Latest news with #GaryONeil
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'The good run of six wins saved us' - can Wolves progress under Pereira?
We asked for your views on Dazzling Dave's scorecard for the 2024-25 are some of your comments:Rob: Dazzling Dave has given a good synopsis of Wolves 2024-25 season. Fosun persisted with Gary O'Neil for a few games longer than was sensible given the poor run of performances, let alone results. Big change coming for next season with probably four first-team regulars departing, plus hopefully some decent money for Fabio Silva. An important close season and hopefully a mid-table finish next term if transfer funds are carefully spent to secure some good quality Appointing Vitor Pereira was a great choice. Unknown manager when we appointed him but he has done a great job. If we back him we can go Wolves can push on if the owners put their money where their mouth is and allow Vitor to strengthen the squad. Selling our best players has become the norm and sufficient funds for new signings has been Even though players like Larsen, Andre, Cunha and Gomes have been brilliant, Pereira has been our saviour. He turned the team around and we would have been relegated without Pereira has done well - we were going down under O'Neil. The good run of six wins saved us, but they were all against poor teams. In Pereira's time we didn't get near Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, and went for damage limitation against Arsenal and Manchester City, so how are we going to be better than bottom six next year? The fans say back Periera but will Fosun do so?
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Points and pints during a season split in two
First the points, then the pints. It is unlikely Vitor Pereira thought his words during a normal pre-match press conference would resonate so much with the Wolves fans. The head coach has ingrained himself into not only the club but the city, joining supporters in the city's Wetherspoons after victories. Naturally it helps the Portuguese has taken the side from the bottom three in December to finishing 16th and 17 points above the relegation zone after replacing Gary O'Neil. The first half fell apart, injuries and a tough opening 10 games played their part in O'Neil's downfall but the squad was always good enough to survive. Pereira proved that comfortably and a six-game winning run in March and April sealed safety and was their best top flight streak since 1970. The early season struggles were forgotten and Wolves will look to build on the unity Pereira has Matheus Cunha's impending £62.5m move to Manchester United leaves a hole in the squad and they must look to reinvest for a suitable days of huge spending are over at Molineux so a £50m replacement it is unlikely but the club cannot allow the momentum Pereira has provided to disappear if they are to further improve next term.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
What was your Wolves moment of the season?
Some moments are turning points for a season or a club - others just feel like it at the incident belongs in the latter group, but in a way it totally represents the wild swings of a difficult late October, despite leading for long spells against Newcastle, Villa and Manchester City, Wolves had only accrued one point. With time running out at Brighton, it seemed certain to stay that way until Tommy Doyle found four Albion players running towards him in the final seconds, and only Jose Sa behind him."I think it can be just as difficult for the guy with four players as it is for one," he said modestly afterwards, "because you're expected to make a pass. So there's obviously an element of guessing...". Perhaps his interception was a touch of fortune. His next, a perfectly-weighted curving pass that released Matheus Cunha to score, was a touch of drove home wondering if that moment had rescued Wolves' season, and with it, boss Gary O'Neil. Looking back now, it has proved to be just a ripple in a season of strong tides. Indeed, by August, all involved may have moved on - O'Neil left before Christmas, Cunha seems likely to go soon, while Doyle's ability is admired but not accommodated by current manager Vitor Doyle's 'Last Stand' will be a memory - not a milestone - but one to still remember next time it seems all hope is into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Wolves' player of the season: This was the year of Matheus Cunha – for good and bad
