The search is on for Wolves to replace Vitor Pereira – and Gary O’Neil has emerged as a potential successor.
Wolves sacked Pereira on Sunday morning, after the 3-0 defeat to Fulham on Saturday.
Fosun had been supportive of the Portuguese, with Jeff Shi convinced that things under Pereira were different to this time last year.
But that stance quickly changed, and the club are managerless.
With Wolves rock bottom of the Premier League table, this is now a huge moment for the football club, and the appointment has to be right.
Some people think it’s already too late for Wolves. But there is still a lot of points to play for, and the new manager will be tasked with inspiring these beleaguered players to start getting results.
And one man the club think might be able to do this is Gary O’Neil.
O’Neil was sacked just under a year ago by Wolves, but a sensational return is being touted – and fans have had a lot to say about the links.
Wolves fans adamant Gary O’Neil return would be an awful idea
O’Neil left Wolves last December, with the club sitting in 19th place and four points from safety.
Many felt his dismissal came weeks too late, but thankfully Pereira came in and did a great job, guiding Wolves to safety with relative ease in the end.
Now Pereira has gone, O’Neil could return and inevitably, there has been a large reaction to these links.
And unfortunately for O’Neil, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative on social media, with fans unable to forget how much Wolves struggled under him last term.
@Dananas101: “This has to be a joke 😂”
@gricey88: “At this point you just have to laugh.”
@WWFC4265: “They say you should never go back to your ex and that applies to GON – it didn’t work before and it won’t work again. How will it be any different this time around. We need a manager that can steer us straight back out the Championship and I don’t think this is the guy #wwfc”
@Ianwwfc1970: “I’m done if he gets reappointed.”
@JoeArra07: “Deary me. The rinse and repeat continues.”
@WWFC_Bren: “This club is just something else man.”
Gary O’Neil back to Wolves would be incredibly risky
The O’Neil to Wolves links have come out of nowhere and it has to be said, it would be an unbelievable move if Fosun went there.
We saw last season how Wolves were completely unable to keep the ball out of their own net under O’Neil, with set-pieces a major issue.
| Gary O’Neil last season for Wolves (all competitions) |
| Games managed – 18 |
| Wins – 3 |
| Draws – 3 |
| Losses – 12 |
| Goals scored – 28 |
| Goals conceded – 43 |
When he was finally sacked, Wolves had a record of 40 goals shipping in just 16 matches.
The only positive was that O’Neil’s side still scored goals – but the general level of the squad was much higher last term and there were game-changers like Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
The hierarchy may well still hold O’Neil in high regard. But to bring him back now to try and execute a safety mission with a worse squad than last time just feels extremely short-sighted.