Gary O’Neil’s impact at Wolves has been phenomenal, as everyone knows, but one emerging statistic brings his improvement to light.
At the start of the season, Wolves were spoken about as relegation candidates and some would say rightly so.
After Julen Lopetegui dragged the Wanderers away from the threat of relegation last term, many expected them to fight towards the bottom in 2023/24.
Wolves watched Lopetegui walk out of Molineux just six days before the Premier League season kicked off as the club were hamstrung by FFP restrictions and sold two of their best players, namely Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes, without replacing them.
While the appointment of Gary O’Neil wasn’t expected to change the tide, perhaps even lessening their chances of staying in the top flight, O’Neil has proven the doubters wrong by leading Wolves towards a magnificent season.
With 10 matches left to go, the Wanderers are in ninth position, three points behind seventh-place West Ham with an excellent chance of qualifying for Europe.
It’s a remarkable transformation from where the club were a year ago as Wolves battled to keep their top-flight status.
Wolves are the second-most-improved side in the Premier League
The international break in March is a time of reflection and to outline aims for the rest of the campaign.
Some teams are ultimately happy with their position while others are craving more.
In the Premier League, there have been several success stories, including Aston Villa chasing the Champions League while Liverpool are battling for the title in Jurgen Klopp’s final season.
Wolves challenging towards Europe a year on from battling relegation is arguably the biggest success story.
According to Sky Sports, the Wanderers are 14 points better off than they were at this stage of last season, behind only Liverpool, who have recorded 21 points extra on the board.
From 27 points in 2022/23 to 41 this time round, it’s a remarkable transformation at Molineux, and O’Neil deserves all the credit.
Gary O’Neil is magic
O’Neil has single-handedly reinvigorated a fanbase that had lost hope, improved the fortunes of several players and sparked hopes of finishing in Europe when it didn’t look possible.
It takes a special manager to do that, with Tim Sherwood believing that no other manager in world football could do the job that O’Neil has done at Wolves.
For the first time in years, the Wanderers are heading in the right direction and if they can cap off a fine campaign by finishing in Europe, there should be no debate as to who should win the Manager of the Season Award.