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Wolves open defender talks
Friday 7th March 2008, 11:29AM GMT.
Wolves have opened contract talks with defender Jody Craddock.
The veteran stopper’s deal runs out at the end of the season but Craddock is hoping to be rewarded for another solid campaign with a new one.
The defender, who was sent out on loan to Stoke earlier in the season, is keen to stay at Molineux.
“I’ve not had anything to sign yet but I want to stay as long as I can and I’m hoping we can sort something out before the end of the season,” he said.
“I’m enjoying my football, I’m settled in the area and if there is a chance of staying here and signing something then I’ll take it.”
Craddock was enjoying one of his best seasons in gold and black before suffering a series of niggling injuries in November, but he should be available to play a big part in the run-in.
The defender will be back in contention for Tuesday’s crucial trip to Preston after recovering from an ankle injury – offering Mick McCarthy the chance to reunite his first choice defensive partnership.
“The injury doesn’t feel too bad at all and I should be back for the game on Tuesday,” he revealed.
“I just twisted it going in for a tackle against Colchester. I wanted to play on and I felt I could at first.
“I’m desperate not to miss any more football this season but I think you’ve got to be honest about these things and I could have harmed the team.”
Craddock feels there is still plenty to play for in the promotion push, despite dropping points against Southampton on Tuesday.
“We have got to have confidence in ourselves and go out there and get what we need,” he said.
“There isn’t an easy game in this division but we got a good pair of away results against Palace and Colchester so we’ve proved we can go to places and get something.”
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sign him up.
a player who gives everything for the cause.
will not be happy if he goes and we keep some of the losers who couldn’t care less.
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sign him up
a player who gives his all, which is more than i can say for some of the others
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our best defender by miles.FANS OUT.MAGIC MICK MC CARTHYS ARMY
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A player who has bled for the cause more than once after a very dodgy start, deserves rewarding with at least a two year contract. He is prepared to go on the line to keep his place and is a fine example to others who are not so committed.
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He wears the shirt with pride and gives his all. That is all the, so called fickle, Wolves fans ask for.
Just hope that he gets his extension, HE has earned it.
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Sign him up and get rid of the rest of the central defensive donkeys – starting with Collins.
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Sorry, but it’s time for him to move on. We’ve had the best from Mr. Craddock!
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For me, this man should be signed up asap and have a quality centre-back with pace placed alongside him.
That is the way forward me thinks. But then Mick has had 18 months or so to address the centre of defence
issue and has baffled us all by not sorting it out.
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good, now get sum 1 a bit younger with some PACE to play alongside him farm breen out with the kids as coach!!
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Oh abdonwolf, I do love your infectious enthusiasm. Have you been to any games the last 2 seasons? Craddock has been fantastic, probably the one player who has consistently given 110%, a true leader on the pitch and definitely worthy of a further 2, possibly 3 years. He’s even started weighing in with a goal or 2.
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5 – He certainly has earned it. Craddock is one of the most honest committed players we’ve got, and if everyone else tried as hard as he does we’d be champions by now.
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yep give him another season, but no more. he and breen are great together, but neither are getting any younger.
another season for both would be good for wolves, both from the football point of view, and time to find suitable younger replacements.
but respect to you jody, you’ve earned another season, one of very few who have.
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Good stuff! Totally Committed to this fotball club. Get a young, speedy centre-back alongside and we are set!
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7.
Your tekin the pish aint yow ?
Or are you one of these “he played for Sunderland he is a donkey, MICK OUT !!!” “fans” ?
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Pulis was keen to have him on loan…and with good reason, he knows his experience and skills and leadership qualities are invaluable, shame his current manager doesn’t appear to share Pulis’ view.
Sign him up…
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Honest,committed yes.But a player who would be totally out of his depth in the Premier and really only a moderate defender at this level.Time to move on
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been very good for us, think we should sign him up, and bring in a new young defender next to him with some PACE.
Need some old heads in the team…
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Craddock is our best defender – but what about the future? Where’s the homegrown being given a chance.
roscommon, at best, one could say that a few Wolves fans are still undecided about mick. most however want shot of him – calling him magic mick means you have lost the plot completely. Or another windup merchant… in either case you’re cred is lost
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Nice bloke, good artist, average defender, always 5 yards behind the rest of the
back four.I take it we are resigned to staying in this division for at least another season. Just wait to see if by some miracle we do go up,if we did Craddock and the Premmiership are not two word i would associate with each other.
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wow! we are all singing from the same hymn sheet!
craddock next to a young player with a bit of pace….
why is it so obivious only to us what we need at the back?
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19 – being 5 yards behind the rest is a good thing. He can save us if they screw up besides with lack of pace you need to be far back anyway.
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give him one more year. quality defender in the championship. if we ever get up then he should be shipped out cos he cannot hack it in the prem.
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7. That’s funny. You’re a funny guy.
