Well, it took them long enough.
Gary O’Neil was relieved of his duties at Wolves on Sunday after yet another dismal defeat—this time to newly promoted Ipswich.
No disrespect to Ipswich, but a team entering its sixth consecutive Premier League season and stuffed full of international players shouldn’t be losing to a team that hasn’t been in the top flight for over twenty years. But as I’ve said a few times on Bluesky, this feels like Wolves’ “Thanos” season—inevitable.
A dire first half in which we conceded yet another goal that a team of schoolboys would be embarrassed by, followed by a better, brighter second half where we actually looked like the better team for portions of it.
Until the end and the inevitable goal conceded from a set piece—I believe that’s sixteen in sixteen games this season—saw us fail to take even a point, and the ill-discipline that’s been creeping into this team for the last weeks boiled over yet again. In his post-match comments to various media outlets, the Head Coach threw his players under the bus in a manner that seemed to be asking for the sack, and the club’s hierarchy duly obliged on Sunday morning.
It’s a move that’s been coming, and honestly, it’s probably three matches too late.
Yes, it’s true that Wolves have had the most difficult start to a Premier League campaign in history, according to Opta, so some slack was cut for Gary in the first two months of the season. But even before the run of “winnable” games, starting with Crystal Palace at the start of November (which ended in a draw), it was clear what the team’s problems were and that the Head Coach didn’t know how to deal with them.
Two wins in November probably saw him hang on to his job for an extra month, but the problems were still present in both of those games and came to a head in the match against Bournemouth at the end of the month, which saw Wolves concede three penalties and saw Justin Kluivert become the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in the top flight since 1957—67 years ago.
O’Neil’s services should have been dispensed with after that game. That he was still in charge even after the 4-0 drubbing at Everton, a team that had not scored a goal for four games, was baffling.
He even lost “El Sackio” against West Ham and was somehow still in charge for the Ipswich game.
It’s quite remarkable and shows the club’s current state. Even the sacking itself was shambolic, with every media outlet reporting it several hours before the club confirmed it.
Still, the deed is now done, and supporters will look forward to a new Head Coach coming in and trying to salvage something from this season. We are only five points from safety—two wins. So all is not lost. But whoever takes charge will have to sort of a defence that cannot defend. I’ve said before it doesn’t matter how good you are going forward, if you are letting in two or three goals each game, you will lose a lot more than you win.
So, let’s hope the leaky defence can be plugged. That, at least, will give us a fighting chance.
