Gary O’Neil

[Johnny5]

My conclusion is GON is too lazy to do well at this well. I can’t imagine he spends much time at the club, knowing he’s a temp. I’m sure he’s a lovely man with a good sense of humor in private but he ain’t cut out for this level. Honestly, also feeling uncomfortable with Hobbs.

The levels of nonsense are ramping up on here.

 

[kentish wolf]

It aint looking good .
Unfortunately We are always gonna struggle with Fosun as our owners.
GON is out of his depth imho
We are in for a long hard season and although am usually an optimist, if we somehow survive this campaign the lack of interest and investment by our owners means that next season will be another relegation scrap.
Answers on a postcard?
I doubt if Klopp or Pep could do much with this squad.
I'm sorry but imho we are a championship squad(with a few exceptions) and the bottom 6/7 seems acceptable to our owners.

Mr Shi Wolves fans deserve better.
.

 

[Wolf in the sun]

Played pretty well at Palace for 45 minutes - conceded 3.

Slapped against Brighton.

Played pretty well against Liverpool for 45 minutes - conceded 3.

Got slapped away at Everton for an hour.

Got slapped away at Luton for 70 minutes.

I’m negative about GON. I’m positive that someone else can lead this team and do a much better job.

Of course there is better but he is what we have got..there are signs..all im saying is give him a chance..hence my end of october comment..im anything but a happy clapper..i wanted zenga gone straight after his 2 2 with rotherham !

 

[Wolf in the sun]

Sorry you tell yourself the negative people shout the loudest, in reality you’re outnumbered 10-1! We are only 4 games away from the end of October, City villa Newcastle at home Bournemouth away. I’d like a new manager in to try win that Bournemouth game as I’ve every belief we will lose it under GON

But the temperature on here isnt what its like in the ground

 

[JadeWolf]

My conclusion is GON is too lazy to do well at this well. I can’t imagine he spends much time at the club, knowing he’s a temp. I’m sure he’s a lovely man with a good sense of humor in private but he ain’t cut out for this level. Honestly, also feeling uncomfortable with Hobbs.

What makes you think that? I’ve heard the opposite.

 

[maws]

But the temperature on here isnt what its like in the ground

I’ve never known apathy like it last week. The grounds emptying quicker and quicker, the atmosphere is ****. The celebration for Hwangs goal was tame compared to years gone by. I’d say it’s definitely down to the fact most people expect us to be **** second half,. Yet another second half goal conceded yesterday

 

[Woody]

To be fair, his goal yesterday did come from the right hand side. However I completely take your point and agree that he should be playing on the left where he can actually put a decent cross in.

Similarly, Sasa's goal at Everton came as a result of Neto's cross from the right. He can clearly switch effectively but generally we look so much more lively going forward with him on the left.
If only we had a striker on the pitch to get on the end of those crosses...

 

[MasWolf]

Similarly, Sasa's goal at Everton came as a result of Neto's cross from the right. He can clearly switch effectively but generally we look so much more lively going forward with him on the left.
If only we had a striker on the pitch to get on the end of those crosses...

You're right, but I still agree with your inference in your original post as I'd prefer Neto to be consistent by playing on the left rather than having him on the right for a flash of brilliance every now and again.

 

[Fifty Niner]

And, alarmingly, was yet again played on the right for the first 25 mins following a back-to-his-best performance in his natural, left sided position last time out.
I find this the most worrying of all of O'Neil's attempts at management yesterday.

Didn’t his goal come from the right flank?

 

[Woody]

Didn’t his goal come from the right flank?

Yes, as did the goal at Everton as I stated earlier, but the first was with a striker on the pitch who could convert a cross and yesterday's was a brilliant individual goal that could have been picked up anywhere.
On the left he tore Liverpool a new one in the first half last week and he always looks more comfortable and effective there.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Everybody knows O’Neil won’t last the season, so why are we dragging it out?

