Gary O’Neil

[SteveBullsKnee]

Of course it is. There's only one way a side like us is going into a game against Man City. We know how they'll play, we're sitting in, holding our shape, very little/no pressing and going to try to get opportunities either on the break or from set pieces. The finer details of how we go about it need to be worked on and obviously the plan needs to be executed, but the template for how we need to set up against them is practically set in stone. Next week we play Villa, now we could set up a number of ways for that one, so while it's not as daunting a challenge because they're not as good a side, it is probably harder to figure out which way to go than it was for Man City

Knowing how to play against city and actually being able to activate it are very different though. Much much better teams than us get smashed by city.

 

[Streathamwolf]

Oneil is acting like a fool and he must think we are all stupid. Bournemouth fans said his tactics were all over the place and his substitutions awful. At luton the amount of odd tactical shifts he did was bizarre. During the first half we had a coach on the other side of the pitch passing notes to players. There is no system, no plan, no plan B, no cohesion and just confusion. The players must hate this archaic crap. After playing for your country to then end up playing non league football in training must be soul destroying

I am recommending this for the"Most bizarre negative post of the season" award, though no doubt there will be plenty of competition.

 

[fleck1]

I think the GON truth lies somewhere in the middle and some of the criticism is way over the top. If VAR does its job we are sat on 10 points from 7 games and I think the conversation is a little different then. Our form and performances are what you expect from a midtable club a mixed bag, not being able to put the ball in the net isn't a GON problem its been a wolves one for a number of season though we seem to be creating more and scoring more this season. performance wise Man Utd was superb for 90 mins (couldn't score and VAR), Brighton a crazy 10 mins mixed with some good football (created enough to take something), Liverpool superb for 45 mins and didn't put our chances away, Everton ground out a win away a one of the sides around us, palace & Luton ropey performances but again if VAR does its job at Luton its another 3 points. He isn't the messiah, he isn't a clueless PE teacher, tactically he's made mistakes at times but if the players on the pitch create the numerous chances we manage to miss he's under a lot less pressure.

 

[nomadwolf]

GON on Talksport this am...time TBA

 

[old wittonian]

Knowing how to play against city and actually being able to activate it are very different though. Much much better teams than us get smashed by city.

Daily Mail usual City apologists. Blaming their defeat on the absence of KDB.

 

[wolfslair]

Was impressed with his post match presser, gave a ton of positive feedback to the players and no blaming JL for anything

What is there to blame the previous gaffer for when you beat the best team in the world
? lol

I would be worried if he had anything negative to say in anyway really after a great performance from the lads and himself that day.

 

[wolfslair]

Daily Mail usual City apologists. Blaming their defeat on the absence of KDB.

I thought missing Rodri too was a killer for them.

KDB and Rodri together are a big reason their midfield can transition from defence to attack and be so dangerous in the final third.

Also , replacing either with a player with the mental rigidity of a Pringle in Nunes was a massive positive for us!

I have to say being surrounded by city players he still looks the “bang average top 6 squad” player he looked like when he was going to be when he played here.

 

[Jefe]

“Razor thin moments” change the course of most games. If Cunha finishes 2 simple chances, Bellegarde doesn’t kick someone and the refs get 2 penalty decisions right we’d probably be on 12 points now.

It’s quite sad how some people are so determined to not like our manager. Loppy gets own goals scored for him against Liverpool and Southampton and he’s a genius. O’Neil get one and “let’s not get carried away”.

To beat the European champions and read Wolves fans saying “oh but City were tired and Pep was in the stand” is pathetic.

Perhaps I'm not getting my point across very well. By "razor thin moments" I am referring to razor thin margins, and the fortune / providence element therein. 'If only Bellegarde hadn't studded an opponent in the balls, we'd have won against Luton' is saft: he did it, it was extremely stupid and not at all a razor thin moment. You can hypothesise we'd be on 12 points if you like, Hwang can count himself fortunate to have stayed on the pitch just before H/T - I've seen second yellows for less.

If prime Raul had missed that Cunha chance against Liverpool, you might call it a razor thin moment because you know he scores it 9 times out of 10, and we just got the one time he didn't. Cunha on the other hand has shown plenty of times he's more than capable of a miss like that. Not a razor thin moment as I imagine it - just a pattern of poor finishing from an unnatural goalscorer.

