Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - October 20, 2024 Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman Jeff Shi in the stands before the match REUTERS/Molly Darlington/Files
(Reuters) - Wolverhampton Wanderers are one of the favourites for relegation from the Premier League but chairman Jeff Shi has channelled his inner Einstein to throw his support behind manger Gary O'Neil.
The midlands club are 19th in the standings after nearly one third of the season and O'Neil has come in for fierce criticism from disgruntled fans whose patience has worn out.
Shi insists, however, that Wolves are enjoying one of their best decades in half a century and that fans should trust the science of the process rather than allow emotions to rule their hearts.
"While emotions make football special, success in the game is largely a science," Shi, executive chairman since 2017, said in his column in the newspaper Express and Star ahead of Saturday's home game against fellow strugglers Ipswich Town.
"Emotional reactions may come first, but lasting success requires calculated, scientific solutions. Finding the right formula isn't always easy, and it often takes time. But once it's discovered, results will follow.
"It's human nature to fear losing something valuable, but I believe there's a more positive way to view it."
Shi, who is affiliated to the club's majority owner, Chinese investment group Fosun International, invited fans to think of the club in ways they perhaps had never imagined.
"I believe in the power of positivity because negativity achieves nothing," he said.
"Just as atoms remain atoms, how we perceive, combine, and connect them defines their collective value, and positive energy grants the group of atoms life and vitality."
Former Bournemouth manager O'Neil was appointed head coach of Wolves just before the start of last season after Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, now at West Ham United, parted ways with the club because of disputes with the board.
Wolves finished 14th last season, the club's worst position since they were promoted in 2018, but this season have managed only two wins from 15 matches.
Defeat at West Ham on Monday added to the pressure on O'Neil.
"I don't need to familiarise supporters with what happened in the summer of 2023, they all know it," Shi said.
"But because of that, the destiny of Gary O'Neil and Wolves met at an unexpected moment, and I remain grateful to Gary for stepping into such a demanding situation just days before the beginning of a new season, and for his commitment to the club every day since then."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
