The Martin O'Neill thread (with added sacking #2188)

[peter w]

Ta for everything up to Moscow.

[kippaxvilla2]

Has it been confirmed or officially denied anywhere that he wasn't going to be given the proceeds of the Milner sale?

[Irish villain]

Shame it ended the way it did. Great memories indeed but so bloody frustrating too.

omebody said bittersweet and I think that sums the whole thing up perfectly.

[Villa'Zawg]

Let's stop the sanctimony and nit picking over my turn of phrase.

Ok, proud I have always been so don't question that (even through inference).

But let's not forget just how shit and low we were after Pug Nose Twunt departed.  Plus we were (up until a season and a
half ago) a good team to watch again.

He was ambitious, Young Doug isn't as ambitious, so he walked.  Poor timing I will concede that. 

That would be the 'Young Doug' who has put £180 million into the club and genuinely given us four years of pride has it?

For the record I'll remember some great games under O'Neill, and of course 4 derby victories over Small Heath. But I'll never forget how he fucked us over and walked out 5 days before the start of the season, which is possibly the most disgusting thing any Villa employee has ever done to our great club.

Sorry, but after reading that from someone with your name I have to smile.

Well I forgive the great man because unlike O'Neill he won us a trophy or two!

Without a doubt, but THAT's dumping on your club.

Are really incapable of imagining any scenario that would have made his position untenable?

[ktvillan]

How much did Doug (or his backers) put into the club in his first few years.  This is a genuine question as I do not know the answer and of course the sums would have been relative to the day.

The square root of fuck all, I believe is the phrase.

Wasn't there an interest fee loan? So the interest on the loan is what he put into the club.  Maybe not the square root of fuck all but pretty damn close to fuck all.  To say Lerner lacks ambition after the huge amounts he gave O'Neill to squander is ludicrous Kippax.

[pauliewalnuts]

Has it been confirmed or officially denied anywhere that he wasn't going to be given the proceeds of the Milner sale?

Of course it hasn't, and it won't be, either way. Why would they confirm or deny something like that? Nothing in it.

[kippaxvilla2]

Ta for everything up to Moscow.

I agree with this - I mentioned a season and a half ago we played decent football.  People will say we have done this to death, but I do think this was a monumental error that he never got over and some of the players never forgave him for.

[villajk]

just getting the popcorn.  Be right back.

[kippaxvilla2]

Has it been confirmed or officially denied anywhere that he wasn't going to be given the proceeds of the Milner sale?

Of course it hasn't, and it won't be, either way. Why would they confirm or deny something like that? Nothing in it.

Ay, why so hostile towards me for asking the question.  I think if the club denied that speculation, it would have helped.  Because frankly, it could change the perception of the departure entirely.

[pauliewalnuts]

Ta for everything up to Moscow.

I agree with this - I mentioned a season and a half ago we played decent football.  People will say we have done this to death,
but I do think this was a monumental error that he never got over and some of the players never forgave him for.

I don't know if it was the players who never forgave him, but there was a point at which he started changing in the way he dealt with the fans, the way he reacted to them, and there was a point at which we started to hear more stories of him falling out with players.

I don't know if that was Moscow or not, but it sounds a bit too convenient for that to be the case.

I thought he got a lot of unfair stick for Moscow (mind you, i was sat in my living room watching it, not in Moscow, so it is easy for me to say that), and I thought he actually made the right call on it at the time, but I wonder whether it really was the point at which a number of things started going badly, or if it is just something we lump more importance on to now, with the benefit of hindsight.

[dave.woodhall]

How much did Doug (or his backers) put into the club in his first few years.  This is a genuine question as I do not know the answer and of course the sums would have been relative to the day.

The square root of fuck all, I believe is the phrase.

Nothing at all?  Is that correct?  Or a best guess?

He secured a loan, and bought shares which he later sold in 1979, presumably at a profit. From his return in 1982 he didn't put one single penny into the club.

[pauliewalnuts]

Has it been confirmed or officially denied anywhere that he wasn't going to be given the proceeds of the Milner sale?

Of course it hasn't, and it won't be, either way. Why would they confirm or deny something like that? Nothing in it.

Ay, why so hostile towards me for asking the question.  I think if the club denied that speculation, it would have helped.  Because frankly, it could change the perception of the departure entirely.

Where's the hostility? There's certainly none implied.

I'm just saying, with a degree of cynicism, that we're not going to get confirmation of a detail like that from the club because it isn't really in their interest to do so. It's like with Milner when people were saying "why doesnt he just come out and say he wants to stay" - he wasn't going to do that, even if he did want to stay, because he had nothing to gain from saying it.

Even if we did make a statement on the Milner money, would you believe it? (Assuming you think they're being sparse with the truth, apols if i am reading that wrong).

We had the club make a statement through Gen Krulak yesterday, and people have chosen to believe what they want to believe.

[The Situation]

My favourite victories under MON:

Derby 0-6 Villa
Villa 2-0 Chavski
Villa 5-1 small heath
Everton 2-3 Villa
Arsenal 0-2 Villa
Liverpool 1-3 Villa
United 0-1 Villa

Lots of great games and memories of O'Neill - I do feel people are going a bit OTT. OK, he was annoying at times, and has left at a really bad time, but you can't say he hasn't turned us around as a team. He has taken us far and hopefully our next manager can take us that step closer to Champions League football.

[KevinGage]

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/scottishpremier/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/10/08/11/SOCCER_Celtic_Nightlead.html

Tommy Gemmell says Villa offered £5m for McGeady.
If that is Lerner's limit then where can Premier League players from? USA? Perhaps? 
Selling the brand abroad is where the money comes from now.
Fallow couple of years ahead methinks..barring a miracle.

TBH £5 million for McGeady sounds about right.

If the board wouldn't sanction anymore than that, then fair play. It's about time some Quality Control kicked in.

We already have Downing, Ash and young Albrighton for the two wing spots, with Ireland (I know he's not a winger per se but he's played there -and he's closer to that than an orthodox CM) seemingly on the way.

Unless he was looking to offload Downing, it wasn't really a position we were crying out for.

£5 million was probably generous even. They could have just said 'no' full stop.

[dave.woodhall]

My favourite victories under MON:

Derby 0-6 Villa
Villa 2-0 Chavski
Villa 5-1 small heath
Everton 2-3 Villa
Arsenal 0-2 Villa
Liverpool 1-3 Villa
United 0-1 Villa

Lots of great games and memories of O'Neill - I do feel people are going a bit OTT. OK, he was annoying at times, and has left at a really bad time, but you can't say he hasn't turned us around as a team. He has taken us far and hopefully our next manager can take us that step closer to Champions League football.

He took us back to where we've been, on average, for the past twenty years. His time at Villa was like every other part of that period, just without the ups and downs.