Wolverhampton Wanderers

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There is no appetite for change at Wolves but their situation does not get any easier with Sunday's visit of Manchester City.

Just a point from their opening seven games has left Gary O'Neil's side bottom of the Premier League, having also conceded a league high of 21 goals.

Set-piece coach Jack Wilson was sacked during the international break with the side having shipped six from set-plays already this term. They conceded just 10 during the whole of last season.

That itself was a show of support for O'Neil, who drove the decision, and the Wolves boss - who is due to speak to the media at 13:00 BST - is still likely to be given time to turn the season around.

Wolves have already played five of the current top seven and will have faced all of them by the time they play City and travel to Brighton next week.

That has been taken into consideration but, with the visits of Crystal Palace, Southampton and Bournemouth next month, they must start winning.

Minds will understandably cast back to last season's 2-1 win over City at Molineux which gave the O'Neil era lift-off but, with the struggles this season, a point will certainly be seen as a success this time.

Come back to this page later on for all the key lines from O'Neil's news conference

Guess the former Wolves player from their Premier League statistics at the club:

• Years at club: 2018-2023

• National team: Spain

• Position: Winger

• Appearances: 157

• Goals: 10

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 BST

Image source, Opta

After the October international break, the Opta supercomputer has updated its projected final Premier League table.

It is only seven matches into the campaign so much can still change, but the season is beginning to take shape. The supercomputer simulates thousands of seasons and takes the percentage each side finishes in each league position.

Southampton remain most likely to finish bottom but their one point from seven games has seen their chances increasing dramatically from 28.6% to 61%.

A solid start, despite no win yet, has seen Ipswich's probability of finishing 17th creep up from 12% to 15.2% - but a 19th-placed finish has increased from 21.3% to 25.3%.

Leicester's most likely finish has changed from bottom to 18th after their first win under Steve Cooper, while Crystal Palace's poor start has seen their chances of ending in their current position of 18th go from 1.1% to 7.2%.

Wolves finished 18th in 9.7% of simulations before a ball was kicked but the now-bottom side are now at 20.1% to end in that position after a winless first seven games.

He's the second quickest player in the Premier League this season, and he plays for Wolves.

And which former Wolves forward is the fastest for another Premier League club?

Find out here

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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An interesting response to the question posed on this page last week, inviting supporters to highlight an under-discussed issue at Wolves, was a single word: "leadership".

Under-discussed? Perhaps, but contributor Duncan opens an interesting topic when he suggests it has been under-valued.

"Wolves," he wrote, "have allowed their club captain to leave in each of the past three summer transfer windows – Conor Coady, Ruben Neves, Max Kilman. When a club actively sells their leaders, there is nobody left to lift the more vulnerable players."

Rather than being a policy, the annual departure of the captain seems to be a symptom of the conditions under which Wolves have been operating recently, with the need to regularly move high-value players on to generate funds to re-invest, or to counter losses.

The circumstances each time were different, and it is doubtful that leadership qualities have been deliberately under-appreciated, but senior players leaving will likely bring the same result.

That is not to say those left behind are not well motivated. For example, nobody could look at Mario Lemina and see somebody who lacks the desire to do his best for the club. His determination obviously burns him with bad results. We have seen and heard after recent games that Lemina puts everything on the line and no wonder fans think so fondly of him. He is not alone.

Perhaps though, we are slightly confusing leadership with emotion, and Gary O'Neil himself has referred to the dangers of failing to channel that effectively.

"It’s just trying to make sure that they stay really level and use their emotions correctly, because you need them," he said last month. "There are no robots in there, emotion can be helpful, and we need to use it."

At Brentford, Wolves fought fiercely to recover from early mistakes, only to immediately make more, and their performance spiralled. Did this expose missing leadership? Not the motivation to put things right - which was obviously there - but the clear thinking under pressure that the best leaders show, and foster in others?

