Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has revealed his debt of thanks to Ian Holloway for signing hotshot Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Ebanks-Blake took his tally to nine in 14 games since his £1.5m move from Plymouth in January following his brace in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Charlton.
McCarthy revealed afterwards that it took a beer with Leicester boss Holloway after the sides met on December 22 to finally persuade him to splash out on the former Manchester United reserve.
“He was a handful when he played against us and we knew all about him from our scouting network, but Ian Holloway did as good a selling job as anyone,” said McCarthy.
“We had a beer after we played Leicester and I asked him about him and he gave him a good report.
“He said exactly what he is: he’s quick, powerful and he wants to score goals and he’s hungry to score.
“We were looking for a striker in the transfer window and we looked at lots of them – we had a list as long as our arms at one stage.
“We whittled it down, but we were also aware of what we had to pay for him and that made a difference.”
McCarthy also revealed his gratitude to Wolves owner-chairman Steve Morgan for providing the faith and finance to fund another striker signing.
“It also made a difference that Steve Morgan had come in and we could pay for him,” said the boss.
“I’ve watched him since he was playing for Manchester United reserves and always thought he was a good player.”
McCarthy believes Ebanks-Blake can get to the Premier League – but hopefully with Wolves.
“I hope he can go into the Premier League with Wolves,” he said.
“I don’t know how far he can go, but he’s doing alright for us at the minute.
“Everyone looks at Championship players but if you’re in the Premier League and you buy Championship players, you’ll end up in the Championship.”
40 Comments
Mick’s grateful to Ian Holloway?
He’s not the only one!
Must be the Bargain of the Season,especially if his goals fire us back to the Promised Land!
Doubt Plymouth are too happy with Holloway after that!
sometimes a season changing performance is what you need to turn things around, sadly for wolves Charlton victory, if it does change things around, has come perhaps 5 games too late. We’re left with 6 cup finals and no room for blips, and no matter what you say, its the team gets promoted not individuals. SEBs goals will help, but we’d be talking about something completely different today if KK had not supplied that cross to KH for the 3rd goal.
There’s a fine line between failure and success we continue to tread the fine line right up until the last kick on the last day. Unless of course BCFC hammer us on the 12th and the Albion do the same…then its all over casanova for another year!
If we are to survive in the Prem we need to have depth in the squad, real depth. Freddie needs to stop sulking and impress on the training ground. We will need at least four high quality strikers to have any chance in the Prem. Look at Derby! Miller is not Prem quality, never was. SEB looks the deal but is untried, Freddie has no reputation at all apart from Southend and two goals against Luxemburg! If he cannot stop sulking them send him to Coventry and spend the 2mill on a replacement. I am not a MM fan but he seems to have listended to our Blogger and done two things, played players in their natural positions and kept a winning side together. Now please do not fix what is not broken.
I watched the game with one thought in mind - O.K. we aren’t going up this season, but let’s PLEASE see some pride, passion and skill that will give us hope for next season. The Charlton game did that and more. I re-kindled the thought that if we DID scrape into the playoffs we COULD beat anybody ‘on our day’. Henry was immense - I haven’t seen him play like that at the Mol this season! SEB was awesome BUT I can imagine some very close attention being given to him in our remaining games. Andy Keogh needs to support him with a few more goals he was good first half but faded. But there’s hope …there’s hope. WE MUST NOT PUT PRESSURE ON THEM IN OUR HOME GAMES. Even if we conceed in the first couple of minutes REMEMBER the Valley and the last 20 seconds!
No Prem Talk Please!
We’ve only just got back in the playoffs…
One swallow doesn’t make a summer! Great second goal but yet again let down by dreadfull defending!
Hope this all changes when we get Paul Ince in as manager.
Fully agree 5,,but lets face it he cant get much closer attention than he got befor he scored that beauty..Brilliant game,but sudenly MM is a hero,not in my eyes,one game doesnt make a season,or a manager.
For sure he will head to the Premiership, 99% sure won’t be wolves.. Morgan and Moxey are already taking bids I am sure… ching ching..
Wolves are a great training ground for the Premiership bound player..
Just look back at the players we sold who added together would have us mid league of the premiership right now..
Wolves = cheap players who can get experience and move on… no management interest in quality players.. Borrow another cup of sugar please?
