The thing is man. I liked Conor Coady for the simple reason he was (at the time) probably the most important Wolves player of the last five or six years for me at least. He came to Wolves at a critical time and then he moved positions at a Critical time too. Initially he came to us as a Midfielder and yes, I could see that. He could spray a ball 40 yards for it to land at someones feet. Fair enough he was no Midfielder, we could see that. But he could trap a ball, fend off an opposition player. He was Physical for sure and a Leader. Vocal. Many called him Mr Shouty Man which was funny, but we needed that after Saville and Super Dave Edwards lolloping around in our Midfield. He wasn’t a Midfield upgrade for sure but he was something that had energy. A few saw in him something that could be utilised by Wolves….Nuno did. He stuck him in a defence that needed some personality, some essence in it people around them could trust and listen to. Even if Conor didn’t really understand (initially) the complexities of being a defensive player he learned fast and he buckled down to learn more. It was this capacity to learn that enamoured him to me. He wore a lot of hats in those years Conor did. He wore them all well because we watched it and saw it. Many people watched the team play and saw the sexy players, the beautiful passing, the wing play, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Cavaleiro, Little Helder. But I watched Conor constantly because he was learning in every game he played. He ordered and arranged our defence as best he could, galvanising the players around him. What a presence. What a Leader he was.

Of course, me and Horace were very happy to have Conor in the team. We were fans. On my part of course I Fan Boyed Coady to bits. But it was never his style of football I liked, or where Nuno put him in the team. It was all Metaphysical to me. Wolves at that time had a huge influx of players bankrolled by Fosun rolling into Compton. These were beautiful players from Europe. Instilled in them was this aloofness and fear as well. New club, new team, new ways to play. I am of the mind Conor was a pivotal character in those days acting as a lubricant if you will for angular and abstract characters to ease their way into a completely new environment. How else could we find a way into loving that team? Nuno aloof, the Borg Fosun, players we hardly knew but there was Conor every weekend, playing, ordering and just being Conor Coady.

The energy he got from the Fans of course was polarised. Often he was picked as a scapegoat and those voices grew as we became more dysfunctional towards the end of Nunos time and under Lage that dysfunctionality grew and grew. One voice isn’t enough of course to provoke decent footballing displays but one victim of Social media angst is all that’s needed sometimes. I see the arguments of course, I didn’t agree with some of the invective. But that’s Football fandom ay it. Like Marmite Coady was for some. I liked it some didn’t.

He did well. We had a tight defence for a long time, there were some weird results in our storming of the Premier League in those days. When things got a little confused and ragged. But he was there, he was a voice, a personality and he had some football to offer too. The transformation of the Wolves Championship winning squad into a Premier League team I think was facilitated by his Leadership. Not least by Coadys ability to act as a sort of filter between the Fans and this new team. At least he was someone we knew, someone we liked. We didn’t know who the rest of them were really and they definitely didn’t know who we were but Conor had an idea.

We won at Preston 2-1 I think it was. Me and Horace gently walking and chatting as we walked round the ground to get back to the car. People had sort of drifted away back to the Trains, Coaches etc and we were the only people walking . We ambled past the Team Coach and there was Conor walking onto the Coach. I shouted him and he came over and had a chat about Footy and other things. I came away a bit love struck. What a nice Young man. Astute and intelligent, affable. This was what I wanted in a Player. Add on the fact that he had to move positions and the need to relearn parts of the job and I was happy to have my photo taken with him. It’s framed and on my wall. Me looking like some Crackhead and him looking quite confused. He signed it, it will remain one of my most precious possessions. Especially after saying Hello etc we walked off down the road only to bump into about 30 Preston Youth spoiling for a slap. But Conor made me too happy to roll around the floor or start searching a nearby building site for pieces of scaffold pole. Conor Coady made me too happy to punch people.

Now we are losing him again. Everton decided not to take up the option of buying him. A big mistake from them I think. He is going to the Crisp Shaggers instead. Another Championship scramble is on the cards for them. Tough shit, but buying Coady is one of the best acts they will perform this season. I know I could shoehorn Conor into a Julen team. With my poor footballing brain I could get him in there somehow, I’m sure of it. But I’m speaking from the Heart and not my head. What do I know about the intricacies of Coaching a team of 11 Men? Nothing at all really. I’m like you I just watch the team, support, shout and offer whatever platitudes I have in this blog.

He’s one of us Coady is. He was never one for the Codsalls. They hated him because he was one of us really. A normal affable bloke quite willing to engage in a bit of banter and a laugh. He bent over backwards to help out when we needed something signing for someone having a hard time. He was quick to send video messages of support to quite a few Fans who we knew and loved. 99% of this went under the Radar pretty much but his work gave Fosun/Wolves or ‘The Brand’ a Public face for a while, one in which we have missed over the last couple of seasons.

For this reason and the fact he was my favourite Player and Captain of these Fosun years, I will miss him badly. There are scores of games I could talk about. The England games he played in, the Leeds game, the match against Manchester United when we played one of our first games in the Premier League. Horace texted Coady some love of course and the promise that he would be welcome to stand by us in the South Bank whenever he wanted. I loved Coady being here. Good luck mucker and have a good’un, don’t forget us mate. As a footnote big love to Conors Mom and Dad too. I met them at a Dinner thing and we had a great chat and a laugh. God Bless. He did good here your Lad did.