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OH MY WORD!!!! POSITIVE COMMENTS!!!
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10. wolf in nottingham
The answer to your question about going to games is ‘yes’
I have been to almost every home game since 1972.
Don’t misunderstand my comment, I think Craddock has done well, but his best years are behind him now so for the sake of the team we need younger/fresher legs.
You seem to be enthusiastic about keeping Wolves as a second rate team and club where as I can remember when things were much better!
Aim a bit higher son!
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Am I on the Wolves board???
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He said he joining my team to play alongside Ray Houghton!!!
I will boooo his every touch from now until the day he leaves this club
Molineux Mixers FC rule.
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23. Sandylane
OK, If it’s funny then explain why him and Breen have been out injured for most of the season?
Do you think it will be any better next season?
Some peoples lack of ‘footballing nounce’ I find quite amazing!
Craddock for England eh Sandy?
You are a funny guy, you are a guy aren’t you?
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I am so concerned, if i was manager and took another random bloke from the south bank (any offers?) to be my assistant we would higher in the table than mc carhtys taken us? Craddock is quality get somebody like the lad shawcross from stoke alongside him, kites,keogh,craddock,eastwood,seb,jarvis,elokobi,henry (at right back) murray (better than hennessey)dave edwards, olofinjana,. Morgan needs to put his hand in his pocket because with the above players and 4-5 young talented players we can go up next season, but im still not writing us off yet, i think were beat albion.
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Deserves a new contract. Not Premier League quality but how many of our squad are? Come to think of it how many other players currently playing in Championship good enough to play at a higher level?
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Good player so give him to Stafford………
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16
we’re not in the prem so it doesnt matter he isnt prem quality!!
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we need to keep some of our best defenders like craddock as we need players like him to make up for the other saft defenders giving away balls and giving goals away look at Southampton, 4 minutes we had to hold on for.
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Rooney listen i am your star defender, play me everyweek or i’ll join ECT.
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28. Please explain what footballing nounce is.
Craddock is our best central defender and it would be foolish to let him go when he still has a
contribution to make…son.
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sign him up, without him we’ve got no defence.
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Give him another 12 months. He’s slow and will pick up injuries but he’s been one of our best players and can pass on his experience to younger, quicker defenders that we should be signing (unless the money’s been allocated for more strikers)
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Craddock our best defender hahahahahha ( no relation to sandylane)
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Hes been a good player for us, and the screamer he scored earlier in the season is reason enough for giving him a years extension. But we really should be looking elsewhere, I do find it a bit depressing that we are still talking about craddock and breen in defence, they are clearly not the future, and in my opinion not good enough. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled all these years down the mol, we’ve always had quality centre backs
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35. Sandylane
If you say so old lad!
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Ok Abdon, so I wasn’t born in 1972…..glory days past I’ve only read about.
Anyway, if you have been to all the games this season, you’ll know that Craddock has been an excellent performer, as he was last season. Why let him go? Yes, we do need someone young and quick to play alongside him – something everyone seem to be agreeing on for once! But Craddock will be a valuable asset for another couple of seasons I think. And that doesn’t mean I’m happy for us to be second rate.
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41. wolf in nottingham
I’m not knocking Craddock, but he has only started 14 games this season!
He is also nearly 33 years old. Breen is 34 and everyone is screaming that he is too old so why do we want another old central defender?
Over the last few seasons we have had quite a lot of quality at the back, Curl, Lescott, Buttler etc… I really don’t think Craddock is that good, just the best of a bad bunch, we need better!
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sign him up our best defender by far and he wears the shirt with pride
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im glad 2 hear it ! even thooo he hasnt played as much as he wud like 2 of this season consistenly he has been the rock at the back for us ! argueably he has been our best player this season ! i agree jst get sum1 with abit of pace at the back n a few gd midfeilds tht cn actaully create sumfing then we wont go far rong next season !
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No Abdon, I’m not having it, Craddock is a good lad and has to stay.
Granted though, we have been lucky over probably the last 10 years with having decent centre backs, I think Jody fits nicely into your little list. Not sure about the rest of them though. Maybe Edwards if he was given a proper chance.
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no.9, totally agree.
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best defender we have got at the club !! simple as !!
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jody craddock isnt that good and quite over rated
mind you he still our best defender so if we keeping current crop then good news
bout time we ditched like collins though, who lets face it without the goals he scored is utter cack
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If Craddock is the best defender at the club then we really have exploded!
I think the song just about sums it up:
Used to be s*@@te but now he’s alright!
Reverse is true for the whole team:
Used to be alright but now we’re S**@e!
Still he’s a good lad and he wears the shirt with pride. Lets hope that will get us into the premier league. Personally I would rather have a good player instead!
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He has to stay. Him and Breen have kept us going at the back. Who was the pairing with all those clean sheets this season and last?