It’s encouraging to hear from so many happy Wolves fans…Even the Samaritans in Wolverhampton have gone back on to normal hours…What next.. “tea with the mayor?”….
“Everyone looks at Championship players but if you’re in the Premier League and you buy Championship players, you’ll end up in the Championship.”
Agreed, the best of the Championship will not keep you in the Premiership! How about that, I agree with something he says lol
Moxeysthreechins - Defence does need work but there are worse in the league, however I agree as in the last 2 matches yes we have scored 6 goals, but we have let in 5 too! I would rather watch this kind of stuff though than the dross before. ASll out attack and see what happens is far better.
Good performance 1st Half Wonder Goals second–Let play for pride noe see were it get us….
Nice to see MM had the courage to take the desision to buy SEB or NOT. Like his team selection all season, not a clue. By rights we should be flying high at the top of the league instead of being lucky to be in sixth place.
MM make the desision to resign instead of waiting to be given the elbow. Maybe IH can tell you that it’s high time you resigned.
Bring on next season and a new manager called INCE.
5 Spot on larry…
I decided some time ago that all i wanted was for the team to get better and to show enough promise for next season. THEY HAVE.
It’s also true that we are the only competing team to have not had a very good ‘run’ but now we have only lost 1 in 7 and with breen about to return, we are looking stronger, determined and very very competent.
We have a mere two away games against Bristol who are stuttering and Coventry who are always dangerous but both are beatable by Wolves at the moment.
Its good to see keogh in the top twenty scorers list also and of course Mick keeping faith in henry seems to have started to pay dividends.
Things look good. Things are very interesting.
No.3 tonimischi
Pointless comment mate.
If’s and But’s?
If we go ahead and win 4 or 5 of the next six games then we COULD end up finnishing higher than we did last season.
Do we have to look for negatives while we are on this great run of form?
Come on Wolves! Ignore the pessimists.
good job holloway decided to play him once he’d signed him. i wonder, if holloway had signed freddy would he have left him on the bench all season. i think not somehow, as holloway is a decent manager!!!!
Incey or big Sam now before its to late.
There’s only one thing, in my opinion that will ensure that we do not get promoted. It’s not Mick McCarthy, nor Jez Moxey, nor the players, nor the referee, nor the divot - its the fans, more specifically elements of the home ?support?! I would have far more confidence if we were playing all the remaining games away from home. Bristol City and Coventry away we CAN win but the Baggies, Cardiff, Ipswich and Plymouth at home ??? The portion of so-called fans ‘The McCarthy Moaners’ and the ‘Eastwood for Prime Minister’ morons will ensure that we fail. Even if they get behind the team at the outset, as soon as the first ball goes astray there will be teddy’s flying out of prams galore. Face it! its not the succession of managers that has kept us where we are for years, its the ‘Molineux jinx’ that IS certain sections of the crowd who WILL cause our team to fail. They will never admit it of course, and they will have all their McCarthy, Moxey, players, referee, divot excuses ready for when the first chance arises. I can hear them now - ‘See, I told you so!’ If only we could arrange to play our home games behind closed doors we would be home and dry!!! But just like snow in August it won’t happen. Mark my words - the results from the remaining games will prove me right - but boy would I love to be wrong. So come on doom-merchants, either shout the team on until you can’t shout no more or go shopping with mommy for more teddy’s on a match day and leave the rest of us to SUPPORT our club.
I’m glad the idiots on here still keep calling for MM’s head, it would really make me sick to see them crawling back to praise the teams performance on saturday after all they’ve said. All Mick’s signings looked spot on except maybe Collins. Pulling together at just the right time, and pulling for the manager.
I can’t figure out the logic, Paul Ince was a good player, NOT a GOOD MANAGER! Knock of the hype..let him prove something as a MANAGER.. for sure he would be a great guy to have a pie and pint with.,. but come on guys..we have enough problems with the current muppet..
not bad, kightly/keogh bargain of last season.
and possibly SEB bargain of this season!!
im afraid the play-offs are too hard for us personally. Watford, WBA and other hard games wont be east ! we really need to rely on SEB for his goals and hope mick doesnt sell eastwood to coventry ! id rather have freddie than kyle
also just 2 say, im going out wiff a baggies fan ppl 
and life couldnt be better 
lol
Expat Aber (14) wWhy not enjoy the moment and stop moaning. No one is in the play - off places by luck. Had we not faught back against QPR we wouldn’t be there. had we not taken that point from the baggies we would not be there.
