Gary O’Neil future: Wolves hoping short-term Premier League pain leads to long-term gain

“We’re good enough to stay in the league and we will stay in it,” Wolves boss Gary O’Neil stated after Sunday’s 2-1 injury-time defeat by Manchester City

That confidence belies Wolves’ position in the Premier League given they sit bottom after eight games with just one point.

Sunday’s heartbreaking loss came after a virtual assistant referee (VAR) call overturned an offside decision. That allowed John Stones’ headed winner to stand and left O’Neil questioning “sub-conscious bias” against “smaller clubs” from officials.

He was, however, calm enough to avoid combusting – learning the lessons of last year’s VAR frustrations which led Wolves to push for scrapping the technology completely.

Now, Wolves must regroup for Saturday’s trip to Brighton – a fixture which means they will have faced seven of the current top eight in their opening nine games.

They have had the most difficult start to this season of any Premier League club, according to data company Opta, with their solitary point coming in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.

But performances have not been wretched. Wolves have competed well in the majority of their games.

“It isn’t a lot to turn around,” said O’Neil last week. “I’m absolutely fine. I bumped into quite a few people around the town as well and everyone is unbelievably supportive.

“They understand the difficulties and they know the full situation with the fixtures and the transfer funds.”

Sporting director Matt Hobbs has also been a balanced presence, being more visible during difficult times in a show of support to 41-year-old O’Neil, who signed a four-year contract in the summer.

Hobbs, 44, has maintained an important sense of perspective of where Wolves are and remains focused on the long-term development of the club.

Chairman Jeff Shi has been reassuring to O’Neil – he described him as a “very young, talented, capable and outstanding manager” in August. And there is a sense once Wolves start winning the suffering will have been worth it, and the level of trust deeper.

Jack Wilson’s departure as set piece coach this month underlined the backing O’Neil has been given as he was the driving force behind the decision.

Wilson only joined in the summer from Manchester City but it was a failed experiment for a tight coaching team, one which O’Neil works extremely close with, spending most of the day with them as a hands-on head coach.

There was an acceptance a specialist would be useful and help Wolves keep up with the times but they have conceded seven goals from set pieces this term, having shipped just 10 in the whole of the last campaign.

The players remain loyal to O’Neil and another VAR decision going against them after last season’s issues could galvanise the group further.

Wolves may be bottom but there is a concrete belief they can survive although there is also the knowledge they must start winning.

Home games against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Bournemouth next month are crucial and no matter how much support there currently is, it will be tested if Wolves fail to pick up points.