‘Gary O’Neil to be sacked after incredible Wolves decisions’
Gary O’Neil will be sacked before he can benefit from any evening up of the “incredible” officiating decisions against Wolves, Tim Sherwood has claimed.
The 41-year-old is under huge pressure at Molineux following a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Monday (9 December) that left the club in the relegation zone.
It is understood that other candidates have already turned down the chance to take over from the former Bournemouth boss at the Midlands club.
As a result, there is an expectation that O’Neil will leave Wolves sooner rather than later despite an acceptance that his side were unlucky with more refereeing decisions in that loss to the Hammers.
Discussing that game on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, former Premier League referee Mike Dean admitted Jarrod Bowen’s winning goal in that match should not have stood due to a “clear foul” in the build-up.
That came when Konstantinos Mavropanos had pushed Santiago Bueno to the ground. However, while Dean suggested that Wolves should not have had a penalty in the game, the rest of the panel erupted in disagreement.
Commenting on a challenge from Emerson on Goncalo Guedes, Michael Dawson described the move as “blatant”, while Sherwood added “it’s a push”, with Kris Boyd calling it “terrible defending”.
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi has written a column backing O’Neil following that defeat, but former Tottenham and Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood is sceptical, as he added (1:01pm): “You know they talk about levelling it up over the season? It ain’t gonna do Gary O’Neil any good. It might get levelled up but it’ll be a new manager that’s reaping the rewards.
“It’s good that the board have come out and backed him now but I thought perhaps they should have backed him in the summer when they sold £200million of footballers and he’s got no defenders to pick now.
“So he’s up against it and the refereeing decisions against him, it’s been incredible.”
Gary O’Neil on borrowed time at Wolves
Football Insider Opinion
While Shi has backed O’Neil in public, no doubt to help avoid any extra distractions ahead of a huge game against Ipswich at the weekend, it is hard to imagine the 41-year-old will be there much longer.
When clubs are looking for managers as actively as Wolves appear to be, it is surely not going to take much more for them to make a change in the dugout.
Indeed, if things do not improve quickly, the Old Gold will be at serious risk of being cut adrift at the foot of the Premier League table.
That is something that they can ill afford given the cost of relegation from the top-flight especially in this day and age.
Changing the captaincy at Wolves following Mario Lemina’s outburst at full-time at West Ham could also put further scrutiny on O’Neil if that is a move that backfires.
As a result, unless something remarkable happens, it would not be a surprise if we do not see a managerial change at Molineux in the near future.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time against Ipswich the pressure has once again been ramped up a level on the Wolves boss.
In other news, Mathues Cunha has responded to a contract offer from Wolves.
For more Wolves news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.