An apology to Gary O'Neil

[goldeneyed]

I know its very early days and its only one match in but have to say that I was very wrong on my knee- jerk response to O'Neil's appointment and all the negatives that were pointed out. It is true that the team's excellent physical and mental conditioning is down to Loptegui and his coaching team. That should not be forgotten. But O'Neil seems to have been highly intelligent in the way he has gone about things from the beginning and in 4 days made a few key adjustments and suggestions while keeping the team in the general flow they were in post the Rennes performance. He got it absolutely right when subbing Sarabia although arguably that might have been done a bit earlier. I will be very surprised if he does not replace Sarabia with Silva vs Brighton especially as we are at home and the onus is on us to attack. I can understand why he included Sarabia in an away match at Man U but clearly Cunha needs a striker up front to play off and we are all praying Silva and perhaps ultimately Sasa can perform that role between them.

What I particularly liked was the positive mindset - minimising the passing back or sideways and taking risks. Obviously that can backfire at times but it is what the vast majority of Wolves fans have been crying out for over three disappointing years. Also I was very impressed with the way O'Neil handled the media interviews, very measured, humble, diplomatic and showing clear football nous and intelligence in his responses. I can now see why Hobbs was impressed. It was all so desperately disappointing and unjust but he has shown that he will be a steady hand on the tiller and represent the club honourably when dealing with the media etc. So well done.

He knows he has a good if rather thin squad. For me Lemina in particular, Semedo and Cunha were absolutely outstanding. Only Sarabia and the erratic Sa looked under par. The rest of the team played absolutely brilliantly and made us all so proud despite the crooked VAR non-decision at the end. The fact is we wiped them off the park and should have scored at least three goals.Certainly there is top 10 potential there as long as we don't get too many injuries. If Shi has any intelligence at all he will not sell any of our squad now bar Podence and Jonny. He also must find the money for a back up quality CB. That is all we really need for now as long as injuries don't hit too hard. Forget idiotic Cresswell or Antonio signings. Encourage the youthful exuberance that is in this team. Also I still have hopes that the Guedes situation can be turned round which would add a potentially very good attacker to the squad without paying a penny more.

I think O'Neil is right that they just have to keep creating chances in and around the penalty box and the goals will begin to come. But we do need a ruthless striker in there and Fabio, in particular, now has a wonderful chance to show he is the man. Sasa wil get fitter and fitter hopefully and add another dimension (no pun intended). Brighton will be a tricky one next Saturday as they are a bit of a bogey team and playing well. But much encouraged for now if the team can keep playing in this vein. If they do, the support from the fans will be overwhelming after years of frustration. So good luck Gary you have made a great start. Trust your instincts going forward and the footballing gods will eventually respond and the victories will come.

 

[Perton Wolf]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

 

[goldeneyed]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

Agreed but he has made a very good first impression. That is all. I think its important to praise when praise is due after the flood of understandable negativity following the Loptegui debacle. This is Wolves - it could still go tits up!

 

[Perton Wolf]

Agreed but he has made a very good first impression. That is all.

He talks well, no doubt. Time will tell though as to his abilities as a coach, have to feel like the foundations for last night's performance were built by Lop, as showed by how we played Vs Rennes too.

 

[wolvesaywe]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

You know if we'd lost by 3 last night he'd have got absolute pelters

 

[Perton Wolf]

You know if we'd lost by 3 last night he'd have got absolute pelters

How? It's Man United away and he only walked into the job a few days ago....

 

[WickedWolfie]

Agreed but he has made a very good first impression. That is all. I think its important to praise when praise is due after the flood of understandable negativity following the Loptegui debacle.

It was certainly a promising start. What will be interesting is what happens as he takes more decisions himself rather than, as he admits, following plans already in train.

 

[wolvesaywe]

How? It's Man United away and he only walked into the job a few days ago....

