Dave Jones says talking helped end Wolves mid-season blip

Apr 25 2009 by Lisa Smith, Birmingham Mail

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WOLVES midfielder Dave Jones has revealed the secret to his side’s success in securing promotion to the top flight – mind games.

And the Welsh International claims a series of behind-dressing-room-door meetings between the manager and the players was the solution to turning form around after the blip of only one win in 11 games which had threatened to blight their season just a few short weeks ago.

Wolves will play Premier League football next season after securing automatic promotion last week and Jones could not be happier.

He said: “We had been up there at the top for a long time and it was just great to finally get it done,” he admitted.

“It was obvious from the reaction of the fans that it was really special for them and it was a really special day.”

Jones recalled the season’s successes and just how close it had come to failure during January and February when a run of results suddenly saw Wolves still top but in trouble.

He said: “We had been top since October and had got off to a great start but then our form dropped but we somehow managed to come through that.

“We managed to finish the season strongly and it would have been really disappointing if we had dropped off.”

Jones revealed how manager Mick McCarthy organised sessions with the players – watching motivational games on DVD  such as their impressive away win at Ipswich – whilst also bringing in psychologist Bill Stevens to work with the youngsters.

“The lads really came through in the last two months,” he said. “There were some decent performances and good wins

“We knew during that “blip” there wasn’t just one thing wrong and the manager had us all in and we discussed a few things.

“We got together as a squad and we came through it. The win away at Crystal Palace was the turning point really.

“It is a really tough place to go but we won and that turned us around.

“We got that winning feeling back and the only other blip then was the Birmingham game.

“But again we responded with a great win against Southampton – we got back our mentality to the way we were playing at the start of the season.”

Recalling the sessions which helped the team, Jones said: “There were discussions about technical things but we worked on the mental side of things too.

“The manager told us that we were facing a glass door and that we could see where we wanted to go but we couldn’t get there.

“He told us we had to overcome that. A lot of the lads then started to learn to speak up and let their feelings out a bit more.

“It did us good to get things off our chests.

“We might have been good communicators on the pitch but we weren’t off it until this – it helped.”

“Players like Carl Henry and Chris Iwelmo are big characters and would always speak out. Jody Craddock would too but in a different way.

“But after those sessions everyone started to get involved in the team talks.

“Everyone started saying their bit and got confident from it.”

Jones said: “Players, me included, used to hold back in the dressing room but now felt comfortable opening up.

“It was great for the team spirit – these sessions really helped.”