Gary O’Neil made many mistakes during his final season at Wolves, but one is still impacting the club today.
Wolves sacked O’Neil in December, just 16 games into the 2024/25 campaign.
After the Old Gold lost in the last minute at home to Ipswich Town, time was called on the Englishman’s tenure at Molineux.
During the 2023/24 calendar, there was talk that O’Neil could lead Wolves to Europe, only for him to be sacked before the turn of the year and replaced by Vitor Pereira.
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Gary O’Neil had one of his biggest mistakes with Jose Sa
Wolves fans had lost all trust in O’Neil, whose tactics grew stale and patience regarding team selection wore thin.
That being said, the former manager was not helped in the slightest by Fosun and Jeff Shi’s rigid approach in the transfer market.
During the summer of 2024, Wolves made one of their biggest transfer mistakes, signing Sam Johnstone from Crystal Palace in a £10m deal.
Johnstone wasn’t Palace’s number one but arrived in the West Midlands and caused chaos, to which O’Neil contributed.
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O’Neil couldn’t decide between Jose Sa and Johnstone, something that journalist Liam Keen has described as one of the coach’s ‘biggest mistakes’ at Molineux.
Writing for Express and Star, Keen dissected Sa’s failed transfer to Saudi Arabia while Johnstone was signed, a matter that wasn’t eased by O’Neil chopping and changing his first choice.
Keen and many others believe that O’Neil had to have acted ‘firmer’ on who he would pursue as his number one between the sticks, instead of alternating between the two.
The situation left Sa feeling unsettled, and the bigger picture presented a testing scenario for Wolves, who had two below-par goalkeepers battling for a first-team spot that wasn’t necessarily merited on good performances.
Just one year after signing, Johnstone is expected to leave Wolves, but the drama goes beyond Wolves losing a goalkeeper, as the reality is that the Old Gold could lose two this summer.
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Sa is splitting opinion at Compton
Sa’s future was uncertain last summer, and it appears that the feeling is the same this year.
Despite the Portugal international being Pereira’s first choice, it’s understood that Wolves will look at goalkeepers over the transfer window.
Keen noted that ‘some at Compton’ are eager to ‘see a change’ in the position, opening the door to two possible exits and the arrival of a possible new number one.
Regardless of whether Johnstone had come in, Sa’s position as number one wasn’t entirely set in stone, but it’s fair to say that O’Neil’s indecisive approach escalated feelings of unsettlement for both players.
Pereira was left to pick up the pieces of O’Neil’s dire start to the season, and now, the Wolves manager will have to find a solution to the possibility of losing both Sa and Johnstone this summer.