Because a lot of folk had preconceived ideas and forecast he'll be gone by Christmas

 

[SuperGran]

It was certainly a promising start. What will be interesting is what happens as he takes more decisions himself rather than, as he admits, following plans already in train.

He took three training sessions prior to Man Utd
Picked the team
Made the subs

 

[maws]

I’m totally happy if he proves me wrong, I want Wolves to do well. I will temper it with, remember Lages first 3 games

But I was singing Gary O’Neill barmy army last night, I will always support the team

 

[Wolf 82]

Keep the lads together mentally and gently work in the right areas and we might have a team on our hands.

I am most excited about the quick attack.. needs some better runs in front of the ball carrier, but it’s such a nice change from slowly working the ball wide and getting it into a box for a non-existent Centre forward. We’ve been dire attacking in recent years.. we have the players to quickly turn defence into attack and we must continue to do that.

I think his largest task is a psychological one.. all these players just need a little confidence boost in the final third, which understandably has been lacking from a few bad years in front of goal.. get that right and we will have a fun year.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

I know its very early days and its only one match in but have to say that I was very wrong on my knee- jerk response to O'Neil's appointment and all the negatives that were pointed out. It is true that the team's excellent physical and mental conditioning is down to Loptegui and his coaching team. That should not be forgotten. But O'Neil seems to have been highly intelligent in the way he has gone about things from the beginning and in 4 days made a few key adjustments and suggestions while keeping the team in the general flow they were in post the Rennes performance. He got it absolutely right when subbing Sarabia although arguably that might have been done a bit earlier. I will be very surprised if he does not replace Sarabia with Silva vs Brighton especially as we are at home and the onus is on us to attack. I can understand why he included Sarabia in an away match at Man U but clearly Cunha needs a striker up front to play off and we are all praying Silva and perhaps ultimately Sasa can perform that role between them.

What I particularly liked was the positive mindset - minimising the passing back or sideways and taking risks. Obviously that can backfire at times but it is what the vast majority of Wolves fans have been crying out for over three disappointing years. Also I was very impressed with the way O'Neil handled the media interviews, very measured, humble, diplomatic and showing clear football nous and intelligence in his responses. I can now see why Hobbs was impressed. It was all so desperately disappointing and unjust but he has shown that he will be a steady hand on the tiller and represent the club honourably when dealing with the media etc. So well done.

He knows he has a good if rather thin squad. For me Lemina in particular, Semedo and Cunha were absolutely outstanding. Only Sarabia and the erratic Sa looked under par. The rest of the team played absolutely brilliantly and made us all so proud despite the crooked VAR non-decision at the end. The fact is we wiped them off the park and should have scored at least three goals.Certainly there is top 10 potential there as long as we don't get too many injuries. If Shi has any intelligence at all he will not sell any of our squad now bar Podence and Jonny. He also must find the money for a back up quality CB. That is all we really need for now as long as injuries don't hit too hard. Forget idiotic Cresswell or Antonio signings. Encourage the youthful exuberance that is in this team. Also I still have hopes that the Guedes situation can be turned round which would add a potentially very good attacker to the squad without paying a penny more.

I think O'Neil is right that they just have to keep creating chances in and around the penalty box and the goals will begin to come. But we do need a ruthless striker in there and Fabio, in particular, now has a wonderful chance to show he is the man. Sasa wil get fitter and fitter hopefully and add another dimension (no pun intended). Brighton will be a tricky one next Saturday as they are a bit of a bogey team and playing well. But much encouraged for now if the team can keep playing in this vein. If they do, the support from the fans will be overwhelming after years of frustration. So good luck Gary you have made a great start. Trust your instincts going forward and the footballing gods will eventually respond and the victories will come.

Well said.

Early days, and he’s clearly building on some excellent pre season work done by JL, but can’t fault how he set us up and managed the game last night. His interviews were also very good.

 

[Contrarian]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

Also, after 10 games, we will be seeing the effects of his own management style, rather than JL's, which must be dominant at the moment.

