GARY O’NEIL has been sacked as Wolves manager following Saturday’s defeat by Ipswich.
The club have endured a nightmarish run of form to sit 19th in the Premier League table with just two wins this season and four points from safety.
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Gary O’Neil has been sacked as Wolves manager after 16 months in charge Credit: Getty
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Wolves suffered their fourth straight defeat on SaturdayCredit: Alamy
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There were chaotic scenes after full-time with Matheus Cunha losing his head Credit: Getty
But Jack Taylor’s winner for the Tractor Boys and the shocking scenes that followed on the pitch were the final straw for the manager.
Now O’Neil, 41, has been sacked from his post after 16 months in charge of Molineux.
Wolves confirmed the news with a scathing statement on Sunday lunchtime.
It said: “Wolves have parted ways with head coach Gary O’Neil and his backroom staff.
“O’Neil arrived at Molineux just three days before the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season, taking on a significant challenge and ultimately guiding the Old Gold to a successful campaign.
“During his first season in charge, Wolves beat Manchester City and impressively beat Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as well as rivals West Bromwich Albion en route to the FA Cup quarter-finals.”
Chairman Jeff Shi added: “We are very grateful to Gary for all his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck in the future.”
Wolves fell behind to a comical own goal yesterday before Matheus Cunha scored to equalise.
SOCCER FREE BETTING AND REGISTRATION
But Taylor was able to go deep in stoppage time to earn a crucial win for Ipswich against their relegation rivals in a huge six-pointer at the bottom of the table.
Then – just like against Bournemouth and West Ham – Wolves players were involved in ugly breakdowns at the end.
Gary O’Neil vows to deal with him internally after Wolves star Ryan Ait-Nouri’s meltdown after defeat at Ipswich
Cunha punched and elbowed a member of Ipswich’s security team – and even ripped off his glasses – while full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri clashed angrily with Wes Burns.
Craig Dawson had to pick Ait-Nouri up and carry him off the pitch before taking him down the tunnel, where the Algerian was sent off for a second yellow card.
There were also reports of more heated arguments between Wolves teammates who lost their heads – just like Jose Sa and Mario Lemina in recent weeks.
Sa confronted a fan during the 4-2 defeat by Bournemouth, while Lemina was stripped of the captaincy following his angry outburst at his team-mates and manager Shaun Derry at West Ham last Monday – with a shock 4-0 defeat by Everton sandwiched between .
Boos rang out at Molineux after the defeat by Ipswich as the atmosphere around the club became increasingly toxic – with fans directing most of their anger at the management.
But the hierarchy decided the best course of action was to fire O’Neil and find a new boss to take control of the team in turmoil.
Gary O’Neill’s final press conference for Wolves after the game
IN HIS final press conference as Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil said he was not solely to blame for their problems…
O’Neil insisted: “I don’t care about my position. I know the job I do every day and I know the situation we’re in.
“I know it took a lot of effort to get this group to perform the way they did.
“People can point the finger at me, but part of the responsibility has to fall on the players.
“I am happy with myself as a coach, my standards and what I ask from the group. I also accept this difficult moment.
“That group down there needs me this week to help get them to a place where they’re ready to go.
“I will continue to fight for them and with them until I am told not to.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t think I’ll get fired.
“For each [poor] which increases the chances of me losing my job.
“It’s none of my business, the situation makes me want to be better.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in attendance on Saturday and is the early favorite to replace the former Bournemouth boss.
Steve Cooper, who was sacked by Leicester last month, and David Moyes could also be in the running.
However, reports from The Athletic claim that Wolves are already working on a deal with Al-Shabab to poach former Porto, Fenerbahce, Corinthians and Flamengo coach Vitor Pereira from the Saudi Professional League side.
O’Neil arrived at Molineux ahead of the 2023-24 season. with very little time to work with the squad or bring in your own players.
He led the club to 14th place – 20 points from relegation – in an impressive opening season, and signed four new contracts in the summer.
But Taylor’s stoppage-time winner for Ipswich was the 40th goal his side had conceded in a disastrous start to the season.
O’Neil did not hold back in his scathing assessment of the performance and attitude of his failures in what turned out to be the last set of interviews he has given as Wolves boss.
People can point fingers at me, but some of the responsibility has to fall on the players
Gary O’Neil
The former Portsmouth and Middlesbrough midfielder fumed: “I don’t care about my position. I know the job I do every day and I know the situation we’re in.
“I know it took a lot of effort to get this group to perform the way they did.
“People can point the finger at me, but part of the responsibility has to fall on the players.
“I am happy with myself as a coach, my standards and what I ask from the group. I also accept this difficult moment.
“That group down there needs me this week to help get them to a place where they’re ready to go.
“I will continue to fight for them and with them until I am told not to.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t think I’ll get fired.
“For each [poor] which increases the chances of me losing my job.
“It doesn’t concern me, the situation makes me want to be better.
“Obviously, Ait-Nouri’s emotions ran high and he lost control, which he knows is unacceptable. We have enough problems and nothing to do with people taking stupid suspensions.
“Guys have to find a way to keep more control. I know they are under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress at the moment, but making it difficult for themselves is unacceptable at the moment.”
On the two goals, he added: “We gave Ipswich two mental goals. The first goal is unacceptable for the Premier League level.
“Liam Delap did that a lot when he was playing under-18s against kids who were 2ft shorter than him, when he looked like he was playing two years later, clearing people out of the way and running through them.
“Liam Delap will not score that goal against any other Premier League team.
“Then there were incredibly bad corner decisions, from players choosing to switch positions for no reason, which ended up costing us.
“Again, there were too many of our mistakes and we were probably penalized for both really big mistakes, but those are mistakes that just can’t happen at this level.
“Just the ability of the team to cope at this level proved incredibly difficult for us. I have worked at this level, this is my third year, and I have never had so much trouble helping a group cope with their level in the real basics.
“Until we can defend our goal from the basics, it will be difficult to win football games.”
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O’Neil suffered a setback after the game against IpswichCredit: Rex
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Rayan Ait-Nouri was brought out by Craig Dawson Credit: Rex
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in attendance for Saturday’s gameCredit: PA
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