Wolves New Captain

Mick McCarthy making Roger Johnson our new captain is for me the best news we have had as Wolves fans since we signed the player.

Johnson has already captained former sides Wycombe and Cardiff, and with his natural leadership skills already shining through the decision seems a sensible one.

McCarthy has always sung the praises of Karl Henry so this decision may not have come easily for him; the move may be one of the most important of our pre-season.

It may have been close on two years ago when Mick basically said that if Henry is fit he plays- as team and club captain he was practically guaranteed a place in the starting line-up week in, week out but that very luxury appears no more.

Henry was clearly proud of his roots, proud of the shirt, proud of leading out Wolverhampton Wanderers. We all like a traditional tough tackling midfielder and Henry had the attributes; somewhere at the start of last season however he lost sight of what he was trying to achieve and the outcome was not to the benefit of himself or his team.

Already under the media glare from the Newcastle and Fulham games, Henry chose a trip to Wigan to launch a diabolical tackle that could easily have ended a players career. He was sent off and we lost to one of the sides we knew would be in or around us.

Henry waited until the end of the season to admit his game had changed as a result and we collectively suffered for it. Sadly, he appeared to relish the bad boy image he was been painted as.

This proved no more obvious in our greatest hour of need. With our survival hopes falling apart on the last day at home to Blackburn, Henry, already on a booking raised his hands to another player and should have been sent off. What would have happened to us then I prefer not to imagine. His reaction to being called over by the ref was his usual smirk.

His game has suffered as result of his arrogance, and I am glad that Mick has stepped in with a strong decision.

Some fans are complaining that Johnson has only just arrived and think the job should have gone to someone else. I think his recent arrival puts him in better stead rather than promoting from within, so to speak.

The bonus news is that if Johson is not up for the job, Stephen Ward is ready to step up.


On a post card…