Matt Hobbs has strongly denied that Wolves only hired Gary O’Neil because he was a ‘cheap’ and/or ‘available’ option.
Wanderers have had a bit of a bumpy start to 2023/24, as most fans probably expected would be the case.
Julen Lopetegui walked away from Wolves just days before the new season.
He had not been happy about the club’s financial situation and what he felt was shifting of the goalposts.
He went, and O’Neil was then hired.
O’Neil’s hiring happened fairly quickly, and at the time some fans were not exactly blown away by the appointment.
But sporting director Hobbs, who led the hiring process, is firmly behind the 40-year-old – and he has rubbished some perceptions about the decision to bring him in…
Matt Hobbs says Gary O’Neil was by far an away the most impressive candidate Wolves interviewed
Many people were not on board with the O’Neil appointment.
That was understandable, with Wolves having just seen a top manager leave.
Hobbs has appeared on Wolves Weekly to talk about O’Neil, and at one point Mikey Burrows puts to him the perception for some that O’Neil was a ‘cheap’ hire, or a case of him being ‘the first guy that came along’.
Hobbs said: “None of that is true. I’ve always been honest, whenever I’ve said anything about the club. Whether it’s signings or anything. It’s just not true. We interviewed multiple people and a group of four of us, all of us, picked Gary as the strongest candidate. By a distance. A new direction for us, something new the club haven’t done before which is exciting.
“Gary’s here because we feel he’s the right man. the right man for now, but also we feel Gary can be a long-term head coach here.”
O’Neil appointment was carefully considered
O’Neil’s hiring obviously felt quite rushed at the time.
He was announced by the club just a day after Lopetegui left.
But we know now that Lopetegui had actually informed Hobbs of his desire to leave straight after the pre-season friendly with Celtic.
Wolves conducted the hiring process for just over a week.
Given the way Hobbs has spoken, you can tell it was a carefully considered appointment, despite the relative speed of it.