EPL: Wolves manager Gary O’Neil sacked after four straight defeats

Gary O’Neil has been sacked as head coach of struggling Wolves after four consecutive Premier League defeats.

The club sits second from bottom of the table with nine points from 16 games, following Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Ipswich.

Tensions flared at full-time, with Rayan Ait-Nouri shown a second yellow card, while Matheus Cunha had to be restrained.

In a statement via X on Sunday, Wolves announced, “We have parted company with head coach Gary O’Neil and his backroom staff. We thank them for all of their effort and hard work over the last 16 months.”

O’Neil, 41, was appointed in August 2023 after the departure of Julen Lopetegui and signed a new four-year contract with the club in August this year.

While Wolves finished 14th in O’Neil’s first season, the current campaign has seen the team plunged into a relegation battle.

Frustrations also boiled over in Monday’s defeat to West Ham, where Mario Lemina scuffled with Jarrod Bowen after the final whistle. The incident led to Lemina being stripped of the captaincy.

Wolves’ woes continued on Saturday, with Jack Taylor scoring a stoppage-time winner for Ipswich. Despite taking an early lead through Matt Doherty’s own goal, the team’s struggles persisted.

Following the defeat and on-field altercations, O’Neil urged his players to take greater responsibility.

“We deal with things like that very, very seriously, as you saw last week,” O’Neil said.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve already got enough to handle at the moment. We’ve got enough to fix without me having to address off-the-pitch matters.

“The players need to take some responsibility, but I’ll support them in every way. We’ll get back to work on Monday morning.”

AFP