Rio Ferdinand has called Wolves boss Gary O’Neil the biggest surprise package of 2023, and Jermaine Jenas branded him his manager of the year.
Wolves yesterday beat Everton 3-0 at Molineux to sign off the calendar year in the perfect way.
Max Kilman, Matheus Cunha – who was outstanding – and Craig Dawson got the goals as Wolves swept aside the Toffees with some lovely free-flowing football.
Wolves were brilliant from start to finish and Gary O’Neil believes it was the team’s best performance of the season so far.
Few would probably have expected this kind of start from Wolves, not least TNT Sports pundits Rio Ferdinand and Jemaine Jenas…
Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas hail Wolves manager Gary O’Neil for the 2023 he’s had
Before a ball was kicked this season, most pundits and fans were fearing for Wolves.
Julen Lopetegui left just days before the new season, and this came after a host of top players had to be sold to balance the books, including captain Ruben Neves.
O’Neil was named as Lopetegui’s successor and many doubted him, despite the great job he did at Bournemouth.
But very few are feeling doubtful about O’Neil now, having taken 28 points from 20 games.
In the eyes of Ferdinand, O’Neil is the biggest surprise of 2023. He said (via Mirror): “I would say Gary O’Neil at Wolves. They sacked their manager and I had Wolves to go down based on last season’s form.
“The way he has come in and galvanised the club with Shaun Derry and everything behind the scenes, it’s been great with what they have done and they’re playing some really good football.
“I think Gary O’Neil [has stood out], I had Wolves as relegation candidates at the beginning of the season. I think O’Neil has come in and done fabulously well, him and Shaun Derry have been brilliant and changed things around there.”
Ferdinand would name Klopp as his manager of 2023, but that honour for Jermaine Jenas does go to O’Neil. He said: “I will balance it out and go with Gary O’Neil on the basis of how tough the job was when he took it on.”
It mustn’t be understated how well O’Neil has done
It is great to hear O’Neil starting to get his due credit – you would imagine he would probably be talked about a lot more had Wolves not been stung by so many awful VAR decisions and Wolves would therefore be even higher up the table.
But it’s still amazing to see Wolves sitting in 11th on 28 points from 20 games to end the calendar year.
There was just disarray at the club when Lopetegui left and everything pointed to the club really struggling this season. The players had to have been thinking all sorts. Max Kilman did admit recently that there was a lot of confusion at the time.
But so far, it has been a colossal effort from O’Neil and the players, and the fans are totally on board with what they’re seeing.
Wolves are finally fairly exciting to watch, which is something many supporters have long craved, but O’Neil has also shown brilliant tactical acumen, masterminding results over the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
If Wolves can somehow mount a challenge for any of the European places, then surely O’Neil will be in the conversation for Manager of the Season when all is said and done.