By DAVID KENT
Published: 20:08 EST, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 20:08 EST, 9 December 2024
Gary O'Neil struck out at the 'crazy' refereeing decisions which went against Wolves side as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Monday night which leaves him clinging on to his job.
Jarrod Bowen's winner condemned Wolves to a tenth defeat in only 15 Premier League matches this season and left the Midlands side 19th and four points from safety in the Premier League table.
And, with his job on the line, Wolves manager O'Neil turned his ire on the match officials, referee John Brooks and VAR Andy Madley.
O'Neil took issue with Bowen's winner as well as two second-half penalty appeals for his side which were waved away.
Before Bowen curled in from the edge of the area, Konstantinos Mavropanos appeared to foul Santiago Bueno as the Wolves defender sought to head clear.
'Some of the decisions went against us as well in a big game,' O'Neil told Sky Sports.
'In a big game, in big moments, some decisions I thought were fairly straightforward end up going against us.
'It's crazy. Santi Bueno is going to head the ball away, so it's irrelevant (that the VAR said it's a new phase of play) as we'd have cleared the ball. It's a blatant foul on Santi Bueno and there's no way it's a difference phase. The ball is still in the same area.
Gary O'Neil was furious with several refereeing decisions during Wolves' defeat by West Ham
Jarrod Bowen watches his strike fly in for a winner which O'Neil insists shouldn't have stood
Tempers flare at the end of a match which had a number of controversial decisions
'They will find reasons, and of course they will, and I get there will be grey areas and the wording of the rule can be interpreted in many different ways. But that's a blatant foul on Bueno in the seconds before the goal. That's a blatant foul.'
The Premier League responded by issuing statements on Wolves' two penalty shouts.
On the first, they said: 'The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Emerson on Guedes was checked and confirmed by VAR, deeming that the contact was outside the box.'
On the second, they explained: 'The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Mavropanos on Bellegarde was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed the referee’s call was not clear and obviously wrong.'
The official line will be no consolation to O'Neill should he lose his job in the coming days. When quizzed on his future, the former Bournemouth boss defended his record before going on to blame the sale of a number of big-name players.
'The people above me are supportive,' he said.
'But of course the supporters want their football club to be successful. I understand them pointing the finger at me and it's my team and I have to take responsibility for me.
'But when I arrived at this football club they had picked up just 39 points in the Premier League. Since that moment, we have managed to make £200million in player sales.
The Premier League issued a statement backing the decisions made by referee John Brooks
Goncalo Guedes goes down when challenged by Emerson Palmieri prompting penalty appeals
The VAR ruled that Emerson's challenge on Guedes was outside the box and not a penalty
'We have sold an awful lot of players if you go back to (Ruben) Neves and (Joao) Moutinho and (Daniel) Podence and (Adama) Traore and (Raul) Jimenez and (Diego) Costa and Pedro Neto and Max Kilman.
'And then we're not now shopping in that market, we're looking for the other ones who are for the future that can help us in the now. As we're finding in the Premier League, it's a ruthless league. The group are doing everything we can to get up to speed.
'But I'm really proud of them. I know we have only nine points and we're in a tough spot in the league but they're giving everything. So I hope the supporters are still proud from the players even though they hate the position we're in.
'They won't hate it more than me. I'm right there with them, whether they know it or not. We won't give up and we'll keep pushing. A big game against Ipswich is coming. And hopefully a few of the little bits, our bits, the bits from the officials go our way.'
West Ham United