Many were surprised today when Alan Curbishley announced he will not be taking the vacant Wolves job.

It seemed like a great match, Wolves Chairman Steve Morgan had previously said of Curbishley,

“He’s got a great track record, he’s been there and done that before and he’s exactly the calibre of person that we’re looking for.”

As for Alan himself, he specialises in helping those bottom of the table teams, keeping Charlton in the league for 6 years, and helping West Ham to avoid the drop in 07 by winning 7 of their last 9 games. Chances were high he could come in a perform a similar role for Wolves.

But today the BBC announced that talks between Wolves and Curbishley have not gone well, and Curbishley has withdrawn his application, after Wolves would only offer a short-term contract. It seems Wolves will now redirect their attention to Steve Bruce or Roy Keane (why?).

Refusing the Wolves role means Curbishley has now been out of the game since he left West Ham in 2008. The fact that Curbishley remains without a club seems to me one of the biggest mysteries of recent years. In a time when we are often told (correctly) that there is a shortage of British manager, Curbishley has a history of 9 years managing in the Prem.

He took Charlton to 7th, and west ham up to 10^th in just his second season. He would surely have hoped that cutting his teeth with these lower Prem clubs might grant him the chance to manage a team like Villa, Everton or possibly Spurs. But no moves were made, and more than that Curbishley is rarely even discussed for these roles anymore. Football is a game of short memories.

It may be Curbs is just not cool enough. Charlton are not a glamorous team, he rarely managed world famous players, and frankly he is all round not a glamorous man. It seems clubs will still opt for a famous former player, a star foreign manager, or apparently even Steve Bruce, over Curbs.

It hard to say why no one seems interested in a manager with such proven experience in the League, but I for one think Wolves are missing out, and hope to see Alan back in work again soon.