Henry making most of his chance

361349wolves-email-pic What a difference three years makes. Thirty-six months on from being a trialist looking for a contract in the Championship, Karl Henry stands on the threshold of captaining his home-town club in the Premier League.

It’s testament to the consistency of his performances, importance to the team and the belief of boss Mick McCarthy that no player – even Mr Consistent and Player of the Year Kevin Foley – has come near to the 117 League appearances Henry has made for Wolves in that time.

The 26-year-old, who hails from Ashmore Park, has emerged as a crucial if often under-rated cog in the wheel, combining an ability to win the ball with the legs and lungs ready-made for the top flight.

“Three years on, it’s astonishing what’s happened, not just on a personal level but for the team. What we’ve achieved is fantastic,” he said from Wolves’ tour base in Perth.

Henry’s efforts were rewarded with a new four-year contract earlier in the summer. But, three years ago, the former Stoke man could only dream of such security.

“I’d been at Stoke for a long time and I decided I wanted to leave. I’d turned down a contract there and I wanted to get away because things had gone a little stale for me, as they often do for young players,” he said.

“I couldn’t leave on a free transfer as Stoke were due compensation, but my agent had spoken to Mick McCarthy here and he got me a trial.

“I expected to have a couple of weeks training, but the manager rang me and said we’d got a game at Molineux the next day, which I assumed was a training game, and it was Steve Bull’s 20th anniversary match against Villa.

“It couldn’t have been a bigger game and I had loads of friends and family there to watch me.”

Even then, things could have ended up so differently.

“The gaffer only said I was going to play half a game, but unfortunately Mark Davies got injured after six minutes and I went on,” he said. “It’s weird how things happen. If I’d only had 45 minutes, it might have taken me 15 to get into the game and 30 to show what I could do, which isn’t long. It gave me my opportunity and I took it.

“It’s been a rollercoaster really. The first season we got into the play-offs but my season ended early after I damaged my spleen and missed the last 10 games, which was disappointing.

“A lot of people felt we over-achieved that season getting to the play-offs, but we didn’t because we had a good team. The next season we missed out (on the play-offs) by a goal which was gutting because we’d been there all along.

“And the third season was a fantastic success winning the league.”

Henry played more football for Wolves than anyone last season apart from Foley and was several players’ vote as Player of the Year.

But he accepts his role is under-stated and rarely wins plaudits outside the dressing room for his efforts.

“People talk about teams having a water carrier and the role I play is a dirty, ugly midfield role that isn’t easy on the eye and it’s not really appreciated,” he said.

“Like everyone, I love to see players such as Kaka who score and create goals.

“But in every one of those teams there’s a player who does the ugly things well – Mahamadou Diarra for Real Madrid, Yaya Toure for Barcelona – and it’s a strength of mine.”

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