The team deserves this moment and who knows it won’t lead to the premiership. We are quickly becoming a team ‘in form’ and currently there is only one other which is Hull. I bet theire run is due to come to an end soon.
lets enjoy the moment, stop moaning, give credit where it’s due and give the lads your full vocal support when at Molineux. If we do the business at Molineux we will get into the play - off final.
don’t know about if you buy from the championship you’ll end up in the championship mick.david moyes seems to have picked up a few gems in lescott,tim cahill,andy johnson and now looking closely at w.henessey so the players are there you just need to cherry pick the right ones.not all premiership players start in the prem in fact most of the best players in the premier league have started at lower league clubs i.e david platt,lee dixon,les ferdinand and ian wright (non league)if the scouting system is good enough players are there to be found.
great result saturday but lets not get carried away with it as we have been very average all season,seb is superb player and we need the rest to respond to him,lets hope next season with a fit kightly and some fresh faces and possibly a new coach(get shut of conner) and who knows a new manager!!!! time will tell.
rgds tpd
20 yes great signings you forgot that world class player S Ward, MM
best ever signing.
Moxeysthreechins/ExPat Aber/mac:-
I’ve just checked the date,YES,it is April 1st.
Last season,starting with a very weak squad,MM almost pulled off the impossible.If Wolves HAD got promoted then,who’s to say they wouldn’t be in Derby’s predicament?
This season as been a right roller coaster ride.We had that BAD run mid-season,we are through the worst & back in the play-offs & your still calling for Big Sam/Paul Ince?
Leave it till the end of the season.
SHAME ON YOU!
7,8,9,14. Why don’t you give it a rest? We could win all of our remaining games, get promoted, finish in Europe next season, and you would still find something to moan about. Try getting a life. So MM has made mistakes this season? Do you ever make mistakes? Freddy Eastwood hasn’t played every game. Has he deserved to? Paul Ince called our Chief executive a racist. As much as I like Incey, and he is by far my favourite player at Wolves over the last ten years, that is not going to look good for him if he ever applies for the post of manager again at Wolves.
I watched Eastwood closely on Saturday at Charlton. He doesn’t seem to gel very well with the other players. When SEB got his second goal, Eastwood was right in front of the goal. Keogh chased after SEB for all his worth to congratulate him. Eastwood showed no emotion at all, and let SEB run right past him with no attempt to congratulate him. When everyone went mental at the end of the game, all of the players were hugging each other, and slapping each other’s backs. Eastwood gave the occasional cold handshake, and that was about it.
In the 14 minutes he was on the pitch he took two corners, tackled back once, and started one break where the ref pulled him back to give us a free kick. He was still fresh when Henry, who had played ninety-for minutes, hit the ball forward to Kyle, and ran sixty yards for the return. What did Eastwood do? Watched it unfold from the halfway line with no effort to get forward. Sure, he may be upset that he’s not playing, and I know strikers are notoriously selfish. If he’s not playing from the off, he has to try even harder to prove the manager wrong not to play him. Apart from against Scunthorpe at home, when he changed the game, I have not seen him do that. He saunters around with hands on hips, milking the adulation from the South Bank. I admit that I rate him as our third best striker, after SEB and AK, and believe he has an important part to play if SEB or AK are not playing, but he is surely nothing to verbally beat MM up over. Please get behind the team and the manager, and quit knocking all the time. Prawn sandwiches anyone?
There’s only one thing, in my opinion that will ensure that we do not get promoted. It’s not Mick McCarthy, nor Jez Moxey, nor the players, nor the referee, nor the divot - its the fans,
19) What utter rubbish you speak. Did the fans play dreadful for the first 5 months of the season. Did the fans keep picking the wrong players in the wrong positions. If we don’t go up it was the November/
December timeframe that did it and the blame there is completly on Thick Mick
I know this may cause a few moaners to reply but…i think mick has learnt from mistakes. at xmas we lacked strength and pace. he brought in elokobi and ebanks, let george olo rest and brought him back, gave keogh backing. kites in due back soon possibly bristol city game? hes also commented on the premiership after that awful season with sunderland, if we go up EXPECT MASSIVE CHANGES. I think out of our current bunch. hennesey, murray, elokobi,foley,jarvis, olo, kites, ebanks blake, keogh will survive there will be huge investment and we will give it a right good go.I think our football club is in great hands. GET BEHIND THE BOYS AT HOME, THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT START COMING TO AWAY GAMES AND YOU WILL BE TAUGHT A LESSON. WE ARE WOLVES, DEJAVU OF LAST SEASON ON SAT ANYONE?
