Premier League - Wolves appoint Connor as boss

Fri, 24 Feb 11:20:00 2012

Wolves have appointed caretaker boss Terry Connor as manager until the end of the Premier League season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy and assistant manager Terry Connor (left) - 0

The West Midlands club have reportedly been turned down by several potential bosses in recent days, including Walter Smith, Alan Curbishley, Neil Warnock, Brian McDermott and Gus Poyet.

Former Wolves manager Dave Jones was thought to have moved to the top of their wishlist, while Steve Bruce was the bookmakers' favourite - but Connor, the former assistant to the sacked Mick McCarthy, has been entrusted with securing top-flight survival ahead of the appointment of a permanent manager in the summer.

"Since we made the difficult decision to part company with Mick, we have been through a diligent process of assessing potential candidates," said chairman Steve Morgan.

"Having spoken to a number of people we have drawn that process to a close and myself and the board are unanimous that Terry is the right man to lead the club for the remainder of the season.

"This is a decisive step, which creates certainty, and the players are fully behind it.

"As a club, whether that be staff or supporters, we now all need to unite behind Terry and the players and secure as many points as possible over the next 13 games."

The club has been criticised for dallying over the appointment of McCarthy's successor before simply opting for his right-hand man.

However Morgan said they had nothing to be ashamed of.

"This is a very important appointment and this is not one you can make on a knee-jerk response," he said. "We have seen a number of people, nowhere near the amount of people that has been [reported] in the media.

"We went through the process and narrowed it down and it became clear from the way the players were responding to Terry that he was the right man."

Connor has been at the club for 13 years and served under four different managers, during which time former Republic of Ireland boss McCarthy took them into the Premier League and kept them up twice.

"I've known Mick for a number of years," added Connor. "We're two Yorkshiremen but we couldn't be more different in some ways. Mick's got his way and I've got mine.

"I'm proud, privileged and honoured to be asked to take care of the team for the rest of the season. We have unfinished business. We have two seasons where we have survived and want to make it three - and the players are of the same mind.

"The challenge is the 13 games - can we stay up? These 13 games are important to the football club. My job is to get the players ready for each game and to do their best."

Wolves travel to face Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.

Premier League predictions

Jonathan Symcox - on Twitter @Symco_Eurosport / Eurosport

Comment 133 - 152 of 152

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  1. Morgan and Moxey are a joke and are not fit for the­ job! i will back TC as much as possible till the end of­ the season as he he had no choice but to accept the job­ Wolves failing to find a good manager is a joke the way­ they handled it is rubbish. I have been saying this for­ a while now that Morgan only brought the club to­ eventually sell the club for a profit, thts why he is­ improving the staduim and not the team his a property­ developer. Im sure now 100% of wolves fans feel the­ same. SACK THE BOARD! MOXEY AND MORGAN out !!!!!!!!!!!

    From Gary, on Sat 25 Feb 20:26

  2. Put GoodYear and Nutmeg back on the shirts. Then back­ out of the darkness and back into the light.
    That will­ do it.

    From Steve A, on Sat 25 Feb 17:42

  3. i would like to wish T C all the best for the rest of­ the season ,first thing i would do is make either Steve­ Hunt or Jamie Ohara captain get jody back in defence­ and play with 2 up front as one is no good ,lets get­ right behind the club at this most importent end of the­ seasons run in we have 13 games too go and i still­ believe wolves can do it as wigan ,blackburn ,bolton­ and QPR are in the same boat as us and i now we are­ better than them good luck wolves

    From Robert, on Sat 25 Feb 17:14

  4. never heard of him

    From owl, on Sat 25 Feb 17:06

  5. its a certainty wolves will get relegated_nobody wanted­ the job_players not good enough
    for premiership­ football.today newcastle will bang in 4 goals......

    From geezer, on Sat 25 Feb 16:25

  6. Anyone got a calculator to keep track of the goal­ difference?

    From JAMES, on Sat 25 Feb 15:45

  7. the job no one wants!!!!!!!!!

    From ZORRO, on Sat 25 Feb 7:02

  8. Now the best thing that could happen is for McKay to­ get an EPL job and ensure his team survives while­ Wolves get relegated. In the words of Kevin Kegan­ ''I'd loooooove'' to see that­ happen.

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 25 Feb 5:35

  9. Well Mr. Morgan how's your foot? What calibre did­ you use. Come on you gutless players and you know who­ you are, lets do it for TC

    From barrykmanning, on Sat 25 Feb 5:17

  10. Very sad. Position of Wolves at 18th is not that bad,­ but to axe MM without better mgr on standby is a ­ stupidity that will pull down Morgan and the board as­ the most idiotic board in the annal of great tradition­ of Wolves. The difference
    between Morgan & board of­ directors vs. West Brom/Sunderland/QPR is allocation of­ financial resources to get good talented discards from­ other bigger clubs and scouting dept that scour the­ whole wide world. U r an idiot. When u tried to justify­ your dismissal of MM and appointment of TC, it tells­ that you too doubted your decision. U r giving TC and­ YOURSELF until Summer that Wolves else the knives will­ be OUT for you. Mark my word, it is not TC under­ pressure,
    it is YOU - Moron Morgan will be more­ pressurized.

    From Loh, on Sat 25 Feb 5:08

  11. new favourites to go down then......

    From 1111111, on Sat 25 Feb 5:02

  12. Connor to manage until the end of the­ season???????????????....... So why get rid of­ Mick....with Connor in charge its a dead cert Wolves­ will be up at Oakwell, Bloomfield Road, Portman Road­ and Ashton Gate next season

    From Cella Tape, on Sat 25 Feb 4:58

  13. Its the players on the pitch who play the football, not­ the other way around. Luck plays a big part in football­ but to get lucky you have to work at it. The overpaid­ players who really aren't match fit are the ones­ that got rid of Mick, they weren't even fit enough­ to clean his match boots let alone play football so­ those together with the so called Fans who couldn't­ even do a fan dance if they tried, should have got onto­ the back of the idle players who have let the side­ down. If you want to know how real Fans should behave,­ watch a Liverpool or Everton game, these fans back­ their team through thick and thin and don't whine­ and scream when things go wrong, which they do from­ time to time, they SUPPORT them, so come on WOLVES­ Supporters, SUPPORT your team and the new Manager and­ show that you care. MICK did , but YOU didn't­ support him enough to keep him, HELP the NEW MAN help­ YOU !

    From RON, on Sat 25 Feb 4:58

  14. The two ms have disgraced wolverhampton wanderers,they­ should be ashamed. Thirsk Wolf.

    From P, on Sat 25 Feb 4:50

  15. Mick's biggest mistake was to take the captaincy­ off Carl Henry, thats when it all started to go­ wrong.
    Lets hear no more comments like­ "They're an honest group" who "put a­ shift in"
    The players obviously had a big say­ in the appointment of TC.
    Lets hope they now perform­ for him and keep us up.
    Good luck TC, your not the­ first to take over after being assistant, you wont be­ the last but you could be the most successful.

    From J, on Sat 25 Feb 4:42

  16. ,......steve coppell is a top manager ......buster ­ gut

    From buster gut, on Sat 25 Feb 4:41

  17. come to footyactive

    From manfooty, on Sat 25 Feb 4:34

  18. watch Premier League Football live on footyactive

    From manfooty, on Sat 25 Feb 4:28

  19. ear, im not racist. thats a lie.

    From Donney, on Sat 25 Feb 4:06

  20. mick mcarfays nose is f ucked. but on tha upside,­ e's a guud managar. they shouldinae a sacked tha­ wee fela.

    From Donney, on Sat 25 Feb 4:05
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