The man is so far out of his depth and is soon going to have a very toxic atmosphere to deal with too.

Problem is Hobbs and Fosun will wait until it’s too late, earliest they’ll relieve him of his duties is late November I’d wager. Meaning we’ll likely be bottom at Christmas for a second season in a row. We ain’t getting away with that again.

So ****ed off with the ineptitude of the senior figures at the club.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Play with a back 3 we might look so much more comfortable

It’s a system many of the players understand

No brainer

Oneil must realise this

 

[TFWanderers]

I honestly think Big Sam would do more with this squad and that’s saying something.

He’d play a target man for a start. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Sasa is still not fit to start a game.

 

[clivewolves]

We might have to wait for another book by Johnny Phillips and Paul Berry in 20 years time but I do wonder which other coaches Hobbs spoke to before appointing O'Neil.

 

[TFWanderers]

Everybody knows O’Neil won’t last the season, so why are we dragging it out?

The man is so far out of his depth and is soon going to have a very toxic atmosphere to deal with too.

Problem is Hobbs and Fosun will wait until it’s too late, earliest they’ll relieve him of his duties is late November I’d wager. Meaning we’ll likely be bottom at Christmas for a second season in a row. We ain’t getting away with that again.

So ****ed off with the ineptitude of the senior figures at the club.

If he’s not going to last the season, clubs usually pull the trigger end of October / early November.

If we look at the league games coming up….

30th September - Man City H
8th October - Villa H
21st October - Bournemouth A
28th October- Newcastle H
4th November - Sheff U A

I can’t see us getting many points out of those as it stands.

 

[sillytuna]

We might have to wait for another book by Johnny Phillips and Paul Berry in 20 years time but I do wonder which other coaches Hobbs spoke to before appointing O'Neil.

I've said many times now that my cat could do a better job.

I'm gonna polish up her CV later today. She caught my hand twice today and I have the scars to show she's a battler. Fights with the older cats and doesn't give in.

Her post match interviews would make more sense than GON too.

 

[sillytuna]

If he’s not going to last the season, clubs usually pull the trigger end of October / early November.

If we look at the league games coming up….

30th September - Man City H
8th October - Villa H
21st October - Bournemouth A
28th October- Newcastle H
4th November - Sheff U A

I can’t see us getting many points out of those as it stands.

He'll be fired after Villa short of some miracle results.

And there goes our future manager, aka my insane cat Ruby, attacking our other cat again for being lazy...

I tell you, she'll sort our lot out!

 

[TFWanderers]

The big problem we have is attracting anyone slightly decent. All the stuff that went on this summer, who in their right mind would take the job.

 

[TheConcourse]

If he’s not going to last the season, clubs usually pull the trigger end of October / early November.

If we look at the league games coming up….

30th September - Man City H
8th October - Villa H
21st October - Bournemouth A
28th October- Newcastle H
4th November - Sheff U A

I can’t see us getting many points out of those as it stands.

Me neither, and we simply can’t afford to spunk 5 games on validating what we already know.

I want him gone now, but will give him until Villa at home. Lose that and he won’t have just lost the confidence of the fans, he’ll be experiencing toxicity at a level that he’s never experienced as a manager.

Yes. This is on Hobbs. A ridiculous decision.

But Jeff Shi is getting away with murder atm. I can’t believe the lack of vocal attention that’s being directed his way.

 

[Mutchy]

They are happy clappers meaning they were against him before appointed, but now he is here like fosun and Jeff he must be defended when there is only paper thin ways to do so and “your a bad fan” “spineless” or “disrespectful” for saying the truth.

It is so funny

Its pretty much the same as you repeatedly resorting to 'you know nothing about football' isnt it.

 

[TFWanderers]

Me neither, and we simply can’t afford to spunk 5 games on validating what we already know.

