Gary O’Neil reportedly pulls out of Wolves contention after talks over return

Gary O’Neil has withdrawn from the race to succeed Vitor Pereira as Wolves head coach after holding talks over a possible return, according to reports.

The PA news agency understands 42-year-old O’Neil spoke to the club about the role less than a year after he was sacked from it, but it has since emerged that he is no longer interested in the job.

Pereira was dismissed on Sunday after bottom-of-the-table Wolves’ winless Premier League start to the season was extended to 10 matches in Saturday’s defeat at Fulham.

O’Neil was thought to be a leading contender, along with Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards, who distanced himself from the job on Monday without categorically ruling himself out. It is also understood there are other candidates.

Former West Ham midfielder O’Neil has been out of work since departing Wolves in December last year when the club were 19th in the table and four points from safety.

Edwards, who spent four years at Molineux as a player until 2008, has also been installed among the bookmakers’ favourites to replace Pereira.

When asked about the speculation at a Monday press conference before Middlesbrough’s Championship game at Leicester, Edwards said: “I was told by my daughter yesterday, so that probably tells you where I stand on it.

“You know my links to the club but my full focus is on this job here, which is a brilliant job, and trying to turn things around from the weekend in a really big game against Leicester.

“Speculation stuff is hard for me to comment about, anything else other than Middlesbrough Football Club, which is where my focus is, that we’ve done a decent job so far.”

Edwards was appointed by Boro in June following Michael Carrick’s dismissal and they sit second in the table after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Watford, three points behind leaders Coventry.

“It’s all speculation anyway,” Edwards added. “I never get drawn on stuff that’s all hypothetical, and I don’t want to get drawn on that.

“I love being Middlesbrough manager and that’s what I want to think about.

“All I can say is I’ve not given it a single thought, because my focus is just on this.

“I can’t talk about anything else. It’s just all the stuff that my daughter was telling me about.”

Edwards won promotion to League One in 2022 as manager of Forest Green and, after a brief spell at Watford ended in the sack, he guided Luton to the Premier League in 2023.

Wolves dismissed Pereira just weeks after he signed a new long-term contract with the club in September.

The Portuguese steered Wolves away from relegation trouble last season but they remain winless in this campaign and sit bottom of the table, eight points from safety.

Edwards had been installed as second favourite by the bookies behind O’Neil, but former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag and current Ferencvaros head coach Robbie Keane – who started his senior playing career at Wolves – have since leapfrogged him.