 Ask him: Ince (left) and Rae take a vow of silence |
The silence at Wolves is as golden as the famous old shirts that stand on the verge of a return to the big time.
It has been 19 long years since the Old Gold was last seen on English football's big stage.
But Dave Jones' class of 2003 are within one game of an emotional return.
Not that they like to talk about it.
After choking on their own words last year, when talk of promotion proved all too cheap, Jones' players have taken an almost monasterial vow of silence this time around.
They adopted the stance ahead of their two-legged semi-final victory over Reading and, despite upsetting the sponsors, are standing by their vow in preparation for Monday's Millennium Stadium final against Sheffield United.
 What previous managers have done is nothing to do with me |
Boss Jones, who knows that a second successive failure to deliver promotion from the First Division could cost him his job, is not part of the silent sect. But his words betray an uneasy relationship between the manager and the club's increasingly impatient fans who year for a return to the big time.
"Don't burden me with the history of this club because what previous managers have done is nothing to do with me.
"Every club is steeped in history," Jones said ahead of the semi-final matches.
Chairman Sir Jack Hayward, whose mega-millions pumped into the club hardly constitutes free speech, is also at liberty to put his mouth where his money is.
His bullish prediction of a 6-0 first-leg win over Reading proved ultimately over-ambitious, but his ambitions nevertheless remain gargantuan.
The players, though, remain determined to do their talking on the pitch, having fluffed a 12-point league cushion last season before tossing away a first-leg lead against Norwich as they crashed to a 3-2 aggregate defeat in the play-off semi-finals. Wolves assistant boss Terry Connor revealed: "It's not a superstition as such, they just decided on the policy and they are sticking to it.
"Mind you they do enough talking within the club and we make a point of listening.
"There are some very experienced pros in the squad and the management is not arrogant enough to think we know it all."
The summer additions of Paul Ince and Dennis Irwin provided much-needed Premiership stability to a nervous Wolves squad, though Jones' bolstered side still managed to slump from an early second place to 16th by October.
"In the end the manager makes the decisions, but he certainly makes sure he listens to what the players have to say," Connor continued. "We withstood a lot of pressure from Reading over the two semi-final games but we have been withstanding pressure all season.
"We simply ask the boys to do what it takes and their response has been magnificent. But the next challenge is their biggest challenge."
Connor believes that Wolves' season was defined by two games in January.
"We went to Newcastle in the FA Cup and won 3-2. A lot of people felt that it was a sign we could only get ourselves up for big games.
"Those people expected our form to drop back the next week when we made the short trip to Walsall, but we won 1-0 and I think that's when everyone realised we could get results from any game, not just the big ones."
He added: "Now we are in the final it's important not to get carried away. It's important not to suddenly start doing something different.
"The lads have a trust and belief in what they have been doing. They think it's right for us, so it's not going to change."
We will just have to take his word for it.
MMIX
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