Jody Craddock canvassed on management

Thanks, but no thanks. Jody Craddock heard the stick and felt the pain it registered with Mick McCarthy and Steve Morgan last weekend.

The 36-year-old has no intention of following his playing days with a career in management. Wolves defender Craddock had been name-checked by fans who reckon he could have been the man to take up the reins as caretaker boss.

The idea was briefly considered at boardroom level before Terry Connor was entrusted with the task of keeping things ticking over while the club strives to appoint McCarthy's successor.

Craddock is universally respected at the club, admired within the dressing room and a graduate from football's school of hard knocks. But the veteran stopper, who may yet have a key role to play in helping Wolves survive in the Premier League, is perhaps far too smart to get sucked into one of the most stressful jobs in the business.

"No – not for me," he says. "It's such a difficult, difficult job. I heard the stick the fans gave the manager and the chairman on Sunday – and I have had that sort of stick myself.

"I wouldn't want any more of that. It's not for me.

"I've always been a player who works hard and if I'm honest I like to take instructions and act upon them. I don't think I would be cut out to be a manager. It doesn't 'float my boat'. I'm working hard now so that I can enjoy my family and the rest of my life."

Craddock's second career as football's most accomplished artist beckons when time is called on his playing days. But these last 13 games of the season are in sharp focus.

Would Wolves have need for him in the event of relegation, for example? He remains a trusted and steadying hand who knows the Championship course and distance.

Equally, he keeps himself in such good shape that there may be value in his hanging around for another year in the top flight.

Wolves' weakness in recent games has been in defence and Craddock's role this season may not be complete.

What he does know is that whoever comes in, and whatever direction he takes, the same players who have struggled so badly this season will decide Wolves' immediate future.

"The manager may change but it will be the same players," says Craddock. "It will be down to us. I don't know who's coming in – we're all in the dark, the same as everybody else.

"But we're the same bunch of players who have been working really hard.

"As bad as the result was on Sunday, we've got to move past it otherwise that will cause problems for the games to come. Of course it was a horrible day for everyone but the attitude has to be: 'That's it, it's gone – there's a new job to be done.'

"The new manager will come in to meet a group of lads who I can promise him will train hard, do everything they can to impress him. Nobody wants to sit it out; we're ready for the fight, I can promise you."

As much as looking back is seen as counter-productive, Craddock cannot help but feel sadness at the parting of his former manager.

Craddock went through the range of fortunes during the McCarthy years, enjoying an outstanding first season and then being shipped out on loan to Stoke before being brought back – partly due to the clamour from supporters – to play an impressive role in the promotion and survival campaigns which followed.

"It was a sad day when the gaffer went," he says. "He was well-liked by the lads and is certainly one of the best I've had the privilege to work with.

"You had to earn your place under Mick McCarthy. He was always honest and straight down the line – and as a player that's all you ever want."