Gary O'Neil admits Wolves sacking possible following Brentford humiliation

Wolves, yet to win a single Premier League fixture and down at the bottom of the standings with just one point, have made their worst start to a Premier League season since 2003/04.

O’Neil has had to contend with a mightily difficult fixture run with Arsenal, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Liverpool making up the first six matches. But even the slight reprieve of facing Brentford away didn’t help matters, as Wanderers were embarrassed in a 5-3 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium.

It’s the second time this campaign that Wolves have let in five or more goals in a single Premier League outing and the total of 21 conceded is by far the worst in the top flight. Southampton, who have been put down by many as relegation sureties, have conceded six fewer in the same number of fixtures.

With champions Manchester City at Molineux up next after the international break, the odds would suggest Wolves’ woes are set to be compounded further. The run gets a lot easier after that but what’s to say O’Neil’s men won’t lose in the same fashion they did at Brentford? Something needs to change quickly, whether that be the tactics or the manager himself.

O’Neil admitted on Saturday that he’s now uncertain about his own future. Just a week earlier, before the 2-1 loss to Liverpool, the head coach was far comfier and praised heavily by Wolves’ sporting director Matt Hobbs. A lot can change in a short space of time in football.

“I have no idea,” confessed O’Neil when asked if he thinks he’ll keep his job. “I am neither confident or not confident. Being a football manager means you have today and after that, so much can happen.

“Today I gave my best to help my football club have a successful day and it was miles below the standard we expect. Tomorrow I will get up and do the same and at some point someone will tell me to stop and I will stop,” O’Neil added.

There have definitely been promising signs in some of the defeats so far, perhaps buying O’Neil some time, but the most showing at Brentford was one of the worst in Wolves’ recent history. Three goals scored would suggest an end-to-end clash and an unfortunate result, but the reality was a total lack of order defensively - and in possession.

O’Neil admitted as much himself, saying: “There was no structure, a complete loss of control in terms of what the team are meant to do and be. It is the worst performance since I've been here.

“We were far too open with no real understanding and we gave ourselves no opportunity in the game at all because of the level of defensive shape and structure. Even when we had the ball we were all over the place so defensive transitions caused a problem to us,” O’Neil continued.