Bannan has his say

[eamonn]

Barring Celtic, I don't think MON will get to manage as big a club as us ever again. Serves the stubborn sod right.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

They really are coming out of the woodwork. Shorey has his say too..

NICKY SHOREY'S MARTIN O'NEILL HELL AT ASTON VILLA

NICKY SHOREY is delighted to have escaped the silent treatment from Martin O’Neill and jumped the sinking ship at Aston Villa. Shorey, 29, was frozen out by former Villa manager O’Neill – but says he was never given an explanation why.

The new Albion left-back won’t shed any tears about his old boss ­being out of work and does not know if he’d shake his hand if he saw him again. O’Neill spent £5m to sign ­Shorey from Reading in 2008 – but ­after a handful of games last ­season he booted him out of the starting line-up. And Shorey knew the writing was on the wall before Villa splashed out £8m on Stephen Warnock as his replacement.

“I didn’t get an explanation from the manager but I knew what the score was,” he said. “I had high hopes when I went to Villa, but sometimes things don’t work out. At the start of last season I was enjoying it and playing well. I felt fit. The manager makes his decisions. That’s life.”

Ex-skipper Curtis Davies, who was transfer-listed by O’Neill, has accused the Ulsterman, who quit the club on Monday, of ­favouritism. And Shorey said: “That says it all. I just want to forget about Villa now. I’d rather keep my opinions to myself and look to the future.” Shorey was loaned to Fulham and Nottingham Forest last ­season and was slapped on the transfer list in the summer. He couldn’t wait to get away from the club before O’Neill, 58, announced his shock ­resignation.

“I was glad to play for England and I’d like to do it again,” he said. “I want to concentrate on playing for West Brom and hopefully it’ll be a successful season. It was fine being up for sale. I wasn’t ­playing so I had no qualms whatsoever. I wanted to be playing and enjoy my football. I wanted to be somewhere where I had the chance to be playing every week. That’s all I’m looking for, a fair crack of the whip.”

[Jimbo]

The more that things come out, the more I'm beginning to really dislike this petulant, childish, spiteful, thin-skinned and devious little man. I'm beginning to think that the only difference between him and DOL is that MON was a little more intelligent, although perhaps not quite as intelligent as he'd like to think. Both were self-serving egotistical phonies with very little regard for our club. And the way he left us means that MON just edges it as the least palatable. I really hope more people come out of the woodwork, show him up for what he really is, and go some way to destroying the self-engineered MON myth.   

[Pat McMahon]

I think most of us who saw him would feel that Shorey lacked the quality to be our regular left back. He always struck me as a good player on the ball but did not possess the positional sense (being beaten by balls played inside him) or attitude that he would take 5 stitches and get hurt to stop a goal, which is one thing I loved about Mark Delaney. And I saw his petulance at being subbed away at Fulham in May 2009 when he was very poor and would have happily battered him for that. If choosing Warnock over Shorey is favouritism I'm glad MON had that. I would criticise the initial purchase of Shorey, not the fact he chose to replace him.

I think Davies and Laursen were a good pairing and I would like Davies to stay at the Villa - he is a decent young-ish player and can still improve. I rarely remember him letting us down big-style, though as Percy has pointed out on here, he is not the ball playing centre half people somehow believe him to be. None of us last season were clamouring for Davies to replace Dunne / Collins / Cuellar because they were so poor.

As for Bannan, we don't see too much Championship football here in Shanghai so I can't comment on his ability. My single memory of him was away in Moscow and that is an unfair basis for judgement.

So three players who were not regular first teamers criticise the manager. In my eyes it's not exactly proof he had lost the dressing room. I'm more upset at the comment in the article that Shorey "jumped the sinking ship at Aston Villa". Now that does upset me.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I've said before about MON not being a people person and after all the talk of him being a man motivator was clearly bollocks.

Just makes me even more happy he's gone

[Guy M]

I've said before about MON not being a people person and after all the talk of him being a man motivator was clearly bollocks.

Just makes me even more happy he's gone

This is what Bannan said about him:

I wouldn’t say I was joyful that he left as I got on well with him to speak to but I got never got my chance so, yeah, you could say I was a little bit happy.

He "got on well with him to speak to". Coupled with that, he sent him out to get experience and sounds as though MON was looking to do the same again at least at the start of this season. If he'd come back from 3 months there and was then integrated into the team, I'd have said MON had done a pretty good job motivating him.

There's an awful lot of revisionism going on, in my humble opinion.

EDIT: Or what Pat McMahon said. I'd have happily kicked Shorey's useless arse off the pitch at Fulham. That's why you were dropped and ignored, you useless tw*t. I'm just disappointed it wasn't him that MON allegedly throttled.

[garyfouroaks]

"Out of favour players hold grudge/ think they should be in the team "shock"........."

MON's results speak for themselves, the best consecutive three year league results of any Villa post ww2 manager.

I do accept though that the evidenceis mounting that MON would have done everyone a favour by resigning at the end of last season - rather than the beginning of this.

[The Man With A Stick]

I'm more upset at the comment in the article that Shorey "jumped the sinking ship at Aston Villa". Now that does upset me.

It's from the Daily Star so I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it!

[jonzy85]

I don't think the fact that 3 players who MON didnt play because they weren't good enough having a go at him now means a whole lot.

And how would Barry Bannan, who was at loan at Blackpool, know how close he was or wasn't to joining Liverpool?

[BannedUserIAT]

Take your point, Jonzy but if someone on here said that they were ITK due to knowing a current player, would you trust that source? I think I would.

[stevenjos]

Bless little Barry Bannan. hope hes gets a look in at some point.

[john e]

i think Liverpool were very interested in MON, but were a bit taken aback with the out cry from Liverpool fans,

 they were swamping the radio stations and forums with stuff about 'long ball' and shit football, saying they wouldnt put up with it.

i think Liverpool thought better of it and changed to Hodgson,

i wonder if the same thing will happen with the Bob Bradley thing happening at the moment

[TimTheVillain]

I don't think the fact that 3 players who MON didnt play because they weren't good enough having a go at him now means a whole lot.

And how would Barry Bannan, who was at loan at Blackpool, know how close he was or wasn't to joining Liverpool?

Because players talk.

Also, Barry wouldn't have been out of touch - he was still a Villa player.

Change was required, but MON will be remembered as the Manager who left us in the lurch 5 days before this season starts.

Enigatic Martin will not Manage ManUre now I don't think ( his dream job)  ..... they look for more stickability - either that or sheer Managerial talent based on trophies in the cabinet.

[PeterWithe]

Shorey can go fuck himself, he's just joined the Albion for fucks sake, the first case of a rat joining a sinking ship.

[johnny from donny]

If Bannan is under 21 why would he expect to be named in our 25? The squad rules state 25 players 8 of whom have to be home grown PLUS UNLIMITED UNDER 21S now, either I'm thick and have misunderstood this or he falls into the latter category.  Which is it please?