Wolves are aiming to make a quick appointment after the club took action in their relegation fight by sacking Gary O’Neil on Sunday morning.

O’Neil, who has been under increasing pressure since the start of the season, was sacked less than 24 hours after seeing his side lose 2-1 at home to Ipswich on Saturday. Wolves are 19th in the Premier League after four consecutive defeats, four points behind Crystal Palace in 17th place, and have the worst defensive record in the top flight after conceding 40 goals in 16 games.

“We are very grateful to Gary for all his efforts, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future,” the chairman said of Wolves, Jeff Shi, in a statement published on the club’s official website.

Wolves gave O’Neil a new contract in August and were reluctant to make a change. One problem for the club has been identifying the right replacement for the 41-year-old. Graham Potter, the former Brighton and Chelsea manager, rebuffed their interest in him last month and it is believed that David Moyes, the former West Ham manager, would not be easy to hire.

Wolves have already expressed interest in West Brom manager Carlos Corberán, but the Spaniard is seen as an unlikely appointment. They travel to Leicester next Sunday and are keen to bring in a new manager this week.

Wolves were keen to avoid a repeat of the uncertainty that followed the sacking of Bruno Lage in October 2022. It took them another month to bring in Julen Lopetegui, who resigned before the start of last season, citing his dissatisfaction with the club’s transfer strategy.

Wolves replaced Lopetegui with O’Neil and finished 14th after recording wins against Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City. However, the lack of investment in the team came back to hit them. More than £200 million has been raised from sales in recent years, with the departure of Matheus Nunes, Rúben Neves, Conor Coady and Raúl Jiménez, and the talent drain continued when Max Kilman and Pedro Neto left last summer.

O’Neil had to pick up the pieces. Supporters have become disillusioned with his tactics since the FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Coventry in March. Results deteriorated and morale collapsed. Ipswich’s injury-time winner was the 20th time Wolves have conceded from a free kick this season.

There were angry scenes at full time, as left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri had to be removed from an argument with centre-back Craig Dawson. Mario Lemina was removed as captain after clashing with O’Neil’s assistant Shaun Derry at the end of last Monday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham. – Guardian