The two OG examples you gave aren't great, seeing as one was in a win with a three goal margin, and the other was the direct result of a Traore shot on target after we'd been shafted by the referee and deserved some luck. That said, even if Lopetegui's boys were assisted by the odd own goal, it is couched in the broader context that Lopetegui is a very good manager who often found ways to get results consistently. GON has not shown that so far, and when we've lost it is typically not because of razor thin moments, but because we were a distant second best in the end.

Enjoy this fantastic win by all means, I know I did over the weekend, but if we revert to type next week and allow Villa to put us to the sword then the people getting carried away will all look a bit silly. It's a reprieve, but it's just three points at the end of the day.

 

[The Clock]

Perhaps I'm not getting my point across very well. By "razor thin moments" I am referring to razor thin margins, and the fortune / providence element therein. 'If only Bellegarde hadn't studded an opponent in the balls, we'd have won against Luton' is saft: he did it, it was extremely stupid and not at all a razor thin moment. You can hypothesise we'd be on 12 points if you like, Hwang can count himself fortunate to have stayed on the pitch just before H/T - I've seen second yellows for less.

Bellegarde was on the ground and "pushing" the opponent away to try to extricate himself after he had been held tight for a few seconds. Frustration.
On Saturday Phillips , without provocation, whilst standing, deliberately went back and put his foot in. No sending off, no booking, no foul.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

This needs to be the turning point for O'Neil and us.

I said before, being on 4 points from 6 games wasn't that bad given our fixtures. A lot of the negativity from O'Neil came from his words.

The referencing Lopetegui and suggesting he took a bad team, one that shouldn't get 41 points etc. That was all his doing and it was ridiculous. I notice he was taking the credit Saturday (and rightly so)! But when we lose it was the previous regime and the culture.

So, that stuff has to stop, and I think it will. There had to be a line in the sand moment, and this win has to be that. This is now his team, the players will have more confidence in him, and there won't be so much panic - for a while at least.

 

[Premier Quality]

Good quote from Kilman in the guardian

. “People can’t see behind the scenes and the amount of work him [O’Neil] and his team are doing and how they’re setting us up tactically,” said the Wolves captain Max Kilman. “The quality of training has been phenomenal and it was a matter of time before we started picking up the results.”

 

[wolfslair]

Bellegarde was on the ground and "pushing" the opponent away to try to extricate himself after he had been held tight for a few seconds. Frustration.
On Saturday Phillips , without provocation, whilst standing, deliberately went back and put his foot in. No sending off, no booking, no foul.

You cannot do what Bellegarde did though, you cannot push with any force your boot into the groin of an opponent. Even with your defence line, it would be deemed retaliation with studs used on an opponent, still a red card.

What he did isn’t the same as Phillips. Phillips should have been booked though.

But Bellegarde was a red card every single day of the week! He fell into a stupid trap and got punished.

 

[Jefe]

Bellegarde was on the ground and "pushing" the opponent away to try to extricate himself after he had been held tight for a few seconds. Frustration.
On Saturday Phillips , without provocation, whilst standing, deliberately went back and put his foot in. No sending off, no booking, no foul.

Any reason you think he chose his opponent's testicles as the launchpad and not any other part of his lower body? Or not just use his hands?

 

[wolvesaywe]

Perhaps I'm not getting my point across very well. By "razor thin moments" I am referring to razor thin margins, and the fortune / providence element therein. 'If only Bellegarde hadn't studded an opponent in the balls, we'd have won against Luton' is saft: he did it, it was extremely stupid and not at all a razor thin moment. You can hypothesise we'd be on 12 points if you like, Hwang can count himself fortunate to have stayed on the pitch just before H/T - I've seen second yellows for less.

If prime Raul had missed that Cunha chance against Liverpool, you might call it a razor thin moment because you know he scores it 9 times out of 10, and we just got the one time he didn't. Cunha on the other hand has shown plenty of times he's more than capable of a miss like that. Not a razor thin moment as I imagine it - just a pattern of poor finishing from an unnatural goalscorer.

