O'Neill; the fans & YOUR final verdict.

[Gaztonniller]

And so the great MON has gone/disappeared (like a thief in the night) from VP, after arriving with great excitement and approval from the Villa faithful. So now that the dust of his sudden departure has settled, and the club is coming to terms with him no longer in charge, how would YOU (the fan) rate his time/management overall at Villa?

[willywombat]

I was excited like everyone else when he arrived and like most others grew increasingly disillusioned with his leadership. I once saw him described on a small heath message board as Martin O'Myth which, sad to say, sums him up really. His transfer dealings were hit and miss, for every Ashley Young there was a Marlon Harewood and his habit of playing players out of position was mystifying. On the plus side, we've had some great times; unbeaten against the filth, a couple of Wembley appearances and a higher media profile. The damning thing for me was the manner of his exit which I think was unforgiveable. To spit the dummy and flounce out 5 days before the start of a new season shows a total disregard for the club (ie you and me) and negates most of the positives of his tenure. Good luck Martin, but I wont be cheering you ( metaphorically) if and when you come back to Villa Park

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I was almost 100% in favour of him for the whole 4 years. I didnt find his style of football as boring as many, and regards transfers I believed his hits outweighed his misses. Whatever his attitude about our European adventures, we at least became regular participants again. I still believe his management skills are exceptional, not to the extent that parts of the media would have us believe though. This  idea that certain managers are simply full of bull and their so called abilities are built on no real foundations is something I have never agreed with. The nature of the job means you never actually take to the field during the action (player managers excepted). One could argue the job is based on how effective your bullshit is whether your Ferguson, Clough, Busby, Shankly, O`Neill or simply spending a career in lower leagues. It is about how you say things and behave so that the actual players are convinced enough to go and work and perform for you. If you like I believe O`Neills bullshit is more effective than most but probably not quite to the extent of the names mentioned  above.
However, as I think many will say on here it is the way he left us that will ultimately stick in the memory. Football isnt about loyalty but there should still be certain codes of conduct, and it is this that makes O`Neill a lesser person than I thought. Now the dust has settled, I wouldnt put these character flaws on the same level as an O`Leary quite. But the way he has left us will have been noted around the world of football I am sure. O`Leary  never made it back until his recent jaunt to top up his family fortune with a few oil dollars. O`Neill will no doubt return but the so called top jobs will elude him. With the exception of Graham Taylors England debacle, no manager has left Villa since Tommy Docherty over 40 years ago and ever found employment bigger than the Aston Villa job.

[willywombat]

With the exception of Graham Taylors England debacle, no manager has left Villa since Tommy Docherty over 40 years ago and ever found employment bigger than the Aston Villa job.


Cant argue with that and I really dont think MON will have a bigger job in the future

[VillaZogmariner]

I was torn between the Good Manager/50-50 option, probably leaning more towards the former. However, his departure has left a very sour taste in the mouth, and as such I voted 50/50.

[Jimbo]

I thought he was just what we needed when he took the job. He turned us around and got us moving up the table, but went as far as he could go. Things were getting stale and predictable, and the football for at least a season and a half, maybe longer, was torturous to watch most of the time.

I thought he deserved another season to see if he could really make that final push into the top four, but he clearly didn't feel that way. The manner in which he left, coupled with the list of expensive and overpaid players he signed and then fell out with, would now make me inclined to agree with him.

[Nev]

Despite the myriad of question marks regarding his ability, the simple fact was that under MON we progressed season upon season. It was slower than many would have liked and patience is a rare commodity in football. But he fulfilled the basic requisites of the job.
For me, at the end of last season it was clear that time was running out and it felt that unless a major trophy or CL qualification could be achieved, this season would have been his last anyway.
Aston Villa was O'Neil's chance to prove himself as an exceptional manager, one of the greats. He'd built a solid base and we were poised to take the next step but for whatever reason the man chose to walk away. Despite what the press would have us believe, he is not a top class manager and his opportunity to live up to that billing has, for the time being, passed.

