41 minutes ago
When Julen Lopetegui left Wolves just days before their Premier League opener at Manchester United, it only fueled a sense of panic among the Molineux supporters.
The lack of new signings and the departure of many experienced players – including captain Ruben Neves – sparked concerns about owner Fosun's commitment, and there was a general feeling that relegation was virtually inevitable.
Instead, Wolves have delivered their most exciting half-season so far since consecutive seventh-place finishes under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The win at Brighton takes them into the top half of the table and is just one point ahead of Manchester United, who occupies a European place.
“The players were probably offended by the initial preseason judgment and where people expected them to be,” O'Neil said.
“That probably spurred them on a little bit to try and prove a few people wrong. You will still feel this way now. They will still be desperate to prove people wrong and do as well as possible.”
Given the reaction to his appointment as Lopetegui's successor, O'Neil also had every right to be offended.
“I wasn’t offended,” he said. “I was looking forward to being back at a fantastic club. I was sitting there unemployed and didn’t expect a job of this level to come my way, so I was happy it happened.”
“When you don't know the group that well and the noise around them is negative and people are talking about how difficult it might be, I thought, 'Is it going to be difficult?'.”
“We didn't get too many results in the first few games so it looked like it was enough, but credit to the boys for committing to everything we asked.”
“I don’t want to be led down the road where it feels like I’m saying we accomplished something because we didn’t. 28 points from 20 games is a decent return, but a lot can go right and wrong in the last 18 games.
“Can we get to 28 more? Fifty-six would be an incredible season.”
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