fb899 Gary O'Neil Sacked: Wolves Axe Head Coach After Ipswich Defeat

Gary O'Neil looks on during Saturday's defeat to Ipswich Town Gary O'Neil looks on during Saturday's defeat to Ipswich Town

Wolves have sacked head coach Gary O'Neil in the wake of Saturday's 2-1 Premier League defeat to fellow relegation candidates Ipswich Town. (More Football News)

Saturday's loss – Wolves' fourth in a row – came courtesy of a 94th-minute header from Jack Taylor and left them 19th in the table, four points adrift of 17th-placed Crystal Palace.

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The result followed on from losses to Bournemouth (2-4), Everton (0-4) and West Ham (1-2), with travelling supporters calling for O'Neil's dismissal after Wolves were trounced at Goodison Park in early December.

Wolves have endured a dismal start to the season, taking just nine points from 16 matches. They have conceded 40 goals across those games, shipping two or more on 13 occasions this campaign.

Last week, reports suggested Wolves had considered Graham Potter, David Moyes and Sergio Conceicaco as potential replacements during the November international break, only for chairman Jeff Shi to come out in support of O'Neil on Thursday.

However, Saturday's damaging defeat, which O'Neil blamed on individual errors from his players during post-match media duties, left the coach's position untenable. 

Wolves' last two defeats have also been marred by chaotic scenes after the full-time whistle. Mario Lemina was stripped of the captaincy following a scuffle in the wake of Monday's 2-1 loss at West Ham, while Rayan Ait-Nouri was shown a second yellow card when similar scenes followed the Ipswich game.

Wolves confirmed O'Neil's departure, and that of his entire backroom staff, in a short press release on Sunday, in which Shi said: "We're very grateful to Gary for all of his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future."

We have parted company with head coach Gary O’Neil and his backroom staff.We thank them for all of their effort and hard work over the last 16 months. 

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India then beat Korea 3-1 before eking out a narrow 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan.

— Wolves (@Wolves) December 15, 2024

Wolves will now hope to have O'Neil's successor in place ahead of a huge trip to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City, also candidates for relegation, next Sunday.

O'Neil took charge of Wolves in August 2023 after Julen Lopetegui resigned, citing frustrations with the club's recruitment policy.

After a slow start to his reign, O'Neil had Wolves in contention for a European spot midway through 2023-24, overseeing eye-catching victories over Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea – the latter duo being beaten both home and away.

However, a galling FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Coventry City in March proved the turning point in his tenure. 

Following that 3-2 defeat, O'Neil's Wolves won just three of their 26 Premier League games, drawing five and losing 18. They scored 32 goals in that spell but conceded 61, while only managing a single clean sheet – against Southampton in November.

Prior to the Coventry lossfb899, O'Neil had overseen 28 league games in charge of Wolves, winning 12, drawing five and losing 11. His win ratio dropped from 42.9% before that match to 11.5% after it.