Big interview: Alex Rae sees a bright Wolves future

But there’s one thing Wolves fans have almost unanimously agreed on in the past 14 years.

When discussing where they’ve needed to strength their team in the past decade and a half, how many times have you heard the sentence ‘they could do with someone like Alex Rae in midfield’?

He was only at Molineux for three years but the little Scottish terrier left a sizeable imprint in the minds of an approving fanbase who sang his name week after week, particularly during the ill-fated 2003/04 Premier League campaign when Rae, then aged 34, notched no fewer than eight goals in a struggling team.

Rae loved his time at Wolves – and would have stayed longer. It’s a period of his esteemed career he recalls fondly.

“It’s interesting, most of the clubs I played for I was fortunate that because of the way I played the fans took to me,” Rae said.

“I played for three clubs in England over 14 years. Guys are moving every 18 months or two years now, you rarely get guys staying for a long period of time.

“If the truth be told if Wolves had offered me a new contract I’d have signed before I left.

“It wasn’t really an option but I had three good years.”

Rae joined Wolves as part of a £10m spending spree in 2001 along with Nathan Blake, Mark Kennedy, Shaun Newton, Colin Cameron and Kenny Miller.

The Scot dropped down from the Premier League with Sunderland to move to Molineux but fully expected to be back in the top flight pretty sharpish with his new club.

It took a year longer than expected, when Wolves beat Sheffield United 3-0 in the play-off final.

Rae was an unused substitute that day and believe it or not it’s now coming up to 15 years since that unforgettable day in Cardiff.

“That’s ridiculous, I don’t want you to tell me it’s been that long!” Rae, now 48, joked.

“I got to the play-offs five times in my career...the other four times I finished third we went nowhere and the one time I finished fifth with Wolves we got promoted.

“We had the momentum with us that season from Christmas onwards.

“The year before we looked like we were in good shape and then we died a death.”

Ah yes, the year before.

Wolves fans would like to erase it from their memories...blowing an 11-point to their hated rivals Albion and then losing in the play-offs is about as humiliating as it gets.

Even now it’s different for Rae to put his finger on exactly what went wrong.

“We ran out of steam and the pressure probably played a part as well," Rae added.

“There were a lot of egos in that dressing room, they’d invested a lot of money and we certainly thought we would go up that year.

“Thankfully the next year we managed to get it together. Paul Ince and Denis Irwin came in and brought so much professionalism with them.

“Incey was a great addition although he never moved out the centre circle!

“Winning promotion was so important for the club because the start of that, 15 years ago, has given the club a platform and a foundation to then kick on.

“They’ve had a rocky road along the way but the finances that came with that, the increased profile, it was the catalyst for everything in the long term.

“To be honest I thought my time was up that summer when we won promotion. Colin Cameron and Incey were the mainstays in the team towards the end of the season and I wondered if there was room for me anymore.

“The Reading goal (in the semi final) is what everyone remembers which was absolutely fantastic but I hadn’t done much in the months before that because I wasn’t starting that often.

“Then we made a slow start in the Premier League, got hammered 5-1 at Blackburn on the opening day, so Dave Jones saw sense and put me in!”

Rae enjoyed a stellar campaign individually in 2003/04 and was top scorer, notching eight times including a phenomenal volley in a 1-1 draw at Bolton.

But with Wolves relegated and a clearout ensuing, he left that summer to join Rangers.

Fourteen years later he still very much keeps an eye on Molineux matters.

While he’s yet to see Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the flesh he has a number of Wolves-supporting friends who keep him up to date.

And from what he sees and hears Rae doesn’t envisage a 2002-style collapse with the current side.

“I don’t see a similar situation with the current Wolves team, there are a lot of younger players trying to make a name for themselves,” he added.

“I’ve not seen too much of Wolves this season but I watched the Villa game and the front three blew them away, they were like the Red Arrows.

“The manager certainly seems like he knows what he’s doing, they’ve got a very talented group of players who are technically probably better than the team we had.

“And they’ve got Jorge Mendes to help out too which obviously is a big thing to have with his contacts book.”

Wolves have already spent £50million since Fosun bought the club last summer.

If promotion is secured in May, Rae says more investment will be vital.

“The key – and you see it more when you move into management – is recruitment,” Rae said. “That’s what you live and die by, good recruitment.

“If Wolves go up then investment will be really important because you tend to find a lot of players that can do it in the Championship and then struggle to make that step up.

“There are so many example. People like Jordan Rhodes, David Nugent...Anthony Knockaert was brilliant last season and hasn’t made the same impact, for us Kenny Miller scored something like 25 goals the year we went up and then struggled to score goals in the top flight.

“With Sunderland we were lucky to have Kevin Phillips who was just phenomenal, scored 30 goals that season and he’d been in the non leagues a few years earlier.

“But having those quality players at the top end of the pitch is what you need and Wolves will need to decide how much to invest.

“The new owners seem to mean business.

“If you’re going to buy a football club you want one where the infrastructure and the fanbase and the tradition are there and Wolves have that.

“If they’re spending this kind of money now in the Championship, it’ll be interesting to see what they spend going forward.

“If they’re that serious and will reinvest in the summer...we did it with Sunderland where we had 105 points but you have to put money behind it to make it sustainable.

“If you don’t back the manager and reinvest the likelihood is you’ll go back the other way.”

Since hanging up his boots Rae has been a coach or assistant at MK Dons, Notts County and Blackpool, all with his old team mate Ince, and managed Dundee and St Mirren, where he was sacked in September 2016.

While the Scot would like to get back into management, the ‘hire and fire’ culture that’s prevalent in all leagues north and south of the border makes him reluctant to jump into just any job.

“I’ve been offered three jobs in the last year, two were in England and one was a lower level club in Scotland,” he added.

“Unless the job’s right...I’m fed up of taking jobs where there’s no infrastructure or continuity where it’s a hire and fire.

“Some of the clubs I’ve been at in recent years, Blackpool, Notts County, there was a culture of sacking people willy nilly.

“I’m at the stage now where I’ll go back in for the right job, but if it’s not right then I’ve got other things on the go including a lot of media stuff.

“My last managerial job (at St Mirren) I had a 40 per cent win rate, which is a reasonable win rate at any standard. I got six games at the start of the new season.

“When I see all that it discourages me to jump back in so quickly again.

“If something came up that was right I’d go in a minute.”

Alex Rae making a success of football management? Once again you could say with confidence that's something every Wolves fan would agree they'd love to see.

* Rae was speaking at the Cleveland Arms, where took part in a Q&A event

The pub is hosting Ally Robertson, Keith Downing and Robbie Dennison for a Sherpa Van Trophy 30th anniversary special – hosted by Matt Murray – on May 17.

Visit clevelandarms.com or call 01902 451021 for tickets.