I want him gone now, but will give him until Villa at home. Lose that and he won’t have just lost the confidence of the fans, he’ll be experiencing toxicity at a level that he’s never experienced as a manager.

Yes. This is on Hobbs. A ridiculous decision.

But Jeff Shi is getting away with murder atm. I can’t believe the lack of vocal attention that’s being directed his way.

100% regarding Shi.

Has our fanbase mellowed over the years or is he being cut slack due to what he / Fosun have achieved here.

If it was Jez and Steve they’d have already known about it.

 

[John Wolves Fan]

Me neither, and we simply can’t afford to spunk 5 games on validating what we already know.

I want him gone now, but will give him until Villa at home. Lose that and he won’t have just lost the confidence of the fans, he’ll be experiencing toxicity at a level that he’s never experienced as a manager.

Yes. This is on Hobbs. A ridiculous decision.

But Jeff Shi is getting away with murder atm. I can’t believe the lack of vocal attention that’s being directed his way.

I think we have to be more realistic where we are in the food chain at the moment.

The expectations are not realistic and he should be given time.

 

[wolfslair]

Its pretty much the same as you repeatedly resorting to 'you know nothing about football' isnt it.

Ah, good morning hahaha

Not quite though is it Mutchy…. As they were against it before and the party line is no matter how bad he is and is showing, he is the manager so shouldn’t be criticised and to do so makes you a bad fan…..

Said it most 10 times out of my thousands of posts, but a few times the last few days, too people making arguements that make no sense and show a lack of football knowledge as their defence is that it is always someone else’s fault that said person is making the same mistakes or in one persons case cannot understand the basics of why taking a specialist central player off to put a smaller and weaker wide man there and labelled my idea stupidity when their argument Cleary showed they did know nothing about forward play or the wider and important role beyond goal scoring a specialist central player brings.

 

[TheConcourse]

100% regarding Shi.

Has our fanbase mellowed over the years or is he being cut slack due to what he / Fosun have achieved here.

If it was Jez and Steve they’d have already known about it.

I think so. When the chips are down they’ve historically pulled something out of the bag to placate fans.

The latest being Lop, the January signings etc.

Then GON rocked up, it’s doom and gloom, we look turgid. Perhaps they’ll see fan sentiment turn and find a magic money tree again, or at least get creative when negotiating deals.

Overriding feeling is that I can’t remember a more apathetic feeling amongst Wolves fans. No anger, really. No emotion. Just nothing.

I think we have to be more realistic where we are in the food chain at the moment.

The expectations are not realistic and he should be given time.

When they wipe £150m+ off their annual revenue we can revisit this, because that’s where it’s heading.

Perhaps they, you and any other fan whose expectations have dropped so low should start revisiting their approach?

Never seen such defeatist, white-flag waving. We have a good, competitive squad with lots of variety.

 

[Wolf316]

I think we have to be more realistic where we are in the food chain at the moment.

The expectations are not realistic and he should be given time.

We’re an established premier league team and it’ll only take a bit of backing from Fosun to attract someone of a decent calibre rather than the novice we’ve got now.

 

[John Wolves Fan]

We’re an established premier league team and it’ll only take a bit of backing from Fosun to attract someone of a decent calibre rather than the novice we’ve got now.

But if we show that we don't give managers a sensible chance to prove themselves maybe the calibre of manager we want will be reduced.

Surely any manager is going to expect at a minimum to be given a sensible period of time to make an impact.

 

[Golden Arrow]

I’ve never known apathy like it last week. The grounds emptying quicker and quicker, the atmosphere is ****. The celebration for Hwangs goal was tame compared to years gone by. I’d say it’s definitely down to the fact most people expect us to be **** second half,. Yet another second half goal conceded yesterday

In fairness being down to ten, we spent most of the secold half defending and it was only a matter of time before they scored, albeit in this case through a questionable penalty.

 

[TFWanderers]

The consensus I got from the fans I spoke to at the game yesterday was……

The players looked scared / rattled by Luton.

