Mick McCarthy – Mancienne is even better in midfield!

When Michael Mancienne went on loan to Wolves, he was playing regularly as a defender for the Chelsea reserves and the England U21 side, but Mick McCarthy decided to push him forward in front of the defenders, and he hasn’t regretted it one little bit.

“We knew he wasn’t just a big head-it-and-kick-it centre-half. He went and performed that midfield role he’s currently in, shoring it up for us at Tottenham to start with.” The Wolves manager said.

“But he’s just got better and better at it. He’s only just started at it, but things have developed from how we were at the start of the season.

“We recognised we had to change it and he’s found himself a slot there and it will be hard to move him out. He’s doing it very well for me and he’s doing a terrific job.”

It sounds like he would be very keen for Mancienne to remain on loan at Molineaux again next season, but he admits that there are unlikely to be talks with Chelsea until the season is over.

McCarthy continued: “Have there been talks to extend Mancienne’s loan? No, and the reason is if someone asks me about a player I’ve loaned out, I’d say ‘leave it until the end of the season and we’ll talk to you then’.

“No-one will make any decisions on players until then.

“Chelsea will want to have a look at all the reports on him from all the games like I do with mine. So I don’t ask because I know the answer I’ll get.

“Will Mancienne benefit from another year away from Chelsea? I’ve no idea. There’s no point me speaking about it until the end of the season.”