It’s been a while since Gary O’Neil was in charge of Wolves. The Old Gold replaced him with Vitor Pereira in December.
Despite keeping Wolves up last season, O’Neil’s time in charge was disappointing. The 41-year-old won just two out of 16 games before he was dismissed.
Pereira has since come in and is doing an alright job, but the pressure is on another Premier League manager who, despite seeing the warning signs, continues to match one of O’Neil’s most unwanted records.
READ: David Moyes has already told Vitor Pereira which two Everton players he has asked to step up against Wolves
A split image of Gary O'Neil (left) and Ivan Juric (right).
A split image of Gary O’Neil (left) and Ivan Juric (right). Credit: Getty Images, Jack Thomas – WWFC and Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside.
Ivan Juric’s substitutes struggling to find the back of the net
Inspired by the impact Covid had five years ago, the number of substitutes allowed was increased from three to five, per game.
Consequently, in-game personnel changes now play an even bigger role in deciding a game’s outcome so it’s no surprise to see such emphasis placed on goalscoring subs.
Interestingly, despite Leicester City scoring just 25 goals this season and being inside the relegation zone, Steve Cooper’s 46 changes from the 12 games he was in charge for produced four goals giving the Foxes the best goals-to-subs ratio.
In contrast, according to BBC Sport, Southampton’s Ivan Juric has the worst goals-to-subs ratio. The Saints boss, despite being one of the managers to make the most changes, has seen just one goal come from a substitute.
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Same record as Gary O’Neil at Wolves
The Croatian’s abysmal record with goalscoring substitutes is the same one O’Neil recorded during his time in charge of Wolves.
O’Neil wasn’t blessed with a huge squad at Wolves, but with Leicester City finding players capable of scoring from the bench with their lack of quality in depth, it is clear the former Wolves manager could’ve done better during his time in the Molineux technical area.
The Old Gold’s lack of goals under O’Neil, especially from set-pieces, is what ultimately led to his sacking — the same for Sean Dyche at Everton — so it goes without saying that Juric is on very thin ice at St. Mary’s.