'Messed up': Ex-Wolves boss causes stir and takes aim at club owners after Europe exit

Gary O’Neil showed in his final weeks as Wolves boss that he isn’t afraid to say what he thinks in the media.

Shortly before O’Neil was axed at Wolves back in 2024 - he took aim at his players for not taking ‘responsibility’ for mistakes in games.

He was sacked shortly after before almost making a sensational return to Molineux following Vitor Pereira’s dismissal.

The former midfielder stepped away from a potential return - before taking over at French side Strasbourg in Ligue 1, replacing Liam Rosenior who landed the job at Chelsea, their parent club.

So far O’Neill has won six of his 15 league games - but the club have fallen short in cup competitions.

They were beaten by Real Vallecano in the last four of the UEFA Conference League - before losing 2-0 against Nice in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France.

And following the poor cup results, O’Neil has caused a bit of a stir in the French media with comments about the club’s owners.

Both Chelsea and Strasbourg are owned by BlueCo, a company owned by Todd Boehly and other investors.

O’Neill has taken aim at them for weakening his squad in January - stating ‘we messed up’.

He said: “I need two centre-forwards.

"The owners want to give me the means to perform next season, but we have to improve the culture around the club, the quality of the players, and the depth of the squad.

"We messed up in the January transfer window. We weakened instead of improving the squad."

Players such as Mamadou Sarr, who had played a key role in the first half of the season having joined on loan from Chelsea, were sent back to their parent club.

Ecuador international Kendry Paez also had his season-long loan cut short by Chelsea and was immediately loaned out again - heading off to River Plate.