Mick McCarthy, the Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, has suggested West Bromwich Albion's players "might be brassed off" by the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo as the Roy Hodgson era gets under way in Sunday's derby clash.
McCarthy has plenty of respect for Hodgson and can understand why West Brom have turned to the former Liverpool manager in their bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
But he does not believe it is one of those scenarios where the West Brom players had lost faith in Di Matteo and hopes that works in Wolves favour at the Hawthorns.
When asked if the West Brom players would be galvanised by Hodgson's arrival, McCarthy said: "That is an interesting theory.
"The new manager comes in and the players might be galvanised if they wanted the previous manager to go. I'm not convinced that was the case at West Brom.
"That is a good theory if they didn't like the outgoing boss and there was dissent towards him and people were not particularly doing their job for Roberto.
"But I didn't see that at all. The players didn't look as if they had stopped playing for Roberto or stopped running about for him.
"Whenever they scored, they were always at the dug-out and celebrating with him and his staff.
"It seemed like they have got a really good spirit. So I don't know. They might be a bit brassed off that they have lost him.
"It could work both ways and, of course, I'm hoping it works the way I've just said, that they don't galvanise around him (Hodgson).
"I don't know. They are things I can't do anything about. All I can deal with is my team."