We have no outlet when the ball gets sent up. It ends straight back with the opposition.

GON in game management is shocking.

GON is incredibly negative tactically.

Some said bring back Nuno - you’re always going to get this, not sure I agree.

What’s his issue with Sasa.

Killman is not a captain, why did they not go with Dawson.

The squad seems to devoid of leaders, talkers.

A lot of these can be cured by a change in manager, an experienced manager. They can also be cured by GON being more positive and using all players he has at his disposal.

The problem we have is we had a good experienced manager, he walked out for a reason. If they went for someone like Potter, he’d want the same assurances JL wanted and they have shown they say one thing and do another.

It’s incredibly concerning a lot already feel the writing is on the wall. I heard some say can’t wait to go down, we need to reset.

Do you honestly think we’d reset and walk it straight back.

I really don’t at all.

We have to stay in this league at all costs but currently, with some of our recent performances, Palace, Luton, Liverpool second half, it will not happen with this manager.

 

[Stourwolf]

I think we have to be more realistic where we are in the food chain at the moment.

The expectations are not realistic and he should be given time.

I think we can expect better than being outplayed/outfought by Luton.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

In the managerial bingo stakes we’ve had the players wheeled out to tell us how much they’re enjoying and it’s their fault not the managers. The next one will be probably Hobbs, possibly Shi talking about how they can see things going in the right direction and that other than the Liverpool result we’ve replicated last year’s results (Luton replace Bournemouth or Forest) etc etc. I then expect O’Neil to do an interview probably with Keen (so not taxing) explaining his philosophy blah, blah.

Eventually the powers that be will realise what the fans know, he’s so far out of his depth he can’t see the surface, he’s so tactically inept that he would be out thought by the Dog and Duck’s 2nd XI manager and we will be relegated if he’s left in charge. Like Lage he might be a good no 2(some would say he’s demonstrating that every day) but he’s not a head coach. I would get rid now but I think they’ll wait till the next break. A replacement - they’ll probably go for Edwards but I would try for a Gallardo or Svensson or even the manager at Fiorentina, Italiano (massive long shot).

 

[The Wolf In The North]

I think we have to be more realistic where we are in the food chain at the moment.

The expectations are not realistic and he should be given time.

Not looking to pick on you specifically, John, so I apologise in advance, but this is as good a juncture as any to ask the question.

There are variations on this view scattered throughout the forum, that fans should get behind the manager, give him time, to accept the reality of our situation. And it's true in the sense that O'Neil is going nowhere; the club aren't going to give him a long contract and then fire him after six games, or ten games, or twelve, they just aren't, so it's pointless in a way to even discuss it. But do you, or anyone else following the same train of thought, truly believe that he's the right person for the job? Or is it just a case of "That's how it is, deal with it"? Because that kind of thinking only really ends one way, sadly. Is anyone truly convinced that O'Neil will find his feet, improve, discover a successful system, start racking up the points? I don't, personally.

I think O'Neil is the kind of manager who looks at the Luton game and says it's a point gained rather than two lost, and unfortunately, that kind of attitude only ends one way as well. I fully agree that high expectations typically end in disappointment, and who needs that kind of stress, but there comes a time when your expectations sink so low that you accept everything. The club are charging an absolute fortune for fans to diligently turn up to endure sub-standard fare, where games against Man City are written off without a blink, where a point against Luton is precious, where scoring more than one goal in a game is considered progress, where selling £150m worth of players in a single summer is quietly applauded for its financial prudence, even though it cost us a proper manager and back room team.

Fosun have landed us in an abominable mess here. Gary O'Neil is not a Premier League manager, and the longer he's "given time" then the more likely it is that we won't be a Premier League club, and that's the reality we're being asked to accept - so I'm not surprised there are so many dissenting voices.

 

[John Wolves Fan]

Not looking to pick on you specifically, John, so I apologise in advance, but this is as good a juncture as any to ask the question.

