Hey , how did sacking Gary O’Neil despite saving your skins last season work out?
Even after keeping the Cherries in the with limited resources, the Seasiders were not convinced he had the technical savvy to make further improvement and decided to move in a different direction, giving the former and Portsmouth midfielder the bullet in the middle of June.
O’Neil was on holiday when he was offered the chance to take charge at Molineux, with Wolves in turmoil after parting company with Julen Lopetegui just before the start of the current campaign and he jumped at the chance.
It was a smart move as the Wanderers are sitting comfortably in mid-table with 15 points from 12 games and impressive victories at home to and Tottenham, along with away wins at Everton and, ahem, Bournemouth.
Most teams can point to decisions going against them and costing points but no club has been as aggrieved in this department as Wolves. For starters there was the ridiculous ruling not to give them a late penalty against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the first Monday of the season, then VAR went against them in matches against Luton, Newcastle and Sheffield United costing half-a-dozen points.
Add those to their tally and potentially they would have had 21 points from 12 games and could have been in sixth place going into the international break above Manchester United, Newcastle, West Ham, Chelsea and Brentford.
Yup, Gary O’Neil is doing a fantastic job and Wolves can take further forward strides by winning the Monday Night Football showdown with Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The hosts have regressed since last season when they finished a respectable tenth and have struggled for goals since Aleksandar Mitrovic left the banks of the Thames to play for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Fulham could do with a finisher like Hee-Chan Hwang, who has scored six goals in the league, another in the Carabao Cup and a couple for South Korea this term.
He can make the difference to give Wolves maximum points at 43/20 with BetMGM and BetUK and he’s 17/2 with bet365 to break the deadlock and 7/2 with the same firm to score at any time.
• Minnesota have lost star quarterback Kirk Cousins for the season but his replacement, Josh Dobbs, is competent and if outstanding wide receiver Justin Jefferson is cleared to play they can shred a suspect Chicago Bears defense. Take the Vikings -4.5 to win at 5/4 with Betway.
• Gerri Colombe is still our each-way choice for the King George at Sandown on Boxing Day but Venetia Williams’ Royale Pagaille is interesting at 12/1 with Betfred after beating good company in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday.Â
