Gary O’Neil’s sacking is a matter of when rather than if after Wolves suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham on Monday night.
O’Neil’s record at Wolves is abysmal, having collected just two Premier League wins since April while conceding the division’s most goals (38).
Wolves plan on replacing O’Neil but understand the importance of hiring smartly to avoid the repeat of previous events.
While the 41-year-old is on the verge of being sacked, and his dismissal could be confirmed if Wolves drop points against Ipswich, he isn’t the only one who has an uncertain future at Molineux.
Hwang Hee-chan was an unused substitute in Wolves defeat to West Ham
The sad decline of the Old Gold mirrors Hwang Hee-chan’s rapid drop off in form since reaching ridiculous heights last term.
Hwang was one of O’Neil’s most potent attackers in 2023/24, reaching double figures for goals by December and striking a lethal partnership with Matheus Cunha.
Fast forward a year and the South Korean is in the worst form of his Wolves career, having failed to score or assist in his 11 appearances this season.
| Hwang for Wolves last season | Hwang for Wolves so far this season |
| Appearances – 31 | Appearances – 11 |
| Goals – 13 | Goals – 0 |
| Assists – 3 | Assists – 0 |
Admittedly, Hwang suffered an injury in October on international duty and has only started twice in the top flight, but he’s the shadow of the player he was.
This was seen during their defeat at the London Stadium, as instead of unleashing Hwang from the bench and trusting him to change the game, the 28-year-old was an unused substitute.
O’Neil preferred to bring on Rodrigo Gomes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Goncalo Guedes instead of him, with question marks now surrounding his future at Molineux.
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What Gary O’Neil has said about Hwang ahead of potential January exit
Marseille saw a £21m bid for Hwang rejected by Wolves in the summer and perhaps the fleet-footed attacker will regret not jumping ship when he had the chance.
The French giants are currently tussling with PSG for the Ligue 1 title, which is a huge contrast to him warming the bench at a Wolves side who are in 19th place.
Following on from speculation surrounding his exit previously, Hwang could leave Wolves in January as journalist Nathan Judah expects the Wanderers to field enquiries.
That said, O’Neil rates Hwang highly and may want to hold onto the forward after lauding his ‘Premier League calibre’.
Speaking before the defeat to West Ham, the Wolves boss said: “Hee-chan comes under some criticism when I put him on the pitch at the moment, but when you look at Premier League calibre, he’s one of the ones that has that on our bench and he was our top goalscorer last year.”
Hwang, who Wolves signed for £14 million at the start of 2022, needs to either start proving his worth in the battle against relegation or the club needs to cash in on him in January.