Ipswich Town manager Gary O'Neil has defended Matheus Cunha, describing the forward as "misunderstood" following the Brazilian's pitch-side clash with a staff member in December 2024. The incident occurred during Cunha's time with Wolverhampton Wanderers and saw a security guard's glasses broken.
Cunha apologised after the brawl, and ahead of this weekend's Premier League match against Manchester United, O'Neil has confirmed there is no lingering issue. Speaking before the game, O'Neil said: "Chris [the security guard] is still here! Cunha obviously apologised for that.
O'Neil on the incident and Cunha's character
"There's always these things going on. I don't think that's a reflection of Matheus as a character at all. I know Chris has forgiven him. Chris has forgiven me for allowing Cunha to do that as well, if it even was my fault.
"Matheus is a good guy, but, like I say, he's playing for Manchester United now and I've got at least 27 people in there that are far further up my importance list than Matheus Cunha anymore. I'm focusing on us.
"I enjoyed my time with Mateus. I'm glad that he's gone on to do well and hopefully we can get one over him at the weekend. Chris's glasses are fine. They might be new ones. We had a good joke about it when I arrived. Chris is a great guy."
Cunha's other controversy and O'Neil's praise
The clash was not Cunha's only controversial moment at Wolves; he also received a ban for headbutting Milos Kerkez during an FA Cup match against Bournemouth. However, O'Neil believes this does not reflect his true character.
O'Neil added: "He's not that volatile. He's a great guy. He's passionate. I loved working with him. I loved the challenge of teaching him, I suppose, because he was unbelievably raw.
"Not technically, he was unbelievably good technically. But his tactical stuff and his understanding of what the team needed from him, I felt needed a lot of work.
"We spent a lot of time together trying to help him understand how we can be better for the team, and he committed to it. He was fantastic for us.
"Obviously, a big, big positive from our time at Wolves was the work done with him. He got a big move off the back of that work. He's maybe misunderstood. I wouldn't describe him as volatile at all. I think he's a good guy.
"He wears his heart on his sleeve. I suppose the game can sometimes take you to places emotionally. I'll have done things that maybe you wouldn't do again. It's just the nature of the game and the nature of the Premier League. But he's a good guy.
"I think a lot of him, we still stay in contact, but I'm desperate to beat him and send him a cheeky late night Sunday text saying, 'unlucky Matheus'. That would be nice."
