Mario Lemina leaps to Gary O'Neil's defence after Wolves' winless start to the season continues with defeat at Brentford... as club captain insists head coach 'is not the problem'

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Wolves captain Mario Lemina defended Gary O’Neil after their winless start to the season continued at Brentford with a performance described by O’Neil as ‘shocking and disastrous’ and the worst since he became head coach in August 2023.

Sections of the travelling support voiced their fury by chanting ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ when he took off Andre for Hwang Hee-chan in the 57th minute, with his side trailing 4-2 after shipping four first-half goals.

But Lemina insisted: ‘No, Gary is not the problem. He is doing really well. If we say Gary O'Neil is the problem, we are liars and cheaters because he has given us a lot of things we didn’t have before. He has given a chance to a lot of players and now we have to give it back to him — at the moment we are not.

‘They (the fans) are disappointed with us. It is not about Hwang and I understand that. We have not won a game yet so they need to find some targets, but there are no targets. We are a team.’

Lemina, who was in tears after Wolves lost to Liverpool last week, gave away a penalty with the score at 1-1 and the 31-year-old agreed with O’Neil’s comments, adding that it was ‘my worst performance as a Wolves player’. 

Wolves captain Mario Lemina has defended manager Gary O’Neil after their latest defeat

Sections of the travelling support voiced their fury by chanting ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ at O'Neil 

O'Neil described the defeat by Brentford as ‘shocking and disastrous’ and the worst since he became head coach in August 2023

He added: ‘The way we are playing, the way we are defending right now, is going to get us relegated and we have to be honest about that.

‘It is not easy for me. Because I am a warrior. I want to win. I want to fight. I want to be the best player I can be.’

The last time Wolves began a top-flight campaign without a win in their first seven games, they finished bottom and were relegated in 2003-04.

O’Neil admits he has ‘no idea’ if the owners will give him time to sort things out, despite signing a four-year contract over the summer. 

Manchester City visit after the international break, but Lemina wants Wolves to take inspiration from beating them at Molineux last season. ‘They’re not superhuman,’ he said. ‘We have got a good team, we have got good players and we showed it last year in the home game.’