Gary O’Neil felt his Wolves side gave themselves a mountain to climb after a disastrous two first half minutes gave Crystal Palace a lead which his team were unable to recover from.
Having fallen two goals behind in quick succession before the break, Wolves came out positive in the second half, and although Matheus Cunha halve the deficit, O’Neil was disappointed his players were unable to capitalise on their chances at 2-1, before a third Palace goal killed the game off.
With just one win in the last 10 outings and just one game to go before Wolves’ season comes to a close, the head coach admits there is plenty of work which needs to be carried out between now and the start of the next campaign if the Old Gold want to regain the momentum and confidence they previously displayed.
On defeat in the final home game of 2023/24
“We beat ourselves, really, in the first half. So many loose mistakes with the ball, far too many. That’s something where we need to stop. Coming close to the end of the season now, it gives me a chance to assess what we’re asking of the group and we’re going to have to make some changes if that is what we’re able to deliver.
“Second half, we were much more direct and looked better. So, there was stuff to learn from where we are at the moment, and we’re obviously not in full flow, but a tough afternoon.
“To be fair to the players, in the second half they had a right go, got back to 2-1 and looked like we might have got something from it, but the third goal killed us. But the damage was done in the first half.”
On a VAR decision going Wolves’ way
“It did go our way, but when we checked it, it looked like it was onside. It was a good goal. It’s happened a few times this season when we’ve got ourselves back into it, and then they go straight up the other end and kill the momentum.
“But there’s lots that we have to improve. The first two thirds of the season we looked like a team chasing Europe, and the last third of the season you could see the issues that we’ve had and those have come to light, and as a football club, we need to have a real good look at the last few weeks.
“People are starting to come back, and we still haven’t managed to regain that impetus and momentum that we had before. There’s a lot of work to be done between now and the start of next season, and a tough away game next week at Anfield.”
On reflecting on the season
“It's difficult to feel the positives at this moment, but if you take the season as a whole, it’s been an incredible season. The way it’s ended has been disappointing for everyone, but there are so many fans out there clapping the players.
“They have a real good perspective and the fans here know the challenges that we’ve had, challenges the club has faced financially, I still haven’t been able to name our front three, who caused so much damage at the start of the season, since 28th October, and you see the damage Crystal Palace’s front three were able to do today when they’re all firing and together.
“We’ve made strides, but now, it doesn’t mean much to me. Despite those strides we’ve made, we’re now looking like we’re struggling and we’re going to have to find solutions over the summer – me and the recruitment team, me and the coaching staff, and me and the players. An awful lot of work to do to get ready for next season.”
On wanting to finish strong against Liverpool
“Although we’ve just had the end of season awards and the lap of appreciation, it feels like the end of the season, but we’ve still got one more game to go, a chance to go away to Anfield and try and add another memorable victory on the road.
“We’ve had a few of those this year, so I’m proud of the players and they deserve a huge amount of respect, but I’m just disappointed that we’ve had to crawl towards the line when we wanted to go crashing through it and finish with some momentum.
“But there’s been some reasons that are clear to me and I’m going to spend the next six or seven weeks making sure we’re ready for next season.”
