Restricted though we have been in our sightings of Martin Patching in the last decade or so, we know he never lost his love of everything gold and black. He was born and raised in South Yorkshire and lived there to the end but his boyhood affections were very much directed towards Molineux, which made his fulfilling career in gold and black the happiest of developments.
Friday, November 3: Sad to hear that Carlo Federico, a veteran former member of the club’s youth development staff, has died. ‘Chico’, as he was better known, was first recruited as a coach by Paul Darby in the days when Graham Turner was manager and the young Wolves hopefuls trained at East Park.
Mick McCarthy’s phone rang while we were accelerating through the gears towards ‘full flow’ status in our chat at a posh hotel near Charing Cross Station. It was Terry Connor. His long-time assistant from Wolves and various other points on the football map was seeking advice and, for ten minutes, he was given it.
Alex Rae is relishing having another opportunity with the club he supported in boyhood and then played for following his departure from Molineux in 2004. The hugely popular driving force of Wolves’ first Premier League team has been retained as part of new Rangers boss Philippe Clement’s coaching team and is hoping to secure a long-term future at the club.
We frequently talk about teams peaking at the right time to deliver winning performances in games of massive importance. But Terry Springthorpe is an example of an individual who came to the boil at the perfect time for his Molineux career and then went on ‘simmer’ very soon afterwards.
Vince Bartram is counting down the days to a reunion on the touchline with Paul Cook as he continues to thrive in his new role with National League club Eastleigh. It is a year next week since the 55-year-old was made redundant by relegated Southampton following 12 and a half seasons’ service there but life is busy once more with not one but two jobs.