What Wolves fans can expect from Dean Saunders
Rubbish in practice, brilliant at the real thing.
Wolves fans won't mind if the standing joke about Dean Saunders during his halcyon days as one of the country's top goalscorers continues to ring true.
They have heard an awful lot about how good Wolves have been in training, only to witness less-than-impressive displays when it counts.
During their new manager's playing days as a record signing at Aston Villa in the formative years of the Premier League, Saunders was the butt of training ground banter because of his hopeless training.
"Seriously," Dwight Yorke will tell you, "he would be the worst trainer every week. But then, when it came to Saturday, he would score a hat-trick with his eyes closed."
That very much feeds the image of Saunders the player as a bit of a one-off, a popular focus of dressing room banter but a man also with his own maverick capabilities.
There is the famous story of taking his wife Helen on a weekend trip to Istanbul on the pretence of a getaway break – only for Mrs S to discover as they flew home that he had signed for one of the Turkish capital's most famous clubs, Galatasaray, while she was out shopping.
Does anyone remember that Cheeky Chappie goal for Sheffield United? The one where Saunders, by then in the veteran years of his career, used the opposition keeper's back for a rebound at a throw-in before lobbing the same perplexed opponent from the touchline to score?
And Villa fans of that mid-1990s generation, who will mount a strong argument for having watched Saunders feature in the club's finest team of the modern era, will never forget his amazing, long-range goal against Norwich City, executed from the tightest of touchline angles. Beckham? Ibrahimovic? Not a patch on Saunders, they will say.
All of these are typical moments from the Saunders career album and speak of a character who has a sharp eye and keen football brain.
What he hasn't got in his locker – managerial experience of real substance – he will now plan to add from the Molineux hot-seat.
It's a brave choice by owner Steve Morgan but in the 48-year-old former Welsh international and one-time Liverpool striker, I think he recognises something of himself – a man not afraid to take a chance, to try something different, in pursuit of even bigger rewards.
Saunders is the son of an ex-pro and now has his own boy, Callum, stationed in the Crewe Academy hoping to make it a three-generational link with the game.
It is a family steeped in the game, then, but what Wolves fans will find appealing about their new manager's CV is his willingness to shun the big time and get down among the muck and nettles of his craft.
Saunders had the connections to concern himself solely at the top end of the football market. If that didn't work out, his personality seemed to guarantee him a comfy existence as a pundit.
But after using his close association with Graeme Souness – who signed him twice for Liverpool and Galatasaray – to get a leg-up in coaching, he shunned the big time.
Saunders then took on the job of managing Wrexham, as the biggest club in North Wales fought for its very existence in non-league's top flight.
It was a curious choice but a reminder of Saunders's enduring capacity to make a surprise move.
Both his Wrexham and then Doncaster postings have ran the gamut of managerial experience – acclaim and criticism.
Each will have given him a glimpse of what he can now expect as he tackles the biggest job of his managerial career.
The Wolves players who became lost and disconnected under Stale Solbakken can bet on an immediate uplift and a personality they can more readily understand.
Saunders was always lively and bubbly in the dressing room. "There won't be a dull moment at the training ground now," predicted Ron Atkinson, the manager who signed him for Villa.
And, if goals dry up, they might even get a masterclass from one of the top players of the Premier League years.
Saunders made a comeback cameo for Doncaster during a summer pre-season friendly at Cleethorpes when his substitute options were restricted.
"The boys were betting me on the bench that I wouldn't score – a silly bet," he said at the time, with typical cheek. "My shirt was a bit tight – I'm not in the best of condition at the minute.
"But I have just earned myself a couple of hundred quid because of the bets so it was a good day all round for me."
Wolves players certainly need this kind of infectious enthusiasm back in their lives.
It's a group who will more readily understand the very British style of management Saunders will bring after their floundering experience under the guidance of Solbakken.
He is also young enough to be a fairly vivid memory for all the players who will now be under his charge. There will be no "I have never heard of him" this time around.
By Martin Swain
