With Gary O’Neil on track for a Premier League Manager of the Year nomination Wolves have their very own Winston Wolf

Gary O’Neil tried not to sit back and bask in the praise after another clinical foray in London by Wolves and sparkling displays from some of his players.

Instead, he talked about improving Pedro Neto’s contributions out of possession and a broader understanding of his role in the team, as well as refining Joao Gomes with two goals on the ball.

O’Neil vowed to keep working until Wolves solved the puzzle of how to beat teams who sat back and denied them space to counter-attack, but it was impossible to hide his joy.

Another slick and impressive away win on Saturday, 2-1 at Tottenham, saw another of the Premier League’s self-proclaimed aristocrats fall and his team slump to 35 points.

That in itself is a commendable achievement for Wolves in a campaign they started in disarray when Julen Lopetegui retired.

Gary O’Neil has been instrumental in transforming the squad he took over last summer

Just as he did with Bournemouth last season, O’Neil parachuted in as Winston Wolf, the world-weary troubleshooter and cleaner played by Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction, and got to work.

Wolves have taken 15 points from the traditional Big Six in the Premier League this season. They have pulled off a double against Chelsea, defeated Manchester City and punctured the Angeball revolution twice. Sixteen points from the last eight games are Champions League form.

Add in all those points lost when a series of terrible VAR decisions conspired against them and they would be in the thick of the race for European football.

Seven months later, O’Neil can be proud of his work. He was surprisingly overlooked in the Manager of the Year shortlist last season, but this time he should take center stage.

He has forged a team capable of beating the Premier League’s best, tactically balanced with fighting spirit, successfully turning feelings of injustice and the pain of being written off as a candidate for the drop into motivation has converted.

“At the beginning of the season, a lot of people said we would be relegated,” said midfielder Mario Lemina.

‘We show that this is not the case. I don’t care because I know the team we have and if someone trusted us, I knew what we could achieve.”

Wolves have a nice balance, built on the stability of a decent goalkeeper and three strong, reliable and physical centre-halves. There’s a lot of energy on the flanks, two industrious all-round midfielders who can cover miles, win the ball and find passes, and there’s real creative talent up front.

Tottenham, meanwhile, had more than 70 percent of the ball, but it seemed they could let in a goal every time they lost.

Mario Lemina stressed that O’Neil’s belief in his side’s abilities has been crucial to their success

“We have to be disciplined,” said Dejan Kulusevski, who scored the Spurs goal. ‘We conceded too many counter-attacks and they could score more goals. You have to be positive, but you always have to defend your goal and we didn’t do that well enough.’

Spurs under Ange Postecoglou have had the hardest time against teams who are just as dangerous at half-time as Wolves. They lost badly at Brighton, and at home to Aston Villa, West Ham and Chelsea. All six Premier League defeats this season have come at the hands of a depleted back four.

“It’s the worst feeling, I hate losing,” Kulusevski said. ‘Now we have two weeks in which we cannot win a match. We will come back stronger, there are still thirteen games to play and I am sure we will do very well.’