Gary O’Neil’s empathetic message to Wolves fans after ‘frustrating’ Liverpool defeat
It’s been a mightily tough start to the new season for Wolves, rock bottom of the Premier League following five defeats in their first six outings. A select few fans have called for O’Neil’s sacking but the vast majority of the Molineux faithful are keeping the faith, sticking with the team through thick and thin.
Saturday night’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Liverpool was a fine example as a sea of gold waited after the full-time whistle to applaud the players’ efforts. Wolves were arguably the better side in the first half and showed signs of promise in the second, but two ruthless moments from Liverpool – a towering header from Ibrahima Konate and a penalty from Mohamed Salah – proved decisive.
It was by no means a perfect performance from Wanderers but they went toe-to-toe with Liverpool for large stretches of the encounter and could’ve gained a point on another day. Even Reds boss Arne Slot was impressed by the tactical nous shown by Wolves, namely O’Neil’s decision to overload the right flank.
“One point from six games, you’d expect a boo or cries for the manager to be sacked. But what you see instead is the fans staying behind to clap the team. They show a great understanding of the situation at the football club,” O’Neil said during the post-match press conference.
“We’ve just gone out and shown everyone what we are — as good as we can be for as much of the game as possible. I can only hold the players accountable for what they give and I think they gave absolutely everything.
“They’ve suffered a lot over these last six games but they’ve been ready to go again – and we will be next week at Brentford. If people think there’s a hangover and we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, we’re not, we’re ready to go.”
Looking at the bigger picture, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Wolves have struggled to get many points on the board as they’ve endured one of the toughest opening runs of fixtures in Premier League history. They’ve also suffered several injuries, notably the season-ending ACL rupture for Yerson Mosquera.
Had just one win been earned, Wolves’ efforts and the positive impressions they’ve left in nearly every fixture would probably be looked at through a very different lens. Yes, it’s a results game and O’Neil recognises that, but the outlook should improve a great deal once the fixture list improves.
Once thing’s for sure, the fans are playing their unyielding part – and commendably so.
