GARY O’NEIL: WOLVES V CHELSEA PRE MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

Just to suppose, look, we’ll get to the game in a moment, but we’re a week away from the deadline, so how busy do you expect the next sort of seven days to be for Wolves?

Yeah, we’re trying to do stuff, so yeah, it’s been busy since the transfer window opened really for the recruitment team and Matt Hobbs and leaning on myself as well for my opinion on things, but I would expect the next week to obviously be busier as a whole in the world of football, especially in the Premier League. I think it’ll be a busy week transfer-wise. There seems to be a lot of clubs still trying to do stuff, so no, we’ll still be trying to do stuff to help the group.

Obviously, look, reports have been in talks with Aaron Ramsdale, with Dara O’Shea.

Any update on those? And I suppose, look, every time you’re going to be looking at a player, there’s going to be half a dozen other Premier League clubs doing the same thing with probably the same players.

Yeah, I won’t discuss any player that’s not already signed for Wolves, so individual names and things and rumours and speculation I’m not too interested in, but as I said to the answer to my first question, we are working hard to try and do some stuff that we think will help us.

The important thing for me on that is the valuation and the value of the player is correct for us and something that we think fits what we’re trying to do. That’ll be the key really as to how much we can or can’t do in the next seven days.

Last weekend against Arsenal there wasn’t a single English player in the starting line-up. Is that something you’re looking at in terms of maybe not just English players but players with British backgrounds or more Premier League experience?

No, I wasn’t even aware of it. It doesn’t bother me at all where the players are from. No issue with whoever’s best to play will play and whoever’s best for us to come in and fill a role from another club on a transfer, wherever they’re from is no problem.

Of course, having some that know about the Premier League and have played in the Premier League and know their way around the Premier League season is important to the group. Apart from that, the club’s done some fantastic business over the last four or five years on players from all around the world. Some that have come in and are doing well and are still here, some that have come in and we’ve managed to sell for a big profit.

The scouting department will continue to look at everything possible for us and try and find things that fit the situation that we’re in.

Obviously, this weekend sees the return of one of the players that left in Pedro Neto. I suppose you’re well suited to come up against him, having worked with him for so long, but that’s going to be difficult to come up against a player that talented, isn’t it?

Yeah, it is.

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with him. Obviously, he played yesterday and we’ll see whether they think he’s in a place where he can go again, having played Thursday, whether he can start again on the Sunday. I thought they performed well last weekend against Manchester City.

I thought it was a good game and they showed signs that Enzo has made his mark on the team and you can see what they’re trying to do. So they’ve obviously got pretty much impossible for me to sit here and pick a Chelsea line-up. There’s so many there.

Obviously, with some recent stuff, we know some that definitely won’t be in the team, but still trying to figure out exactly what they’re going to do will be tough. So just a real focus around us this week, as there was for Arsenal, trying to give the best account of ourselves and trying to start off the Premier League season at home with a win, which would be huge for us because we all know that it’s been a difficult first set of fixtures that have come out for us. So really keen to get some positive results on the board as quickly as possible.

Are they difficult to prepare for Obviously, we know the number of players. They’ve got a new manager, they’ve played in midweek, so you’re never quite sure how much rotation there’s going to be. That sounds like a lot of variables there.

Yes, there are a lot. So obviously, we’ll have our best guess and we’ll prepare for that. Hopefully, our knowledge of ourselves and what we do will be enough to give us a real good chance in this game.

But we won’t really know what we’re facing or how they’re going to rotate or which structure they’ll use until we get the team sheet, probably. Once the team sheet comes in, we’ll probably have a fair idea from what they’ve done in pre-season and what they’ve done in the last couple as to what sort of movements and what sort of structure they’ll look to use. But at this moment, we know a little bit.

We can watch a bit of Leicester and what Enzo did with Leicester, but it could still be very different. There’s a lot this week with the opposition that can change, so we need to, as I say, just be the best that we can be at home in front of our fans. I think that will give us a really good chance in the game.

