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the
manager
WINTER 2011
complementary) personalities and
styles. “Mick and I were both raised
in Yorkshire and we have very similar
attitudes and views on how to play
the game, but we couldn’t be more
different in the way we go about
things,” he says.
So is it a case of playing ‘good
cop, bad cop’? “Yes, it often is,” says
Connor, “but either one of us can
be the good cop or the bad cop,
depending on the situation. I’ll hear
Mick dealing with a player in one way
and I’ll pick up on that and think ‘I’ll
approach that from a different angle’.
That way, the player gets the same
message, but with a different delivery.
That’s worked well for us.”
But even if they approach things
in different ways, Connor believes
it’s imperative that the manager and
assistant present a united front. “Mick
allows me a lot of input and I give
that as honestly and knowledgeably
as I can, but once we’ve had our
discussion and a decision’s been made,
as soon as we leave the privacy of the
office we talk and act ‘as one’. The
players know that if they’re talking or
listening to me, they may as well be
dealing with the gaffer.”
There are times, however, when
Connor doesn’t share things with
McCarthy – and that’s when he’s
acting as a ‘buffer’ between the
manager and other members of the
Wolves staff. “Mick has a lot on
his plate, so if I can sort things out
without getting him involved then
I will do that. It may be that a player
or another member of staff needs a
sounding board, or it may be that
there’s a situation that needs to be
defused; either way, if I can keep
it from going all the way to the
manager’s office then I’ll do my best
to make that happen.”
It’s rare, but it has happened that
assistants have found themselves
running the first team in their own
right – for example, earlier this season
when Harry Redknapp had health
issues and Kevin Bond had to step
into the breach. Is that something
which Connor is prepared for?
“Of course,” he says. “If the
manager wasn’t around for
whatever reason, I would step up
and do the job to the best of my
ability, but as soon as he returned I
would revert back to my role.”
And what about Connor’s own
ambitions? Would he like to take
charge of a club in his own right
one day? “Every assistant gets asked
that question and I’m sure they
would each give you a different
answer,” he says. “Personally, I
don’t think it’s something you
should be looking for when
you’re in the assistant’s role and
I wouldn’t even think about it
unless I was actually offered a job.
You’ve got to remember that we’re
running a Barclays Premier League
club here. That’s a very big job, so
it would be a major decision to
move away from that.”
Ultimately, Connor – like
McCarthy – is judged by what
happens on the pitch (albeit in
a far less public way). So what
influence does he have when the
Wolves players cross the white line?
“It’s not all that different to how
we operate on the training field,”
he says. “Mick allows me to have
a great deal of input and we tend
to talk everything through. But
Mick is definitely the man in
charge… the final decision always
rests with him.”