It is easy, and perhaps unfair, to read too much into things from outside. Wolves can be depended on to work ferociously hard in the next section of a demanding season.

But whether they can keep clear minds in stressful situations may be the factor that controls their fate.

Listen to full commentary of Wolves v Man City at 14:00 on Sunday on BBC Radio WM

Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

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We asked you to send in your questions for Fara Williams and the former England midfielder and BBC Sport pundit has been answering a selection.

Tim asked: What is the impact on a club of having the captain traded away in three consecutive summers?

Losing your captain can have a big impact on players. They are a leader who you have leaned on through good and bad times.

Wolves are a yo-yo team. They can go on a run of really good results and then a run where they pick up no points at all. Your captain is the person you go to and the connection between the manager and team-mates.

Centre-half is the defensive position Wolves have mostly lost their captain in recent years - Max Kilman the latest - and that is a crucial place on the pitch in terms of leadership, communication and responsibility.

So it is not just losing the captains but also the position of those captains that is very difficult for the club.

That spine of the team, that leader, is huge for the players.

Mark asked: How long should Gary O'Neil be given to turn things around?

There have been so many transitions at Wolves with players and managers. It is a difficult group but, ultimately, football is a results-based business.

We saw last season that they did really well under O'Neil, but I think he has lost the dressing room.

You can see it in the body language of the players. As a former player myself, you can read into it and see when the players are not believing in what they are doing.

They are not following the tactical gameplan but rather going off and doing their own thing.

It feel like Wolves have lost their identity as a club.

When you sign for a team, what does it mean to you to play for them? They have lost their identity a bit there - and do not have very many homegrown players coming through either.

With the results as they are, I do not think O'Neil will be given that much more time.

When you lose the dressing room, your job ultimately goes with it.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

We asked you recently what might be going under the radar at Molineux and it was cited that the captain has left Wolves in each of the past three summers, with the question posed whether the club should value leadership more highly.

Our fan contributor Dave Azzopardi has his say on the subject...

Find more from Dave Azzopardi at Talking Wolves, external

Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves' current state in the Premier League is troubling, to say the least.

With the defence breached a staggering 21 times, it has been one of the poorest starts to a season in recent history.

Wolves are bottom of the table with just one point, and their dismal performance has left fans and pundits questioning strategy and future.

The blame could, of course, be aimed at Gary O'Neil, Matt Hobbs and the players, but the finger has also been pointed at owners Fosun International.

When Fosun acquired Wolves, Chinese President Xi Jinping was encouraging investment in football, aiming to elevate the country to a superpower of the sport.

However, that strategy has shifted, with the focus now on domestic investments.

Fosun's decision for Wolves to become financially independent seemed to kickstart this challenging phase.

While aiming for self-sufficiency is admirable, were Wolves equipped for such a shift?

At that time, the squad was quite small, Molineux needed major improvements, and ventures such as esports, music, and fashion aimed at boosting the Wolves brand lacked transparency on their financial benefits for the club.

As a result of restricted investment, Wolves' transfer strategy has leaned towards frugality, which some argue has led to a decline in squad quality.

Not only have Wolves relied on emerging young talent, but they have also bought players seemingly purely for investment.

Andre was bought from Fluminense for about £21m. Although he is worth every penny, Wolves already had good depth and quality in midfield. It is no wonder some fans question whether his purchase was driven by financial motives rather than team needs. Perhaps with hindsight, investment in a quality centre-back would have been more useful.

In previous years, sticking to PSR rules might have held Wolves back, but that is not the case now. It is really the lack of investment from the owners and the push for the club to be self-sufficient that is stalling progress.

With the owners pulling back on financial backing and fans facing higher prices for an inferior product, it is hardly surprising supporters feel Fosun may no longer be interested.

This raises a crucial question: are the Old Gold in managed decline?

Find more from Dazzling Dave at Always Wolves, external

BBC Sport pundit Fara Williams will be answering your questions, giving her insight and opinion around your club.

So what would you like to ask the former England midfielder?

