Liverpool’s game against Wolves at Molineux earlier in the season was one of the earliest tests they really received this season.
The Reds ran out 2-1 winners that day but were pushed by a clearly wily, well-drilled Wolves side who had started poorly due to an unfortunate run that included Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
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But bad runs can turn into bad seasons all too quickly. After a last-minute loss to fellow relegation rivals Ipswich yesterday, and sitting in 19th, Wolves have sacked Gary O’Neil as their manager.
Gary O'Neil's Liverpool links
O’Neil’s first job in a coaching role after his retirement was as an assistant to Barry Lewtas for Liverpool’s under-23s.
The young Reds side that included Conor Bradley and Caoimhin Kelleher started that season well, winning five of their first seven games before O’Neil joined Bournemouth as senior first-team coach in February 2021.
O’Neil also played alongside Liverpool’s current sporting director Richard Hughes at Portsmouth to start his career in the early 2000s.
FSG's Chief Executive of Football Michael Edwards also worked as an analyst at Portsmouth at the time, meaning that the three of them know each other very well.
Edwards is openly a fan of O'Neil's work and, as a result, could try and lure the coach to the club in some capacity in the near future.
He then took charge of Bournemouth in August 2022 after Scott Parker was fired as manager following his side’s 9-0 annihilation at Anfield.
His Wolves side had performed finely in his first season as manager last year, finishing 14th in the league.
But a string of unfortunate results led to a complete loss of control of his side. Captain Mario Lemina had an incident with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen after a 2-1 loss on Monday that led to him being stripped of the captaincy.
And then star striker Matheus Cunha was caught fighting with Ipswich’s staff after the defeat yesterday.
David Ornstein is now reporting that Wolves are lining up current Saudi Al-Shabab manager Vitor Pereira to take charge for the rest of the season.
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