Premier League Wolves are keeping faith with manager Gary O’Neill despite his team’s winless start to the season and the fact they sit at the bottom of the table with just one point.
The club have parted ways with their set piece coach, Jack Wilson, after the club conceded set pieces in five of their seven games.
Currently, winless Wolves look a nailed-on certainty to lose their next couple of fixtures, taking on Manchester City and Brighton. Currently, Wolves are around 8/1 to beat last season’s champions according to most betting sites in the UK, while Gary O’Neill is the second favourite to be the next manager to be sacked at 7/2.
Having finished the 2023/2024 season in 14th place, Wolves fans and staff had hoped to push on this season. Working on a somewhat limited budget, they brought in just shy of £60 million of new players during the summer transfer window but saw highly rated winger Pedro Neto depart for Chelsea with Maximilian Kilman also heading out of the door, leaving for West Ham. In total, Wolves saw a net transfer income of more than £30 million.
And, after seven games, some observers might be questioning the club’s transfer policy as they sit at the bottom of the table with a single point which they picked up in a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest. They have had a very difficult run of games to start the campaign, however, taking on Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Liverpool, as well as high-flying neighbours Aston Villa.
Wolves’ most recent match was against mid-table Brentford. Following the 5-3 loss, manager Gary O’Neill described the match as the most disappointing of his tenure – a sentiment shared by the Wolves board. Sporting director Matt Hobbs said, following the match, everybody at the club expects more.
However, in a show of faith in O’Neill, who signed a new contract in the summer following his successful first campaign, Hobbs went on to say that the club is looking for ways to support the manager. He also recognised that the club have played most of the big teams in the division and haven’t been completely outclassed in any games yet.
Things won’t get any easier in the team’s next match, when they take on champions Manchester City, who currently sit in 2nd place, and then 6th placed Brighton. Following that, they do have an easier run of matches playing fellow strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton.
While the club are keeping faith in the manager, they have parted ways with set-piece coach Jack Wilson. Wilson was appointed in the summer, having previously worked with Manchester City. He was the club’s first dedicated set piece coach, but having conceded the most goals from set pieces in the league, and having only scored one in return, the manager and club collectively decided to let Wilson go.