Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Gary O’Neil admitted he was “devastated” after fans turned on him during his side’s 5-3 Premier League defeat at Brentford.
O’Neil branded the loss — Wolves’ sixth in seven league games this season — as the worst performance of his 14 months at Molineux.
Wolves are bottom of the table with one point from seven games and have won just once in 17 league games across two seasons dating back to March.
Travelling fans booed O’Neil’s substitutions and chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he replaced midfielder Andre with out-of-form forward Hwang Hee-chan for his first change before the hour mark. Supporters then booed and jeered O’Neil and his players at the final whistle.
“The reaction at the end, I fully understand,” said O’Neil. “I’m absolutely devastated with the way the team performed today, and if I was a supporter of the football club, I’d be equally as devastated or even more so.
“So I fully understand that reaction. I wasn’t too aware of anything around the substitution. I couldn’t hear anything from where I was.”
O’Neil hinted strongly at a return to last season’s formation, featuring three central defenders as opposed to this season’s favoured back four, when Wolves return to action at home to Manchester City following the two-week international break.
“I think we’ve reached the point now and today shows me that there needs to be a change,” he added
“Things need to change quickly around how we do things because for the team to be able to put in that level of performance today was worrying.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done around giving them a better opportunity.
“A lot’s been made around the back four or back five so whether we use all three centre backs that we have at the club, which obviously means we’ll be short centre-backs wise if we play three, because all three of them will be on the pitch.
“But whether we revisit that, there’s a lot to be considered purely off the nature of an unbelievably surprising poor performance which didn’t represent what I want the team to be, and I’m sure what the supporters want the team to be.
“There was no structure (today), a complete loss of control as to what the team were meant to do and where the team were meant to be and it was the worst performance I’ve seen from the group since I’ve been here.
“There was no real understanding and we gave ourselves no opportunity in the game at all because of the level of defensive shape and structure.
“Even when we had the ball, we were all over the place so then transitions were a big problem to us, so I am shocked because I haven’t seen that from them much.
“I accept full responsibility. Players will make mistakes and they’ll get things wrong but the responsibility lies with me.”
Some fans are now openly calling for O’Neil to be replaced. There are no signs that Wolves are preparing to make a change but O’Neil admitted he does not know precisely how long he will be given to change the team’s fortunes.
“Being a football manager means that you definitely have today, and after that so many things can happen,” he said.
“Today I gave my best to try to help the football club have a successful day and it was miles below the standard we expect. Tomorrow I’ll get up and I’ll do the same.
“Then at some point someone will tell me to stop, and then I’ll stop but my opinion and my thoughts towards the club and the supporters will never change because although we’re in a tough spot as a football club, funds-wise as a team at this moment results-wise, the fans deserve us to always give everything and always keep fighting.
“And they deserve better than what we managed to produce today.”
(Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
