The only ones who truly know what went on in the build up to O'Neill going are him and Lerner, but I doubt either are likely to go public with their thoughts.Again, had he left in May 2010, he'd be thought of with much more respect than he is now. It all felt like Lerner, Faulkner and O'Neill spent that Summer playing a game of brinkmanship which - in the end - went too far.For me, the beginning of the end was Moscow. In one moment, he lost so much trust of the fans, and it was never fully repaired - even with the cup runs we had in 09/10.
A very good manager found out by his limitations. I don't go in much for the 'unfit' label that some stuck on us, as in three of his four seasons we ended the season strongly -hardly the hallmark of a knackered team.I also didn't get the big fuss over Moscow. Easy to say when you haven't forked out for travel, grub and tickets, but to me it was just him prioritising potential Chumps League over a cup, which happens with most clubs in our 'top six'. Sadly, it didn't work out -bloody Glenn Whelan!!
We never won a game in March under him did we? So our strong runs in April and May was always trying to make up for the lost ground in the month before.
We played Newcastle early in his reign and iirc ater the game their manager said our commitment etc was frightening.
Quote from: PeterWithesShin on August 11, 2020, 03:13:51 PMWe played Newcastle early in his reign and iirc ater the game their manager said our commitment etc was frightening.For some reason this was a comfortable regulation win in but always remember it. Not sure it was Reoder but if you look at those 2 line ups they had better players - Mellberg and Barry, maybe Angel would make combined teamhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/5266292.stm
Quote from: rob_bridge on August 18, 2020, 10:14:10 AMQuote from: PeterWithesShin on August 11, 2020, 03:13:51 PMWe played Newcastle early in his reign and iirc ater the game their manager said our commitment etc was frightening.For some reason this was a comfortable regulation win in but always remember it. Not sure it was Reoder but if you look at those 2 line ups they had better players - Mellberg and Barry, maybe Angel would make combined teamhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/5266292.stmI remember going to Blackburn who were managed by Allardyce as probably the high water mark of his reign. We'd just signed Heskey (I know, but he'd scored on his debut), were on a great run, and absolutely dismantled them in front of a full away end (the whole stand I think). I remember Allardyce saying we were frightening and they couldn't match our commitment and skill. At that point it looked like we could go for the title let alone the top 4, but it was just a few weeks before Moscow.