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

[pauliewalnuts]

I know there was some good times under MON, but we didn't really play great Football, and we did paper over the cracks a lot.

And now, we're so financially fucked, it's like we're a widow, and we're still finding bills our husband ignored and stashed away.

[Pat McMahon]

So that was one season and we performed like dead fish in a tumble dryer  in both matches. The other seasons under him we basically lost in cups to anyone who turned up with any intent!
[/quote]

Aftab, I can tell you categorically that Chelsea fans were seriously worried until their first goal in the semi. I know a lot of Chelsea fans in west London and they reckon that until Dunne's shit headed clearance we were the better team.

[curiousorange]

So that was one season and we performed like dead fish in a tumble dryer  in both matches. The other seasons under him we basically lost in cups to anyone who turned up with any intent!

Aftab, I can tell you categorically that Chelsea fans were seriously worried until their first goal in the semi. I know a lot of Chelsea fans in west London and they reckon that until Dunne's shit headed clearance we were the better team.
[/quote]

There was a palpable feeling at Wembley that until they scored, we were going to take the game. It was hugely deflating when they did.

[pauliewalnuts]

The most depressing thing about the two visits to Wembley was that we managed about three shots on goal across 180 minutes of football.

I genuinely don't buy this thing about Chelsea being worried. It looked to me like they realised they needed to move up a gear, and did so - without ever needing top gear - and waltzed past us.

I found that much more disappointing than the CCC final, what with it being the FA Cup.

[curiousorange]

The most depressing thing about the two visits to Wembley was that we managed about three shots on goal across 180 minutes of football.

I genuinely don't buy this thing about Chelsea being worried. It looked to me like they realised they needed to move up a gear, and did so - without ever needing top gear - and waltzed past us.

I found that much more disappointing than the CCC final, what with it being the FA Cup.

I don't know if Chelsea and their fans were ever genuinely troubled, but I do remember we had reason to get excited about something. I'll never know what it was because I don't intend to ever watch the game back.

[ozzjim]

They knew we would tire and Terry said as much after the league game. We were tactically so incapable of doing anything other tgan counter attack it was painful. Average manager with acheivements that have to be seen in light ofghe money he spent. Lambert has bought better in one summer without tge combination to the safe!

[Risso]

Spot on, they waited until they could be bothered and then flicked us aside like somebody removing a speck of dust from their jacket.

[damon loves JT]

If we'd scored first, or even equalised, the Villa support would have dragged them over the line. The atmosphere was incredible.

[PeterWithesShin]

That match always makes me think of this. Terry showing what a piece of shit he is and Townsend proving he is an abysmal commentator.

[eamonn]

I remember very little about that Chelsea game...almost as much of a non-event as the Cup Final against them a decade before. The whole "if Gabby had been given a penalty" in that game and "if Vidic had been sent off" in the League Cup final a few weeks earlier always seemed a bit straw-clutching to me and that we were still thinking like a small team hoping to get a break against the giants rather than seeing them as competitors/near equals which I thought the whole point of that stage in our ascent under O'Neill was.

O'Neill's whole ethos and character is suited to that of a plucky manager at a club in thrall to the big boys.

[London Villan]

Hadnt chelsea beat us 7-1 a few weeks before the semi. I dont think they were than worried.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The MON footballing philosophy very much follows the Clough/Taylor one, where by you keep it simple for the players, don't worry too much about the opposition strength, tactics or specialist training.
Where the MON version falls down is the quality of player he signed, Taylor was meticulous in finding players who were capable and felt comfortable, O'Neill was very often like a kid in a sweet shop and then seemed totally unsure of players 5 minutes after he'd signed them.

Maybe the lack of decent coaching staff and scouts had something to do with it, but I certainly believe his megalomaniac character played a part.

He had a chance to do something special with this club and leave a lasting legacy, and at the risk of having his Solicitors come after me, he blew it in a big way - And he knows it too.

[Ads]

The atmosphere was incredible.

The Tarquins however, sat there in plastic silence with a sense of entitlement. ******.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Hadnt chelsea beat us 7-1 a few weeks before the semi. I dont think they were than worried.

And that game was 1-1 at half time. I remember thinking we had a chance.....

[paul_e]

I remember very little about that Chelsea game...almost as much of a non-event as the Cup Final against them a decade before. The whole "if Gabby had been given a penalty" in that game and "if Vidic had been sent off" in the League Cup final a few weeks earlier always seemed a bit straw-clutching to me and that we were still thinking like a small team hoping to get a break against the giants rather than seeing them as competitors/near equals which I thought the whole point of that stage in our ascent under O'Neill was.

O'Neill's whole ethos and character is suited to that of a plucky manager at a club in thrall to the big boys.

I'd buy that more if the Vidic tackle hadn't deserved a straight red.  99% of the time a tackle like that, in that situation, is a red card.  That he wasn't even booked which meant he could carry on kicking lumps out of us until he finally did get booked in the 2nd half.  That's why a lot of fans still cling to that one, the whole game could've changed if the ref hadn't bottled out of a fairly simple decision: Was it a foul? Was he the last man? Was Gabby through with a clear goalscoring chance if he wasn't fouled?  Yes to all 3 is a red card.

There is nothing of thinking like a small team about that, no one can know what would've happened afterwards and we might still have lost but being pissed off at a terrible decision isn't limited to small teams, Fergie bitches about the ref every time they lose (although probably mostly in a "I'm dropping him next week after that" way).