Wolves manager Gary O’Neil faces charges from the FA for alleged ‘improper and/or threatening’ behavior following his team’s 2-1 loss to West Ham at Molineux over the weekend. The FA specified that the charge is related to O’Neil’s reported language usage “around the match officials’ changing room.”
In response to his team’s defeat, O’Neil publicly criticized the decision to disallow Wolves’ late equalizer, labeling it as “possibly the worst decision I have ever seen.” The FA’s statement mentioned, “It’s alleged that following the completion of the fixture, his language and/or behavior in or around the match officials’ changing rooms was improper and/or threatening.”
During the match, Wolves initially took the lead with a Pablo Sarabia penalty, but West Ham staged a comeback in the second half with goals from Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse. Wolves’ captain Max Kilman later scored what seemed to be an equalizer in injury time, only for it to be ruled out due to offside.
After the game, O’Neil attempted to seek clarification from referee Tony Harrington but was reportedly denied a conversation due to his emotional state. O’Neil expressed his disappointment, stating, “If you are a Premier League official working at the highest level, I would be really disappointed if you thought that was offside. The only way that can be offside is if he stops Fabianski’s ability to move or impedes his vision. Only the referee and VAR think that could possibly be offside.”
O’Neil faces a potential ban and has until Monday to respond to the charges brought against him by the FA.