Wolves are enjoying their first season under Gary O’Neil in the Premier League, with Tim Spiers and Nathan Judah sharing the opinion that things could still get a lot better for the Old Gold.
What a season Wolves are having thanks to the rejuvenation of the squad under Gary O’Neil.
Sitting in 10th after 23 games played, the Midlands club have already eclipsed their goal-scoring tally of last season, netting 37 to surpass the dire form in the final third that amounted to just 31 goals in 2022/23.
Scoring more goals hasn’t been the only thing that O’Neil has improved at Wolves, with journalists Tim Spiers and Nathan Judah giving an exciting prediction of what could come by the time May hits.
What Tim Spiers has predicted about Wolves this season
Speaking on the E&S Wolves Podcast alongside Judah, Spiers was questioned about just how far Wolves could progress this season, as the duo weighed up the practicality of O’Neil’s side doing “the impossible”.
Assessing the form of the teams around them, Judah boldly backed Wolves to push for a European spot.
“Newcastle drawing with Luton at home, and you’ll go to Villa and win but then you’ll lose games as well, Brighton and West Ham still in Europe, could they [Wolves] do the impossible with the pressure off them at this moment in time, where you’ve seen the best of the Matheus Cunha, Pedro Neto, and at least have a sweat going into the final few games of the season for a European spot?”
At present, Wolves sit just four points shy of 7th place, the position needed to secure a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League, a feat that their Midlands rivals Aston Villa emphatically pulled off last season.
Having lost just one of their previous six games, O’Neil’s side are in searing form and full of confidence, leading Spiers to share a similar opinion to the podcast host.
“I wouldn’t rule it out, I think if you look at the teams above them, you mention United, yeah I watched them the other day they were pretty convincing against West Ham, obviously they beat Wolves the other day as well.”
“The thing with Wolves is that they tend to either win or lose and they’ve got the ability to score a lot of goals and they seem to have a lot of confidence at the moment. I think they can go on a bit of a run to be honest and you’re sort of looking at 7th or 8th as a realistic position.”
The work of O’Neil could have the strength to emulate the success of Nuno Espirito Santo’s in his first season in the top-flight with Wolves, where he guided the Old Gold to a spot in the 2019/20 Europa League with a 7th-place finish.
The introduction of the Conference League hands the Midlands club a refreshed opportunity to take a step towards returning to European competition, a scenario that couldn’t have been imagined after such an unsettling summer.