Much has been made of MON and his links with Clough, how their management style maybe similar. Indeed, O'Neil's been accused of having too high an opinion of himself, a definate Clough trait. The difference between the two though is the aquisition of major honours, Clough did it in spades and I was hoping that O'Neil would reach those heights with us.

But he didn't and will he ever? I don't really care now, but his time with us has to be considered a success to a point.

But I know we and Martin O'Neil would like to go beyond that point.

[tim]

Good.
In an ever progressing league, Villa remained pretty much a constant threat to the rest (I'm not inlcuding Chelsea and Manchester Utd though). A lot of money was spent but a solid if unspectacular team was built.
I think that unless someone of higher stature is brought in as a replacement, then I think we, and the owners, will unfortunately see what he managed to do at the time and Villa will slip back to where we were a few years back i.e. aiming for top 6 rather than 4.

[Lee]

Despite my latter criticism of him over the last season  or so. I have put that he was good for Villa as the time. Unfortunately, his intransigence made him lose his way at the end. His bad points came more to the fore, along with his football actually becoming quite turgid.

I was still willing to accept him for another season in the hope that he changed, even though I was hoping for him to walk at the end of last season.

[PaulTheVillan]

I was just as happy when he left as when we appointed him.

Happy as at the time it was the best thing for the club.

[jembob]

I voted Good although felt that he had reached the limit of his capabilities 12 months ago. The 2009/10 season was one too far in my view.

What MON does very well is to improve teams and that's certainly what he did for us but he is not a manager capable of competing at the highest levels as was clearly demonstrated last season and the end of the previous one. He'd now be ideal for a club like Newcastle and would bring stability, enthusiasm and some organisation however he wouldn't last more than 3 years there.

On the plus side, he is media friendly, enigmatic, a terrific man manager and up until he walked out I though him to be decent.

On the minus side he is a footballing dinosaur with no Plan B and a predictable Plan A. He obviously holds a grudge and marginalised players that he disagreed with to the detriment of the team. He seems incapable of changing a team formation during a game and was often tactically out thought. In the end his ego did for him and was to blame for his various fall outs with the fans.

On the whole MON played a vital part in the ongoing rejuvination process of Aston Villa.

[damon loves JT]

I thought his early work was the best, but it's really only with hindsight that you realise how dynamic and original it was.

Oddly the time he was receiving the most attention was when his ability was stagnating a bit.

'Sign O'The Times' was probably his best album, but today the stand-out tracks aren't the ones that made the charts.

'Diamonds and Pearls' got a lot of hype but was frankly an embarrassment; I still clench my arse just to think about anything that happened after that

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Poor manager.
Allergy to overseas players, paid top whack in wages then doesn't play players, poor tactical nous, stubborn at the expense of progress, a Clough wannabe with no talent.
It's chiefly his fault that we're in Tottenham's slipstream.

The man is a grade A wanker.

[ozzjim]

Since the end of his second season we hit a big wall, despite continued significant investment and did not improve upon the previous season league wise. A couple of points a year is not progress, it is a bit of luck in a game over 38. Progress would have been 8-9 points more and a higher league place. For 3 seasons straight we blew up in march and april, something he showed no signs of learning from or rectifying. Once you learn from. Twice you look a bit silly. Three times is inept. He bought a lot of players that he then did not trust to play in games through the season that would have allowed the regulars a break and be fresher in the run in to the seasons end and it cost us the best opportunity we will have had to make the top 4.

In the late 90's you could have said Doug kept us good but not good enough. MON did the same. He is seen through rose tinted specs because of where we were when he came, but he had some good tools when he came, included Gabby, Cahill who should have stayed, Sorenson who has done very well at Stoke, Mellberg, Laursen, Angel still playing fairly well etc. I think DOL made us appear in a worse state than we were. He did a good job, for a while, and then lost his way.

[VillaZogmariner]

I was just as happy when he left as when we appointed him.

Happy as at the time it was the best thing for the club.

About sums it up I think.