Monday night’s El Sackico, as it turned out, ended as a goalless draw.
By Ian King
The match between West Ham United and Wolves had been trailed as the end of the line for the losing manager – whether it might go to a penalty shootout in the event of a draw was not made clear! – but as things turned out West Ham won 2-1, and the grip upon the guillotine that’s been hanging over Julen Lopetegui this last couple of weeks tightened a little.
Confirmation came through the following morning that Loptegui’s counterpart Gary O’Neil had also received a reprieve, though for how long this might be remains up in the air. He’s been confirmed as being in charge for this Saturday’s match against Ipswich Town, but the result of that may yet determine whether he’s still there for the one after that.
The reasons for this uneasy state of detente seem clear. On one hand, Wolves have been terrible this season. Scoring goals hasn’t been the problem. They’ve scored 23 in 15 games, four more than fifth-placed Nottingham Forest. The problem has been just about everything else. They’ve conceded six against Chelsea, five against Brentford, and four against Bournemouth and Everton, which came in successive matches.
They’re entertainers, for sure. The total of 61 goals that have been scored in their 15 matches is the highest in the division. It’s just that Wolves have conceded 38 of them, and have only won twice. They’ve been in the relegation places for the whole season except for one week towards the end of last month when they won 4-1 at Fulham, and they’re currently in 19th place, below Ipswich on goal difference and above only Southampton.
But on the other hand, the decision to sack O’Neil would not necessarily be a straightforward one because of the time of year. For bigger clubs, the ability to simply step in and poach a manager from elsewhere means that the sack could come at any time of the year. Manchester United, for example, clearly already had Rúben Amorim targeted as the replacement before they offloaded Erik Ten Hag. Ultimately, they have the clout to be able to move in this way.
But things aren’t quite as simple as this for smaller clubs such as Wolves. If they’re to find the right man to properly take the club forward, they have to punch above their weight in terms of who they bring in and the middle of the season, when many of those readily available will be those already jettisoned by other clubs in free fall themselves, might not be the best time of year to pull the diamond from the rough that they need.
The performances of the other teams near the bottom of the table have been such that, despite having accumulated nine points from fifteen games, Wolves are still in touch near the bottom of the table, with only a four-point gap separating them from Crystal Palace and five from Leicester and Everton. But should they lose to Ipswich, that gap may start to look considerably trickier. With another critical match at Leicester on the 22 December, they could look very much on the ropes by Christmas should they not win at least one of these matches.
With a rush of matches to follow over the Christmas and New Year period and the transfer window reopening for a month on 1 January, the choice is to stick or twist. The noises to have come from Molineux seem to indicate that O’Neil is believed to still have the skill-set to make this work, that the team had a difficult start to the season and has had some horrible injury problems, and that the first-team squad is unbalanced, with a particular lack of cover in defence.
But it does all feel like something of a gamble, whether over a decision that they do make or one that they don’t. What if they stick with O’Neil through the January window, allow him to bring in the players that he wants, and then find that results don’t improve and that if they are to make that switch, the new incumbent will have to make do with the players that they inherit?
Wolves’ defeat at West Ham was fairly narrow. These were ultimately two not particularly good football teams, by the standards of the modern Premier League. There was one point at which the two teams gave possession to each other four or five times in four or five seconds, and the performances of both seemed nervy and uncertain, as though the weight of the speculation was having a physical effect.
But memories will stretch back further than this and Wolves’ performance in the 4-0 defeat at Everton on the previous Wednesday was one of the very worst by any team in this division so far this season. If it turns out that a failure to sack O’Neil turns out to be a mistake, history will likely judge that the morning after that game was the opportunity that could have been taken.
The fact that Wolves did not take that action at that time may be a tacit admission that there is a greater degree of responsibility to be shared, here. Can the relative decline of the club in recent times be pinned solely to the apparent loosening of ties with super-agent Jorge Mendes over the last couple of years? Because if that is the case, then perhaps it’s also the case that far bigger structural changes are needed behind the scenes at Molineux than can be carried out when the team is having to play a match every three days.
With the owners of the club having already stated that they want the playing side of the club to be sustainable, anyone taking the Wolves job would be aware there wouldn’t be much money available and a lot of work to do. Perhaps in that light, it’s not quite so surprising that Gary O’Neil remains in position at Wolves with the Christmas rush now fast approaching.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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