Mick McCarthy-Master of the microphone

With his cold, icy white hair forming the perfect foil for his frank and brutally honest opinions on any matter, former Republic of Ireland and current Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy has to be one of the most electric personalities in the Barclays Premier League. Derided in the media on many counts ever since he had a fall-out with Ireland captain Roy Keane (at the 2002 World Cup), Mick has earned a special place in my heart with his unusually candid analysis of Wolves’ matches.

Mick giving his eagle stare

The manager’s harsh post-match comments, always delivered with his characteristic blank facade, furnish as much entertainment as the matches themselves. With viewers accustomed to hearing the losing team’s manager whinge during post-match interviews, it is pleasantly surprising to see that often, it is the Wolves players that are the ones under Mick’s machine gun scrutiny. Mick’s magic lies in that you are left fighting yourself when you smile hearing the sarcastic undertones that lace his lines of “appreciation” for the officials. Even the coldest of men feel warmth creeping into their hearts listening to the fatherly tone of tough love in his comments on his “boys”.

One of a long line of managers that are apparently on the verge of being shown the way out (supporting cast featuring Steve Kean, Owen Coyle and others), Mick McCarthy’s attitude means he won’t go down quietly. Responding strongly to boos from the crowd – during the fixture against Swansea – the Wolves’ manager promptly labelled the offending fans as “mindless idiots”, clearly more focused on setting right the horrible run of matches the Wolves had had (10 losses in the last 11 games). We leave you with some of his gems that highlight his value to BBC’s MOTD segment.

“That was set up for a rickrollin’ finish…” – on the Manchester City vs. Wolves match last weekend

“No and I asked all the lads to go out there and knock seven bells out of everybody as well like I normally do. Shame that isn’t it? They went out there and played free-flowing football and were rampant for 45 minutes. What were they playing at?” – after Wolves ended a match without any yellows.

And on being asked why Wolves were winning matches against the big teams but dropping points to weaker teams at Molineux, he responded:

“What is the wing speed velocity of the American swallow? I’m sorry, I haven’t got an answer – I wish I did. If I knew I wouldn’t be sitting here, out of breath, panting and looking like this.”

Good on ya, Mick.