Gary Lineker tips Wolves hero to achieve what no Englishman ever has before

Gary Lineker believes Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O'Neil might have what it takes to become the first English head coach to win the Premier League title.

The former Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona striker, who hosts BBC Match of the Day, has been thoroughly impressed by O'Neil's progress at Wolves over such a short period. Premier League legend Alan Shearer and ex-Manchester City star Micah Richards, who both co-host a podcast with Lineker, have also been tracking O'Neil's development.

"Big shout out to Gary O'Neil, my god what a job he's doing, unbelievable," Shearer told The Rest Is Football. Lineker then agreed, adding: "He knows what he’s talking about and you can see the players have bought into what he does. He plays aggressive, attacking, pressing football.

"Maybe we’ve struggled to find great England coaches and we can see that in Premier League history as there hasn’t been an English coach who has won one yet. So, maybe he’ll be that special coach! I don't want to build him up too much, but you never know," Lineker continued.

There's no wonder why O'Neil has galvanized so much as Wolves, who have hardly spent a penny under the new manager's watch, are currently in the Premier League top 10. Just four points off West Ham United in seventh, Wanderers fans may start to dream of European football if the run continues.

Not only that, but the Old Gold are in the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup with Coventry City coming to Molineux on March 16. Winning that would book Wolves a place at Wembley Stadium for the semi-finals.

Richards doesn't want to get too carried away about O'Neil, though, as he rebuffed Lineker's Premier League title claim somewhat. “It’s hard because we thought that about Graham Potter. It all depends - in all respect to Wolves fans - what his next move is," Richards said.

"Can he do it at a team with more pressure? Because ultimately, when you talk about the likes of Antony and Martial not doing it at Man United a lot of it is to do with the scrutiny of the club. You have to deal with the outside noise as well as getting the players to buy in to what you’re doing," Richards used as an example.