O’Neil, who signed a new, better four-year contract in August, was among the managers of the year the previous season. His performances were so good that they gave the club, led by the departing Lopetegui, reason to rally after a contentious preseason and briefly consider playing in Europe.
The fact that Wolves have only won one of their last fifteen league games may surprise many observers, but this season has started with some challenging opponents. Last month, Opta came to the conclusion that O’Neil will have the most difficult first ten games of any Premier League manager. He has lost his previous matches against Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Arsenal.
Following Liverpool’s visit, Wolves play a run of “winnable” games against Brentford, Crystal Palace, Southampton, and Fulham. MH: “Gary is certainly disappointed with the results and expects more, just like the rest of us. As a head coach, you might sometimes look at other teams and their spending, like the Villa team down the road, but he knows what we’re trying to do.
He is so aligned to Jeff and I, and what our plan is. I’ve been really impressed with his work ethic and his humility.
“The whole football club has to find ways of supporting Gary and his staff, to find that extra 15 per cent they’re looking for.
“There’s been individual mistakes and some stuff we would change, but we’ve played all the big teams and not been tactically outplayed.”
JS: “The nature of our jobs is to find a way to improve and do better in the next game. We are moving forward with the plan and everyone knows their roles.
“It’s not a time to be over-optimistic or negative. It’s a normal time, like in any season, and from our point of view this is all going to plan and we must not deviate.”
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