Wolves title Gary O’Neil as new head coach after Julen Lopetegui exit
The former Bournemouth boss has signed a three-year contract at Molineux till 2026 and formally takes the reins solely 5 days earlier than the membership start the 2023/24 top-flight marketing campaign with a tricky journey to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
O’Neil’s swift appointment had been broadly anticipated after affirmation on Tuesday that Lopetegui and Wolves had agreed to part ways after solely 9 months following weeks of talks and “differences of opinion on certain issues”.
Lopetegui’s backroom employees, a crew comprised of Pablo Sanz, Juan Peinado, Oscar Caro, Edu Rubio, Borja De Alba Alonso and Daniel Lopetegui, additionally left the membership.
“We’re delighted to welcome Gary to the club,” stated Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs on Wednesday. “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.”
A former Premier League midfielder with the likes of Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Ham, O’Neil started teaching with Liverpool’s Under-23s and earned promotion to the top-flight as a part of Scott Parker’s employees at Bournemouth earlier than being positioned in caretaker cost after the latter’s exit following the 9-0 drubbing by Liverpool 12 months in the past.
He was handed the job on a everlasting foundation in November after dropping solely 4 of his first 12 matches in cost, however was sacked less than seven months later in June regardless of guiding the Cherries – most individuals’s pre-season favourites for relegation – to a decent Fifteenth-place end with 10 wins in complete from 34 League video games on the helm.
It was a shock choice as Bournemouth as a substitute determined to nominate former Spain defender and Rayo Vallecano coach Andoni Iraola as their new boss on a two-year contract.