Wolverhampton Wanderers

Image source, PA Media

Phil Cartwright, BBC Sport

Changing manager just before your first game is hardly the best preparation for a new season. However, Gary O'Neil inherits a Wolves squad that, although thin in some areas, contains the basis of a decent Premier League XI.

The common consensus is that it needed trimming down somewhat and most who have left - Ruben Neves the notable exception - were likely to have been on the fringes of the starting XI.

Julen Lopetegui's plan to supplement those who remained did not work out as anticipated.

But pre-season performances, particularly against Stade Rennais on Saturday, have provided cautious optimism.

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Matt Doherty's return on a free transfer ensures there is now good competition in both full-back positions and the same applies in midfield.

One of the positions Wolves look light is at centre-back; Max Kilman and Craig Dawson appear the most likely pairing with Toti Gomes as cover, but one wonders what effect a key injury or two would have in that area.

Up front, club-record signing Matheus Cunha has looked sharp during pre-season but was not as effective when asked to operate as a genuine number nine last term and is more suited to playing off a front man. Fabio Silva has shown signs of progression after loans at Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven, while 6ft 6ins Sasa Kaladjzic will provide a different option.

But will they, and the contingent of wide attackers, be able to address the woeful lack of goals? They managed a league-lowest 31 last season and that is one thing the new manager desperately needs to solve.

Phil McNulty, chief football writer

Last season: 13th

Predicted 2023-24 position: 18th

Got a very worrying feeling about Wolves.

They have shed around £90m worth of talent, including their outstanding midfield player Ruben Neves, without making any significant upgrades as they watch financial fair play rules.

Julen Lopetegui looked their best hope of staying up - but he is no longer at Molineux.

Find out Phil’s full Premier League predictions here

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Mitchener, BBC Sport

It is just under a year since Gary O'Neil found himself unexpectedly thrust into the role of managing a Premier League team, succeeding a man whose public frustrations over his club's recruitment strategy ultimately led to the breakdown of his relationship with the ownership. For Scott Parker in August 2022, read Julen Lopetegui in August 2023.

Coincidentally, O'Neil's first game in caretaker charge was against Wolves, when pragmatism and defensive solidity were the order of the day for Bournemouth, who were relieved to settle for a clean sheet and a goalless draw.

The Wolves connection continued after O'Neil was handed the Cherries job permanently in November. His side lost their first six games after the World Cup, and were winless in nine before a 1-0 success at Wolves in February. While there was a touch of the "smash and grab" about the manner of victory, it does mean O'Neil begins with a 100% win record as a manager at Molineux.

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Fan opinion on O'Neil remained divided for much of his time at Bournemouth. While there was appreciation for his role in "steadying the ship" after Parker's departure, some felt the World Cup break would have been the perfect opportunity to bring in a more experienced boss - something which ultimately happened in the summer as he was replaced by Andoni Iraola.

But he deserves plenty of credit for masterminding the run of six wins in nine games in March and April which secured the Cherries' Premier League status for another year, leading to a 15th-place finish which seemed unfathomable after nearly every pre-season prediction had them guaranteed to finish bottom.

While he was unable to cure the persistent Cherries vulnerability in defending set pieces, and there was particular frustration on occasions when Bournemouth led by a two-goal margin only to finish on the losing side (at home to Tottenham, and away at Leeds and Arsenal), O'Neil did seem to energise and galvanise the players. They appeared to buy into his style of play more than they may have done under his predecessor Parker, even though - by his own admission - he was "learning on the job" and did not expect his first managerial opportunity to come in the top flight.

Now, against all expectation, he has another.

Image source, Reuters

Phil Cartwright, BBC Sport

Gary O'Neil has just five days to prepare for his first game as Wolves head coach after being appointed as Julen Lopetegui's successor.

He has experience of taking over a team at short notice, having stepped in to take charge of Bournemouth last August following Scott Parker's departure. Four days after Parker's final game, the 9-0 loss at Liverpool, Bournemouth kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw against... Wolves.

O'Neil will take his new team to Old Trafford on Monday, to face a Manchester United side that has not lost a Premier League match at home since the opening game of last season.

In contrast, Wolves' away record last term was poor. They won only two of their 19 league games on the road and scored only 12 goals - only Nottingham Forest were worse off in both metrics.

One of those away wins came at Everton and a trip to Goodison Park on 26 August follows their first home game against Europa League-bound Brighton seven days earlier.

Liverpool and Treble-winners Manchester City visit Molineux in September, while Wolves also go to Crystal Palace and newly-promoted Luton in a testing start to the new season.

Image source, Reuters

Wolves have confirmed the appointment of Gary O'Neil as their new head coach.

He succeeds Julen Lopetegui, who left Molineux on Tuesday, and has agreed a three-year contract.

The 40-year-old guided Bournemouth to survival last season before being sacked by the Cherries in June.

This is his second full-time managerial role and his first game in charge will be Wolves' Premier League opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday.

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Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: "He's a highly motivated young coach with strong principles and very well thought of by everyone he has worked with, and we’re excited to see what we can achieve together at Wolves.

"Our players have shown their quality during pre-season, and I believe Gary and his team will continue to coach and improve them and will have success working with this group.

"Everyone at Wolves is looking forward to welcoming Gary, offering him their full support and working collaboratively to help the club to keep pushing forward together."

Mike Taylor, BBC Radio WM

In disaster movies, the trouble starts as a faint rumble, ignored by almost everyone.

Spin this page back to the notes of Julen Lopetegui’s press conference on 11 May: "First of all, I need to have a meeting with the chairman to hear his ideas about next year... we have to improve." Routine stuff.

A week later, he was asked whether the meeting had taken place yet: "I have had that meeting and I know now that there are some financial fair play problems that I didn’t know before." Suddenly, there was the first tremor on the graph, the first pebbles rolling down the hill.

While there was obviously a clear difference of opinion, it was not insurmountable. By the following week, though, Lopetegui was raising his demands, asking for the squad to be complete by the start of pre-season. Obviously that is desirable but practically extremely difficult for any club without spending over the odds. It already felt as if Lopetegui could not be satisfied. His interview with Guillem Balague a couple of weeks ago, a straight-to-video sequel, sounded like goodbye.

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Perhaps we'll never really know at which point each party felt that this wasn't going to work out. But if he was going to go, it would have been better for all concerned if hands had been shaken at any point in the past 10 weeks. Most of all, it would have been better for the next man, seemingly Gary O'Neil, although we read in Wolves’ statement that Lopetegui's staff have continued pre-season to "ensure the playing squad would be in the best possible condition".

Suits bought off the peg sometimes fit very well, though, and let's hope so, because O'Neil won't have long to make alterations before the season starts.

As in many disputes, we can see that both sides have a point. Wolves have a thin squad - though it has a talented centre - but they will be working with a flimsy safety net for form and fitness problems. I have heard fans wonder why their club are so cautious on FFP when they hear of others spending on merrily, but Wolves do not want to be the club that tests the resolve of the football authorities to enforce the rules, and they overspent last season to stave off danger. Whether they spent it efficiently or not is a good debate, but not the point.

This will be one of those inflection points that fans will revisit for a long time. I wonder if it'll make a crackling chapter in a Lopetegui autobiography one day and who knows, maybe Jeff Shi has a memoir in him too. But there is no time for the club to indulge in what-might-have-beens just now. Too much time has been wasted already.

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours at Molineux with Julen Lopetegui gone and Gary O'Neil on the brink of being appointed.

So what do you make of the former Bournemouth manager?

Are you happy with how the situation has progressed?

Or are you tearing your hair out?

Let us know your thoughts