The Athletic's resident renowned English transfer journalist David Ornstein, reported on Wednesday that English coach Gary O'Neil has decided to decline the offer to return to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers.

According to Ornstein, although O'Neil did receive approach from the management a few days ago, he ultimately declined the offer to return to Wolves because he knew he was unpopular with the fans.

O'Neil also felt he lacked the confidence to help the club successfully avoid relegation, which solidified his decision not to return.

Currently, the management is actively searching for a new manager. However, with sporting director Domenico Teti also recently sacked, the task of appointing a new manager has temporarily fallen to the shareholders at the time being.

Ornstein revealed that in addition to O'Neil, Wolves have also begun approaching former Manchester United and England legendary international midfielder Michael Carrick.

Another candidate under consideration is Rob Edwards, who had a respectable stint in the Premier League while managing Luton Town.

Another candidate on the consideration list is former Ajax and Manchester United head coach Erik Ten Hag, who has expressed his willingness to negotiate about the possibility of managing Wolves.

However, it remains unknown whether Ten Hag will ultimately accept the offer, and no agreement has been reached.

Regarding the online rumours which claimed that former Liverpool and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is also on the consideration list, Ornstein said that its veracity is currently uncertain.

Last Sunday (November 2nd), Wolverhampton Wanderers announced on their official website that their Portuguese head coach, Vitor Pereira, had been sacked after failing to win a single game in the first three months of the season and sitting at the bottom of the table. Both parties had only recently renewed contract 45 days prior.

Until a new head coach is appointed, U21s head coach James Collins and U18s coach Richard Walker will temporarily take over as first-team head coaches.

About Gary O'Neil

Gary O'Neil, 42, was born on May 18, 1983 in Beckenham, England. He is 1.73 meters tall. He played as a defensive midfielder and can also play as a right winger. He is a EFL Championship club Portsmouth's legend. He also played 9 times for the England U21s national team in 2003 and 2004.

O'Neil joined the Portsmouth youth academy when he was young, and completed his first-team debut at the end of January 2000 when he was only 16 years old. In the next 7 years, O'Neil played 193 times for Pompey in all competitions, scored 9 goals and assisted 8 times, won the EFL Championship in the 2002/03 season and was promoted to the Premier League with the team.

On the 2007 summer transfer window deadline day, O'Neil transferred to Middlesbrough for £5 million pounds and worked with former England national team manager Gareth Southgate.

From 2011 to 2016, O'Neil played for West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City, and won the EFL Championship promotion play-off once for each club.

After leaving Norwich City in the summer of 2016, O'Neil played for Bristol City and Bolton Wanderers for a short time, but after the latter was relegated from the EFL Championship in the 2018/19 season, O'Neil officially retired.

After retiring, O'Neil joined Liverpool in the summer of 2020 as an assistant to Barry Lewtas, the Reds' former U21s team head coach. However, in February 2021, O'Neil moved to Bournemouth to join the Cherries' first team assistant coaching team.

After the club lost 9-0 to Liverpool at the end of August the following year, O'Neil replaced former manager Scott Parker who was sacked after the game as Bournemouth's interim manager, and was later made permanent manager in November 2022.

Although O'Neil successfully raised Bournemouth from the bottom of the relegation zone to 15th place during his 10-month in charge of the Cherries, Bournemouth chose to suddenly announce O'Neil's sacking without any warning in the summer of 2023.

A few weeks after leaving Bournemouth, O'Neil was appointed as the Wolverhampton Wanderers manager in August 2023.

However, O'Neil was sacked last December due to poor results. Since then, he has not managed any club.

As Wolves' manager, O'Neil has coached the Premier League club in 63 games, achieving 20 wins, 11 draws and 28 losses, with a win percentage of 31.75%.