In seven successive seasons back in the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers have had successful, significant, star players. But never has a single campaign been linked so intrinsically to one player as the one just gone. Whether it was wonderful goals, inspired assists, an 'olympico', tantrums, sulks, a meltdown, a red card or a bizarre glasses incident, 2024-25 at Wolves was the year of Matheus Cunha. Advertisement And while the Brazil international's dark moments will damage his standing among supporters if, as expected, he leaves Molineux for Manchester United this summer, the game-changing, point-winning contributions mean he is the only choice when it comes to choosing Wolves' star player. The 26-year-old is frustrating, infuriating and at times a liability, but he does things that few other players to have pulled on a gold shirt in the Fosun era can do. While Cunha might not sit alongside Nuno Espirito Santo-era greats such as Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez in the affections of Wolves fans, he sits comfortably alongside them all when it comes to impacting games. Fifteen goals and six assists this season to add to 12 and seven respectively in Gary O'Neil's only full campaign at the helm has proven, if proof were needed, that Cunha is no flash in the pan when it comes to talent. If fans understandably questioned the club's decision to spend £44million ($58.5m) on Cunha following an underwhelming half a season under Julen Lopetegui, he has allayed all such concerns over the subsequent two seasons, rising to the challenge presented by the departure of stars including Neves and Pedro Neto to become the undisputed star of the squad. This season, however, Cunha has often been a difficult player to like. From the final moments of O'Neil's tenure, when defeat at home by Ipswich Town prompted a post-match meltdown that included Cunha elbowing a member of Ipswich's staff then ripping his glasses from his face, the highly emotional forward never seemed far from implosion. One of new head coach Vitor Pereira's first acts at Molineux was to field questions on the incident that pre-dated his reign and he responded with what seemed like a safe answer, insisting Cunha was a solid member of the squad who had been guilty of an uncharacteristic loss of control. It appeared to be a perfectly valid opinion, given Cunha had hitherto shown few indications of possessing a short fuse. Advertisement Yet the Brazilian proceeded to show how Pereira's faith was misplaced, first with a stroppy performance at Chelsea that prompted his head coach to publicly criticise his body language and then with his second violent meltdown of the season, against Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez in the FA Cup. Just a few weeks earlier Wolves had given Cunha a new contract that, thanks to a release clause for a fee of £62.5m, had few benefits to the club other than keeping their best player focused for the remainder of the season before an expected summer departure. Losing him for four key games as a result of his suspension made that benefit even more marginal, and by the time he returned a run of victories meant Wolves had effectively finished the job of securing safety without him. Yet just as the Bournemouth game highlighted the frailties of Cunha's temperament, it also shone a spotlight on the scale of his talent, with the rocket of an equaliser that took the game into extra time laced with a level of quality that few other players in the league, let alone Wolves' squad, could match. And, while Pereira walked into a team staring at likely relegation, the situation would have been graver had it not been for some vital Cunha interventions — two goals in a 4-1 win at Fulham, one to seal a home victory over Southampton and a morale-boosting late equaliser at Brighton & Hove Albion to name but three. Pereira's team shape suited Cunha less than an O'Neil game plan that was often built around him, but the Brazilian's form continued in the early months of the new boss's reign with his 'olympico' strike to seal a Boxing Day win over Manchester United in Pereira's first home game another standout moment. Chances are, Cunha's Wolves career is now over with the player having been granted permission to undergo a medical at Manchester United after they met the terms of his contract at Molineux. And no one — fans, Pereira or Molineux executives — will lament his departure in the same way they did with Neves or Neto. Cunha now has too much baggage and a fresh start is regarded as the best option for all parties. But the talent is undeniable and his impact on what is likely to be his final season at Wolves has been immense. For one final time, there is cause to raise a glass to a character who, for better and worse, is the club's player of the season.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
'Cause for cautious optimism under charismatic Pereira'
Here's my quick assessment of Wolves' Premier League season - and a return to my August prediction: 15thEnded the season: 16thPoints then pints was the mantra of Wolves' manager Vitor Pereira as he talked about sharing a drink with fans - and he got more than his share after he replaced sacked Gary O'Neil in December when they were second from had a tame end to the season, but Pereira brought new unity, leading to a revival which included six straight top-flight wins for the first time since who are likely to lose star striker Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, faded once safety was assured, but there is now cause for cautious optimism under the charismatic I said in August: "I think Wolves can avoid danger - and surely they will get a better deal from VAR this season."Read my assessments of the other 19 teams here
