Wolves saved their season at the moment they sacked Gary O’Neil and replaced him with Vitor Pereira.
In December, Wolves suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ipswich. It was a game that saw the end of the road for Gary O’Neil, and some even felt relegation was on the cards.
The Wanderers were trapped inside the bottom three by four points, with O’Neil only collecting two wins from his opening 16 matches.
Fosun needed to find a saviour to replace the Englishman, and luckily, he stumbled across Vitor Pereira, who has since dragged Wolves nine points clear of safety.
The Portuguese boss has been a breath of fresh air since being appointed, turning Wolves’ fortunes around while getting the best out of every player, even ones that were out of favour under O’Neil.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
When Andre ‘struggled’ under Gary O’Neil
In the summer transfer window, O’Neil acquired several new players. Arguably the most exciting, though, was the £21 million addition of Andre from Fluminense.
Andre was previously wanted by Liverpool and it was seen as an excellent coup to land him. But the start of his Wolves career wasn’t easy due to the sheer number of options ahead of him in midfield.
O’Neil, perhaps questionably, often preferred a midfield duo of Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina. However, even when he was given the nod, the former Bournemouth boss hooked him on two occasions at half-time.
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In Wolves 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in October, O’Neil explained why he substituted Andre at half-time, citing that he ‘struggled’ with the details of the game.
“I just thought the detail of the game plan he struggled with at times,” O’Neil said. “He was the one really out there who struggled to get to a couple of things we needed him to.
“Obviously he’s had a long flight and a lot of travel. He probably got back the latest out of everybody. I just felt Tommy at that moment, and moving Mario in one would help us.”
Andre is now one of the Premier League’s best under Vitor Pereira
The former Wolves manager didn’t appreciate the talents of Andre as much as he should have and since being appointed head coach, the Brazilian has started every single Premier League game under Pereira, aside from the Nottingham Forest defeat because his son was born in Brazil.
Andre is now one of the leagues best midfielders, according to Dave Edwards, with the 23-year-old reinforcing that claim.
As highlighted by FBref, Andre is sixth in the Premier League for pass completion and will surely have some big clubs sniffing for his signature.
Name Pass completion
Manuel Akanji 93.9%
Curtis Jones 93.6%
Ruben Dias 93.5%
William Saliba 93.5%
Mateo Kovacic 92.9%
Andre 92.7%
It makes it all the more laughable that O’Neil sometimes played Lemina over the Brazilian international and he’s since departed for Galatasaray while Andre has demonstrated his incredible talent under Pereira.