Wolves Fire McCarthy After Rout Leaves Team in Relegation Zone

Wolverhampton Wanderers fired coach Mick McCarthy a day after the English Premier League club slipped into the relegation zone following a 5-1 home defeat to West Brom.

McCarthy has been subjected to criticism from Wolves supporters this season, including hundreds who protested following yesterday’s collapse against West Brom, which scored four unanswered goals in the last 30 minutes.

“The board took the difficult decision to terminate Mick’s contract after a run of form which has seen Wolves pick up only 14 points in the last 22 League games,” a club statement posted on Wolves website said today.

McCarthy’s assistant Terry Connor will be interim manager, the club said. Wolves are in 18th place, even on points with Blackburn and Queens Park Rangers.

“I would think it was one of the most disappointing afternoons of my career,” McCarthy said after the West Brom defeat. “I apologize for the performance and I’ve never done that before. But the way we capitulated in the last half-hour is not associated with my teams.”

The 53-year-old took over in July 2006, leading Wolves to the Championship title in the 2008-2009 season before keeping the team in the Premier League for the past two seasons. He was with Sunderland for three seasons after taking the Irish national team to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net