The two OG examples you gave aren't great, seeing as one was in a win with a three goal margin, and the other was the direct result of a Traore shot on target after we'd been shafted by the referee and deserved some luck. That said, even if Lopetegui's boys were assisted by the odd own goal, it is couched in the broader context that Lopetegui is a very good manager who often found ways to get results consistently. GON has not shown that so far, and when we've lost it is typically not because of razor thin moments, but because we were a distant second best in the end.

Enjoy this fantastic win by all means, I know I did over the weekend, but if we revert to type next week and allow Villa to put us to the sword then the people getting carried away will all look a bit silly. It's a reprieve, but it's just three points at the end of the day.

Thanks for letting us enjoy this win, really appreciate it

If you can just let us know when to stop enjoying it we'd all be much obliged

 

[S G Wolves]

On the international channels, ex England players/pundits are saying Gary is one of Britain's best up and coming coaches..

Just saying.

 

[The Clock]

Any reason you think he chose his opponent's testicles as the launchpad and not any other part of his lower body? Or not just use his hands?

Similar to most things on here. You have absolutely no idea where his foot landed. We also don't know where Phillips foot landed.
Phillips was a deliberate stamp, wherever it ended up.

 

[Wolf316]

On the international channels, ex England players/pundits are saying Gary is one of Britain's best up and coming coaches..

Just saying.

It’s certainly possible that he is but is our job too big for him at this stage of his career?

 

[Jefe]

Thanks for letting us enjoy this win, really appreciate it. If you can just let us know when to stop enjoying it we'd all be much obliged

Now, now, sarcasm, wit and all that... though, you've demonstrated from your last response to one of my posts that you are less interested in taking arguments on balance than cherry picking the parts that suit you, so to be frank, what the fig do I care what you think.

 

[S G Wolves]

It’s certainly possible that he is but is our job too big for him at this stage of his career?

If the players buy into him, which seems likely then he'll be ok in my opinion.

 

[Ercall Wolves]

“Razor thin moments” change the course of most games.

If Cunha finishes 2 simple chances, Bellegarde doesn’t kick someone and the refs get 2 penalty decisions right we’d probably be on 12 points now.

It’s quite sad how some people are so determined to not like our manager.

Loppy gets own goals scored for him against Liverpool and Southampton and he’s a genius. O’Neil get one and “let’s not get carried away”.

To beat the European champions and read Wolves fans saying “oh but City were tired and Pep was in the stand” is pathetic.

Spot on there mate

 

[WolfLing]

I thought missing Rodri too was a killer for them.

KDB and Rodri together are a big reason their midfield can transition from defence to attack and be so dangerous in the final third.

Also , replacing either with a player with the mental rigidity of a Pringle in Nunes was a massive positive for us!

I have to say being surrounded by city players he still looks the “bang average top 6 squad” player he looked like when he was going to be when he played here.

It was the main reason for me. They have already proven this season they can perform incredibly well without KDB. They haven't done the same without Rodri. I think the reason Pep blanked Rodri after he left the pitch following his sending off is because he knew how much it would hurt them.

KDB rightly gets a lot of plaudits for his work further forward, but Rodri is the best holding midfield player in the world right now.

Look at how many times we let City's centre backs play out on Saturday. It was mainly Dias or Akanji who were allowed to bring the ball deep into our half.

Rodri doing that has far more tools in his locker. He can crack one in from 25 yards, or he can play and move around people with ease in and around the box. It would have meant one of our players would have had to commit to closing him down sooner than we did with their centre backs, pulling us out of shape far more than we were.

To the point where if Rodri had played, they would have created far more than they did and had a much higher chance of winning that game. I'd go as far as to say they probably would have won that game given his quality.

 

[Fifty Niner]

This needs to be the turning point for O'Neil and us.

I said before, being on 4 points from 6 games wasn't that bad given our fixtures. A lot of the negativity from O'Neil came from his words.

The referencing Lopetegui and suggesting he took a bad team, one that shouldn't get 41 points etc. That was all his doing and it was ridiculous. I notice he was taking the credit Saturday (and rightly so)! But when we lose it was the previous regime and the culture.

