Gary O’Neil's Ambitious Squad Under Construction
Gary O’Neil will walk into the weekend with a squad that looks lively, ambitious and, crucially, still under construction.
The head coach delivered a mixed medical bulletin. Florentino Luis is edging closer, close enough for O’Neil to talk about having him “back around it”, but not yet ready to be unleashed. The midfielder still has “a bit of work to do” despite what O’Neil described as good progress.
The rest was less encouraging. Azor Matusiwa remains sidelined, “not quite back” in the manager’s words. Jack Taylor is still out. Jaden Philogene has lost his race against time as well and will not feature on Sunday. Any optimism around their returns has been pushed into next week.
Even so, O’Neil sounded anything but deflated.
“I’m really pleased with where the group is at, we’re in a good place,” he said, a line that summed up the mood around a club that has spent the summer trying to change its own ceiling.
Palacios set to step in
The clearest symbol of that shift will almost certainly be on the pitch this weekend. Exequiel Palacios, a marquee arrival with medals and pedigree to match, is expected to make his bow.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll see him on Sunday,” O’Neil said. No teasing, no coyness. Just a straight answer about a player he called “a talented boy” who has enjoyed “huge success over the past few years” at both club and international level.
An “incredible signing”, he called it. And it felt like more than just praise for an individual. Palacios represents the type of deal this club once watched from a distance. Now it gets to build around him.
O’Neil spoke about the work that has gone into making those kinds of transfers possible: a summer of calls, meetings and persuasion, selling a project that is still being pieced together but already has a clear direction.
You can hear it in his voice. “You can feel the belief around the place just constantly growing and constantly improving,” he said. That’s not a throwaway line; that’s a manager who knows the difference between empty optimism and something more tangible.
Ambition backed with chequebook
The recruitment drive has not stopped at Palacios. O’Neil name-checked Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic as proof that this is no longer a club content to shop at the bargain end of the Premier League.
“To attract some of the players that we have – proven Premier League players in Issa and Sasa, and some players from all around the world – I’m really grateful for the owners’ backing,” he said.
That backing has come with a clear message. The owners “are committed to making this club as special as they can,” O’Neil added, describing it as a “fantastic summer for the club”.
He didn’t hide his own reaction either. The ambition, the support for the head coach, the “direction of travel” – as soon as he understood it, he wanted in. This is not a manager wondering how long the project will last. This is one trying to ride the wave.
He wants the supporters to do the same. “Carry the excitement,” he urged them. Not just through the opening weekend, but for as long as this momentum holds.
Abraham talk on ice, business not done
One name continues to swirl around the club: Tammy Abraham. A loan deal with Aston Villa has been widely reported, but O’Neil batted away any suggestion that it is close.
“No update, as far as I am aware,” he said. “Sounds like you’re further along with that than I am. Nothing to report on that.”
The line drew a clear boundary. Interest is one thing; signatures are another. But the door is very much open for more.
O’Neil made it clear the window is still active. The club are “hopefully not finished” and “still working hard to try to improve the group”. That is not the language of a manager ready to settle.
Injuries have trimmed his options for Sunday. New arrivals have raised the bar. The belief, by his own admission, is growing by the week.
The question now is simple: how far can this new-look squad push that ambition once the whistle blows?