Breretonwolf
Not been funny but if you telling people to get a life, perhaps with your analysing freddy so closely you may need to backtrack on your statement.
And for the record, when did Paul Ince call Moxey a racist? You ought to be careful spouting inaccurate comments like that. I know its April Fools day but dont take the day name to heart!
32 SUPERSTARDJWOLVES - I think if you do your homework that’s EXACTLY what Ince said - he said he didn’t get a look in for the job because he is black - can’t be clearer than that and he won’t be back at the Molineux any time soon other than in front of the visitors bench!
Brereton Wolf - excellent post mate and spot on in all accounts. Freddy, whilst having lots of potential, sadly believes his own hype and certainly DID NOT chase up at the end of the game when Henry covered 60 yards to slide it home and he DID NOT join in the celebrations. QED! I’m not exactly sure where Freddy could be picked in the srating line up at the moment anyway - SEB and Keogh are on fire and Gray is more than holding his own for 60 minutes on either wing!
Oslowolf - Make a cup of tea and read the post again. It says that Paul Ince has called Moxey a racist. I dont recall him ever spouting those words.
It is all about opinions. Thankfully it is the manager and the club who have final responsibility. Some of the bloggers on this site will always dislike MM even when he is doing well. In any event, he isn’t going anywhere and has a good working relationship with Morgan and the Board.
Supersatrdjwolves, I have nothing against Freddy Eastwood, other than the one-eyed fans on here who think he’s the only player worth his salt in our squad, and that everything should be built around him. I watched him on Saturday closely, as I thought that maybe I was missing something. I still stand by my opinion of what he did and didn’t do on Saturday. I think we should keep him, as there is potential there. He has to play more for the team than for himself though. The leagues have been littered with players over the years who could have been great, but never applied themselves properly.
As I said, Paul Ince is my favourite player for Wolves over the last ten years. When he applied for the manager’s job he said that Moxey had not given him the job because of his colour. That more than hints that he felt he was the victim of racism. I hate racism. To me a person is a nice person or not a nice person because of the way they are, and not because of their race, creed or colour.
If he is implying that he was overlooked because of the job, because of his skin colour then yes in technical speak it is racism, however we all know that moxey is married to a black lady so I would doubt very much he is racist. What Paul Ince’s point was at the time is that there arent alot of black managers in football, rather than the players who are largely representated. I dont he said Moxey is racist. Saying that Incey has got a valid point of discussion which on another forum would be up for debate as by and large there arent alot of black managers in the game….Why?
Secondly the Freddy debate. I have said many a time he deserves a chance early part of the season when MM chose to pick players like Elliott, Ward, Jay B. when then really infuriated me and I think the treatment of Freddy by MM via the media has been very harsh. Perhaps his body language is understandable especially with the news of trying to send him to coventry. BUT MM and to give him credit he has unearthed a gem in SEB. 2 brilliant goals on saturday has demonstrated we finally do have a out and out goalscorer. He has got a good understanding with AK and who knows….”considering I was one of the 1st to say that we wont make the play offs” MM words of “wont look at the table until May” might have fooled the lot of us!
SEB is a great player,Shame McCarthy had to be tipped of by another manager about how good he was.Wonder who tipped him off over Kights?
38 True Wolves:
I believe it was Taff Evans!
E11 Wolf 24. Rose tinted glasses is what you wear.
Travelling 230 miles to every home game entitles me my critisism the same as someone travelling 2 miles.
Listen to your fellow supporters around you, watch the players on the pitch, but most of all watch MM body language. Every game has been a struggle compared to last year.
I without doubt support my beloved Wolves wholeheartedly, and yes i do get frustrated, because for 35 odd years i have watched, thick or thin, win or lose and all I ask is full commitment, which i believe has been lacking this season. Take a straw poll around where you sit it’s all about opinions, you have yours I have mine. But don’t ever think or say that I don’t love my beloved wolves.
Good times or bad i’ll be there, or should I say have been there.
Take a grip on reality see the real picture.
Come on ye Wolves Forever.