From a year ago, when you came in here and hit the ground running, ahead of your first game at home, how different does it feel this year and how deeply embedded do you feel now compared to back then?

I think that’s normal, obviously, when you’ve been somewhere for over a year is quite a long time as a managerial stint now. I’ve been here for over a year and I feel comfortable here with you guys doing the press conferences, whereas at the start, obviously, that was new to me. I feel comfortable in the home technical area.

But I still feel like we’re running. We’re still running as hard as we can to push forward and still exactly as driven as I was the day that I walked in. And the group are the same.

There’s a real hunger in the group. Training today was excellent again. There’s a great atmosphere around the place.

Obviously, last weekend was always going to be tough at Arsenal. Disappointed that we were in the game and managed to let it slip away with a second goal. But we gave it a good go and we need to make sure that we do the same this weekend against Chelsea and as tough as the fixtures may be, we need to put some results on the board, obviously.

So, we want to try and win at the weekend and settle everyone down and we can then start to push forward.

You said that in post-match last week that you felt like you were in it with Arsenal the whole way, but it was the little details, is what you said. What were they and have you managed to iron them out this week? 

You look to iron things out, but then of course new things come. Players making decisions. At the Emirates against Arsenal, you’re asked a lot of questions and the chances of you making a slight slip or a bad decision are heightened because of the pressure that they put you under and the quality that you’re up against.

So, I wouldn’t expect us to concede the second goal. The Saka goal is something that we prepare well for. I would understand if he’d gone outside on his right foot and he’d have crossed it and something would have happened, then that’s something that we know can happen.

But little things like that, where he comes inside and scores off his left foot, shouldn’t happen against us really. But it can. Like I said in my post-matches, I’ve been out there and I’ve been trying to stop people coming on their wrong foot and I’ve been stood in front of a camera saying it and standing in front of a camera saying it is a lot easier than actually doing it.

So, little bits like that for that. Those little details, they do in the end sort of define your level and where you’re able to get to and where you’re not. So, I’ll keep pushing the players on it.

They know that I have a real high expectation of them and of the group and what we can achieve. My job of course is to try and put a structure in place that gives them the best chance to show how good they are and what a good side they are. And then a joint responsibility really from me and them to be able to carry out the details and manage those small moments in the game, take our chances when they come along, defend that

second moment better than we did.

And if you put all of that together, your chances of getting something from the game obviously go up greatly. So, that’s what we’re working on always and another very stern test with Chelsea coming in two days’ time.

Speaking as a coach and the day-to-day workings of a football club, how difficult is it or would it be, do you think, as a coach to deal with 40-plus players and having to do sessions day in, day out?

Yeah, I’m not sure of the situation.

I’m not sure if Enzo is or isn’t or how many he’s dealing with on day-to-day. But, no, you can see that Chelsea Football Club is still in a transition and they’re still trying to sort a few bits out. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be successful while they’re in that transition and the amount of talent they have and they have a top coach as well.

So, they still have every right and every chance of finishing very, very high up the league. But, of course, the things that go on behind can have an impact. I can only speak on my own experiences really and obviously we still have a lot of players here this summer.

The ones that were out last year on loan and came back. But the club have been excellent in helping me and the playing squad and organise everything and make sure that there isn’t any focus taken away from what we’re trying to do and the most important thing which is getting ready to get results. So, I would assume the same is going on at Chelsea.

I would assume that there is a real good clear structure in place to allow Enzo to do what he needs to do. It doesn’t look easy though, does it? No, it isn’t. Managing any Premier League football club won’t be easy.

There’s only 20 of them and there’s a lot that goes into making sure a Premier League football club runs properly. So, it’s not easy. But, of course, Enzo is working at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

They’ve won the Champions League, they’ve won the league. So, there are a lot of upsides to being the manager of Chelsea as well. You take it.

No, I’m happy here. Thank you.

Any issues availability-wise for Sunday?

No. No, we’re fine. No issues at all. Mateus Cunha is fine.

He’ll be available for more minutes. Bouba Traore has done an extra week’s training, so he’s in a better spot. Everybody else is okay, I think.

