Thousands of neutrals up and down the country could not tell you why they think Wolverhampton Wanderers shouldn’t have sacked Mick McCarthy, according to a survey.

Stern Yorkshireman McCarthy was shunted out of the hot seat after seeing his Wolves side go down 5-1 to West Bromwich Albion at Molineux, a move met with widespread condemnation from impartial observers who couldn’t really care less whether the Midlands club scrapes to survival or gets relegated so incessantly that it has to reinvent itself as a travelling flea circus.

Speaking to leading footballologists, thousands of people said that sacking McCarthy was a big mistake on Wolves’ part, yet seemed decidedly ill at ease when asked to explain why.

For a laugh, here is a selection of the best responses:

“Um…he was unlucky, a lot.”

“Um…who can they replace him with?”

“Um…he got them promoted.”

“Um…he speaks his mind.”

“Um…he’s a good motivator.”

“Um…he was doing a great job of saving Nenad Milijas for the run-in.”

“Um…Stephen Hunt and Roger Johnson were good signings, right?”

“Um…that ‘one in the hole’ .gif is pretty funny.”

“Um…he’s mates with Roy Keane.”

“Um…he has experience of being Wolves manager.”

“Um…I met him once and he was quite nice.”

“Um…there aren’t enough top-flight managers called Mick these days.”

“Um…um…okay, how about…hmm, no…”

“Um…this may be guesswork on my part, but he looks like a man who knows how to make a good omelette.”

“Um…I’m a West Brom fan.”