O’Hara at Wolves hinged on Sidwell
Wednesday 20th April 2011, 10:00AM BST.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has admitted that Jamie O’Hara would not have arrived at Molineux if Steve Sidwell had sealed his move to the club.
McCarthy was poised to sign Sidwell from Villa in January after terms and a knockdown fee had been agreed.
But the midfielder took a phone call from Fulham during his Wolves medical and opted to join the Londoners instead.
Although admitting he was livid at the time, McCarthy believes Wolves have subsequently done better out of the situation after Tottenham offered them O’Hara on loan.
The 24-year-old has excelled and providing they stay up, a permanent move of around £6million has been agreed between the clubs.
But that would never have happened if Sidwell, whose family home is only 30 minutes from the Cottagers, hadn’t taken the call from Fulham after agreeing the switch to Wolves.
McCarthy said: “We were after one loan and so it wouldn’t have happened with Jamie if we’d got Sidwell.
“Irrespective of how I felt at the time and what I said or did, it was one of those occasions where things worked out well for us and we got another really good player.
“He’d agreed a three-year deal – that’s why he went. He lives in London and signed a three-year deal, that’s what the agreement was, the rest of this season and three more.”
McCarthy is delighted with the impact of O’Hara, who has scored twice in his eight games.
The Wolves boss said: “I hope there’s another seven or eight goals to come from Jamie!”
“He’s played really well but we always want more out of our players.
“I will accept him playing as well as he has been for the remainder of the season.”
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