 

[Big Mack]

Can he sort out the throw ins please. Can't keep waiting all day for someone to show.

Needless booking last night.

Slight joke aside, he's done ok.

 

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

It was certainly a promising start. What will be interesting is what happens as he takes more decisions himself rather than, as he admits, following plans already in train.

Surely part of being a good manager is realising when something is working and not changing it for ego or changes sake. He may have ideas of his own but if we carry on playing that way and add the dimension of goals then why change anything, even if you weren’t the one to think of it

 

[goldeneyed]

Surely part of being a good manager is realising when something is working and not changing it for ego or changes sake. He may have ideas of his own but if we carry on playing that way and add the dimension of goals then why change anything, even if you weren’t the one to think of it

Agreed. He may want to make a few adjustments here and there but no more needed if they keep playing like this. Fabio up front is the obvious move for now replacing Sarabia. Otherwise leave well alone! Perhaps just press for a decent CB back up with Shi.

 

[Axle]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

This.

The league tables didn't used to be published much before three games in the past.

Yes it is different now, but we need a sample size that allows proper interrogation of the performances AND the results.

Yes it is positive, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still have the age old problem of not putting it in the onion bag.

 

[wolfgar]

I was pretty angry last week and quite underwhelmed by his appointment, but a young and hungry manager with these young and talented players could well work for us. We need to keep this group together and fetch him a couple of decent players, loans, frees whatever. The last away game was that Arsenal debacle under Lopetegui where we were an embarrassment, so clearly the sales/departures haven't weakened us that much on the pitch. Infact we looked levels above last night. No sales of any of those in the matchday squad last night and add a bit of depth please. Lets give O'Neil the best platform possible.

 

[JamesWolves]

I'll give it 5-10 games before I make any judgement on him, the only thing I will say, his interview last night was very good

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Still needs to be judged after 5-10 games.

Although I suspect we’ll have a clearer picture on what he’s about after 3.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Impossible to know how much was him and how much was lopetegui

 

[Beijing Wolf]

My biggest worry was how the players would respond to Julen going.

However last night they looked highly motivated and full of confidence. Well done Gary!

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

One game, come on?

 

[Hot Fuss]

One thing that was obvious last night is the concerns some folks had about players not playing for him or “getting straight on the phone to their agent” were wrong.

 

[oldgoldheart]

I will wait a bit but i liked his post match interview. Our away support was magnificent and stayed behind. They can really help him/the team. Nothing at bournemouth compares to a wolves crowd. We may not be a big six club but we have a top level hardcore crowd. He saw that

 

[goldeneyed]

I want to make it clear that I don't think that because of one positive game O'Neil is the answer. And yes Loptegui and his coaches did all the background preparation for the team, not O'Neil. But I think most would agree he is saying the right things and showing good judgement so far. Noone will know better than him that he will be judged on points on the board after 10 games or so. But he came into a really tough and negative situation and I admire his attitude and conviction thus far.
Of course if we get hammered by Brighton there will be calls for his immediate sacking!

 

[Stafford]

The thing is, i reckon expectations still change. after an absolute crackpot preseason, people will be calling for him to go when we finish this season in 15th.

 

[Jefe]

What impressed me about O'Neill's selection and instruction is that he took what Lopetegui had been building in pre-season and ran with it. He didn't radically change anything, which implies a humility to not assume his preconceived setup would be best, and also the intelligence to make what had been implemented work seamlessly.

However, it's one game in the glitz and glamour of Old Trafford. Brighton (who pumped us 9-2 last season) will be a different proposition, as will the surefire scrap at Goodison the week after. The Premier League presents a different challenge each week, and O'Neill will have to come up with his own solutions; that will be the making or breaking of him ultimately. This group is rather fickle when it comes to motivation.

Let's also not forget the Sword of Damocles continues to hover over the team. As long as it's still August, there exists the possibility the squad will be further weakened to meet the 'FFP shortfall'.

