Former Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil pulls out of race to replace Vitor Pereira | OneFootball

Former Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil has reportedly withdrawn from the race to take over from his replacement Vitor Pereira, who was sacked on Sunday.

O’Neil was at the helm at Wolves for a little over 14 months before he was sacked in December last year and has been out of work since then.

The club have endured a dismal start to the season, with no wins and just two points from 10 games, and are rooted to the bottom of the table. If Wolves stave off relegation they would be the first Premier League side to do so after achieving so few points at this stage of the season.

BBC Sport and Sky Sports both reported that the 42-year-old has been in discussions with the club about a possible return, but felt the timing was not right for a new role in management.

The club’s Supporters Trust opposed the idea of his re-appointment, saying earlier on Monday that it “would show a clear lack of strategic direction by the club hierarchy”.

Wolves are still paying O’Neil under the terms of his 12-month severance package.

Pereira replaced him 11 months ago and signed a new three-year contract a little over a month ago but was swiftly dismissed after a 3-0 defeat to Fulham on Saturday.

O’Neil led the Molineux outfit to a 14th-place finish in his first season in charge as well as the FA Cup quarter-finals, but was sacked after the club failed to win in their opening games in the 2024-25 season - an unenviable run which Pereira has now matched.

Wolves are now looking for their third manager in less than 12 months and fifth in four years.

Current Middlesborough manager Rob Edwards, who is also a former under-23 coach and brief interim first-team head coach at Wolves, is believed to be in the running. He has dismissed the idea as “speculation”, saying “my full focus is on this job here, which is a brilliant job”.

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, who has been out of work since being sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just three games in September, is also a possible contender.

Under-21s and under-18s head coaches James Collins and Richard Walker have been placed in interim charge ahead of Wolves’ visit to Chelsea on Saturday.