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O'Neil aka GONe

While we're all praising the squad and GON for yesterday, think its worth highlighting Gary's effect on RAN, always looked a good player but with some rough edges. Lopetegui obviously had some positive effects on the team and club but it felt to me like he wasn't keen on Rayan.
We're seeing the best of him currently and have been for a number games, especially his fitness. There was a time when it seemed he rarely made it past 75 minutes and was happy to get subbed, yesterday he was seething about coming off.
 
Wouldn't argue with a word and I think he's underpraised defensively, but he needs to turn his attractive play going forwards into production. Still 0 goals and 0 assists for a team who relies heavily on their wing backs offensively
 
Tony Towner said:
Wouldn't argue with a word and I think he's underpraised defensively, but he needs to turn his attractive play going forwards into production. Still 0 goals and 0 assists for a team who relies heavily on their wing backs offensively
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Put a few cut backs on a plate which should have been converted but there is still room for improvement. He’s found himself in goalscoring positions plenty though and the stats say he hasn’t even hit the target once.
 
Tony Towner said:
Wouldn't argue with a word and I think he's underpraised defensively, but he needs to turn his attractive play going forwards into production. Still 0 goals and 0 assists for a team who relies heavily on their wing backs offensively
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Yeah I think that's fair. For ages I thought he was usually going to trip over the ball when he was driving forward. His defensive play has improved consistantly since he arrived imo. I have more faith that he can improve even more now than I did 12 months ago.
 
Deutsch Wolf said:
That last bit is huge for me, I was against going back to 3 CHs as it's such a shit comfort blanket and it had made us so awful to watch for literally years whenever we did it (the peak Nuno days by now being ages ago in football terms).

Longer term we need better CHs so we aren't locked into one shape but we're making it work for now.

Also shouldn't be understated what he's done with Hwang. He's looked at what he can and can't do and turned him into a player none of us could have envisaged 4 months ago.
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Too many people put too much emphasis on the 3 CB's. It's not the millstone some would have us believe...

The current formation is quite fluid with Toti slotting in at LB while RAN gets forward...

I'm still trying to make sense of how CB's are the furthest ones forward on occasion!
 
Sometimes a manager is just the right fit for a club, at a given time. Nuno wasn't a world beater, before he came to Wolves, but he was a perfect fit for where we were and gelled with the support and the city of Wolverhampton. There was a connection there, that maybe a more successful manager, might not have enjoyed.
It is possible, that a more successful and experienced manager, than GON, would not have had the same connection with the squad and not have accumulated the same amount of points with the players we have. I am not comparing GON to a highly successful manager, who knows how to deal with a team of superstars, but he has definitely improved several players, during his short time at Wolves and has done well with the players he has at his disposal. He appears to be a decent fit for where we are as a club at the moment and long may it continue.
 
Deutsch Wolf said:
Also shouldn't be understated what he's done with Hwang. He's looked at what he can and can't do and turned him into a player none of us could have envisaged 4 months ago.
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This is a key point for me. GON has definitely improved several players. Lopetegui hardly made any use of Aït-Nouri, but he looks a superb player now. Sarabia and Cunha look a different class now, too.
 
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Walshes Wolves said:
This is a key point for me. GON has definitely improved several players. Lopetegui hardly made any use of Aït-Nouri, but he looks a superb player now. Sarabia and Cunha look a different class now, too.
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RAN apparently had some personal issues and was taken out of the firing line.
 
Walshes Wolves said:
Sometimes a manager is just the right fit for a club, at a given time. Nuno wasn't a world beater, before he came to Wolves, but he was a perfect fit for where we were and gelled with the support and the city of Wolverhampton. There was a connection there, that maybe a more successful manager, might not have enjoyed.
It is possible, that a more successful and experienced manager, than GON, would not have had the same connection with the squad and not have accumulated the same amount of points with the players we have. I am not comparing GON to a highly successful manager, who knows how to deal with a team of superstars, but he has definitely improved several players, during his short time at Wolves and has done well with the players he has at his disposal. He appears to be a decent fit for where we are as a club at the moment and long may it continue.
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I think this sums it up nicely. I’m sure all football clubs are the same but sometimes a manager just gels and it can be special - Mick McCarthy, Kenny Jackett and Nuno have been that in my time supporting Wolves. GON may be that too, who knows.

Whether he was brought in initially as a stop gap this season or not I hope the higher ups are willing to give him a fair crack next year and a decent two transfer windows. Obviously the jury is out whether he can push us towards the top half of the table/Europa League places but he’s clearly what this squad of players needed.
 
Thread on the BHA forum about Lopetegui leaving Wolves and GO replacing him. Page 1 has posts from August 8th/9th when they (Seagulls fans) were predicting a long, hard season for us, Page 2 is where someone resurrected the thread after last night and asked if people had changed their views now

[Albion] - Lopetegui out, O'Neill in (probably)

Lopetegui left Wolves earlier today, and Gary O'Neill looks set to be appointed. Does this count as the first Premier League managerial casualty of the season? I'm slightly surprised that O'Neill is being appointed, but he was quite harshly treated at Plucky, and deserves another shot in the...
www.northstandchat.com
 
That extra 'L' they keep appending to his name does my head in.

They seem a rational bunch, tho.
 
There's more happening for sure. I really liked the move from the kick off (referenced in that thread). Obviously something the squad had worked on.
 
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