What can your team achieve after their start to the season? Who has been your best player so far? What does the manager's future hold?

Send in your questions here, external

A relegation-related question was put to BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty in Monday's Q&A.

Rachel asked: Considering the start a couple of Premier League teams have had, have you changed your mind about who is going to go down this year?

Phil answered: I made the choice of Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town, so I have to stick with that for now.

From what I have watched, though, I can see Ipswich making a decent fist of it and then we have the struggles for Wolves, who I thought would be doing better than they have - so that is always a bit of a wildcard.

I'm at Southampton v Leicester this weekend so maybe I'll learn more then.

Read more of the Q&A with Phil and the rest of the day's football news

Image source, Getty Images

We asked you to tell us one thing - good or bad - that no one is talking about at Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

Duncan: The value of leadership. Wolves have allowed their club captain to leave in each of the past three summer transfer windows - Conor Coady, Ruben Neves, Max Kilman. All three players were part of the successful period under Nuno Espirito Santo. When a club actively sells their leaders, there is nobody left to lift the more vulnerable players. Only Mario Lemina is left and he appears to be struggling with the burden.

James: It is very disappointing to see what is happening at Wolves. There is a total lack of leadership, on and off the field.

Bruce: The quality in our attack is there for all to see but, as soon as we concede, the heads drop. Losing is becoming a habit and we are starting to feel sorry for ourselves. We need to find a bit of fight and that starts with Gary O'Neil - no more defeatist news conferences bemoaning our tough start or squad depth. We must keep it simple and fight for every point until the very end.

Callum: I just don't understand why we sold our best defender in Maximilian Kilman. Then, to top things off, we didn't even replace him before transfer deadline day. The problem lies with the fact that we seem to invest so much in good attacking players and not enough in our defenders. If you can't defend in this league, you are going to get punished.

David: It was all positive at the beginning of the summer transfer window, with the sale of top players expected and so they transpired. The manager's comments towards the end of the window were somewhat less positive and it appeared as though he had been let down with funds. So, we started the season with fewer central defenders and the hardest 10 fixtures of all the clubs in the league!

Alex: Molineux isn't getting any younger... The Steve Bull Stand was opened in 1979, some 45 years ago. The Chinese owners Fosun get just criticism for not investing in the squad, but their neglect of the stadium is impacting the club's revenue and it will only become a bigger issue.

Image source, Getty Images

Having a depleted squad does make the job tougher, but the current situation Wolves find themselves in is a down to a bit more than that.

They have conceded 21 goals already this season and, even though you don't have the foundation you would necessarily want with signings and the changes happening at the club, the nature of some of those defeats – especially against Brentford which Gary O'Neil took on the chin himself – are tough to take.

The international break is a chance for O'Neil and his coaches to think about what they can do in this next stage of the season because they are on pace for a historically bad one.

Yes, statistically they had the toughest opening games of the campaign, but the head coach and his players would have expected to have taken more from it.

You can coach players to do well but, at some point, losing every week starts to affect the mentality. It becomes harder to get results because, for everything that you have going against you, it also gives the opposition a boost when they believe you are fragile.

With their end to last season, you could argue this is something that has been going on longer than just the start of this campaign.

There was a lot of positive noise around them with the good start but then it got tougher with significant injuries and having to play players out of position. It was a trend and, unfortunately for them, it has continued into this year.

We all know the offseason is the point to make a plan and everyone believes it can be better, but 20 teams cannot all be better in the next season, can they? For Wolves, they could not get lower than one point from seven games and 21 goals conceded right now.

I'm fortunate enough to know Gary and speak with him every so often and the way the club is going through a change in how they operate, you did not feel like he was under pressure.

The club understood the difficulties of it, but O'Neil himself will know that he wants to do better and the team can do better.

