Wolves anger boils over as late Ipswich winner leaves Gary O’Neil on brink

At full-time, everywhere you looked there was utter, unruly chaos. A mix of anger and apathy in the stands at another damaging defeat and fury on the pitch. Rayan Aït-Nouri had to be manhandled by Craig Dawson, an unused substitute, down the tunnel, where he was handed a second yellow card, six days after Mario Lemina was stripped of the captaincy for overheating at West Ham. Matheus Cunha, surely Wolves’ saviour if they somehow get out of this mess, was equally petulant, snatching the glasses off a member of Ipswich’s security staff during a confrontation.

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Afterwards an embattled Gary O’Neil unlocked some home truths in a lengthy dressing-room inquest and then openly criticised the amateur defending that allowed Ipswich to depart with three points. It is an increasingly grim picture at Molineux, fast becoming Wolves supporters’ unhappy place.

For Ipswich, the mood was contrasting, Harry Clarke grabbing the ball at the final whistle and volleying it into the sky, Ed Sheeran applauding from the directors’ box. With the initial three minutes of second-half stoppage time having been and gone, the Ipswich substitute Jack Taylor eluded Aït-Nouri to head in Jack Clarke’s corner. Taylor whipped off his shirt, hurdled the advertising hoardings, his teammates not far behind. A couple of Ipswich fans took a tumble trying to join the party. Ali Al-Hamadi snatched Taylor’s blue shirt and presented it to the supporters determined to savour only a second league win of the season.

Presumably the Wolves hierarchy considered the possibility of this game not going to plan? There were early chants against the chair, Jeff Shi, and the owners, Fosun, from the Sir Jack Hayward Stand and a downbeat atmosphere inevitably soured the moment Conor Chaplin’s strike cannoned in off Matt Doherty. That goal provided Ipswich’s fans with the perfect platform to revel in Wolves’s misery. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” sang the away end.

Only Wolves are desperate for O’Neil, handed a new four-year contract in August, to work. The reality is the challenge facing his side after falling behind was a mammoth one. Wolves had not overturned a deficit to win a match at Molineux since November 2023.

As the old adage goes, when it rains, it pours. With 71 minutes gone, Wolves trailed to that comical own goal, Doherty the unfortunate party. Dara O’Shea, 10 yards from the Ipswich goalline, played a pass forward towards Liam Delap and a few seconds later the ball was in the back of the Wolves net.

Delap proved too powerful for Nelson Semedo and clipped a cross towards Omari Hutchinson. The Ipswich winger sidestepped Sam Johnstone and sent an effort at goal, which was just stopped by Doherty’s left knee. They were off the hook – for now. Then Chaplin took aim from just inside the box. Toti Gomes headed the ball but his clearance pinballed off Doherty and into the net. Gomes ended up doing a backward roll. Six old gold Wolves shirts, plus Johnstone, were left stumped inside the box.

O’Neil grimaced. So did those in the stands. It was nothing compared with the feeling three minutes and six seconds into stoppage time. Wolves have now conceded a league-high 20 goals from set pieces this season.

A swell of supporters seemed conflicted between willing Wolves on to equalise and laying into the decision-makers. And then Cunha levelled after the substitute Gonçalo Guedes slipped him in down the left channel. From that point the home support cranked up the volume. Wolves spurned chances to clinch ­victory with Ipswich wobbling.

O’Neil is pragmatic about his future after Shi’s public backing. “You either find a way to be good enough or you get replaced, that goes for me, that goes for the players,” said the Wolves manager. “Change will come if you constantly keep falling below the level. I’ll keep fighting with and for the players. For every result that comes, the chances of me losing my job will heighten, it’s nothing new.”

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As well as Sheeran, there was another familiar face in the Kieran McKenna camp looking on: Ole Gunnar Solskjær, a friend of the Ipswich manager from their time coaching at Manchester United who is in England with his family for Christmas. Solskjær, of course, traded in scoring significant goals off the bench.

“In some ways, it was quite a similar flick-on header to his at the back post in 1999, at the Nou Camp,” said McKenna, comparing Taylor’s ­finish with Solskjær’s 1999 Champions League winner. “If it had been at our stadium, I might have gone down the touchline.”