Wolves 1-2 Ipswich Town: Frustration and anger as Gary O’Neil’s unity falls apart

Chairman Shi only gave the manager his backing on Thursday, in the midst of rumours linking the club with several managers including former Chelsea boss Graham Potter.

O’Neil had to defend his position after the defeat at West Ham and fielded similar questions in his post-match news conference on Saturday evening.

“I’m not interested in my own position. I know the work I do every day and I know the situation we are in.” he said

“I know getting this group to perform the way they did took a lot of work. People can point the finger at me but some of the responsibly has to land on the players.

“I’m comfortable with myself as a coach, my standards and what I ask of the group. I also embrace this difficult moment.

“That group downstairs need me this week to help get them into a place where they are ready to go. I will keep fighting for them and with them until I’m told not to.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m going to get sacked. For every [poor] result which comes the chances of me losing my job heightens. It doesn’t concern me, the situation drives me to want to do better.”

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna, whose side moved three points above Wolves, said he had been looking to take advantage of O’Neil’s situation and the growing unease at Molineux.

“You always speak about the context of the opposition, what their run’s been like, how their form is and how the crowd might be,” he said.

“It’s always something for away games. If a team is not doing as well as they’d like to be, you know if you start well and get the first goal the atmosphere can work against the home side. We managed that really well.”