From what I hear, the players are still on side, so it does not feel as much of an 'under pressure' situation as at some other clubs in similar difficulties.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Wolves are considering a move for Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin, should they decide to sack Gary O'Neil. (Sun), external

Want more news? Read Friday's full gossip column

It has been a very difficult start to the season for Gary O'Neil and Wolves and much has been written about the situation they find themselves in.

However, you know your club best so we want your help.

What is the one thing nobody is talking about - good or bad - but should be?

Tell us here, external

Former manager Mark Warburton talks to The Football News Show about how managers can deal with mental health struggles while working at a club and what support there is available to them.

Watch The Football News Show's Mental Health special

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

Image source, Getty Images

"I was really surprised at how off-structure we were and at some of the bad decisions we were making," said Gary O'Neil after Saturday's dismal showing at Brentford, and he was far from the only one.

Whatever the defensive plan was, it was hard to believe it looked anything like what Wolves actually produced, which left a series of possible explanations - none of them good.

"It's not about the coach, it's not about anything, it's about ourselves," crestfallen captain Mario Lemina explained to reporters from the Express & Star and Athletic.

"He is doing really well and if we say Gary O'Neil is the problem then we are liars and cheaters."

At almost the same moment, O'Neil had his hair shirt on, too.

"I always look at what I've done to get them to that place, because that performance is my fault, not the players' So I look at myself first." And the players? "We're in a tough run, so the first place you look is squarely at yourself, which is what I'm doing. It's hopefully what the players will be doing."

A fortnight is a long time to stew on a game like that but, on this occasion, it might allow some space for all concerned to complete their internal reflections and share the results.

If that means a step back from the tactical formation O'Neil has used so far this season, as he hinted on Saturday it might, so be it.

Whatever he chooses can only work if the players are clear about their responsibilities and committed to them, as Lemina demands.

O'Neil walked across to the travelling supporters at the end of Saturday's game, followed by some of his players, and they were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling.

The recently appointed set-piece coach Jack Wilson left the club on Monday, although those in higher ranks should not imagine his departure will be enough to satisfy the more fervent critics.

Sticking with O'Neil, as the club seems likely to do for the short term at least, may yet prove to be the best option. There are still plenty of fans who support that.

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, though, those above O'Neil should be clear that fans' criticism extends well beyond the head coach, and may take much longer to counter.

Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

George Lakin
Fan writer

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Wolves were once a predictable and effective team, built on a solid defensive foundation.

Our simple but devastating counter-attacking style allowed us to absorb pressure and threaten anyone on the break. The team's success was rooted in simplicity, a principle Einstein famously called the "ultimate sophistication."

Now, Wolves now seem bogged down in complexity. O’Neil, an ardent student of the game, has embraced intricate tactics and extreme attention to detail.

Upon bringing in Jack Wilson, a set-piece coach from Manchester City, in the summer O’Neil claimed: "I don’t meet too many people who go into as much detail on game plans as I do, but Jack is one of the closest."

Yet our set-piece struggles persist. Brentford highlighted this. Ethan Pinnock drifted unmarked at the back post twice within a matter of minutes.

Bizarrely, we seem to opt against going man for man, instead choosing to direct our players to start deeper and run onto the ball to clear. Complexity.

Any opposition coach worth their salt can see that there is a clear window of opportunity in playing the ball directly into the space just out of reach of the onrushing defender. The result is a free header, so place your best aerial threat right there and voila. Wolves looked like conceding from just about every set piece against Brentford. Simplicity was the kryptonite to our complexity, and it’s becoming a theme.

Football in its finest form is a simple game. The wisest in our game know this, which incidentally make O’Neil’s comments about the similarities between himself and Wilson now look incredibly stark. Wilson finds himself out of a job. His extreme studiousness adjudged to have meddled with our clarity.

But O'Neil - his master and kin - remains; stuck in the epicentre of the widespread confusion he has created. Lost in game plans that exist only in the pixels of an iPad screen. Meanwhile, his players look on in search of their leader.

Find more from George Lakin at Always Wolves, external

Image source, Getty Images

A VAR related question was put to chief football writer Phil McNulty on Monday's Q&A.

