Stewart Downing has admitted his surprise at seeing the success Gary O’Neil has had in his managerial career so far, with Wolves fans currently dreaming of Europe.
O’Neil is starting to come in for a lot of plaudits for the job he is doing at Molineux.
The 40-year-old arrived at the club just days before the new season after Julen Lopetegui had walked away, and no one really expected anything other than a relegation battle.
But seven months into his reign, O’Neil has Wolves sitting in 10th place on 38 points – and has left quite a few pundits red-faced with their initial predictions.
It will be a tough finish to the season given the injury problems Wolves now have, but O’Neil has the potential to achieve something special.
He’s been a huge success story so far, and it has actually taken Downing by surprise…
Stewart Downing praises former teammate Gary O’Neil as he thrives as Wolves manager
Downing appeared in a feature video for BBC Sport about O’Neil and what he’s done at Wolves so far.
The job he’s done is nothing short of remarkable.
Wolves have scored 40 goals so far this season, which is double the number they had managed at the same point last term.
And currently, the team are just three points off the final total they managed in the whole of last season.
It’s been an amazing ride so far, and Downing – who played with O’Neil at Middlesbrough – admits he didn’t really expect his former teammate to shine this bright.
The current Leeds United U21s assistant manager said: “I didn’t, no, I’ll be honest (expect he’d become the manager he has today). Unless he was quietly studying football or into his coaching. He never really opened up to me or anyone else about it.
“He was golf-mad at the time. He loved Tiger Woods and people like that. I actually thought he’d just go on and enjoy his retirement. But I saw at the end of his career him doing a bit of TV work and stuff. Maybe as he got older he started to maybe look at coaching and how teams play. But yeah, it did surprise me.”
O’Neil has surprised many people
It’s interesting to hear Downing say that he never really got the sense that O’Neil would go into football management.
Certainly, few would have seen what he is doing now coming – but Wolves fans are absolutely loving it.
It is going to be a big test for O’Neil in the coming weeks, with Wolves having some tough games coming up.
The injury situation is far from ideal and so, it’s possible there could be some rocky periods in the offing. But O’Neil has more than earned the right for said rocky periods, and he will surely get solid backing from the supporters when they come.