Wolves manager Gary O’Neill says he understands his fans’ anger at him but defended his record at Molineux after the pressure mounted after the defeat to West Ham.
Wolves suffered a third consecutive defeat at the London Stadium to remain nine points above the drop zone and four more from safety.
Sky Sports News It was reported last week that Wolves have been conducting due diligence on a number of candidates in recent weeks as pressure mounts on O’Neill, who still believes he has the support of the hierarchy despite a poor run of form.
“The people above me are supportive,” said O’Neill, who joined the club in August 2023. Sky Sports after the game. “But, of course, the fans want their football club to be successful.
“I understand they are pointing the finger at me and it is my team and I have to take responsibility, but when I arrived at this football club they had only (41) points in the Premier League (last season).
“Since then, we’ve made £200 million from player sales. We’ve sold an awful lot of players, if you go back to Ruben Neves, Daniel Podens, Adama Traore, Diego Costa, Pedro Neto and them.
“And then we’re not going into that market right now, but we’re looking for others who are for the future that can help us now.
“As we see in the Premier League, it’s a ruthless league. The team is doing everything they can to get up to speed. But I’m really proud of them.
“I know we have only nine points and we are in a difficult position in the league, but they are giving everything. So I hope the fans are still proud of the players, even though they hate the position we are in. They won : “Hate it more than me, I’m on their side whether they know it or not.
“We’re not going to give up and we’re going to keep pushing. We’ve got a big game coming up against Ipswich. And hopefully, little by little, the bits of the officials will go our way.”
Butter. O’Neill does not hold them back. I don’t see a better manager
Mario Lemina was hauled off at full-time after a brawl
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher believes O’Neill is not the root of Wolves’ problem and that the new manager will not reignite Molineux’s problems for the rest of the season.
Carragher was also sympathetic to O’Neill’s argument that he was dealing with a less experienced squad that had sold many key players to bigger clubs.
“It’s a group of players that we felt would be in and around this position right now,” Carragher said. There is a difference of 4 points.
“You look at the three promoted teams and the three promoted teams struggled last season and you think it might be difficult for Southampton this season, maybe even Ipswich, but Leicester have made a change and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored four points The last two games will be on the minds of the Wolves hierarchy, no doubt.
“I don’t see a change of manager rejuvenating this whole team or Gary O’Neill holding the team back and they need to achieve more. I don’t really see it.
“There are definitely areas where O’Neill will think they need to be better. I think what he did last season and what he’s doing now, if you look at it as a body of work over the last 18 months, I think. he has done a good job for Wolves.
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Things heated up after the full-time whistle between Jarrod Bowen and Mario Lemina
“Where they are now, I think most people were afraid last season. I don’t think a manager holding back a group should do more than they are doing.”
O’Neill. We should have had two penalties and ‘mad’ that West Ham’s winner stood up.
O’Neill took another swipe at VAR, claiming West Ham’s winner through Jarrod Bowen should not have stood up for a “blatant” foul on Santi Bueno.
With Wolves defending a free-kick, Dinos Mavropanos challenged Bueno in the air when the home referee disallowed a foul.Eleven seconds later, Muhammed Kudus set up Bowen to slot home the winner.
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Jarrod Bowen scores with a stunning strike to restore West Ham’s lead
VAR insisted it could not go back and penalize Bueno because it was a new phase of the game, even though there were only 11 seconds between the alleged foul and Bowen’s shot crossing the line.
“It’s crazy,” O’Neill said. “Santi Bueno is going to head the ball away, so it doesn’t matter (that VAR said it’s a new phase of play) because we would have cleared the ball.
“It’s a clear foul on Santi Bueno and there’s no way it’s going to be another round. 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 the wording of the rule can be interpreted differently. But it is a clear foul on Bueno seconds before the goal.”
In his press conference later, O’Neill insisted that Wolves should have been awarded two penalties in the second half. :
VAR decided not to penalize an alleged foul on Emerson, who had already received a yellow card on Goncalo Guedes.
“I understand how difficult it is for the officials, but you need some of it to go your way,” the Wolves boss added.
“I don’t think Guedes is out of the box. I’m definitely going to review it and have an honest conversation with them (PGMOL).
“It’s probably not clear and obvious (to Bellegard), but he tripped twice, I think the umpire should give it like the first one.
Later in the game, the VAR checked Dinos Mavropanos’ trip on Jean-Ricque Bellegarde, but again ruled out a penalty.
“I think Guedes… Emerson has also got a yellow card, so it will be a big turning point in the game.”
Wolves suffered further as the corner for West Ham’s first goal was clearly cleared by Hammers defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, so it shouldn’t count either.
“A lot of things went against us,” O’Neill said.
