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Gary O’Neil has reacted to calls to step aside as Wolves manager after his side’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
O’Neil has taken responsibility for Wolves’ poor form in the Premier League but remains confident the players are still on board.
Wanderers’ head coach, on the thinnest of ice following a tenth league defeat of the season, believes his team were unlucky not to leave London Stadium with a point or three on Monday. O’Neil admitted the first goal - Tomas Soucek’s header from a corner - was a sloppy one to concede but he was otherwise happy with the performance.
When interviewed by Sky Sports post-match, O’Neil said: “You can see the lads are still 100 per cent committed and willing to fight, to give everything. We let ourselves down leaving our marker from a corner. There are big discussions needed to be had this week to try and find a way to make this group more competitive from set pieces.
“It’s not a group that’s built to deal with physical play. Being competitive in those areas is difficult for us, we’ve tried to move structures around to give us protection, but for all the hard work, if you’re going to leave Soucek from a corner you give West Ham a big leg up with an easy goal to score. We then had another mountain to climb.”
Wolves remain four points deep in the Premier League bottom three following Monday night’s frustrating result in the capital. The prospect of relegation is growing ominously and many supporters have given up on O’Neil as a result.
The manager understands the Molineux faithful’s frustrations but hopes the fight and determination from the players - which he believes is still fully intact - can shine through.
Gary O'Neil assures his Wolves players are still fully on board with him as manager despite the terrible start to the season.Gary O'Neil assures his Wolves players are still fully on board with him as manager despite the terrible start to the season.
Gary O'Neil assures his Wolves players are still fully on board with him as manager despite the terrible start to the season. | Wolves via Getty Images
“We’re going to keep pushing to get us above the line. The people above me are supportive but of course the supporters want their football club to be successful and I understand they are pointing the finger at me because it’s my team,” O’Neil continued to Sky Sports.
“The players are 100 per cent still with us and understand the situation at the football club, they understand it’s difficult but they’re willing to stand up and fight. Of course, there’ll be moments where we lack some quality and don’t show enough but they give everything in every single moment.
“I take responsibility for it but when I arrived at this football club, they’d just collected 39 points in the Premier League. Since that moment, they’ve managed to make £200 million in player sales - we’ve sold an awful lot of Premier League players - and then we’re not now shopping in that market.
“We’ve been trying to find young ones who can help the club in the future and maybe give us a bit now. As we’re finding, the Premier League is a ruthless league. The group is doing everything they can to get up to speed and we’re being tested.
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“I hope the supporters are still proud of what they see from the players because they want to win football matches and get out of the position we’re in. They won’t hate it any more than me, I’m right there with them if they know it or not in this moment.
“We won’t give up, we’ll keep pushing and get to work for a big game against Ipswich.”
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