Wolves wrong to sack Mick McCarthy says captain Roger Johnson

(PA)

Wolves owner Steve Morgan flies back from holiday today to step up the search for a new manager, with club skipper Roger Johnson claiming the board were wrong to dismiss Mick McCarthy.

Morgan will start processing a short list of candidates, which is understood to include Alan Curbishley, Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock, with Wolves in the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League.

Wolves hope to make an appointment before the game at Newcastle on February 25 but Johnson feels McCarthy should still be at the helm.

When asked if the board had made the right decision in sacking McCarthy, Johnson said: "For me, personally, no. Who are you going to bring in that will gee the lads up more than Mick McCarthy could?

"The fault lies with the players. We're the ones out there. I'm disappointed how it has ended, certainly with being here a short period because I owed more to the manager in performance levels."

When asked how much blame the players should take for Wolves' plight, Johnson told Sky Sports News: "All of it. The manager can maybe take five to 10%.

"The rest of it is down to the lads. We have let Mick down, the club and down and ourselves down."

But Johnson, who was relegated from the Premier League with Birmingham last season, believes Wolves have sufficient time to retrieve the current situation.

He said: "Thankfully we have got enough games to get enough points to get out out of trouble.

"We probably need six wins from 13 games and we have a good enough team to do that."

Former Charlton and West Ham boss Curbishley continues to be the bookmakers' favourite after indicating he would be willing to talk to Morgan.

PA