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what happened to the policy of only negotiating contracts when we know what division we are going to be in?
or was that just for the dave jones era?
Moxey out!
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SQUAD PLAYER
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craddock alright for another season.think we will miss playoffs by 2 points the 2 we dropped against soton willhaunt us at end of season.
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Whilst you can’t fault old fanny Craddock for his effort I don’t think i’ve ever been entirely convinced by him. He deserves a new contract, but we definately need some new central defenders come the summer. Ward and Collins just don’t cut it for me. Breen will be even slower ( if thats possible ) next season, we could do with spending some of Morgans money on one or two young centre backs.
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By far one of the best defenders we have had loyal and puts his face in where it hurts, should be given at least two years. a lot of you are forgetting we already have someone to play along side him in lee collins who has been outstanding for hereford while on loan or we could try elokodi there because he also likes playing centre half, we have nothing to lose trying it out now until the end of season can’t be any worse than what we have there already.
COME ON ME BABIES
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In truth we really need to get some fresh faces with potential, some pace and the right side of 27 for BOTH centre half positions
If we expect to build on the so-called club ethos of “young and hungry” or does that only apply when Moxey or MM choose that it fits?
If we had 2 centre halfs with some pace we could easily play Foley or Little at Right back and either Mulgrew or George Mk 2 at left back; and no longer have this pathetic reliance on the whole midfield sitting so far back in our own half that they could open up a social club with our defence and keeper either side of half time
Craddock is better than Breen or Ward (waste of money at £400k?) Edwards is as good as Craddock (not much pace but solid) Collins (Not much pace and crap at full back – did ok last season at centre half)
Is D Ward any better than Craddock, Edwards, Breen or Collins at centre half – we dont think so – So why did we waste £400k on a player who cant even make C Palace subs bench?
Would that money not best be put towards a better quality centre half that has some pace, abillity and the right age?
If we have any ambitions of a Prem push we badly need 2 centre half’s with pace, abillity and the right side of 27 – Craddock should be given a 1 year extension – nothing more as he would be torn apart in the Prem and if we do manage to bring in the required centre half’s – they will need games to gain an understanding
NB* Another shopping list need is a midfield general that can be a good skipper on the pitch, leading by example and a much better medical team that can get the many injured players we have fit again – some of which we wonder how and when they actually became injured?
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OUTSTANDING PLAYER GIVE HIM A COUPLE MORE YEARS HE DESERVES IT.
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26 Ron Davies.
Can’t you tell by the harmony, compassion, consensus and patience.
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Craddock should get his extension and Mick should be continually trying to find players to replace him. That’s what managers do. They should always be seeking to improve their squad and Mick is no exception.
Any criticism of Craddock is totally stupid. There were any number of games when he played better than Lescott when they were together.He always puts in more of a ‘shift’ than many of the others.
Craddock is a great asset to the squad and to any youngsters coming through. Give him a bloody good payrise and a two year contract. That should see us in the premiership.
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yeh think craddock should be given a 1 year extension,not my favourite player when we first signed him although that was in the prem.since then though, back in this league he is as decent,commited centre half as you will find just needs someone fast and young alongside him.think its about time breen,collins, d ward and edwards were moved on the end of the season,the squad’s just too big and too many average players s.ward,m.gray,potter,henry(though maybe ok as right back)kyle,all these players are barely good enough for this league and we’re supposed to be building a team for the future(and premier).lets start adding some quality rather than quantity we have good young players in the reserves who aren’t getting a look in.come on mick give em a go they all done well last season.
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sign him!!!!!!!!!!! best defender we got at the moment i recken!
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Jody is mr 100%
maybe not good enough unless he has someone young and mobile around him
would love him to stay
But wouldnt blame him if he ships out after the stoke debacle.
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Gives 100%, wears his shirt with pride and fully deserves another year. A grafter than many of the others could learn from.
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roscommon_wolf – FANS OUT, what are you on about
abdonwolf..what are you on about
E11… Mick has been continually trying to find players to replace him, thing is he has bought in his pals from Sunderland and they are crap. I know JC was from Sunderland but it was Muppet Mick who sold him to us
I do hope they give Jody a 2/3 year deal, but it would not surprise me if they offered him pittence to encourage him to go
To do’s get rid of Collins, D Ward and replace with a young fast and strong CB possibly from a top four Prem team. Also get rid of Henry, Olofinjana, Potter and S Ward. There’s not much class there at the moment, although they overperfomed last year. Maybe I’m being harsh on the midfield when the defence keep looping the ball beyond them, that’s down to McCarthy’s tactics tho. The ball needs to be kept on the ground, but as much as I admire Kyle’s efforts him starting from the KO ruins the type of football needed for us to progress. Too late this season now to make a positive and telling impact, we messed up in every department from the manager to the CEO to the backroom staff and the medical and coaching staff
Hope Morgan has taken note
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