Former Liverpool coach lands Premier League role after surprise decision made

Gary O’Neil has been appointed new Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach.

O’Neil takes overin the Molineux hot seat following the departure of Julen Lopetegui. The ex-Real Madrid boss walked away from Wolves after just nine months, having lead the club to Premier League safety last season.

However, Wolves’ precarious financial situation and lack of summer transfer activity led to Lopetegui leaving by mutual consent on Tuesday night.

Now the midlands outfit have turned to O’Neil, who was surprisingly axed by Bournemouth at the end of 2022-23 despite securing a highly-commendable 14th-place finish in their first season back in the top flight.

O’Neil had a stint as Liverpool under-23 assistant coach, while he represented the likes of West Ham, Middlesbrough and Portsmouth during his playing career.

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.”