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

[Risso]

Pete: there are really no emotions involved when it comes to my views of MON's time, I'm just trying to counter the impression given by some that it was the worst four years in our history.

You're guilty of the sort of hyperbole there that you gets you so wound up when you accuse other people of it.

[Irish villain]

Anybody else get the sense it has been a week of healing for villa fans? Have we finally drawn a line over that particular episode and can now move on appreciative of the good memories but aware of the mistakes that were made and that himself wasn't all he was cracke dup to be?

It feels to me as though the victory at Sunderland could end up being a lot more significant than the three points earned.

It has struck me that in 2006 we all thought an Aston Villa dynasty would be establsihed. We now had billions and a top manager and we would be the next Chelsea. Because we made mistakes and because Man City came along we have missed that opportunity. I think a lot us (myself included) had been quite bitter that it didn't work out the way we had planned. I for one thought we'd be a top four club by now with regular Champions League outings. I think there has been a real dismay over the past few years that we are still losing our best players and were never able to complet the jigsaw.

However, that disappointment is no subsiding and judging by some of the comments here, our expectations are probably more realistic now. If we can mug teams for silly money for our better players and re-invest it wisely then bring it on. In the medium term, top eight is probably about our level and if we can establish ourselves there who knows what we can go on to long-term.

[Percy McCarthy]

Riss: some of the posts do give the impression that it was a lot shitter than it really was IMO.

[Ger Regan]

Riss: some of the posts do give the impression that it was a lot shitter than it really was IMO.

Sorry perce, I agree with quite a lot of what you post [edit: just not on MON *winky thing*], but I'm not letting you away with that one. There are certainly those on here who don't believe he's a great manager, but I can't remember one single post that would even come close to suggesting it was "the worst four years in our history".

Plenty were left frustrated that he couldn't capitalise on the greatest level of support any villa manager has ever received (or questioned his tactical astuteness), but that's worlds apart from what you're suggesting.

[Percy McCarthy]

Fair enough about the 'worst four years' thing, but I'll stand by my assertion that some posts give the impression that it was worse than it was. I, on the whole, enjoyed it. I'm talking about at the time, not what's happened since and the financial fall-out from it which colours our judgement.

[ktvillan]

A section of fans pointing out that O'Neill wasn't as good as we'd hoped, or good enough to achieve top 4, hardly equates to calling it the worst 4 years in our history.  He wasn't all bad by any stretch, the results prove that.  But he did have some fairly obvious flaws and was a massive disappointment compared to what I'd hoped we'd get.

[Ger Regan]

Fair enough about the 'worst four years' thing, but I'll stand by my assertion that some posts give the impression that it was worse than it was. I, on the whole, enjoyed it. I'm talking about at the time, not what's happened since and the financial fall-out from it which colours our judgement.

That's fair enough, but for me, and quite a few others I suspect, the two are inter-linked. I think it's been mentioned before, but Portsmouth is a good example of how previous performance (and the assicuated spending to get there) resulted in a whole world of pain in the future. I doubt many Portsmouth fans take a huge amount of comfort in their FA Cup win now.

[QBVILLA]

A section of fans pointing out that O'Neill wasn't as good as we'd hoped, or good enough to achieve top 4, hardly equates to calling it the worst 4 years in our history.  He wasn't all bad by any stretch, the results prove that.  But he did have some fairly obvious flaws and was a massive disappointment compared to what I'd hoped we'd get.

Fair enough about the 'worst four years' thing, but I'll stand by my assertion that some posts give the impression that it was worse than it was. I, on the whole, enjoyed it. I'm talking about at the time, not what's happened since and the financial fall-out from it which colours our judgement.

That's how I see it as well. Anyway, it's in the past now and that's where it should be left.

[N'ZMAV]

I also enjoyed it, but I knew deep down that it would be short lived and it was an era we couldn't sustain. I also thought that MON would always walk out on us. There was way too many limitations to his style.

[peter w]

well without trying to sound all i told you so but I wanted him sacked the season before he left. So, i told you so.

[Percy McCarthy]

As I say, I enjoyed his time here, and a part of that was choosing to enjoy, and not getting dragged down by the minutiae of what was wrong. I had no choice but to be miserable under DOL, Houllier and TSM, so I'm glad I had that break, unlike some of you, who are now hopefully emerging from 7 years of unrelenting misery.

Now this is not me bigging up MON, but I don't see how sacking him earlier would have helped. Things haven't gone altogether swimmingly since he left have they?

[Concrete John]

Riss: some of the posts do give the impression that it was a lot shitter than it really was IMO.

One other thing from that period was they way some latched onto Carlos at RB as a major problem.  We could lose 2-0, with both goals coming down our left flank, and the post match thread would be full of posts blaming it on a CB playing RB!?!?!?!? 

[Percy McCarthy]

That was indicative of the two ways people looked at things.

One lot of us saw (Chelsea hammering apart when Luke Young played) the meanest defence in the country.

One lot of us saw a defence that could have been a bit better going forward.

Being a purist, I preferred Young there, but I could see the logic of Carlos.

Nowhere near as much as the abandonment of zonal marking, but the ditching of centre-halves at right-back contributed in part to us going from the best in the league at defending set-pieces, to the worst in the league.

[eastie]

Fair enough about the 'worst four years' thing, but I'll stand by my assertion that some posts give the impression that it was worse than it was. I, on the whole, enjoyed it. I'm talking about at the time, not what's happened since and the financial fall-out from it which colours our judgement.

That's fair enough, but for me, and quite a few others I suspect, the two are inter-linked. I think it's been mentioned before, but Portsmouth is a good example of how previous performance (and the assicuated spending to get there) resulted in a whole world of pain in the future. I doubt many Portsmouth fans take a huge amount of comfort in their FA Cup win now.

I disagree with them not taking comfort in their cup win , for a lot of Pompey fans and I dare say blues fans too their cup final wins would have been the greatest day imagineable and a day they will treasure the rest of their life. 
Yes they have hit hard times now but the day they won at Wembley they will always remember.

[itbrvilla]

Fair enough about the 'worst four years' thing, but I'll stand by my assertion that some posts give the impression that it was worse than it was. I, on the whole, enjoyed it. I'm talking about at the time, not what's happened since and the financial fall-out from it which colours our judgement.

That's fair enough, but for me, and quite a few others I suspect, the two are inter-linked. I think it's been mentioned before, but Portsmouth is a good example of how previous performance (and the assicuated spending to get there) resulted in a whole world of pain in the future. I doubt many Portsmouth fans take a huge amount of comfort in their FA Cup win now.

I disagree with them not taking comfort in their cup win , for a lot of Pompey fans and I dare say blues fans too their cup final wins would have been the greatest day imagineable and a day they will treasure the rest of their life. 
Yes they have hit hard times now but the day they won at Wembley they will always remember.

Spot on.  If we'd at won at Wembley (we bare troubled either opposition because of MONs negative tactics) I think we would all have fonder momories despite his obvious short comings and the current state of the club.