Wolves sack manager Gary O?Neil after four straight EPL defeats

Gary O’Neil has reportedly been dismissed as head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers following a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats. The decision comes after Wolves suffered a 2-1 home loss to Ipswich Town on Saturday, leaving the club second from bottom with just nine points from 16 matches.

Emotions ran high after the Ipswich defeat, with Rayan Ait-Nouri receiving a second yellow card at full-time, and Matheus Cunha needing to be restrained. O’Neil, 41, took over as head coach in August 2023 after the departure of Julen Lopetegui. Despite guiding Wolves to a 14th-place finish in his first season, the club’s current struggles have placed them in a relegation battle.

The former Bournemouth manager signed a new four-year deal with Wolves in August this year, but the poor form has reportedly prompted the club to act.

Frustrations have been mounting, as seen in Monday’s defeat to West Ham, where Mario Lemina clashed with Jarrod Bowen after the final whistle. The incident led to Lemina being stripped of the captaincy.

Wolves’ most recent loss against Ipswich was sealed by Jack Taylor’s stoppage-time header after Wolves had initially taken the lead through an own goal by Matt Doherty. Following the match, O’Neil expressed frustration with his squad’s lack of discipline and accountability.

“We deal with things like that very, very seriously, as you saw last week,” O’Neil said, referring to Lemina’s incident. It’s annoying in that we’ve got enough to do at this moment in time, we’ve got enough to fix without me having to spend time on things that go on off the pitch. So the players do need to take some responsibility. But I’ll help them with all of it so we get back to work on Monday morning.”

Despite O’Neil’s efforts to instill accountability, Wolves’ dire situation appears to have forced the club to make a managerial change as they fight to retain their Premier League status.