Under pressure, Gary O’Neil has blamed ‘crazy’ referee decisions for his side’s 2-1 loss in a crucial match vs West Ham United on Monday night.
Jarrod Bowen’s inspired performance and brilliant finish dealt Wolves their tenth defeat in just fifteen Premier League matches so far this season, leaving them in 19th place. However, O’Neill seems to be putting most of the blame it on the officials rather than his players who disappointed yet again.
O’Neil took issue with Bowen’s winner as well as two second-half penalty appeals for his side which were waved away. The former West Ham midfielder believed Konstantinos Mavropanos fouled Santiago Bueno in the build-up to Bowen’s winning goal.
‘Some of the decisions went against us as well in a big game,’ O’Neil told Sky Sports.
‘In a big game, in big moments, some decisions I thought were fairly straightforward end up going against us.
‘It’s crazy. Santi Bueno is going to head the ball away, so it’s irrelevant (that the VAR said it’s a new phase of play) as we’d have cleared the ball. It’s a blatant foul on Santi Bueno and there’s no way it’s a difference phase. The ball is still in the same area.
‘They will find reasons, and of course they will, and I get there will be grey areas and the wording of the rule can be interpreted in many different ways. But that’s a blatant foul on Bueno in the seconds before the goal. That’s a blatant foul.’
O’Neil can blame VAR for some of their defeats as much as he wants, but the rumors are heating up, he could soon be out of a job and he knows it. The former Bournemouth boss defended himself in his post-match press conference.
‘The people above me are supportive,’ he said.
‘But of course, the supporters want their football club to be successful. I understand them pointing the finger at me and it’s my team and I have to take responsibility for me. But when I arrived at this football club they had picked up just 39 points in the Premier League. Since that moment, we have managed to make £200million in player sales.
“I know we have only nine points and we’re in a tough spot in the league but they’re giving everything. So I hope the supporters are still proud from the players even though they hate the position we’re in. They won’t hate it more than me. I’m right there with them, whether they know it or not. We won’t give up and we’ll keep pushing. A big game against Ipswich is coming. And hopefully, a few of the little bits, our bits, the bits from the officials go our way.’
The match which was labelled ‘El Sackico’ by many before the match hasn’t yet resulted in a sacking as of yet and likely will not. Lopetegui seems to have saved his job with the win but a defeat to Bournemouth will be costly.
O’Neil wasn’t quite as close to losing his job compared to Lopetegui before Monday, however, the defeat has now probably put him under the same pressure ahead of their next match against Ipswich on Saturday.
