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Gary O’Neil feels he has the support of the people above him at Wolves but has questioned the club’s model after blaming the loss of a number of experienced players for their predicament.
O’Neil’s position at Molineux hangs in the balance after Wolves lost 2-1 at West Ham last night in what was believed to be a crucial game for the managerial positions at both clubs.
As it was, goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen either side of a Matt Doherty strike gave the Hammers a vital three points and inflicted a third successive defeat on Wolves, who remain in the relegation places.
What does the lower half of the first league table look like…
West Ham are nine points above the relegation zone while Wolves are struggling in the relegation zone 📉 pic.twitter.com/MPwWiK1qRG
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 9, 2024
People above me support me – O’Neil
Asked about his job security after the game, O’Neil, who joined Wolves in August 2023, told Sky Sports: “The people above me support me. But of course fans want their football club to be successful.
“I understand they are pointing fingers at me, it’s my team and I have to take responsibility, but when I came to this football club, they only won 41 points in the Premier League (last season).
“Since that moment we have managed to make £200m from player sales. We sold a lot of players if you go back to Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Daniel Podence, Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez, Diego Costa, Pedro Neto and Max Kilman.
“And we are not buying in that market now, we are looking for others who are for the future and who can help us in the present.
“As we see in the Premier League, it is a ruthless league. The group is doing everything they can to speed things up. But I’m really proud of them.
I know we only have nine points and are in a difficult place in the league, but they are doing their best. So I hope the fans are still proud of the players even though they hate the position we are in. She won’t hate her any more than I do. I am there with them, whether they know it or not.
“We will not give up and we will continue to push. Next up is a big game against Ipswich. And we hope that a few little things, our little things, little things from the officials, will go our way.”
“How is that not a foul?” 😮@Carra23 and Jermain Defoe agree there was a foul in the lead-up to West Ham’s win. pic.twitter.com/sYfZCU9nVK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 9, 2024
Unlucky Wolves with a few big decisions
O’Neil was rightly miffed that several key decisions went against his side at the London Stadium, notably the awarding of West Ham’s winner from Bowen after Dinos Mavropanos stepped on the emerging Santi Bueno.
VAR’s reasoning for allowing the goal was that Bowen had scored from the next phase of play, but O’Neil disagreed.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “Santi Bueno will head the ball, so it’s irrelevant (which VAR said is a new phase of the game) because we would have kicked the ball out.
“It’s an obvious foul on Santi Bueno and there’s no way it could have been a different phase. The ball is still in the same area.
“They will find reasons, and of course they will, and I understand that there will be gray areas and that the wording of the rules can be interpreted in many different ways. But it’s a flagrant foul on Bueno in the seconds before the goal. It is a clear violation.”
Wolves were also unfortunate that West Ham’s first strike came from a corner that should not have gone in with the ball coming off home defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
