Ten Hag sack? Wolves boss Gary O’Neil plans to ‘snub’ Manchester United ‘demotion’

Gary O’Neil reportedly does not want to join Man Utd’s coaching team.

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil views a move to Manchester United as a ‘demotion’ and is ‘set to snub’ the Premier League giants, according to reports.

O’Neil has surprisingly been linked with the Red Devils with pressure mounting on Erik ten Hag.

Gary O’Neil ‘set to snub’ Man Utd ‘demotion’

However, the club’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is more interested in bringing the 40-year-old in as a coach or assistant manager, not as a direct replacement for the former Ajax manager.

O’Neil replaced Scott Parker as Bournemouth boss in August 2022, stepping up from his role as assistant manager.

He did an outstanding job in keeping the relegation favourites in the Premier League and was surprisingly replaced by Andoni Iraola last summer.

The former midfielder landed on his feet, joining Wolves a few days before the 2023/24 season kicked off following Julen Lopetegui’s departure.

Again tipped for relegation by many, the Molineux outfit have defied expectations and are now eyeing a top-half finish.

They are currently ninth in the Premier League, six points behind Manchester United after 28 games.

Although United are arguably the biggest club in world football, it is perhaps a bit insulting to offer O’Neil a role on the coaching team given the work he has done at Bournemouth and Wolves.

And according to talkSPORT, O’Neil is ‘set to snub’ the approach from Ratcliffe’s team, as he views going from Wolves head coach to Red Devils coach or assistant as a ‘demotion’.

TalkSPORT feel that it is ‘highly unlikely’ that the 40-year-old accepts such an offer, while West Ham are tracking him with David Moyes expected to depart at the end of the season.

It is added that Wolves are planning to offer O’Neil a new contract amidst potential interest from their Premier League rivals.

Ratcliffe is unlikely to replace Ten Hag with the Wolves gaffer and another report from the Express & Star has dismissed the rumours, insisting that the 71-year-old is planning to back the Dutch manager.

Gary O’Neil focused on Wolves’ season

O’Neil discussed his future earlier this month, noting that he is fully focused on finishing the season strongly at Molineux.

“I’m not available so I shouldn’t be linked with any other jobs,” he said. “I’m doing the job I want to be doing, love what we’re trying to achieve.

“I hate the fact that people keep asking me about manager of the year stuff because I’ve got over a quarter of it left. If I lose the next 12 games, I’ll be nowhere near it.

“It’s just not even a consideration so as much as I understand the questions and I get that we have to answer them, it’s very premature to discuss things about how the season’s gone and what might happen after it.

“There’s still such a lot of work that needs doing and it’s a real difficult part of the season for us.

“As I’ve already spoken about it, I’m really excited to get stuck into, I really want to keep the focus on the group and what we try to do.”