Rae backing for the Premier charge
Alex Rae closed a night of divided loyalites this week with a comforting message to Wolves fans reaching for the panic button.
Alex Rae closed a night of divided loyalites this week with a comforting message to Wolves fans reaching for the panic button.
The former Molineux star roared: "I'll be back in Wolverhampton later this year – and I'll be able to see Wolves play a Premiership match."
Rae donned a disguise and took a place on the back row of the seating in the visitors' end at St Andrew's on Monday night, to watch the 2-0 derby defeat against Birmingham City.
Despite his efforts to cover himself up, a few fans 'clocked' him.
It left Rae in no doubt about the esteem in which he is held by supporters, for his memorable contribution to the Dave Jones team which won promotion and fought a gallant but, ultimately, doomed fight to stay in the Premier League.
In truth, it was an awkward night for Rae as he remains good friends with 'Big Alex' – Blues boss Alex McLeish – who had originally invited him to the game.
But Rae returned to Glasgow confident that the current top two can clinch automatic promotion.
He said: "It was a typical derby with no quarter given and you've got to say Birmingham had the better chances on the night.
"But I still think Mick (McCarthy) has got Wolves in a really strong position. Obviously, they will want to bounce back straight away against Southampton and I am confident they can.
"I think the timing of the first goal settled Monday's match effectively. It was just what Blues needed and Big Alex could set up two banks of four and leave one up front and challenge Wolves to try to break them down."
The game crowned a nostalgic trip for Rae. Incredibly, he will be 40 later this year but the excitement of the three campaigns he enjoyed in the Jones era still tingles his spine.
He explained: "I was in the area on business and it turned into a nostalgia trip for me really. I took the opportunity to pop into Molineux and all the memories came flooding back.
"I was caught between the two camps on the night because I know big Alex well too from my Rangers days and he had arranged tickets for me in the Birmingham sections.
"But I then got offered a couple for the Wolves end. I thought that might be a safer end to go to!
"I've known Mick for 20 years don't forget. It was a strange night because I had loyalties to both managerial camps.
"I would love the two of them to get there and I think they will."
He is now finishing his Pro Licence studies, where he has found himself in the company of St Johnstone's manager, fellow Rangers loyalist and former Baggies adversary Derek McInnes.
Rae quipped: "You can guess which season he likes to remind me of most can't you" - in reference to the 2001/02 season when Albion overhauled Wolves to win promotion.
Having been abruptly – and by common consent a little unfairly – ejected from his first managerial posting at Dundee, Rae is awaiting a chance to renew his managerial ambitions.
In the meantime, he is a natural for media duties in Glasgow.
If his TV work brought him back here next season, he is convinced he would be talking about a Premier League club in Wolves.
He added: "Wolves have got enough. They have these next three games in which I would expect them to kick-on, then there's that Sheffield United match at Reading at the weekend that has the makings of a draw.
"The next time I come down I am fairly sure I shall be able to watch Wolves in the Premier League."
