GARY O’NEIL has been sacked as Wolves manager following Saturday’s defeat to Ipswich.
The club endured a nightmare run of form to sit 19th in the Premier League table with just two wins this season and four points from safety.
But Jack Taylor’s last-gasp winner for the Tractor Boys and the shocking scenes that followed on the pitch turned out to be the final straw for the manager.
Now O’Neil, 41, has been dismissed from his post after 16 months in charge at Molineux.
Wolves confirmed the news with a blunt statement on Sunday lunchtime.
It said: “Wolves have parted company 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 at the helm, Wolves beat Manchester City and won impressively at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as rivals West Bromwich Albion during a journey to the FA Cup quarter-finals.”
Chairman Jeff Shi added: “We’re very grateful to Gary for all of his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future.”
Wolves fell behind yesterday with a comical own goal before Matheus Cunha fired in an equaliser.
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But Taylor was able to head in deep into injury 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 meltdowns at the end.
Cunha punched and elbowed a member of Ipswich’s security team – and even ripped off his glasses – while full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri angrily confronted Wes Burns.
Ait-Nouri had to be picked up and carried off the pitch by Craig Dawson then ushered down the tunnel, where the Algerian was sent off for a second yellow card.
There were also reports of more bitter rows between Wolves team-mates who lost their heads – just like Jose Sa and Mario Lemina in recent weeks.
Sa confronted a fan during the 4-2 defeat to Bournemouth while Lemina was stripped of the captaincy following his furious outburst at his team-mates and coach Shaun Derry at West Ham last Monday – with a shocking 4-0 defeat at Everton sandwiched in between.
Boos rang out at Molineux after the Ipswich defeat as the atmosphere around the club grew increasingly toxic – with fans directing much of their anger at the board.
But the hierarchy decided the best course of action was to dismiss O’Neil and find a new boss to take charge of the squad in turmoil.
IN HIS final press conference as Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil said he wasn’t the only one to blame for their problems...
O’Neil insisted: “I’m not interested in my own position. I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we are in.
“I know getting this group to perform the way they did took a lot of work.
“People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibility has to land on the players.
“I’m comfortable with myself as a coach, my standards and what I ask of the group. I also embrace this difficult moment.
“That group downstairs needs me this week to help get them into a place where they are ready to go.
“I will keep fighting for them and with them until I’m told not to.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m going to get sacked.
“For every [poor] result which comes the chances of me losing my job heightens.
“It doesn’t concern me, the situation drives me to want to do better.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in attendance on Saturday and is the early favourite to replace the former Bournemouth chief.
Steve Cooper, sacked last month by Leicester, and David Moyes may also be in contention.
However, reports from The Athletic claim Wolves are already working on a deal with Al-Shabab to poach ex-Porto, Fenerbahce, Corinthians and Flamengo boss Vitor Pereira from the Saudi Pro League outfit.
O’Neil arrived at Molineux on the eve of the 2023-24 campaign with very little time to work with the squad or bring in his own players.
He guided the club to 14th – 20 points clear of relegation – in an impressive opening season and signed a new four-deal year in the summer.
But Taylor’s injury-time winner for Ipswich was the 40th goal conceded by his side in a disastrous start to the season.
O’Neil did not hold back in his scathing assessment of the performance and attitude of his flops in what proved to be his final set of interviews as Wolves boss.
People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibility has to land on the players
Gary O'Neil
The ex-Portsmouth and Middlesbrough midfielder fumed: “I’m not interested in my own position. I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we are in.
“I know getting this group to perform the way they did took a lot of work.
“People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibility has to land on the players.
“I’m comfortable with myself as a coach, my standards and what I ask of the group. I also embrace this difficult moment.
“That group downstairs needs me this week to help get them into a place where they are ready to go.
“I will keep fighting for them and with them until I’m told not to.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m going to get sacked.
“For every [poor] result which comes the chances of me losing my job heightens.
“It doesn’t concern me, the situation drives me to want to do better.
“Obviously Ait-Nouri’s emotion has spilled over and he’s lost control, which he knows is unacceptable. We have enough issues without dealing with people picking up silly suspensions.
“The lads need to find a way to keep more control. I know they’re under big pressure and big stress at this moment, but making it more difficult for ourselves is unacceptable at this moment in time.”
On the two goals, he added: “We’ve given Ipswich two mental goals. The first goal is unacceptable for Premier League level.
“Liam Delap did that a lot when he played under-18s against kids that were 2ft smaller than him, when he looked like he was playing two years up, bashing people out of the way and running through.
“Liam Delap won’t score that goal against any other Premier League team.
“Then there was unbelievably bad decision making from a corner, from players deciding to switch positions for no reason that cost us at the end.
“There were too many mistakes again from us, and we were probably punished for both of the real big mistakes, but they’re mistakes that just can’t happen at this level.
“Just the team’s ability to cope at this level has proven unbelievably difficult for us. I’ve worked at this level, this is my third year now, and I’ve never had so much of a struggle to help a group cope with their level in real basic stuff.
“Until we can defend our goal from basics, it’s going to be tough to win football matches.”
