Wolves lost once again in the Premier League on Saturday with Gary O’Neil now under huge pressure.
Wanderers were beaten 5-3 by Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, with some truly shocking defending on show.
Wolves were all at sea at the back and simply gave themselves far too much to do.
After the game, O’Neil said that it was the worst performance that he had overseen since he has been at the helm at Molineux.
Many have now turned on Gary O’Neil after seeing the nature of this defeat. Lots of fans think it is unacceptable to have turned in such a performance against a side missing key players.
Last night on Match of the Day though, Alan Shearer did offer some sympathy for the Wolves manager.
Alan Shearer says Gary O’Neil has not been helped by key player sales as Wolves lose to Brentford
This was a very winnable game for Wolves.
Everyone knows Brentford are a good, competitive Premier League side. However, the Bees were missing key players and were, on paper, one of the ‘easiest’ opponents Wolves have faced so far this season.
But Wolves were so poor.
Craig Dawson and Toti Gomes offered Sam Johnstone very little protection, and Brentford were scoring at will.
It’s six defeats in seven games now in 2024/25 and many Wolves fans have now seen enough. But Premier League legend Alan Shearer did express some sympathy for O’Neil on Match of the Day last night.
He said: “Very, very tough time. He (Gary O’Neil) used some strong words after the game and understandably so because his team were that poor.
“Having said that, I don’t think he has been helped at all by the sale of two of their best players, Kilman and Neto, and the recruitment they had in the summer certainly hasn’t worked as of yet.
“One win in 17, so only one win out of the last 10 last season. So it is tough times for them. They have got Manchester City next as well. He knows he is under pressure, but the words that he used after the game were very, very tough.”
O’Neil on the brink
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Yesterday’s performance at Brentford was unacceptable, and many fans have now understandably turned.
O’Neil could well be on the brink at Molineux now, even though he did sign a new contract ahead of the new season and even though there were previously suggestions that his job was safe regardless of the result at Brentford.
Wolves are in a world of trouble, and there are now serious questions about O’Neil’s ability to turn things around.
An international break is always a good time for clubs to replace managers so we will see what happens in the coming days and if the faith in O’Neil from those above him really is as unwavering as it’s been made out to be.
Shearer is right to suggest the recruitment has not helped O’Neil. But the manager must take a lot of responsibility for this terrible start – it just hasn’t been good enough.