So, yes, as we were.

There’s been lots of speculation this week about how much money you’ve been given to spend now. So, are you happy? Is it what you expected, the budget now that you’ve been given? Is it what you anticipated it to be?

Yes, I’ve obviously seen some of the noise.

I do try and stay away from the noise when I can, but I’ve seen and heard some of it. There’s not really a financial limit. It’s between now and the end of the transfer window.

It just needs to fit properly for the team and the football club. Some of the figures and things that you’ll hear banded around will… I’ve not heard any figure in any of my meetings or discussions. It’s more can we find things that fit football-wise and financially than a set budget.

Picking up on a previous question, the home loan quota, how much of an issue is that and a factor for you between now and the end of the window as regards your 25-man squad?

Yes, it’s something that Matt and myself have a real clear… we have a handle on it.

We’re always discussing it and it won’t cause us any problems. Everything will be fine and we’re always on top of stuff like that. The squad… all the Hampton Wanderers have signed a lot of players from abroad over recent times.

It’s not like a new thing. There’s been a lot of players from Portugal and Spain and obviously Brazil with Matheus and João. It’s good.

It has a real nice feel about it because all of those have come together and managed to create a real good feel and a real good squad. Of course, as I said, Premier League experience and some home-grown ones are important to us. But as always, the most important thing is how well the team can function and what best fits the team.

They had some memorable occasions last season. How big a part did the fans play in that?

Spoken about this a lot already. I don’t know if they can feel it from where they are but the impact they have on the players is huge.

Massive. It’s not really me because I’m stood there and I get to stand and think and have a real clear mind while I’m watching the football match. Whereas the players are out there on the field competing and having a fan base that is fully behind you and is cheering and still behind you when things are going tough make it so much easier to perform than when they’re not so with you.

There was a few grumbles and you can tell they’re starting to… It makes a massive, massive difference. Also, all of that pressure and all that responsibility is not on the fan base. A lot of that is on me and on us as a playing group to make sure that we give them something they can feel and buy into.

I think that was the key last year. They could feel something. They could feel that everyone was giving everything.

There was an excitement. There was some energy around how we played. Even when we started to struggle you could still tell that the fans understood and they were willing to stay with the team.

That will be huge for us again this year. The Premier League, as we’ve seen, is going to be probably more difficult than last season. I think everybody, if you look at the promoted clubs and the amount of money they’re spending and the players they’re signing, look at the teams that maybe finished around us last year in Fulham.

It looks like, I don’t know if it’s completed, but here in Anderson from Palace and Sanderburg. We’ve spent a lot of money, the teams in and around us. West Ham, who were sort of around us last year for the most part until we fell away, spent a lot of money.

Brighton. It’s going to be a tough Premier League. We’re going to need everybody.

The fans that come every week. The fans that come five times a year. Myself, the players, the staff.

We’re going to need everybody here to help us try and have a successful campaign.

Much has been spoken about Chelsea’s transfer business over the last few weeks. Have you got any thoughts on how they’ve gone about their business?

No, none.

I don’t know anything about it or how they’re doing it. It would be foolish of me to comment on something that I don’t really know about. I know they’ve signed a lot of good players.

That’s basically the only detail I have on it. Signing good players is helpful. I would expect it to help them and I would expect them to be better than they were last season.

What’s confidence been like in training as well? You did have a couple of good chances and a couple of good saves as well. What were your key takeaways from the game?

A mixed emotion really. Some pride around the work that had been done and how it was carried out in an extreme test at the Emirates against Arsenal on the first day of the season and then some disappointment that maybe, and of course Arsenal had better chances and had more than we did, but we had enough.

We had enough in the game, especially at that 1-0 period from half-time to maybe when they scored 74th minute. We had some good situations. So a little bit disappointed that I have to talk about us doing okay and not taking anything out of much rather than being sat here talking about a good away point or whatever it may have been.

But confidence, the Arsenal one didn’t touch anybody really confidence-wise. I think it showed the boys that they can do what we’re asking them to do and that it can help us this year.