@nubiblue on 'X' asked: Is the new improved VAR working? To me it continues to favour certain clubs.

Phil answered: First of all, I don't believe VAR favours certain clubs and quite honestly, I've not noticed too much difference or huge improvement.

Maybe a little less interference but I confess I lost a lot of faith in VAR after initially being a strong advocate.

I would be happy with semi-automated offside and line technology.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves have sacked set piece coach Jack Wilson with the side bottom of the Premier League.

The Scot only joined from Manchester City in the summer, becoming the club's first dedicated set-piece specialist, but it has been accepted the move has not worked out.

Wilson leaves after Saturday's 5-3 defeat at Brentford where the squad struggled from corners.

Wolves scored 15 goals from set plays last season, under the supervision of the coaches, but Wilson struggled to make the impact the club wanted.

When asked about Wilson and the trend of set piece coaches last month Gary O'Neil appeared lukewarm about the role.

He told BBC Sport: "It has become a lot more complicated and more detailed, it doesn't mean it's any better but it's the way the game has gone and you have to be able to keep up."

Wolves have the worst defence in the division, conceding 21, and have a goal difference of -12.

They host Manchester City after the international break as one of four teams still looking for a first league win.

The decision also underlines the backing for O'Neil - who was the driving force behind the decision - by the club despite their poor start.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Boss Gary O'Neil remains safe in his job at Wolves, despite their poor start leaving them bottom of the Premier League.

Saturday's 5-3 defeat at Brentford saw some fans turn and aim the first direct criticism of the manager in his 14-month reign.

The result and performance extends the winless start and compounds what has happened before. If it was in isolation it could be put down as a one-off but because of the overall situation it is magnified further.

Of course the performance was worrying and a reaction and improvement will be expected - even if the arrival of Manchester City after the international break is next up.

O'Neil has credit in the bank but, soon, Wolves will need to win and climb away from the bottom. O'Neil is realistic and honest enough to admit that, results have to improve in order for the club to stay in the Premier League and for him to remain at Molineux.

There is only so long a difficult start can be blamed for their position, even if the team has been competitive in the majority of games.

Indeed, they have perhaps been one win away from an acceptance that it has been a tricky opening and an acknowledgement the points tally was good enough.

They are scoring goals, a tally of nine is the best in the bottom five and higher than seventh placed Newcastle, but their defence is the worst in the division.

Wolves have conceded 21 goals in seven games and that is not sustainable. The long-term injury to Yerson Mosquera compounds the failure to bring in a replacement for Max Kilman. No-one needed hindsight to know the defence needed bolstering in the summer.

Yet the bottom line is O'Neil is not in danger yet, sources have told the BBC, and there is still plenty of confidence in him and the squad at Molineux.

Image source, Getty Images

A Wolves-related question was put to chief football writer Phil McNulty in Monday's Q&A.

Richard asked: After the international break, Wolves have Manchester City at home and Brighton away. The imbalanced opening fixtures list is then addressed with eight consecutive games against bottom-half teams. Should Gary O'Neil be given time to try to turn the corner? If so, how long?

Phil answered: There is no getting away from what a poor start this has been for Wolves, with O'Neil himself expressing his disappointment at how far away his side were from what he expects when losing 5-3 at Brentford - and don't forget they also shipped six at home to Chelsea.

All the indications from Molineux at the moment are that they are solidly behind O'Neil. He signed a new four-year deal in August and the club have publicly declared their support for him again recently.

To give context, it's a tough job for O'Neil. Don't forget he lost two very important players in defender Max Kilman and winger Pedro Neto, so they are still trying to adjust to that.

O'Neil has done a good job at Wolves and deserves time - but he will know as well as anyone that results need to improve.

The next fixtures, as you point out, are tough but then he will hope to get Wolves' season into its stride.

Read more of the Q&A with Phil and the rest of the day's football news