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

[eastie]

ReadyToGo.net has a 39 page match thread on our game today.

Makes quite amusing reading.

I will head there shortly after  my celebratory fish and chips:)

[ozzjim]

How much on him being Stoke manager by the end of the week. Flat cap greyhound breeder will be a goner tonight after how poor they are.

[eamonn]

ReadyToGo.net has a 39 page match thread on our game today.

Makes quite amusing reading.

Eh?! More than ours! Why?!

[Dave]

They do only seem to have about six posts per page.

[The Man With A Stick]

Funny that he's dismissing the comments about him being a dinosaur by bringing up Alex Ferguson's age, as if that's the only thing being brought into question.  Is he actually that stupid, or does he take people for complete idiots?

[KevinGage]

Peddling the same aul pish about Cloughie. 

Always amazes me that such a Cloughie disciple didn't see fit to follow Ol' Big Ead's ideas about football being entertainment, and that the ball should spend more time on the grass than in the sky. 

As for Fergiescum, as others have mentioned, he adapted to the times.    Originally a 4-4-2 merchant reliant on wingers, he wasn't too proud to bring in coaches with different ideas and different beliefs.   Something O'Neill would never have done.

[Somniloquism]

You are correct about Fergie bringing in coaches to give him new ideas, probably because he realised from getting regularly stuffed in Europe that he needed them.

But Fergie was forced into getting these coaches in when others left for managerial jobs, it is not like he decided to get rid of them himself to ring in the changes.

(And having the money and pull to get most players in the world does help as well.)

[KevinGage]

He could still have gone the route of "I'm Alex Ferguson, I've won countless titles playing 4-4-2, so I'll keep on doing it." 

He didn't.  And -as much as it sticks in the craw- he deserves credit for being bold enough to go with upcoming coaches like McLaren and Queiroz, rather than just giving jobs to his mates.

[tomd2103]

Peddling the same aul pish about Cloughie. 

Always amazes me that such a Cloughie disciple didn't see fit to follow Ol' Big Ead's ideas about football being entertainment, and that the ball should spend more time on the grass than in the sky. 

As for Fergiescum, as others have mentioned, he adapted to the times.    Originally a 4-4-2 merchant reliant on wingers, he wasn't too proud to bring in coaches with different ideas and different beliefs.   Something O'Neill would never have done.

Yep, despite most people who knew Clough admitting that by the end of his managerial career in the early 90's his methods were way out of date.  It is O'Neill's constant failure to build a squad and rotate players that is one of his biggest downfalls.  I guess he didn't really need to do it at Celtic, as their players could coast through games against the weaker sides, but it is a necessity in the Premiership and he has failed to do it year after year.       

[Toronto Villa]

He just needs to shut the fuck up. He's been rumbled and this was his last hurrah in the PL because I very much doubt any other club will have the stomach to give him a chance. Unless the chairman is nuts he'll see with us over a longer period and with Sunderland how he has managed to blow many millions and leave those clubs in poor financial condition for very little actually achieved. He's even being called out by some pundits that were traditionally in his corner. Expect Murphy and Holt that is who remain blind to the obvious.

MON had his chance and for all of the stories of Clough he'll never, ever come close to being Clough. He just needs to accept that now and move on.

[eamonn]

I was actually a bit surprised at that interview. Murphy, to be fair, asked most of the tough questions. Would still like to hear why Marty has such an aversion to foreign signings and a propensity for over-priced English ones but that will have to wait, I guess.
And it wasn't difficult to warm a bit to O'Neill (for the first time since God knows) given his thoughtful and considered answers. He did seem to be chastened by Sunderland's poor form and accepts they should have won more games.

The key part for me was near the end when he mentioned how Sunderland won some games under him last year that they were fortunate to...one thing about O'Neill when he was with us, he never accepted that we had been lucky despite more than a few unconvincing wins (that Hull away game when we nearly conceded a penalty in the last minute; Heskey's debut at Portsmouth where they were camped in our half for most of the second half etc.). It's as if his fighting spirit and complete faith in his players had waned at Sunderland compared to his time with us. Fair enough, we had better players and were genuine top four candidates but maybe he's learned to be a bit more circumspect. Had to laugh at his assertion that some of his training techniques had been imitated by many other coaches and that Steve Guppy's specialised wingplay coaching was inspired. Adam Johnson presumably not the best example of that.

He really is quite a curious man. He went up in my estimation last year after the game with Sunderland at VP when he actually apologised for the haste in which he left. A bit of leftover guilt from taking money from the club at the tribunal hearing perhaps. Or just a bit of good old humility for once. I still think he's been long over-championed in the press and by other supporters. Not that he's a bad manager either but things went stale very quickly for him at Sunderland which must be a worry for him despite his apparent hunger for another job. Fair play Martin, Celtic was as good as it got for you but we probably presented your best opportunity and your ego prevented you from carrying on. You'll never have it that good again.

[Damo70]

It has been quoted by more than one source in the media that his time was up after meeting with the owner recently to discuss recent performances and results. He put his case for how hard he was going to work to turn things around and his confidence in doing so. He apparently followed that up by not showing his face in training for the following three days.

[SoccerHQ]

a summary of MON's fireside chat with Murphy on Radio 5 -

- deserved the chance to keep SAFC up again, never been relegated in 20 yrs
- should have won 3 more games
- turned Villa into a brilliant side having kept us up in first season
- intends to manage again, age not a barrier
- Adam Johnson should've done better
- appeared to have little respect for Di Canio, never met him
- angry that Murphy perceived him as a good starter at a club and then allows club to drift
- bragged about success at Celtic
- bragged about time at Villa (top 6 for 3 seasons etc etc, you know the script)
- Sunderland tense and tentative, flat
- bigged up bringing in SAFC forward coach Steve Guppy! I kid you not.

came across as defensive, subdued, bit like a defeated politician having just been ousted by the Lib Dems in a safe Tory seat. The bloke lost his mojo a long time ago and is yesterday's news now.

Big thing for me from that interview was MON's barely held disgust when Murphy mentioned the plan B topic and whether MON had one. The response was O'neill arguing whether manager's should even have another gameplan in their locker!

[adrenachrome]

I seem to remember MoN saying that as a fan of Black Adder he had a very cunning plan, but I can't remember if he assigned a letter of the alphabet to it.

[Nev]

Without an outright defence of MON, I have never subscribed to the idea that he was spiteful in leaving us, he had his reasons and they may be honourable.

But his reluctance in explaining the reason for his departure, and his alacrity in running to the press when he was wronged has made me loose the respect I had for him.

He may not have owed us as far as his position is concerned, but he still owes us an explanation and while we wait, one can only think the worst of him.