Liam Keen comment: Wolves sacking inevitable but change of direction needed to avoid repeat of struggles

A season of mistakes across the board have left the club deep in a relegation battle and the defeat to Ipswich - capping off a run of four consecutive losses - was the final straw as the head coach was relieved of his duties just days after receiving public backing from his bosses.

Wolves, from top to bottom, need an overhaul if they are to survive relegation this season and beyond, but no manager can survive three wins in 26 Premier League games, stretching back to the end of last season.

The easiest change to make mid-season is to sack a head coach and Wolves have taken the plunge, but they are a club that must make vast and varied improvements to stay up this season.

The first mistakes started in the summer when O'Neil and sporting director Matt Hobbs, expecting more senior players to arrive later in the window, began by signing younger talents for the future.

Eventually the money dried up and they were left without a replacement for Max Kilman or a senior enough replacement for Pedro Neto. Yerson Mosquera's injury then compounded their misery.

On top of that, the late change to make a move for Andre resulted in a muddled game plan on the pitch and the arrival of Sam Johnstone proved a remarkable waste of £10million once Jose Sa did not depart.

A disjointed ending to the transfer window, in which O'Neil was let down by the owners, resulted in the head coach desperately trying to find the solutions within the group and he, in turn, made mistakes of his own.