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O'Neil sacked by Wolves after Ipswich defeat

Wolves have sacked head coach Gary O'Neil after defeat at home to Ipswich on Saturday, Sky Sports News understands.

The dramatic 2-1 loss at Molineux, which was followed by a scuffle that saw Rayan Ait-Nouri pulled away from the pitch, left Wolves 19th in the Premier League table.

The club have taken just nine points from 16 matches and are four points adrift of 17th-placed Crystal Palace.

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WOLVES-IPSWICH PL HIGHLIGHTS.

FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Ipswich's win against Wolves in the Premier League.

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WOLVES INCIDENT 151224

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Wes Burns clashed during the Wolves-Ipswich match as the two players shared fierce exchanges throughout the match resulting in the Wolves man being sent off.

O'Neil guided Wolves to 14th last season, but saw star players Pedro Neto and Max Kilman depart for Chelsea and West Ham in the summer.

Speaking after the Ipswich defeat, the former Bournemouth boss said his players "needed him" but acknowledged a run of four straight defeats had left his position under threat.

"That group need me to get them in a place where they're ready to go and I'll keep fighting for them," he told Sky Sports in his final interview as head coach. "And that doesn't mean I'm not going to get sacked. For every result, the chances of me losing my job will heighten, that's nothing new - it doesn't concern me.

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Gary O'Neil admitted his future was in question in what ended up being his final interview as Wolves head coach

"When I speak to Matt [Hobbs, sporting director] and Jeff [Shi, chairman], they'll tell me I'll need to do more otherwise they'll replace me. That's the same message for the players, you need to do more to compete at this level or you'll get replaced. That's how the business works.

"I'm not interested in my own position - I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we're in. To get this group to perform the way they did took a lot of work today. People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibilities have to land on the players in those moments. When we get in good positions and we spoon the ball off the pitch - I can't help them with that."

'Sad news but not unexpected'

Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:

"It's sad news but not unexpected. O'Neil has been under a lot of pressure, there was talk that he may go after the game against West Ham.

"Yesterday, they were very unlucky, they conceded really late on from a set-piece and you just felt that was the end for him.

"Especially when, for the second game in a row, there were unsavoury scenes on the pitch afterwards.

"The way the players were behaving led to questions being asked about how much control O'Neil had over the dressing room."

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