O'Neil lets rip on Wolves owners amid Liverpool & Man Utd links

Tom Weber

Updated: 3 Apr 2024 21:34 BST
4 min read

Gary O'Neil will reignite the speculation surrounding his future after a public dressing-down of Wolves' owners.

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The head coach is in demand as he is doing a stellar job at Wolverhampton. Despite severe financial problems, Wolves sit in a comfortable tenth in the Premier League table and any relegation fears have disappeared.

At just 40 years of age, O'Neil is one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches in the English game right now and this makes him an attractive commodity. Though not a favourite for any of the big jobs, the former West Ham and Norwich midfielder has been tentatively linked with Man Utd and Liverpool in recent days.

While it is highly unlikely that the Reds will try to make O'Neil the successor to Jurgen Klopp this summer, the ex-Bournemouth boss is certainly someone the new club hierarch at Anfield admires, with sporting director Richard Hughes being the man who hired the tactician for the Cherries. O'Neil also previously worked for Liverpool's U23s.

The 40-year-old is also reportedly being considered by Man Utd should they pull the trigger on Erik ten Hag, which prompted the following response from him: “Growing up, Liverpool and Manchester United always felt special, two real special clubs. Firstly, an honour to be linked even though there is no truth in it...as I’ve said, I love it here [at Wolves].”

© IMAGO - Gary O'Neil and fellow sought-after coach Roberto de Zerbi

O'Neil unhappy about January business

Despite last week insisting that he is happy, O'Neil has now taken aim at Wolves' owners over the club's January business - or lack thereof. "It's hard to win games in the Premier League with a full squad and we've got five players missing with a small squad, so credit to the players. We've got 42 points which surpasses last year's total with all the restrictions placed on the playing squad financially by the club."

"I'm disappointed we're not able to push at this moment. We flagged to the club, warned them we were overloading the players because it was such a small group. We warned them if we lost a few attacking players it would make a big difference. We flagged the situation at the time but the club weren't in a position to act on it or help us."

"Then two weeks after the window closes we are without any strikers, leaving us with young lads working their socks off and senior players having to play every minute of every game. It's a huge effort. Do I deserve credit? Of course. But for the guys to get to 42 points with the difficulties we've had to deal with is a bigger achievement than what most would recognise."