Wolves fans will have ‘done a full 180’ on Gary O’Neil

Highlights

• Gary O’Neil has done a sensational job at Wolves and has led the team to ninth place in the Premier League.
• Despite challenges in the transfer window, O’Neil has managed to get positive results from his players.
• Journalist Dean Jones believes that fans have done a ‘full 180’ on O’Neil and his tactical thinking has earned him respect from supporters.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neil’s appointment just a few days before the beginning of the season may have raised a few eyebrows among the fanbase, but journalist Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT that some supporters will have done a ‘full 180’ with their opinion on the former Bournemouth boss.

The week before Wolves were set to begin their Premier League campaign against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the club announced that they had mutually agreed to allow Julen Lopetegui to depart. O’Neil was quickly announced as Wolves’ new manager, and the 40-year-old had just a matter of days to prepare his side for the opening fixture.

The Midlands outfit were defeated on the season’s first Monday Night Football fixture, but O’Neil has taken his side on a positive journey since then. The Wanderers currently find themselves sitting in ninth place in the Premier League table with a chance of securing European football ahead of the next campaign.

O’Neil has done a sensational job at Wolves

Not only did O’Neil have a handful of training sessions to implement his style before the beginning of the season, the summer transfer window was a difficult one for Wolves. The Midlands outfit generated around £140m in player sales, with key stars such as Ruben Neves, Matheus Nunes, and Conor Coady all heading through the exit door.

It was a tricky start to life at Molineux for O’Neil, but over the last few months, he’s started to get a tune out of his players. Many Wolves supporters would have been expecting a relegation battle considering the uncertainty surrounding the club in the summer, but European football now seems more likely than the Wanderers plying their trade in the Championship next season.

Journalist Jones previously told GIVEMESPORT that O’Neil is growing with every game that he is in charge of Wolves, suggesting that he’s often discredited because of his name and reputation as a player. Some managers arrive at clubs with plenty of hype due to their playing experience and will fail to deliver.

In the January transfer window, Wolves allowed two strikers to depart, Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva, while failing to bring in a new centre-forward. Matheus Cunha has also recently been ruled out through injury, but O’Neil is still managing to pick up results.

Dean Jones – Wolves fan do ‘full 180’ on O’Neil

Jones has suggested that any Wolves supporter who was doubting O’Neil at the beginning of the campaign has probably now done a full 180 on their opinion. The journalist adds that he now has a new level of respect from supporters, suggesting that an appearance on Monday Night Football showcasing his tactical thinking helped him from a PR perspective. Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said…

“Any Wolves fan that was doubting Gary O’Neil has probably now done a full 180 on it and probably has a new level of respect. Sometimes it’s time that gives you that, sometimes it’s an appearance on Monday Night Football, as it might well have been the case with Gary O’Neil. I genuinely think the way that he spoke opened people’s eyes to the way that he saw the game and would have given him the benefit of the doubt for those who weren’t sure what his vision was. I think that actually worked. I genuinely think that was a really good moment in his season and great PR for what he was trying to achieve at Wolves.”

Wolves face fight to keep O’Neil

Wolves supporters will likely feel that they have a manager who is willing to get his head down regardless of what is happening behind the scenes. The board failed to provide him with a new striker, despite allowing two to depart, but that hasn’t stopped O’Neil from working hard to get results.

Wolves’ impressive performances this season could lead to clubs in the Premier League considering attempting to prise O’Neil away from Molineux. Journalist Jones previously told GIVEMESPORT that he wouldn’t be surprised if West Ham United considered appointing the 40-year-old as a potential replacement for David Moyes.

Stats courtesy of the Premier League website