Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has said he has received an ‘incredible’ level of support from Matt Hobbs, a kind he’s never had before as a manager
O’Neil is coming up to three months in charge at Molineux, after replacing Julen Lopetegui just before the start of the new season.
It was a very chaotic period for Wolves a few months ago. The club’s worrying financial situation proved too much for Lopetegui, who walked away from the club after Wolves’ final pre-season game with Rennes.
Lopetegui had decided he was leaving before that, informing Hobbs after the pre-season friendly with Celtic. But he stayed in place while Hobbs led the search for a new manager.
That search ultimately led him to O’Neil – and it’s been a good start from the 40-year-old so far.
And O’Neil has heaped praise on Hobbs for the support he has given him during his time at the club up to now…
Gary O’Neil says he’s never felt support like it from Matt Hobbs at Wolves.
O’Neil has been speaking to Mikey Burrows on the latest Wolves Weekly podcast. He spoke after the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United about a variety of topics.
As usual, O’Neil came across superbly well in this chat.
And it was interesting to hear about the relationship he has with the club’s sporting director Hobbs.
He said: “That was the thing that hit me the most, how many good people there are at the training ground working for this football club. Everyone has given me so much support.
“The support I’ve received from Matt was incredible. It’s not something I’ve experienced before. Maybe because I haven’t been doing it very long. With last year’s relegation battle and then coming into a new club.
“It feels to me like I just need to win all the time. You feel under immense pressure to win every weekend. Obviously, I am. But the fact you have a sporting director like Matt who is unbelievably supportive and has an incredible vision for where we want to go and how we want to shift the culture with the place.
“He gives me a support that I haven’t really had before. It’s been big, not only from Matt, but from the ladies, in the canteen the chef, everyone here couldn’t have done any more for me.”
The O’Neil-Hobbs double act has great potential
You can tell listening to O’Neil that he is massively grateful to Hobbs. It must have been pretty daunting for him to come in at Wolves given the situation at the time.
A big name in Lopetegui had just left. The financial situation was messy, and the season was just about to start. Of course, O’Neil is still a relatively inexperienced manager, too.
So he will have needed a lot of support and it sounds like he’s had it from O’Neil.
Recently, Hobbs really raved about O’Neil and his principles. They seem to have great admiration for one another and this surely means they have strong
potential as a double act at Wolves.
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