Alan Curbishley remains the overwhelming favourite to replace Mick McCarthy as Wolves manager – just as club legend John Richards has defended Steve Morgan’s decision to rebuild Molineux.
Former Charlton boss Curbishley heads into the interview stage with the majority of public support behind him.
Steve Bruce could yet sway Morgan and Jez Moxey, whilst it would be foolish to rule out Neil Warnock.
One fiery Yorkshireman after another would appear a recipe for disaster – but Warnock is likely to be the most impressive interviewee.
Not just because of his personality but because of the inside knowledge of the team that a decade of friendship with McCarthy is likely to have imparted.
Such things as which players need a kick up the proverbial backside, which need an arm around the shoulder and which could come into the team, and so forth.
All three leading contenders could easily help their own PR battles by bringing in the likes of Paul Ince or Alex Rae as right hand men.
Meanwhile, opinion is firmly split as to whether Morgan really needed to press ahead with a £15 million new stand rather than plough more resources into team.
On the one hand, Morgan points out that Wolves were one of the biggest net spenders in the division.
On the other, supporters were uneasy at a summer window where only Roger Johnson arrived as a ‘new’ acquisition and a winter one where Eggert Jonsson arrived for a small sum and Emmanuel Frimpong and Sebastien Bassong on loan.
What can’t be forgotten is that Wolves are also pressing ahead with ambitious plans to transform the academy at Compton Park.
Richards spells out that the finances for the team and the rebuilding of the club would have come from very separate pots.
“I think Steve Morgan was always thinking long term,” he said.
“They would develop the training ground – which you have always got to do nowadays to attract players.
“As for the ground itself, to a lot of people feel it could have managed as it was because they weren’t really filling it anyway with 28,000 and crowds were down.
“So that could have been a mistake. But it hasn’t affected the playing side. The money for the development is dealt with separately to the funds that are available for the playing. It is what is happening on the pitch that resulted in what happened the other day (McCarthy’s sacking).”
