Curbishley in talks with Wolves owner Morgan
Alan Curbishley was meeting with Wolves owner Steve Morgan today in the hope of ending his four-year exile from football.
Alan Curbishley was meeting with Wolves owner Steve Morgan today in the hope of ending his four-year exile from football.
Curbishley is in pole position to succeed Mick McCarthy and a summit with Morgan and chief executive Jez Moxey at a London hotel will decide whether the 54-year-old ex-Charlton and West Ham boss lands the job.
The club has made contact with other potential candidates, including Steve Bruce, but as yet no follow-up calls have gone out to Curbishley's rivals for the post.
That puts the man who came close to the England job in 2006 but last worked in the Premier League with West Ham in 2008 at the forefront of the club's bid to escape relegation in the remaining 13 games of a disappointing Premier league campaign.
Curbishley's agent Phil Smith confirmed talks were due and dismissed his client's lengthy absence from the frontline.
"It's of no concern to Alan. His record is second to none," said Smith.
"He wasn't going to come back to something that didn't whet his appetite.
"He doesn't need to go back, but there does come a time when you want to go back, and Wolves is a big, traditional football club going places.
"But like every other club in the bottom half of the table, a few bad results land you right in it.
"The ramifications aren't even worth thinking about given what progress they're making off the field. So I can understand them wanting him, and I can understand him being interested in them."
London-based Curbishley knows more about Molineux than is at first apparent as his brother Bill is manager of rock star and Wolves devotee Robert Plant.
He also enjoys heavy backing from the managerial hierarchy. The English managers' top-flight quota has never been thinner and the LMA are pushing for a man they consider one of the top domestic talents.
Curbishley also counts Sir Alex Ferguson among those ready to write a glowing reference – while his name has been a clear favourite among polls of fans.
Bruce and Neil Warnock are inevitably being checked out but the indications remain that it is Curbishley's job to lose with the club hopeful of an appointment in time for the new man to take training next week.
See also:
Big Ron: Its Gordon Strachan or Neil Warnock for me
Who will replace Mick McCarthy at Molineux?
Wolves chief Steve Morgan flies in as Alan Curbishley tops list
