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Middlesbrough find themselves in the market for a new manager following Rob Edwards’ controversial departure to Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Edwards, who only joined the Teesside club in June, was granted permission to speak with Wolves last weekend and subsequently agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal to return to Molineux, where he previously played over 100 matches between 2004 and 2008.
The move has left Boro second in the Championship table, searching for their third manager in quick succession after initially replacing Michael Carrick with Edwards just months ago.
As one can imagine, the rumour mill is going into overdrive during the international break, as this is prime time for clubs to be sorting out issues like this.
Gary O’Neil, former Liverpool under-23s assistant manager and Wolves boss, quickly emerged as one of the frontrunners for the vacant position at the Riverside Stadium.
The 42-year-old served as assistant coach to Barry Lewtas for Liverpool’s under-23 squad in August 2020 before moving to Bournemouth as senior first-team coach in February 2021.
O’Neil actually spent four years as a Middlesbrough player between 2007 and 2011, making 119 appearances across all competition.
However, according to a report from Teesside Live, he can be ruled out.
That’s because fan sentiment around the 42-year-old is not exactly positive due to something he did as a player while at the Riverside Stadium, with reporter Craig Johns revealing:
“While it’s true that O’Neil does have admirers within the walls of Rockliffe, there is a reluctance to hire him as head coach because of an appreciation of his unpopularity with large sections of the fanbase.”
“During a podcast appearance post-playing career, O’Neil once admitted he deliberately received a yellow card to earn a suspension while at Boro, that meant he could have the weekend off to watch the golf.”
“It’s understood O’Neil was a candidate for the Boro head coach role back in October 2022 when Michael Carrick eventually received the job.”
“However, club chiefs were aware of the mood music among fans at the time and quickly reconsidered.”
It further asserted that the Boro hierarchy will be “wary” of appointing a figure that could ignite the fanbase.
Southampton also has interest in O’Neil, with the former Wolves boss believed to be open to a return to management.
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