Matt Doherty delivered an explosive assessment of Wolves’ season after their 2-0 defeat to Brentford at the weekend, questioning whether he and his teammates wanted to be remembered as “cowards” if they gave up on their Premier League survival fight.
The Irish full-back, who captained Wolves in the loss, admitted the dressing room must face up to stark realities.
Do we want to be remembered for fighting until the end of the season, or do we want to be remembered for being cowards and taking maybe the easy option out and maybe trying to leave in January or letting other people take your position?
The comments resonated with much of the Wolves fanbase, desperate for any sign of defiance after a tenth straight league defeat left the club anchored to the bottom of the table. But they did not land well with one man in particular.
Martin O’Neill Tears Into Ireland International Over Wolves Remarks
Former Ireland manager Martin O’Neill reacted Matt Doherty’s comments on talkSPORT on Monday morning, describing the defender’s remarks as an act of “self-absolvement”.
Martin O’Neill did not hold back when asked about the interview:
Matt is a brilliant talker, a really good talker, but he’d want to do a bit more playing. Personally speaking, that’s self-absolvement.
The Derryman suggested that such words carry little weight when results aren’t there to back them up:
When you do plenty of that as a player, generally speaking, there’s not that much behind it all. Matt is a very good talker but wants to do more playing.
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Presenter Jim White pressed him further, asking bluntly if he believed a word Matt Doherty was saying.
Martin O’Neill doubled down.
He pointed to Wolves’ extraordinary lack of form and Doherty’s own responsibility within it:
You’re a player who has picked up two points from 17 games. Two points out of 51. That’s not good enough.
Matt hasn’t played all the games but he has been captain of the side. Take responsibility and genuinely do look in the mirror. Players can do a lot of talking but if you want to talk the talk, you must walk the walk.
The conversation quickly broadened into the strained history between the pair.
Matt Doherty has previously claimed Martin O’Neill called him a “tosser” during their time together with Ireland, a moment that stemmed from an interview the defender gave on the day O’Neill and Roy Keane were sacked by the FAI in 2018.
Martin O’Neill hinted that tension remains:
Do I get the impression you’ve had the odd bad experience with Doherty?” White asked
Not necessarily but the answer is yes, O’Neill responded
The former Celtic boss also pushed back against Doherty’s use of the word “cowards”.
What’s the alternative to calling yourself a coward? Like, is it great? Wolves are not a good side at this minute and that’s part of that.
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