Wolves boss sends message on his future following Everton loss
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has backed himself as the right man to lead the club forward after their 4-0 battering at Everton.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has backed himself as the right man to lead the club forward after their 4-0 battering at Everton.
A distressing evening at Goodison Park saw a lowly Everton side dominate and bully Wolves with four goals from set pieces.
It is one of the lowest ebbs in a difficult season as pressure mounts on O’Neil.
Travelling supporters called for his sacking, but O’Neil has faith that he can turn around the club’s fortunes.
O’Neil said: “I will back myself in any role given to get the most out of the group that we have. In any role.
‘Sacked in the morning’ – Wolves boss O’Neil under fire
“You’re getting sacked in the morning.”
That was the chant belted out from one corner of Goodison Park on Wednesday evening.
It was being aimed in the direction of Gary O’Neil, and it was coming from his own team’s supporters.
The Wolves boss stood helplessly in his technical area as he witnessed his hapless side crumble to a 4-0 defeat against Everton, heaping on pressure and misery as the fans turned against him.
It was the type of performance and result which has been known to cause struggling managers before him to be shown the door, and O’Neil is now seemingly clinging to his job.
The ex-Bournemouth boss went over to applaud the travelling fans at full-time, but he was roundly jeered by the unhappy following.
“I go over there to see them because I appreciate every single one of the Wolves fanbase,” said O’Neil. “They have given me unbelievable support since I arrived at the football club.
“We managed to produce some unbelievable stuff last season – away at Chelsea, Tottenham and West Brom – with a team that was heavily tipped by most of the nation for relegation, but we were nowhere near it, ever.
“We enjoyed that together, so now that it is tough I am happy to go over there and look them right in the face and take any criticism they want to throw at me. I accept responsibility for my part in that and that will not change how I feel about them and what they have given me over the last 15 months.”
O’Neil ‘working harder’ than anyone at Wolves
Wolves finished 14th under Gary O’Neil last term, which was his first season in charge
The chant about “getting sacked” was not the only one that the irate Wolves supporters directed at their manager. It was one of the most printable, though.
Indeed, the Wolves support rubbed salt into O’Neil’s wounds by singing about former manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who is now in charge at Nottingham Forest.
Wolves finished 14th in O’Neil’s maiden campaign last season, 20 points above the Premier League drop zone, but this felt like the tide turning against the manager, losing the support of the fans, and a night that he may not recover from.
Defender Craig Dawson scored two own goals as Wolves allowed a Toffees side who had not scored since 26 October – a run of five games – to net four goals.
Wolves travel on Monday to West Ham, whose own manager Julen Lopetegui – previously in charge at Molineux, of course – has real question marks over his future.
Should both managers survive until then, the match will no doubt be cruelly dubbed as ‘El Sackico’.
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