It’s official – Gary O’Neil is the new manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football club.
It has been a whirlwind 48 hours, with speculation first suggesting that Wolves had held talks with the 40-year-old.
Wolves knew that Julen Lopetegui wanted to leave the club, and were looking at potential replacements.
O’Neil was the standout candidate.
Lopetegui left last night, and O’Neil is now in position.
And quite simply, he has got a huge job on his hands.
He did some brilliant work at Bournemouth to keep them in the Premier League.
But this will be a serious test for him, and he’s up against it from the very beginning because of how Lopetegui has departed.
He’s going to have just a few days to work with his new players before the first game at Manchester United.
Arguably, there are six players at Wolves that O’Neil is going to be relying on a lot in his first weeks in the job.
Gary O’Neil will need the help of the Wolves leadership group
O’Neil is the man Wolves really wanted, and he will eventually settle.
But he comes to the club amid chaos.
And that’s why he will need the support of the fans.
He will also need the support of his players, many of whom will be a little despondent about Lopetegui’s exit.
And there are six players who will be especially important to him.
Earlier this month, the Express & Star shared details of Wolves’ new leadership group.
It consists of six players – Dan Bentley, Pablo Sarabia, Craig Dawson, Max Kilman, Mario Lemina and Nelson Semedo.
Under Lopetegui, they were acting as the bridge between the coaching staff and the playing squad.
They are the experienced heads, and leaders of the dressing room. And they are the guys who will be required to uphold the standards set by O’Neil.
O’Neil needs all the help he can get
O’Neil is not Lopetegui.
But he is a talented coach in his own right. He showed that last season with the work he did at Bournemouth.
But it really is a baptism of fire for him.
He’s coming in having not had a pre-season with the players, and so, it’s important that the leadership group brings him up to speed with everything they’ve been working on. Just to see if O’Neil can build on things.
Of course, he will have his own ideas.
But it would surely be in O’Neil’s interests to try and keep a lot of things similar, and gradually implement his own things throughout the season.
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