Alan Shearer believes that Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Gary O'Neil would have loved to have stuck his middle finger up and shouted "f*** you" to the Bournemouth directors' box following Saturday's 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium.

O'Neil was sacked by the Cherries despite avoiding relegation from the Premier League and guiding the club to a 15th place finish at the end of last season. The 40-year-old was replaced by Spaniard, Andoni Iraola, who is without a win in his first nine league games, currently sitting on three points and second bottom of the standings.

O'Neil would replace Julen Lopetegui at Wolves and his career at Molineux has started well, taking 11 points from his opening nine games in charge, including a win over champions, Manchester City. His return to the south coast was an enjoyable one, as second-half goals from Matheus Cunha and Sasa Kalajdzic ruled out Dominic Solanke's well-taken opener, moving Wolves up to 12th in the table.

And former Newcastle striker Shearer explained what he believed O'Neil was thinking during his full-time celebrations, admitting Wolves' gain is most certainly Bournemouth's loss. "Leading up to the game this week, he would have been hoping and praying to come away from Bournemouth with three points," Shearer told The Rest Is Football Podcast.

"He would have loved to stand there with his middle finger like that up to the directors' box. He will never admit it, but secretly inside he will be absolutely thinking, f*** you.

"That is exactly what he is thinking. They are sat in 12th position on 11 points, looking down at Bournemouth - the team that sacked him. We all thought it was a stupid and harsh decision and if Bournemouth don't get results soon, I think they play Burnley at home next week and if they don't get a result, you would fear for them."

Alongside Shearer on the podcast was former England international Micah Richards. The 35-year-old quizzed Shearer, who had a short stint in management with former club Newcastle, on how he would answer the questions asked to O'Neil after the full-time whistle.

The Wolves boss was asked whether he enjoyed the result against his former club, but instead turned focus on the importance of the three points and shifting the attention away from himself and onto his players.

Shearer reaffirmed his thoughts on what O'Neil would be thinking, saying: "He would have loved to have said what a huge result that was for me and for Wolves, but he couldn't say it."

Richards in response said that he would have navigated the question a lot differently to O'Neil, going on to say: "If I was manager, I would have said yes, thank god for that - that is what you do when you sack me. Let's see where we are at the end of the season, I am too honest to be a manager."