Wolves are moving quickly to appoint a replacement for Vitor Pereira, and Gary O’Neil does have one potentially key thing going for him.
Pereira was sacked by Wolves on Sunday, and the club are looking to appoint a successor as soon as possible, with the club in dire straits.
Several names have been mentioned.
Michael Carrick, Brendan Rodgers and Rob Edwards were all linked with Wolves, and Molineux News understands that Robbie Keane also applied for the Wolves job.
But, while the club are still looking at other options, Gary O’Neil is set to return to Molineux for a second spell.
There has been a really negative reaction to his news, with O’Neil having overseen a terrible start to last season which resulted in his sacking in December.
But there’s one thing that the Wolves hierarchy feel could make him a sensible hire.
Liam Keen says Gary O’Neil is still popular with Wolves squad
The Wolves players have been back in training today, with that session having been taken by James Collins and Richard Walker.
It’s Chelsea up next for Wolves, and the players have got to try and block everything out and prepare well.
That will be difficult, but hopefully Wolves will put an end to the speculation as soon as possible.
O’Neil is set to return, and journalist Liam Keen has been speaking about the Englishman on the latest E&S podcast, with one fa asking about the thought process for the board.
And Keen mentioned that O’Neil is actually still popular with a number of players in the squad, despite how bad things were at the end of his last tenure.
Asked about the thought process behind re-hiring O’Neil, Keen said: “He is also still liked by a lot of the members of that squad. There were some players at the time when he left that didn’t want him to go. I think he’d be in a strong enough position to have them on board, which I think is a good first step.
“The fan reaction of course, is very, very difficult. He’s going to have to overcome (that).”
The Wolves players who may welcome O’Neil return
It is looking like it’ll only be a matter of time before Wolves announce that O’Neil has returned for a second spell as manager.
The negativity and reservations from fans are totally understandable, because things were abysmal under O’Neil in those final two months of his previous reign.
On the face of it, this truly has the potential to be a woeful decision from Fosun.
| Gary O’Neil record at Wolves (2023-2024) |
| Games managed – 63 |
| Wins – 20 |
| Draws – 11 |
| Losses – 32 |
But we will see if O’Neil has learned a few lessons.
Certainly though, there’ll be some players who will give him a warm welcome at Compton Park.
Joao Gomes previously hailed O’Neil, once saying that he fussed over him more than members of his own family. The Brazilian was a key player under the Englishman.
Hwang Hee-chan has also shown some of his best football for Wolves when O’Neil was in charge. The South Korean formed one-third of a devastating frontline along with Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto in the 2023/24 season, and finished that term with 13 goals and three assists.