Axe falls amid Wolves chaos! Gary O’Neil sacked after in-fighting at Molineux & sorry return of nine points from 16 Premier League games

Wolves capitulated against fellow relegation scrappers Ipswich in the dying moments of Saturday's match, with defender Jack Taylor rising to head home the late winner amid some more sloppy set-piece defending from O'Neil's side. The home side's players took the defeat badly, with Rayan Ait-Nouri seeing red and forward Matheus Cunha ripping the glasses off a member of the Ipswich backroom staff in the aftermath of the game. That chaotic meltdown, combined with yet another defeat, spelled the end for the English coach.

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi has told the club's official website, with O'Neil overseeing 63 games in total: “We’re very grateful to Gary for all of his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future.”

Wolves started the 2024-25 campaign with an extremely difficult run of games, and despite them registering a few impressive performances it took the club until mid-November to grab their first victory of the season against Southampton. Unfortunately for O'Neil, there's been little progression since then, and in recent weeks a lack of discipline amongst key players (which led Lemina to be stripped of the captaincy) has suggested that the manager may have lost the dressing room. After a damning home defeat to Ipswich, he's paid with his job.

O'Neil was given the Wolves job in chaotic circumstances, with previous head coach Julen Lopetegui departing just days before the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season. He equipped himself well and guided the club to a respectable mid-table finish but in his second term things have unravelled quickly. O'Neil leaves Wolves in a real mess, with just nine points from 16 games, a league-high 40 goals conceded and 20 of them shipped from set-pieces.

Despite Wolves' terrible recent form, the departing boss showed enough quality during his time at the club to be confident of landing another decent job in the future. High-profile wins against sides like Pep Guardiola's Manchester City underlined the 41-year-old's tactical nous but it appeared he ran out of ideas towards the end of his Wolves tenure. A period of reflection could be in order before O'Neil jumps back into the game.