Gary O’Neil has been out of work since he was sacked by Wolves in December 2024 and was once loosely linked with the Manchester United job
Former Wolves and Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil has previously been loosely linked with the Manchester United job (Image: Getty Images)
Unemployed Premier League boss Gary O’Neil believes his previous connections to the top position at Manchester United were merely speculation. The 42-year-old enjoyed two-and-a-half years managing in the Premier League across spells with Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
O’Neil stabilised matters at Bournemouth for a campaign following Scott Parker’s dismissal after a humiliating 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool in August 2022. However, when the Cherries chose to bring in Andoni Iraola rather than retain O’Neil at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, the Englishman moved to Wolves.
Throughout his debut term in the West Midlands, Wolves secured 14th place despite temporarily rising to eighth. He was touted as a successor to Gareth Southgate with England and was similarly endorsed for the role at Old Trafford.
Yet following 11 losses in Wolves’ opening 16 league fixtures last campaign, he received his marching orders. O’Neil remains without a managerial position since departing Wolves. Speaking to The Telegraph, he maintained he could not “control” speculation linking him with various roles.
“I’ve done some media work and when you are sat there you have to give an opinion,” he explained. “So, these people who are saying these lovely things about me or not so nice things about me, they’re fulfilling a role.
“I understand that I was probably loosely linked to Manchester United and England. I don’t think there was ever anything really in it.
“Wolves were going very, very well at the time. The place was rocking. We were beating big sides, having lost a lot of big players.
“So, there was reason for the positive noise. Then you go from being linked to big clubs and big jobs to having a tough few months at Wolves and then those same outlets are saying you’re useless.
“It can change very quickly and the truth is always in the middle. In the end at Wolves we weren’t able to arrest the slide. I would have loved to get to January. But you have to earn the right to get the window.”
Wolves ultimately remained in the Premier League following O’Neil’s departure when Vítor Pereira took charge.
The former midfielder added: “The club were aware of the issues. We’d had detailed discussions around what we needed, what we were going to try to do.
“Vitor came in and he gave them unbelievable stability, got them some fantastic results, saw the players respond to the managerial change as well, which is often the case.
“So I sat here (at home) watching Wolves every week, praying that they would win and that they would stay up. You don’t want to play a part in a team that’s relegated.”
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