Gary O’Neil insists his Wolves players need to focus on what they can do to ‘be better’ rather than officiating decisions ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Tottenham Hotspur.
Although the head coach – who had a private call with referees chief Howard Webb earlier this week – has lamented four decisions which he believes have cost his team points this season, O’Neil believes his players need to concentrate on the aspects of the game they can control and not allow for decisions which are out of their hands affect results.
On controversial decisions against Wolves
“I understand the players feel aggrieved because we’ve probably had four decisions which we think have gone against us which shouldn’t have, which is a lot in 11 games. But it’s important that we understand you can be unlucky in football matches.
“There are spells in seasons when this happens, and we’ve been unfortunate with these decisions, but we can’t control that. Bad luck is part of the game, it’s part of the Premier League, it’s part of every league, so we can’t affect, so let’s not waste any energy on it.
“The message from me and the one we’re all on board with is ‘let’s be better’. My job is to make sure the group are ready to go, and the players’ jobs is to make sure they perform. We are all fully focused on that.”
Focus on Saturday. 👊 pic.twitter.com/M03Wi7S9S6
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 9, 2023
On speaking to Howard Webb
“I had a good conversation with Howard off the back of last weekend. It was a private conversation that I don’t want to go into too much, but it was a good, honest chat about where we both think things are, our opinions on it, and an understanding on my part that Howard is responsible for shifting the standards and making things better, and he’s working extremely hard to do that.
“It was a good chat around trying to improve the standards because it’s been a tricky spell for refereeing decisions and VAR. I gave him my thoughts on it and it’s up to him whether he takes them in or not.
“But my focus is on us and when I’m asked questions around VAR it leads people to believe I’m focused on VAR, but I’m not. I’ve said many times before that we need to be better, and my only focus is on making us better. Could we have been better in those situations which lead to the penalty decisions and could we have been better in the games so they didn’t have such an impact on the result.”
On injuries in the squad
“The squad’s good. Nathan Fraser missed last weekend with a sore quad and he will miss the weekend, Hugo Bueno is back so will be involved tomorrow and everyone else should be ok.
“Pedro [Neto] is sill missing but rest of group is ok. I hope he’ll be back [for Fulham], but there’s a lot to do between now and then. There’s still over two and a half weeks and a lot we need to tick off before he’s able to play again.”
On facing Postecoglou
“I find a lot of the Premier League managers interesting. He has a refreshing view on things, he brings a good energy, but the most important thing is that he’s been doing an incredible job. I’m a big fan of how Spurs have played this season and how big a change it is to what Spurs have looked like for the last few years style-wise.
“The way he’s been able to implement that and be successful so quickly is a real big achievement. They’ve got a few issues at the moment, but I see no reason why their performances can’t continue as he has been doing a really good job.”
On how Spurs will set up
“I don’t think they’ll change but it’s hard to know because we don’t know who will be missing and who won’t. They had a tough game on Monday night with suspensions and players going off with injuries, so we won’t be sure who’s available to them until the team sheet comes in.
“But from everything I’ve seen, read and heard, Ange Postecoglou doesn’t change very often, so – especially with the form they’ve been in and even with how well they performed the other night with 10 and nine men – I would expect them to play as if they had every player available and play their own way.
“They’re very fluid within their structure, so they are a very difficult team to stop. They cause a lot of teams problems with the ball because of their movement and because of the quality of the players they have.”
Last time we faced Spurs at Molineux 🎯#WOLTOT | @MNEGlobal pic.twitter.com/1OQxZmAZYZ
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 10, 2023
On returning home to Molineux
“It’s not an easy game to play for, they’re a team who have been top of the Premier League for a large part of the season so far, and they’re in really good form with top players and an excellent manager.
“Of course, I have an idea of how they do things and what they’re trying to get from it, but tomorrow will be a tough test for myself, the staff and the group, but it’s one we’re looking forward too.
“But our home form has been good and, despite having some tough fixtures, we’ve been very competitive in most of them, even the tough ones, so tomorrow will be the same and I’m expecting the same from us.”
