Wolves crashed to another awful defeat in the Premier League against Everton last night, but Mario Lemina has defended Gary O’Neil.
Wolves are in big trouble, after shipping four more goals in a game, which came just days after the abysmal defeat to Bournemouth.
Speculation has been rife this morning about the future of Gary O’Neil as first-team manager.
It’s been claimed O’Neil could actually get the West Ham United game next month, but it’s also been suggested Wolves are looking at potential replacements.
Wolves fans chanted against O’Neil at Goodison Park last night, and it’s certainly difficult to see a way back for him from here.
But despite overseeing another awful result, he does retain the support of his captain.
Mario Lemina backs Gary O’Neil despite Everton defeat
Mario Lemina spoke after last night’s defeat, and actually moved to defend his manager.
He said (via Wolves official): “To be honest, we are with the Gaffer. It’s our fault. We are the characters on the pitch, and we need to show that we’ve got the mentality to play in the Premier League.
“He gave us all the advice, what’s key to play the right game, and at the moment we’re stressed about these kinds of games, and we need to change and show character.
“Last week we faced the same thing, we gave away three penalties. That’s never happened in a Premier League game, and today we’re lacking some consistency defensively, and we need to change that.
“At the moment we don’t want to blame anyone. It’s the whole team, the whole team is trying to give everything, but we’re not in the right way. We need to change that.”
Lemina said that a meeting will be taking place today, although it’s unclear whether that’s just between the players, or between the players and O’Neil.
The Gabon international also admitted he was ‘sad’ for O’Neil, who he feels is ‘trying everything’.
Lemina comments won’t go down well with Wolves fans
It’s difficult to see Lemina’s comments being greeted with anything but frustration, because performances have been so poor under O’Neil.
He may be a likable person, but O’Neil is clearly struggling to do his job and has been for some time. It’s not completely his fault, of course, but he has to take most of the blame and is the one person who can be removed right now.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 |  West HamWest Ham | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 15 |
| 15 |  LeicesterLeicester | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 13 |
| 16 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 12 |
| 17 |  EvertonEverton | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 11 |
| 18 |  WolvesWolves | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 32 | -10 | 9 |
| 19 |  IpswichIpswich | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 9 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 25 | -15 | 5 |
There’s an argument that the faith of the players in O’Neil is now misplaced. If, of course, the majority share the sentiments of Lemina – and you would imagine they do.
Just because they like working under him doesn’t mean he should stay in the job. Fosun simply cannot let that dictate what they do, with the club hurtling towards relegation.