Graham Taylor understands why Mick McCarthy fielded a weakened
Wolves team at Manchester United - and believes the Premier League
are to blame.
The league have asked McCarthy to explain the reasons for his
much-changed line-up at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
After making 10 changes to the team that won at Tottenham 72
hours earlier, McCarthy saw his side slump to a 3-0 defeat. The
move was widely condemned, although Wolves chief executive Jez
Moxey has refused to rule out the possibility of McCarthy making
mass changes to his side later on in the season.
Former Wolves manager Taylor told the Daily Express: "What he
did was a shock. "But when he talked about the risks of hamstring
injuries and the tiredness of the players after the effort they put
in to beat Tottenham, I thought: No Mick, you've no need to say all
that, just say 'I'm the manager. I pick the team. I take
responsibility'.
"If he thought he had a better chance of getting three points
off Burnley by doing it that way, he had no need to say anything
else.
"To those who accuse him of giving three points away he could
say: 'Hold on a minute, don't a lot of these big clubs play
weakened sides when it suits them?'
"If he judged that by doing what he did he will give Wolves
the better chance to stay in the Premier League, I am with him."
However, the man who managed the club from 1994-95 can
sympathise with frustrated Wolves fans and believes a solution is
needed.
Taylor added: "The Premier League need to be careful because
they have made this situation...the commercial success of the
league is fantastic.
"The FA Cup and the League Cup have both been devalued by
clubs being allowed to pick understrength sides.
"What Wolves have done may start a run of it in the Premier
League, particularly if they beat Burnley...you could have other
clubs looking at it and deciding that is the way they will go."
