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

[Ron Manager]

I agree with Eastie I think MON will become a TV pundit probably next season and for the BBC.

He tried and he failed. When he bought Johnson I got the feeling he was starting to lose the plot a bit.

Anyway I wish him well. He brought Aston Villa some success and respect and at times some excellent football.

Lambert has a long way to go to equal that.

[saunders_heroes]

I agree with Eastie I think MON will become a TV pundit probably next season and for the BBC.

He tried and he failed. When he bought Johnson I got the feeling he was starting to lose the plot a bit.

Anyway I wish him well. He brought Aston Villa some success and respect and at times some excellent football.

Lambert has a long way to go to equal that.

Same here. Even though he wasted a lot of money I still enjoyed his 3 or so years at Villa immensely. Wish we had a team as good as that now!

[Risso]

I know it's not nice to gloat. But

*gloats*

I think you've shot your bolt too early there Damon.  I was looking forward to seeing him relegate them THEN getting the tin tack!

[cheltenhamlion]

I won't comment too far as I started on a piece about this whole business for the next fanzine earlier.

All I will say is that the timing of the sacking is bonkers and avoid the media like the plague for the next week or so.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Dolly would be ideal then we can boo him, where is the fucker these days?

[eastie]

What makes me laugh is all these comments in the media and forums about John robertson as if he's some kind of tactical genius - i think O'Neills problem is he never changed his thinking with the game and remained too old school- he was stuck in the past and looked to have lost the hunger - doubt robertson would have made much difference apart from organising the bibs and cones. 

[Salsa Party Animal]

I can't see MON getting another job in football management apart from Northern Ireland job. Look like he will have to hope BBC want him.

[cdbearsfan]

He's the wrong religion to manage Northern Ireland. Leicester and Forest both change manager more often than most Blue Noses change underwear so he'll end up at one of them. Or possibly the Republic of Ireland.

[eastie]

I can't see MON getting another job in football management apart from Northern Ireland job. Look like he will have to hope BBC want him.

Not sure he would see Northern Ireland as a challenge , the republic may be about to ditch trappatoni though and being a catholic managing them wouldn't be a problem for him .

Mons tv sports producer friend who got him the gigs at the bbc has now defected to itv and I wouldn't be surprised to see him popping up alongside Keane and southgate.

[Ron Manager]

He wouldnt take the N Ireland job ,if offered, for the simple reason that they dont have the players.

It does seem stupid to sack any manager this late in the season as the new bloke doesnt have a chance.

However the Sunderland Chairman is called Ellis!

Anyway good luck to Mark Hughes in the Championship next season.

[saunders_heroes]

He's the wrong religion to manage Northern Ireland. Leicester and Forest both change manager more often than most Blue Noses change underwear so he'll end up at one of them. Or possibly the Republic of Ireland.

Haven't they got a catholic manager right now?

[bertlambshank]

Fuck me the reporter on SSN is wearing a black tie.

[cdbearsfan]

He's the wrong religion to manage Northern Ireland. Leicester and Forest both change manager more often than most Blue Noses change underwear so he'll end up at one of them. Or possibly the Republic of Ireland.

Haven't they got a catholic manager right now?

Don't know. Off the top of my head I can't remember who their manager is and can't be arsed to Google it. I doubt they'll appoint a high-profile Catholic with Celtic links anyway, after the way they treated Neil Lennon.

It's a moot point anyway as they couldn't afford his exorbitant wages.

[TonyD]

Ha ha.  That's gotta hurt.   I am delighted for him - naturally.

[Monty]

This from the Guardian's Daniel Taylor on what went wrong for our Martin:

"The difficult part is knowing what precisely has changed. One theory is that maybe the game has started to leave him behind and that his tactics have become outmoded. The immediate response to that is that he has previously demonstrated he possesses one of the sharpest minds in football."

Says it all really. He's never once demonstrated anything like "one of the sharpest minds in football", nothing like it. And yet they rush over what is the core of the problem with some glossy platitude to protect the stereotypical image of the man, for no reason. "Sharpest minds in football"? He's one of the most meat-and-potatoes managers we've ever had.