Gary O’Neil stands by Wolves decision despite fan backlash.
Gary O’Neil stands by his decision to substitute Tommy Doyle despite a negative reaction from supporters in Wolves’ draw with Crystal Palace.
With Wolves 1-0 down at Molineux, O’Neil made a triple change that included taking off Doyle and Pablo Sarabia.
The home fans cheered Sarabia coming off, after a poor performance, but booed Doyle coming off and followed it up with chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, aimed at O’Neil.
It is the second time this season that fans have criticised O’Neil’s substitutions during a game, but the head coach stands by his call.
“They can voice their opinions, of course,” O’Neil said.
“My job is to make the right decision and I understand.
“I love Tommy. He’s excellent. He did well last week .
Wolves played host to 17th-place Crystal Palace at Molineux in a must-win match at the bottom of the Premier League table.
As has been the tale of Wolves campaign so far, the hosts were dreadful throughout the first half and the visitors were unfortunate not to take the lead on multiple occasions.
Gary O’Neil’s men struggled to get any real patterns of play going but when they did, they were wasteful in the final third, as Pablo Sarabia missed a golden chance to score when his indecision saw Dean Henderson smother the ball.
Boos then rung around Molineux when Palace took the lead in the 60th minute. A mix-up between Jose Sa and Jorgen Strand Larsen saw Trevoh Chalobah strike a wonderful half-volley into the net.
O’Neil knew he had to make some changes after conceding, and he did so by bringing on Goncalo Guedes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Mario Lemina for Toti Gomes, Pablo Sarabia and Tommy Doyle.
Those substitutions gave Wolves the impetus to get back into the game and Matheus Cunha was instrumental.
Santi Bueno’s searching ball found Cunha. He chested it down and slid the ball across to Strand Larsen, who made no mistake with his finish.
Substitute Guedes then slid the ball across Gomes for the equaliser, with the Brazilian sweeping the ball superbly past Henderson.
