Mick McCarthy hails Wolves' Matt Doherty as best in his position
Mick McCarthy believes his old Wolves signing Matt Doherty is the best right wing-back in the Premier League.
Ex-title winning Wolves boss McCarthy is set to link up with his former player again after taking charge of Ireland for the second time.
He spotted Doherty back in 2010 and signed him for Wolves from Bohemians.
McCarthy, speaking to the Express & Star ahead of a charity night for Breast Cancer Now at the Mount Hotel in Wolverhampton last night, said: "I could argue he's the best right wing-back in the Premier League.
"He's the most efficient and he gets goals and he's been brilliant.
"I'll take the credit for signing him for £100,000! What a good player he's turned out to be.
"He was very promising when I signed him from Bohemians, he only played in a pre-season friendly, he came over and for a lot of young Irish fellas it's tough for them, they miss their parents and the country.
"It's different, they're living on their own. He didn't break into the team with me, he then went out on loan, I always thought he had the promise and the ability to do it.
"The best thing for him was Wolves being relegated into League One because then he's played. And then he's progressed wonderfully well to become an international football.
"He's taken care of himself, he's lost weight, he's trim, leaner and far more professional, I'd imagine, now, and it's paid dividends."
McCarthy regularly returned to Molineux with former club Ipswich Town but this was a rare occasion for fans to meet the man who revolutionised the club after joining in 2006, leading them to promotion in 2009 and two-and-a-half years in the Premier League before he was sacked in 2012.
"It's great to be back on my own, on friendly terms," he added,
"It doesn't feel like 10 years ago (since the title win)! I'd never given it any thought that it'd been that long. I do know it's seven years since I left!
"I never think about things like that so it was a bit of a surprise.
"I remember my whole time nothing other than fondly. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, I take immense pride and pleasure that I actually managed Wolves in the first place.
"I can't take any credit for what's going on now – it rolled a couple of pages back for a while after I left!
"I looked in my notes today that I kept for years. When I joined in 2006 I had a £1m transfer kitty and £1.5m for wages.
"I looked at the team that played at Swansea (for a pre-season friendly) and it's written down. And Carl Cort was leaving for £1.5m and I wasn't seeing any of that!
"I'll take the praise and credit for what I did, building that team."
McCarthy joined his ex-Wolves keeper Matt Murray for a special Q&A at the Mount Hotel last night.
The event was organised by Wolves fan Jason Guy to raise money for Breast Cancer Now.
Via Legacy4Lucy, set up in honour of his partner Lucy who died in 2015 of breast cancer aged just 33, he has raised more than £185,000 for the charity.
