Mario Lemina has been stripped of the Wolves captaincy.
Lemina, 31, was involved in a post-match clash with West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen following Wolves' 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium on Monday and then proceeded to put pressure on his own teammates as they tried to calm down and then take on Wolves assistant coach Shaun Derry.
Nelson Semedo replaces him as Wolves skipper, with O'Neil confirming the news at his press conference on Friday, saying the incident against West Ham sparked a conversation around the captaincy.
“Mario is doing well,” O'Neil said. “It was a conversation, it was nothing more than that. The most important thing to get out of it is that we have to get the best out of everyone.
“Of course, that conversation happened the other night, but it was an important conversation that needed to be had.
“Myself and Mario now have a good understanding of how we move forward and what it looks like. We discussed it earlier this week, so the focus has been firmly on Ipswich since then.
“These things can be hard to deal with sometimes and sometimes you can come out of it in a good place, and I feel like that's true.
“I have a lot of respect for Mario and what he can still do for us. If we get the best out of him on the field, his level is so high that he will still play a big role for us.” .
“He will still be part of the group of senior players leading the team, but at this time we feel it is best that Nelson leads the group.”
Lemina's apology: We are going to fight to overcome this situation
The day after the match, Lemina apologized for his actions on social media. He wrote:
“I write this message with great hindsight and I would like to apologize to all the people who love this club and football.
“I never wanted this to happen on the pitch. I have always been an honest player, even when I was beaten.
“If something is said, make sure the truth comes out.
“I shook this player's hand, as I always do, and was grabbed by the shirt and thrown to the ground. I was just reacting to a situation that I didn't create at all.”
“I love my team, the staff and all the people who make up this club.
“We will all fight harder to overcome this situation. Shaun [Derry] you already know. We're going to fight again and again.”
How we reported Lemina's shocking clashes after the match
Sky Sports' Peter Smith at the London Stadium:
Wolves captain Mario Lemina is furious at full-time. There is a scuffle between the two players but his frustrations remain, even putting pressure on teammate Toti and one of Wolves' coaching staff.
Other teammates try to calm him down, but he ends up being escorted off the field as the rest of the Wolves players applaud the away match.
“The West Ham supporters are enjoying it with ironic cheers!”
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