Former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil has been selected to take over from Julen Lopetegui at Wolves. Lopetegui exited the club on Tuesday after a nine-month period during which he successfully guided Wolves to stay in the Premier League, rescuing them from last place when he took charge around Christmas.
Lopetegui, who previously managed Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, voiced his discontent with the club’s lack of investment during the recent summer transfer window. His frustrations became increasingly evident over the past few weeks.
Gary O’Neil has been jobless since his departure from Bournemouth in June. Despite his accomplishment of securing Bournemouth’s position in the Premier League with a 15th place finish and 39 points, he was replaced by Andoni Iraola, the former manager of Rayo Vallecano. O’Neil had been linked to various job opportunities throughout the summer.
The Wolves leadership is of the opinion that O’Neil can replicate his success of achieving respectable results with limited financial resources. They also view his appointment as a potential morale booster for the club.
This is obvious as Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “We’re delighted to welcome Gary to the club. He’s a highly motivated young coach with strong principles and very well thought of by everyone he has worked with, and we’re excited to see what we can achieve together at Wolves.
“Our players have shown their quality during pre-season, and I believe Gary and his team will continue to coach and improve them and will have success working with this group.
“Everyone at Wolves is looking forward to welcoming Gary, offering him their full support and working collaboratively to help the club to keep pushing forward together.”