 

[SmiffyWolf]

I will be judging after 5-10 games . As Lage we created about 100 chnaces in his first 3/4 games then looked clueless.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Like others I was underwhelmed by his appointment however I did and do appreciate the job he did last season with a poor squad. Hopefully he follows the “play book” left by JL as a blueprint as clearly it has some legs. The test will be how positive he is after 5 games if we haven’t won.

As an aside I happen to think Derry as number 2 is going to be a big part. O’Neil doesn’t come across as a “rant and rave manager” which I’m not convinced is actually a good thing in the modern game anyway but he does need a number two with a bit of an edge who can keep players on their toes. A bit of “good cop, bad cop” isn’t bad in my eyes.

JL had a massive team, even an argument it was too large as that can give mixed messages but I’m hoping whoever is now in control of fitness/sports science keeps fitness levels as high as they are as it’s needed with a pressing team and we don’t want to go backwards to the fitness levels under Lage which were poor

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Looks and sounds like a man with a plan
As he says plenty to like about last nights performance and plenty to improve on
At least every player on the pitch looked like they wanted to give everything out there, and that in the end is all we can ask
Its a very tough set of fixtures to start the season off with, and we could well be bottom 3 after half a dozen games
That said if we show the commitment of last night against every team we play then win lose or draw he will get the fans backing
GON could be the one after all

 

[Munro Munro]

Just thought we looked well drilled and tight, have not seen them play that good under Lop, also thought his team selection and in play subs choices were spot on. Have not felt so positive as this since Nuno taught us how to play

 

[Fifty Niner]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

I recall fans were very pleasantly surprised after Lage's opening 3 games.

 

[Hawkguy]

It's one game, even if we had played poorly last night he didn't deserve to be judged on it but neither will I get too carried away after what was ultimately a defeat.

I'll properly judge him after 10 or so games, that's a big enough sample size to be fair.

I've been told on this forum that even 14 games isn't enough to judge.

 

[Zico]

Surely we can use that one game to put to bed the idea that he only plays ultra negative football.

 

[Hawkguy]

I don't understand why Sarabia and Sa are getting so much flack.

Sa is erratic and it is both a positive and negative. But he was far from under par yesterday. He made a couple really nice saves and his distribution was pretty good.

Also Sarabia's press created a ton of pressure early which really contributed to how good we looked early. He was the closest to scoring and his few corners were great. He also was a big part of the setup on Cunha's post. I do think Silva needs to play and think Sarabia would be best opposite Neto.

I also don't see how RAN and Nunes always seem to get passes here. RAN was very good going forward, but he was beat constantly and if any other United player was on their game, it would have cost us. Nunes had some good runs, but how many times did he give the ball away near our box?

Regardless even them, I was so impressed with everyone for a first game.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Just thought we looked well drilled and tight, have not seen them play that good under Lop, also thought his team selection and in play subs choices were spot on. Have not felt so positive as this since Nuno taught us how to play

To me it was as if the Rennes game had carried on after a short break, almost like halves 3 and 4! For that GON takes great credit; he didn't come in and try to reinvent things that didn't need reinventing. He stuck with pretty much JL's team (though I still would have preferred Silva to have started) and stuck with the formation and attacking playing style. Their superb fitness was down to JL; we seemed so much fitter than Man U. An encouraging start, good luck to the guy but let's see how things are after 10 games.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

An apology is meaningless unless something is done about it. A one game ban for the referee and the clown in Fawlty Towers is pointless. They will be back, and just as bad as before,

 

[wolfslair]

You know if we'd lost by 3 last night he'd have got absolute pelters

Only a complete melt would do that.

He didn’t have time to do anything much more than motivate the lads since he took over.

He spoke well after the game, he clearly knows he has been left the foundations of a strong and fit team who have oodles of talent and will not deviate too far from that I think.

 

[SuperGran]

I’m really impressed with how he’s handled himself in his interviews and how articulate he is.
Let’s hope when jeff comes back he doesn’t **** everything up and **** him off