Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Sasa Kalajdzic has admitted it was a shame to see Julen Lopetegui depart, and detailed the difference now Gary O’Neil is in charge.
The striker has been speaking to Sky Sport Austria’s podcast “DAB|Der Audiobeweis” podast regarding the situation at Wolves and the departure of their former coach.
Lopetegui left the club on the eve of the new season after a disagreement with the club’s ownership regarding where they were heading.
He had arrived at Molineux midway through last season and guided the club away from relegation trouble to an eventual 13th placed finish.
All seemed bright for the future but heavy spending in January meant there was a need to cut costs this summer and alongside several big-name players departing, Lopetegui was made aware no new players would be arriving to replace them.
This led to a disagreement with the Spanish coach, who had already aired his frustrations at a lack of transfer business throughout the summer and made it clear he had been informed the situation was different to what it was.
It led to his eventual departure and the hiring of O’Neil, who it seems takes a much different approach to management than his predecessor.
“I can’t say anything about what the deeper reason was,” Kalajdzic said.
“The differences in the various opinions may have played a role. But I don’t know, I think it’s a shame too. I did the preparation under Lopetegui, and he led us to stay in the league last year.
“As a player I can’t comment on that and it’s not my job. On the other hand, Gary O’Neil was coach at Bournemouth, so it wasn’t his first job.
“The new coach was also thrown into the deep end after preparation under Julen Lopetegui.
“My job is to keep the height and make the game as wide as possible so that the players around me have space. I’m there to score the goals and the other players should play around me.
“In training he often plays along when he wants to talk about his tactics. If something doesn’t go well, he’ll play along too. You can see that he played at a certain level.”
