West Bromwich Albion winger Jerome Thomas is happy with his decision to move to the Hawthorns.
The winger was effectively on trial with Wolves, who were then newly promoted to the Premier League, when Albion pitched in with an offer.
"I was at Wolves when I came to meet Roberto Di Matteo," he recalled to the Sunday Mercury.
"It was a case of Wolves wanting to see me for a bit longer - but West Brom were willing to take me straight away. I didn't want to take a gamble.
"The little time I was at Wolves was great, though. Mick McCarthy was a good bloke, very honest.
"It was the combination of the contract and meeting with the gaffer, the facilities and West Brom being favourites to come back up - that's what swung it.
"I'd just gotten injured at Wolves so it was a case of how long it would take me to recover. That was also a worry. You don't want to be out for a while and miss the boat.
"I could have stayed at Wolves, done well during training but they might not have offered me anything.
"Mick was a nice guy, good to talk to. He gave me encouragement and even as a West Brom man I'm sad to see them struggling.
"I got to know some of their players, like Kevin Doyle and I know what they're going through. It could have been us.
"Good luck to them coming out of it but we won't be doing them any favours."
