Why sacking Gary O'Neil was the only decision Wolves could make
Wolves are not good enough, says Daniel Newbould as he reflects on the sacking of Gary O'Neil
GARY O’Neil did a fantastic job keeping Wolves up last season but the hierarchy had simply no option but to get rid of him this week.
Both of those statements can be true. Especially with the situation he inherited on the eve of the start of last season when Julen Lopetegui left and the standard of players he has lost from his squad, most recently Max Kilman and Pedro Neto.
Everyone wants to see a young Englishman given an opportunity at the highest level and he very much earned it with the work he did keeping Bournemouth up in a similar situation when Scott Parker left.
The injury to Yerson Mosquera was cruel when he had been earmarked to take over some of the defensive duties from Kilman. But there is still absolutely no excuse for the quality and quantity of goals Wolves are conceded, most notably from set pieces but even open play.
As O’Neil said himself, Ipswich would not score that goal against anyone else in the league. And there’s a reason for that.
Wolves are not good enough at the back. For all of the magic of Matheus Cunha, you have got no chance when you cannot deal with a corner kick. Look how successful a team like Arsenal have become using it to their advantage. The very opposite has happened to Wolves by not defending it.
Brentford and Everton were arguably worse than Ipswich given the nature and regularity of the goals conceded but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Basic errors undermine everything they work for and towards. Giving away three penalties against Bournemouth four goals including two own goals against the far from free scoring Everton spring to mind.
The lack of discipline also falls on O’Neil. The kind of scenes we saw after West Ham and Ipswich are inexcusable and not a good look at all.
Ipswich was such a big game and O’Neil had been publicly backed even after losing to West Ham and under pressure Lopetegui. But all bets were off after losing. It was purely a matter of when and not if and could not be dragged out any longer.
The board will have looked and seen what happened at Leicester when Ruud Van Nistelrooy took over and immediately took four points from his first two games in less than a week. They will hope a new manager can have a similar bounce and perhaps even spend some money in January. Defenders are very much needed.
Ironically it is a trip to Leicester next and a chance to attempt to start the new year with a tiny bit of momentum. For all the doom and gloom around the club right now, the season is far from over yet. Teams have stayed up from far worse situations than this.
The new manager will arrive and find Cunha is pure class, Larsen has adapted to Premier League life well and already got a number of goals, Ait Nouri and Semedo are excellent full backs and Gomes and Lemina are a solid midfield duo. The goalkeeping situation needs resolving. The new boss needs to pick a number one and stick with his decision.
O’Neil may even have some relief at finally being put out of his misery. He is a smart man, he would have seen it coming.
The success he achieved last season and the away days at the likes of Spurs and Chelsea and the Black County derby at West Brom will stay with supporters for years to come and in time his stint at the club will age well when taking into account the lack of resources. But for all parties, this was the right and only decision that could be made.