Mario Lemina stripped of Wolves captaincy after on-pitch West Ham meltdown as Gary O’Neil details conversation with fiery midfielder

O'Neil's side have had a terrible start to the season as the Wolves sit all the way down in 19th place in the Premier League standings with just nine points after fifteen games. The Wolverhampton-based side fell to a 2-1 loss at London Stadium against West Ham. Wolves captain Lemina got into an altercation with West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen after the final whistle. He then shoved his teammates as they attempted to cool down the situation before Lemina also clashed with Wolves assistant coach Shaun Derry.

O'Neil's position at Wolves is under a ton of scrutiny after the bad start, however, the English coach has been granted some more time to get the side clicking again as they face fellow relegation battlers, Ipswich Town next. Ahead of the clash, O'Neil confirmed that Lemina had been stripped of his role as the captain of Wolves and has been replaced by Portuguese full-back Nelson Semedo, as the 41-year-old explained his discussions with the Gabonese midfielder after the decision was made by the Wolves' top brass.

Speaking to the media, O'Neil said: "Mario's fine. It was a conversation, it was nothing more than that. The most important thing to come out of it is that we need to get the best out of everybody.

"Of course, the other night sparked the conversation, but it was an important conversation that had to be had. Myself and Mario have a good understanding now of how we move forward and what it looks like. We dealt with it earlier in the week, so the focus since that moment has been firmly on Ipswich.

"These things, sometimes they can be tough to deal with and sometimes you can come out of them in a good spot, and I feel like we have. I have a lot of respect for Mario and what he's still going to be able to do for us. When we get the best out of him on the pitch, his level is so high that he's still going to play a big part for us.

"He'll still be around that group of senior players that lead the team, but at this moment we feel it's best for Nelson to lead the group."

The Gabonese midfielder has since apologized for his outburst after the West Ham clash and O'Neil has confirmed that the former captain will not lose his place in the side when Wolves take on Ipswich Town on Saturday, December 14 at Molineux Stadium.