TAKING THE MICK
Axed Mccarthy still the ‘gaffer’ for battling Matt
ASK Wolves winger Matt Jarvis about the highlight of his career and he answers without hesitation. It was his England debut, as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Ghana at Wembley in March 2011.
‘It’s what you dream about when you’re younger,’ said Jarvis, recalling how he was told he ‘wasn’t good enough’ when he was released by Millwall at the age of 16.
And his most prized possession? His England cap, with his name stitched inside. ‘I was really surprised they still give them out,’ he said. ‘They sent it to Wolves and the gaffer gave it to me, which was nice.’
He stumbles over the word ‘gaffer’, looking up a little sheepishly, all too aware that he means former Wolves boss Mick Mccarthy and not his successor, Terry Connor.
But it was partly thanks to working with Mccarthy that Jarvis became the first Wolves player since Steve Bull in 1990 to earn a senior England cap. He talks about the former Republic of Ireland boss very fondly and if Wolves do manage to survive this season Jarvis believes it will be largely down to the influence of ‘the gaffer’.
He said: ‘It was hard when Mick got sacked. He brought pretty much everyone who was in the squad to the club. He had been a fantastic manager and really brought everyone’s game on.
‘He worked hard with everyone on the training pitch and I thank him for everything he’s done. With him working with me I got into the England squad, so it was hard (to see him go).
‘I’m still in touch with him. We all saw him the day he left. We all went in individually and spoke to him.
‘There will only have been 13 games when he’s not been here, so the other times, all the points and performances we’ve had up until that, have been under him. If we do stay up a lot of it will be down to him. The rest of it is going to be down to us and the rest of the squad and the management.’
Jarvis admitted it was a shock to see Mccarthy leave, even after the embarrassing 5-1 derby defeat by West Bromwich Albion. But he describes Connor as the safe pair of hands, the man keeping everything ticking over while Wolves’ search for a new manager floundered in a very public way. The 25-year-old said: ‘Was it a shock? Yes. You maybe think, after West Brom, maybe it would (happen), but it’s hard. You’ve just got to get on with it as players. Obviously, it was unfortunate and sad that he went but we had to move on.
‘In that transitional period we didn’t know what was going on. Everyone was still working hard on the training pitch and Terry was keeping the place running and everything was working as it should do.
‘ I think, as players, we’ve always respected Terry; as a player and as a coach before. We’re still fully behind him.’
Jarvis has scored four goals in his last eight games but his team have conceded 25 in the same period. Mccarthy’s exit has seen Wolves earn just a point from their six games under Connor.
The winger insists he is confident Wolves’ experience of fighting relegation will help keep them in the Premier League but it is looking an increasingly difficult task, especially after Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat by fellow strugglers Bolton in which Jarvis scored a late goal.
Arsenal and Manchester City have still to visit Molineux this season and Wolves are now six points adrift at the bottom of the table with just seven games left.
Jarvis says he is not thinking beyond making sure he is a top-flight player with Wolves for a fourth consecutive season, but he still has aspirations of adding to that sole England cap at Euro 2012 this summer.
‘I’d love to (go to the Euros),’ Jarvis said. ‘I need to make sure that I keep playing well, week in, week out, keep performing.
‘I got a taste for it once I got picked. I’m working extremely hard to make sure I play well for Wolves and, if I do that, maybe I can get back in there.’
PA