There are variations on this view scattered throughout the forum, that fans should get behind the manager, give him time, to accept the reality of our situation. And it's true in the sense that O'Neil is going nowhere; the club aren't going to give him a long contract and then fire him after six games, or ten games, or twelve, they just aren't, so it's pointless in a way to even discuss it. But do you, or anyone else following the same train of thought, truly believe that he's the right person for the job? Or is it just a case of "That's how it is, deal with it"? Because that kind of thinking only really ends one way, sadly. Is anyone truly convinced that O'Neil will find his feet, improve, discover a successful system, start racking up the points? I don't, personally.

No problem and you make some good points.

I would say at the moment we don't know for definite if GON is the right man for the job or the wrong man for the job.

So I believe the only way to find out is to give him a fair chance and then we'll know for sure. 6 games in with the teams we've played is too soon.

 

[Wolf316]

No problem and you make some good points.

I would say at the moment we don't know for definite if GON is the right man for the job or the wrong man for the job.

So I believe the only way to find out is to give him a fair chance and then we'll know for sure. 6 games in with the teams we've played is too soon.

How long do we give him then?

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

We have to stay in this league at all costs but currently, with some of our recent performances, Palace, Luton, Liverpool second half, it will not happen with this manager.

If we go down we’re down for years.

Not many of these players will cut the mustard in the Championship (ironically tougher than the PL in many ways), and all the best players could well be sold: Neto, Sa, Kilman, Gomes, maybe Lemina

I can’t picture us unearthing another Neves and Jota willing to come to the Championship, we’ve struggled to attract the same in the PL. Let alone a Boly, or even Bonatini’s goals up until December.

Any meaningful reset needs to happen in the PL next summer. We’re going to have to limp over the line this season, somehow. I just can’t see that happening with O’Neil in charge.

 

[Fifty Niner]

How long do we give him then?

It will be Christmas at least. Personally, I think they might even sign players in January to help him out rather than sack him.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

It will be Christmas at least. Personally, I think they might even sign players in January to help him out rather than sack him.

Hobbs already said we have money left over for January

Let’s hope January isn’t too late.

 

[John Wolves Fan]

How long do we give him then?

It will depend on results won't it.

But personally I'd like to see him maybe given to about Xmas at a minimum and if we're seeing no signs of improvement and we're in the relegation mix then review our options.

However, if we lose x number of matches in a row the pressure will obviously build.

 

[Contrarian]

They didn't "get rid of JL".

Lopetegui saw the writing on the wall with our transfer policy after his lobbying through Balague didn't cause Fosun to blink and quit of his own accord after the Celtic friendly at the end of July. He agreed to remain for the final friendlies while a successor was worked on.

Also, Lopetegui was not sacked due to poor results. That puts O'Neil in a better position than many managerial appointments. Following on from a manager whose turned a team around and has them on the up. Shame he's wrecked it all.

 

[Contrarian]

It aint looking good .
Unfortunately We are always gonna struggle with Fosun as our owners.
GON is out of his depth imho
We are in for a long hard season and although am usually an optimist, if we somehow survive this campaign the lack of interest and investment by our owners means that next season will be another relegation scrap.
Answers on a postcard?
I doubt if Klopp or Pep could do much with this squad.
I'm sorry but imho we are a championship squad(with a few exceptions) and the bottom 6/7 seems acceptable to our owners.

Mr Shi Wolves fans deserve better.
.

Fosun deserve better, too! Do they not care about their investment?

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

If he’s not going to last the season, clubs usually pull the trigger end of October / early November.

If we look at the league games coming up….

30th September - Man City H
8th October - Villa H
21st October - Bournemouth A
28th October- Newcastle H
4th November - Sheff U A

I can’t see us getting many points out of those as it stands.

Big Sam or Warnock to fire the lads up. Their experience alone would prepare us to win points