As Wolves pick the bones out of their relegation to the Championship, two former Old Gold managers can see their stock rise further in Europe tonight.
Wanderers’ relegation was confirmed last Monday, but it had been on the cards for quite some time.
2025/26 campaign has been truly one to forget, and now a lot of work will take place to try and get the club back into the top-flight at the first time of asking.
It’s now official – Wolves are relegated from the Premier League after an eight-season stay… 🚨😔
Wanderers fans, where has it all gone wrong and who is to blame the most?!
Many things have gone wrong this season for Wolves.
But ultimately, the buck stops with Fosun, whose way of operating in terms of recruitment left the squad painfully short of quality.
Managers often bear the brunt of fan frustration.
But tonight, two who were heavily criticised, Vitor Pereira and Gary O’Neil, will manage European semi-finals with their first clubs since leaving Wolves.
- READ MORE: Happier times for Gary O’Neil after Wolves sack as Strasbourg managerial stint off to a flyer
Vitor Pereira and Gary O’Neil now in pursuit of European glory after Wolves struggles
Tonight, Nottingham Forest take on Aston Villa in the first leg semi-final of the Europa League.
Pereira became Forest manager in mid-February, which came as a real surprise. But he’s actually done very well, and steered the Reds towards safety in the Premier League. They’re now five points above the drop.
He’s taken 14 games so far, and got six wins, four draws and four defeats. His biggest highlight was overseeing that huge 5-0 win against Sunderland last week.
Certainly, he’s repairing his reputation which ended up taking a battering during his final months at Wolves.
How confident are you in Nuno’s prediction about Wolves after the club’s relegation was confirmed?
And was his exit the turning point at Molineux? 🤔
And then there’s Gary O’Neil, who is at Strasbourg.
He replaced Liam Rosenior in early January, and has also had a great time.
He’s taken 21 games, winning 11, drawing five and losing five. Tonight, he manages Strasbourg in the first leg semi-final of the Conference League against Rayo Vallecano.
Granted, both Pereira and O’Neil have only had a few European matches between them to reach this point. But it’s still a good achievement – and one that likely has some Molineux officials squirming.
Pereira and O’Neil are proving Fosun are Wolves’ biggest guilty party
Both Pereira and O’Neil made a lot of mistakes during their managerial stints at Wolves.
Arguably, both should have been removed from their posts sooner than they actually were.
But what’s happening now just further emphasises that the problems at Wolves run a lot deeper than who’s in the hot seat
Pereira fell woefully short of the standards expected. But he simply didn’t have enough quality in the squad to compete.
Yes, he played a part in Wolves’ recruitment last summer and was probably given too much responsibility. But that’s on Fosun for giving him too much say. In 2024/25, we saw what he could do when he actually had more quality at his disposal.
O’Neil also did well initially at Wolves before the wheels came off.
But the wheels came off after Pedro Neto was replaced by Carlos Forbs, and Max Kilman was sold without even being replaced.
Their current statuses as managers of clubs in European semi-finals only hammer home that Fosun are the main reason for Wolves’ decline.
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