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

[Percy McCarthy]

There was a feeling we COULD NOT progress any further.   

I don't remember having that feeling.

TonyD had it, but he also used to say we were crap and would get beat every week, so we used to ignore him.

[Percy McCarthy]

In fairness, grief is a terrible thing.

Yes, but it's irrelevant to this debate.

[pauliewalnuts]

In fairness, grief is a terrible thing.

Yes, but it's irrelevant to this debate.

Yes, I know, i was just being flippant.

[hawkeye]

Wow Percy, if its not grief why are you so upset? Why are you making it so personal?
Maybe its not grief, maybe you feel like a blushing bride spurned at the alter.

[Percy McCarthy]

Wow Percy, if its not grief why are you so upset? Why are you making it so personal?
Maybe its not grief, maybe you feel like a blushing bride spurned at the alter.

I'm not upset. I do find it slightly annoying when idiots start going on about 'Monettes', 'holding a candle' and 'fanatics', when the truth is they just had a different opinion on whether he was a good manager or not. It would be nice to just debate that without fuckwits talking bollocks like that.

[TonyD]

There was a feeling we COULD NOT progress any further.   

I don't remember having that feeling.

TonyD had it, but he also used to say we were crap and would get beat every week, so we used to ignore him.

I was one of the early few that pointed out all his faults and said that we would never win anything under him.  I stood by my convictions despite the abuse I got because I could see that the club was wasting the opportunity of a generation with the wasting of the new RL money.  I never said we would get beat every week,  I just kept pointing out the limited ability of the manager.  I had a right to do that. 

[Percy McCarthy]

There was a feeling we COULD NOT progress any further.   

I don't remember having that feeling.

TonyD had it, but he also used to say we were crap and would get beat every week, so we used to ignore him.

I was one of the early few that pointed out all his faults and said that we would never win anything under him.  I stood by my convictions despite the abuse I got because I could see that the club was wasting the opportunity of a generation with the wasting of the new RL money.  I never said we would get beat every week,  I just kept pointing out the limited ability of the manager.  I had a right to do that. 

Maybe, but if you're gonna bullshit about what I said, I have the right to respond in kind.

[TonyD]

There was a feeling we COULD NOT progress any further.   

I don't remember having that feeling.

TonyD had it, but he also used to say we were crap and would get beat every week, so we used to ignore him.

I was one of the early few that pointed out all his faults and said that we would never win anything under him.  I stood by my convictions despite the abuse I got because I could see that the club was wasting the opportunity of a generation with the wasting of the new RL money.  I never said we would get beat every week,  I just kept pointing out the limited ability of the manager.  I had a right to do that. 

Maybe, but if you're gonna bullshit about what I said, I have the right to respond in kind.

What did I bullshit about?

[Percy McCarthy]

There was a feeling we COULD NOT progress any further.   

I don't remember having that feeling.

TonyD had it, but he also used to say we were crap and would get beat every week, so we used to ignore him.

I was one of the early few that pointed out all his faults and said that we would never win anything under him.  I stood by my convictions despite the abuse I got because I could see that the club was wasting the opportunity of a generation with the wasting of the new RL money.  I never said we would get beat every week,  I just kept pointing out the limited ability of the manager.  I had a right to do that. 

Maybe, but if you're gonna bullshit about what I said, I have the right to respond in kind.

What did I bullshit about?

Holding a candle for him, calling him the Messiah, saying people worshipped him, saying I'd follow him into a burning building, worshipping at the Altar of the Blessed St Martin, all that kind of crap you used to come out with.

We had differing opinions on his abilities, that's all. There was no need to type all that shite, and no need for the silly insulting nick-names, like Monettes. It killed the debates and turned them into slanging matches, but maybe that's what you wanted to do.

[PeterWithesShin]

Keep it civil and play nicely please gents.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Oh dear, what about these facts
Marlon Harewoood
Habib Beye
Emile Heskey
Steve Sidwell
Zat Knight
Selling Cahill
The wage bill
Walking out on us 5 days before the seson started.

I'd have forgiven him all of the above if the football had been worth watching, even progressing. Fact is, it got worse. He knew his limitations and jumped before he was pushed.

[gabbythelegend]

For some reason 'Selling Cahill' hurts the most out of the list quoted above. Look at how he's done since and there's no doubt he would have been a bonafide Villa legend (not just a cult legend for the goal against the Scum)

[damon loves JT]

I'm not sure why everyone's picking on Percy all of a sudden. Plenty of people were convinced that O'Neill knew what he was doing. And enjoyed the feeling that we could win any game we played. I was one of them.

[QBVILLA]

For some reason 'Selling Cahill' hurts the most out of the list quoted above. Look at how he's done since and there's no doubt he would have been a bonafide Villa legend (not just a cult legend for the goal against the Scum)

Wasn't Cahill being sold more of a timing thing though? At the time he was entering the final year of his contract and we had better centre halves at the club. Cahill wanted first team football and wasn't getting it at Villa Park so it was either sell him or lose him for what would have been a tribunal fee a year later. That could have happened to any manager and is a handy stick to beat MoN with. Fact is we sold him to Bolton, at the time that was his level and it took two/three seasons before the likes of Chelsea were showing interest. It's fair to highlight the signings of the likes of Heskey,Harewood,Beye and Shorey as poor managerial judgement but I don't think the Cahill sale was down to MoN not rating the player.

[QBVILLA]

[
So you'd better admit to having got that wrong hawkeye, or it makes you a fanatic.
[/quote]Oh dear, what about these facts
Marlon Harewoood
Habib Beye
Emile Heskey
Steve Sidwell
Zat Knight
Selling Cahill
The wage bill
Walking out on us 5 days before the seson started.
Grief is a terrible thing.
[/quote]

Looking at that list objectively my opinion is:
Harewood,Beye and Heskey were poor signings, baffling at the time.
Sidwell for £5m was viewed as good business at the time by the majority of us. He didn't succeed so it turned into a bad signing.
Knight was bought as a squad player, did ok and was sold for pretty much what we paid if not a bit more.
The Cahill sale, well i've covered that above, for me that was just timing.
As for the wage bill. Was O'Neill in sole control of the club's finances? If so then that is bad business and renders the board redundant. Sure he has to shoulder some of the blame for the huge wages paid to the likes of Beye but someone sanctioned those contracts.