It has been an awful season so far for Wolverhampton Wanderers. They are without a win in the Premier League, sitting rock bottom of the table with just three points to their name. The Old Gold are also the worst defensive side in the competition, conceding 27 goals, more than any other team.
The Midlands club are led by Gary O’Neil, who did an excellent job last season keeping them up, after tough circumstances landed him the job in the first place.
Although his job is under pressure this term, he might well have enough credit in the bank following his performances in 2023/24, a campaign that Julen Lopetegui was meant to be in charge of the club.
Lopetegui’s Wolves career
West Ham United manager Lopetegui has had an interesting 18 months or so. At the start of last season, he left his post at Molineux, just three days before their season opener against Manchester United.
The official statement from Wolves explained that both the club and manager “accepted their differences of opinion on certain issues and agreed that an amicable end to his contract was the best solution”. This largely surrounded the fact that he was not given any money to spend in the summer of 2023.
For what it is worth, the Spaniard did a good job in the hot seat at Molineux. He was originally appointed in November 2022, around the time domestic football temporarily stopped for the 2022 World Cup. He replaced Bruno Lage, who was sacked the previous month.
The former Real Madrid boss was only in charge for 27 games but brought them from the bottom of the Premier League when he took over, to a 13th place finish.
He changed the club’s fortunes around and left with a good record, winning ten games in all competitions and ensuring survival for another season in the Premier League.
Stat
Number
Games
27
Wins
10
Draws
5
Losses
12
Goals for
31
Goals against
42
Premier League points
31
However, things did not go according to plan that summer when it became clear the higher-ups at Molineux would not spend money to help strengthen the squad. Thus, he left his post and was replaced by O’Neil.
Interestingly, neither Lopetegui nor his successor O’Neil could have ended up at Molineux. Following Lage’s sacking there was another manager who the Old Gold targeted, although they ultimately missed out on him.
The manager Wolves missed
The man in question here is Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim. The former Sporting boss has recently landed himself one of football’s top jobs, that of Manchester United, and he replaces Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
Incredibly, back in October 2022, the Sun reported that the new Red Devils boss was one of four managers in a shortlist to replace Lage at Molineux, claiming that he was ‘at the top’ of the list to take over.
It would certainly have made sense to bring the former Sporting boss to Molineux given they had a strong Portuguese contingent at the club back in 2022/23. Ten players within the first-team squad that season were from Portugal, including Joao Moutinho who was a former teammate of Amorim at international level.
Looking back on it, the Old Gold may well regret missing out on the 39-year-old, who was named “Europe’s most wanted” manager by journalist Lewis Steele. He has a superb record in Lisbon, winning five trophies as Sporting boss including two league titles. In all, he has 164 wins in 230 games in charge of Leoes, who have scored a whopping 511 goals in that time.
His side recently dispatched Manchester City in the Champions League 4-1. It was his final home game before he makes the move to the Red half of Manchester, and was the perfect send-off after a stellar time in Portugal.
Wolves fans will surely look back on their chase of Amroim with great regret. They came close to securing his services a couple of years ago, and now it seems like their chance to get him has well and truly gone.
This season could have been a far different story for the Old Gold if they had managed to bring in one of the best young managers in Europe.
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