So, that stuff has to stop, and I think it will. There had to be a line in the sand moment, and this win has to be that. This is now his team, the players will have more confidence in him, and there won't be so much panic - for a while at least.

If I remember correctly he had some big one off results when at Bournemouth but their season was poor as was their performances.

It’s been a good weekend for GON, beating City and seeing Bournemouth drop into the bottom 3! Hopefully this will be his ‘coming of age’.

 

[nomadwolf]

GON on Talksport @ 1207H

 

[Stourport wolf]

He did a job on on one of the best teams in the World. That is a great achievement and you could see that the players gave everything and so did the fans. Once Molineux is behind you, we can beat anyone on our day.

 

[Wolf316]

He did a job on on one of the best teams in the World. That is a great achievement and you could see that the players gave everything and so did the fans. Once Molineux is behind you, we can beat anyone on our day.

Massively helped by giving the rat pelters.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Good article in the Athletic today which goes into a bit more detail about how Gary set us up to beat Man City. Some interesting observations, such as how he used not only Dawson to keep Haaland quiet, but that Kilman was used to cover the instances when Haaland beat his man, while Toti was used as the spare. Net result was one of the best defensive performances against Haaland since he arrived in the PL. Further up the field, how Cunha and others were also used to stop key City players, so that they were forced to play longer, riskier balls, which our defence could then mop up.

Overall, it comes across as well thought out tactics, and more sophisticated than just getting as many men behind the ball as possible and trying our luck on the break. Worth a read. Must say the more I read about and see what we did against City, the more impressed I am about Gary.

The tactical blueprint that enabled Wolves to beat the 'best team ever'

Gary O'Neil made specific adjustments to his team in the hope of shocking the champions... and it worked

theathletic.com

 

[Jefe]

Massively helped by giving the rat pelters.

I think Pep recognised he'd made a mistake in starting Nunes by hooking him at H/T, but it was too late. Molineux had been made into a cauldron.

 

[King Henry VIII]

Full credit to Gary and his team for Saturday. They clearly set the team up well, and gave them the tools and the confidence they needed to see out the plan.

I'm with @WeAreTheWolvesII in hoping that this can be a fresh start. He's shown he can get a result, and against arguably the best team in the world, and hopefully he can take away the positives from that and consolidate things so we see results like that more often.

I don't think you can criticise Gary for the team being overly reliant on Neto. If you have a player who is that good, and in crazy form, you should be doing everything to get them involved as much as you can. I respect that he even said that's why he stuck him on the right, as Walker would have the pace to negate Neto's. That's canny management and I hope we get to see more of it.

It's also good to see that enough of the squad are buying into what he is doing. As long as we have a core of leaders behind him it'll help him embed his ideas, and there should be less risk of a complete capitulation.

To be fair to them, the new coaching team joined a club in genuine turmoil, who had wasted a summer flip-flopping over its ongoing strategy. It's undoubtedly a bigger job than the one he had last year and all of that probably added to the pressure on them, Gary in particular.

If I've been overly harsh it's because I don't think we have the luxury of giving an inexperienced manager time to figure things out. It feels like everyone has forgotten how far in the **** we were after 15 games last season, and that it took a series of factors that come once in a blue moon to dig us out.

Now is the chance to reset and I'm desperate for Gary to deliver.

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Daily Mail usual City apologists. Blaming their defeat on the absence of KDB.

Always the way. Don’t praise us, instead it’s either “lucky” or they have injuries

 

[Supadavewolf]

Always the way. Don’t praise us, instead it’s either “lucky” or they have injuries

If only we wore blackshirts instead of black shorts, the Daily Mail would love us.

(one for the history buffs, or any Wolf who goes back to January 1934 )

 

[loppers86]

Must have had something stuck in my ears, I didn't catch any of that. Were you doing a solo?

yeah i look a bit stupid now. still want him out though.

 

[GoldenHorseshoe]

Full credit to Gary and his team for Saturday. They clearly set the team up well, and gave them the tools and the confidence they needed to see out the plan.

I'm with @WeAreTheWolvesII in hoping that this can be a fresh start. He's shown he can get a result, and against arguably the best team in the world, and hopefully he can take away the positives from that and consolidate things so we see results like that more often.

