Mick`s Three Big Steps To Survival...

Mick`s Three Big Steps To Survival...

If someone had said in August that Wolves would be seven points clear of relegation in March, you would wonder whether they'd been on the plant food. Or presume they had inside information about a big-money takeover and Mick McCarthy's replacement with a manager who did not have a rancid record in the Premier League.

The £2m signing of Littlest Hobo Greg Halford did little to convince anyone that McCarthy had learned lessons from his Sunderland disappointment, while Wolves fans complained that the likes of Jody Craddock and Karl Henry lacked the pace for Premier League football. What they needed was new blood at centre-half and an experienced, spoiling midfielder in the Nicky Butt mould.

We all nodded and most so-called experts had Wolves in their list of bankers for relegation along with Hull and Burnley. Remember, this was way before we knew the scale of the clusterf*** happening down on the south coast. McCarthy's top-flight record did not inspire belief, and his signings (Ronald Zubar was a contender in Ligue 1's 'worst player of the year' award that season) were not designed to change any minds.

But McCarthy made three excellent decisions that will probably earn Wolves a pop at avoiding second-season syndrome.

The first was finding one of the few players in the Championship who clearly belonged at a higher level and not being afraid to spend over half his budget on that footballer. It was a brave decision that could have backfired spectacularly - if Wolves were now in 19th, we would be asking why he spent £6.5m on a striker and neglected to significantly strengthen his back line. That's how football management and the media works.

Kevin Doyle has been magnificent. Seven goals may not look like a phenomenal return from a £6.5m investment, but boy, does that fella put in a shift. He was relegated with Reading and his work rate would suggest that he's ever so keen not to re-live that particular experience. Like Darren Bent and Andy Johnson before him, he's the perfect blend of hard work and inspiration for a team expecting a relegation battle.

The second key decision was the free signing of Marcus Hahnemann, though he does lose some points for failing to throw him straight in at the deep end at the start of the season. Instead he chose to show loyalty to Wayne Hennessey, whose nerves seemingly struggled to cope with the step-up. After two successive four-goal batterings in November, he made way for the veteran American.

Like Brad Friedel and Mark Schwarzer before him, the 37-year-old American has perfectly illustrated the importance of experience (for free!) between the posts and against Birmingham and West Ham in recent weeks, Hahnemann has been nothing short of superb. Like his Reading teammate Doyle, he's playing like a footballer massively grateful for a second chance. Would Wolves be in this position without either of those players? Unequivocally no.

McCarthy's third triumph was his sheer bloody-mindedness. The fans were unhappy with the defensive-minded 4-5-1 formation and after the pitiful performance against Birmingham in February that the manager put "between s*** and syphilis", he must have been tempted to waver as Alex McLeish had before him.

But McCarthy stuck to his guns - believing the previously-unheralded Matt Jarvis was capable of providing Doyle with support - and Wolves went on a run of three wins in seven games after that Birmingham low point. Funnily enough, there have been few complaints from the fans about the formation since they matched both Chelsea and Manchester United in every department but 'goals'.

Whether the professional Yorkshireman can repeat his trick next season is questionable - and he will still start the campaign at short-ish odds for the sack - but what he has achieved this season has changed an awful lot of minds about a manager who has often lacked the likeability factor for neutrals. It seems old dogs can learn new tricks - like how to survive in the Premier League.