EPL: Wolves fires coach Gary O’Neil following four-game losing streak

Wolverhampton Wanderers have parted ways with manager Gary O’Neil following a dismal run of four consecutive Premier League defeats.

The decision was announced on Sunday, leaving the club in a precarious position in the league.

Wolves currently sit second from bottom in the Premier League table with just nine points from 16 matches.

Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to relegation rivals Ipswich Town marked the latest blow in a challenging campaign, prompting the club to make the managerial change in hopes of a turnaround.

“Wolves have parted company with head coach Gary O’Neil and his backroom staff,” the club said in a statement.

“O’Neil arrived at Molineux just three days before the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, taking on a significant challenge and ultimately guiding the Old Gold to a successful campaign.”

Chairman Jeff 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.”

Emotions spilled over at full-time on Saturday as Rayan Ait-Nouri was shown a second yellow card and Matheus Cunha also had to be restrained.

O’Neil, 41, was appointed in August 2023 following the departure of Julen Lopetegui and signed a new four-year deal with the club in August this year.

Wolves finished 14th in his first season at the club but have found themselves in a relegation scrap during the current campaign.

Frustrations also boiled over in Monday’s defeat to West Ham when Mario Lemina scuffled with Jarrod Bowen after the full-time whistle, resulting in the Wolves midfielder being stripped of the captaincy.

Wanderers were then beaten by Jack Taylor’s stoppage-time header on Saturday and following the full-time scuffles, O’Neil said his players needed to “take some responsibility”.

“We deal with things like that very, very seriously, as you saw last week,” O’Neil said.

“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.”