“Until he mentioned it, none of us thought that Mick had even had an assistant”, admitted Moxey.
“But Terry was quite insistent, so we’ve given him the benefit of the doubt. I suppose it’s like the old saying goes: the best assistants are the ones you don’t take any notice of.”
Reports suggest that Connor has varied his story within the Wolves dressing room, telling Nenad Milijas that he had managed for several years in Scandinavia, while successfully persuading Steven Fletcher that he was ex-Real Madrid prompter Fernando Redondo, allegedly affecting an exaggerated Spanish accent in the forward’s presence.
Supporters’ club spokesperson Martha McVie has welcomed Connor’s arrival, however.
“Many bosses these days mouth off at the slightest provocation”, she said. “But Terry Connor’s the quiet type who gets on with the job, keeps his head down, and lets others do the talking for him.
“At least, I assume he does. To be completely honest, I’ve no idea who he is.”
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