I don't think you can criticise Gary for the team being overly reliant on Neto. If you have a player who is that good, and in crazy form, you should be doing everything to get them involved as much as you can. I respect that he even said that's why he stuck him on the right, as Walker would have the pace to negate Neto's. That's canny management and I hope we get to see more of it.

It's also good to see that enough of the squad are buying into what he is doing. As long as we have a core of leaders behind him it'll help him embed his ideas, and there should be less risk of a complete capitulation.

To be fair to them, the new coaching team joined a club in genuine turmoil, who had wasted a summer flip-flopping over its ongoing strategy. It's undoubtedly a bigger job than the one he had last year and all of that probably added to the pressure on them, Gary in particular.

If I've been overly harsh it's because I don't think we have the luxury of giving an inexperienced manager time to figure things out. It feels like everyone has forgotten how far in the **** we were after 15 games last season, and that it took a series of factors that come once in a blue moon to dig us out.

Now is the chance to reset and I'm desperate for Gary to deliver.

"Once in a blue moon."

Very good, did you mean that? Either way excellent observation.

 

[JonahWolf]

Please please please keep shoving my words down my throat

Is that an erotic asphyxiation thing?

 

[Beijing Wolf]

Always the way. Don’t praise us, instead it’s either “lucky” or they have injuries

Some of our own “supporters” have been saying the same thing!

 

[SteveBullsKnee]

Some of our own “supporters” have been saying the same thing!

Yep some of the stuff on here in the days leading up to the game and since confirms that

 

[Streathamwolf]

It’s certainly possible that he is but is our job too big for him at this stage of his career?

I will let you know at Christmas

 

[Lupo Italiano]

Full credit to GO for a fine victory on Saturday. I think it definitely showed that the players are on board with what he is doing and that we are still capable of pulling off big results as we were under Nuno and Lop. I admit that prior to Saturday I didn't think we were. I listened to his interview on TS this morning and he did come over well. I preferred that he sounded more natural rather than previously but I guess he may be relaxing a bit more, beating Man City in that fashion is no mean feat, fair play to him and his team. It was great feeling like that inside Molineux again.

Let's hope we can have more of that starting with Villa on Sunday

 

[wolfslair]

Anyone actually listen to the GO appearance on talksport?

 

[Sheffield Wolf]

Anyone actually listen to the GO appearance on talksport?

Does anyone actually listen to Talksport?

 

[Hot Fuss]

Full credit to Gary and his team for Saturday. They clearly set the team up well, and gave them the tools and the confidence they needed to see out the plan.

I'm with @WeAreTheWolvesII in hoping that this can be a fresh start. He's shown he can get a result, and against arguably the best team in the world, and hopefully he can take away the positives from that and consolidate things so we see results like that more often.

I don't think you can criticise Gary for the team being overly reliant on Neto. If you have a player who is that good, and in crazy form, you should be doing everything to get them involved as much as you can. I respect that he even said that's why he stuck him on the right, as Walker would have the pace to negate Neto's. That's canny management and I hope we get to see more of it.

It's also good to see that enough of the squad are buying into what he is doing. As long as we have a core of leaders behind him it'll help him embed his ideas, and there should be less risk of a complete capitulation.

To be fair to them, the new coaching team joined a club in genuine turmoil, who had wasted a summer flip-flopping over its ongoing strategy. It's undoubtedly a bigger job than the one he had last year and all of that probably added to the pressure on them, Gary in particular.

If I've been overly harsh it's because I don't think we have the luxury of giving an inexperienced manager time to figure things out. It feels like everyone has forgotten how far in the **** we were after 15 games last season, and that it took a series of factors that come once in a blue moon to dig us out.

Now is the chance to reset and I'm desperate for Gary to deliver.

I’d actually totally disagree it needs to be a fresh start. The fresh start happened in August.

People just needed to wind there necks in, realise the limitations of the squad and accept there would be some difficult times, while giving the guy a chance.

Some really good football in patches against Man U, Brighton, Liverpool and a great all round performance against City.

All our home games so far have been against sides currently in the top 6.

4th favourites for relegation in August, yet some folk act like we should be ****ing the league.

the players and the vast majority of fans in the ground seem to be right behind GON, shame some on here aren’t but there you go.