Wolves players turned managers

But could Paul Ince, Alex Rae, Keith Downing or Darren Ferguson follow in their footsteps by managing the club after playing for Wolves?

Never before have there been so many ex-Wolves players trying their hand at management and making a success of it.

Three are currently managing in the Football League – Ince (Milton Keynes Dons), Downing (Cheltenham) and Ferguson (Peterborough), while Rae (Dundee) and Mixu Paatelainen (Hibernian) are employed in the Scottish League.

The quintet make up five of 30 former Wolves players to have managed league clubs.

Ince is perhaps the most celebrated of those managing at the moment and will already be on the radar of many chairmen after his impact since leaving Wolves in May 2006.

After topping a fans' poll to succeed Glenn Hoddle in the Molineux hot seat, Ince shocked the football world by taking on Macclesfield, then some 17 points adrift at the foot of the Football League in October 2006.

The former Molineux captain pulled off a miracle by winning 55 points from 35 games to lead the Silkmen to safety.

Rewarded by the offer of taking on MK Dons, the club are currently four points clear at the top of League Two.

Ince has dipped into his Molineux past, having recruited former midfield team-mates Colin Cameron and Keith Andrews while helping resurrect the career of former Walsall and Albion defender Matt Carbon and ex-Saddler Mark Wright, who has scored 11 goals from the wing this season.

Downing is currently performing miracles at Whaddon Road after succeeding former Wolves No 2 John Ward last October.

Having taken over when they were in the League One relegation zone, "Psycho" has led the Robins to sixth bottom that has included a run of four successive wins without conceding a goal.

Ferguson, who probably has the best genes of all for the job, has led Peterborough to the League Two promotion race, where they sit fourth, two points off the last automatic spot occupied by Graham Turner's Hereford.

Rae, who at 38 is also still a registered player at Dundee, has led the Dens Park outfit to second in the Scottish First Division.

Paateelainen, who went on to become one of Hibernian's most popular players after leaving Molineux, is currently making his mark as a manager in the hot seat Albion's Tony Mowbray left behind, having led Hibs to sixth in the SPL.

As a player, Ince was always a mouthpiece on the pitch with an ability to inspire – or rollock – and he is convinced his motivational approach is key to success in management.

"Of course there's a place for coaching and tactical awareness," said Ince.

"But if you don't care for your players and can't motivate them, you're never going to have a good, winning side.

"Motivation and man-management is key for me. I do lots of one-on-ones in training, showing the players I care about them individually and want them to improve."

Ince would never pretend to be a Cullis, and it's the Molineux master who's the trailblazer with three League titles, two FA Cups and the vision of making Wolves the pioneers of European football after hanging up his boots.

One of the amateurs who played under Cullis, Ron Atkinson, never played a firstteam game for Wolves.

In four years as manager of Arsenal, Billy Wright could never touch the same heights he scaled as Cullis's captain, although he did help sow the seeds of their future success by nurturing a youth policy that produced Double winners Pat Rice and Ray Kennedy.

Similarly, fellow cup-winning Wolves skippers, Mike Bailey and Emlyn Hughes, couldn't repeat their success as players in gold and black.

Graham Hawkins, who played 35 games for the club in the 1960s, led Wolves to promotion in 1982-83, the first season of the ill-fated Bhatti era before the inevitable fall from grace the following year.

And former striker Bobby Gould led Wimbledon to arguably the biggest FA Cup final upset in 1988 and 1960s inside forward Jimmy Melia took Brighton to the 1983 Cup final where they were beaten by Manchester United after a replay.

One of the most successful Molineux exports was Third Division winner Mick Gooding, who along with Jimmy Quinn led Reading to the same title and second place in what's now the Championship in the only year when runners-up spot didn't guarantee promotion to the Premier League.

Former 1960s keeper Fred Davies led Shrewsbury to promotion from the bottom tier in 1994 and a Wembley appearance two years later.

Stuart Watkiss, who played fleetingly in 1983-84, took Mansfield up in his 10 months in charge, Paul Simpson led Carlisle to successive promotions and Rob Kelly did an admirable job at Leicester.

So it's not all doom and gloom for managers who have played for Wolves, as Ince and Co will testify.