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

[saunders_heroes]

the top of the table is very different now than when MON was with us

there was a set in stone top 4 of Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal then,
now we have Man City's millions to deal with, Totenham are a real force now, but were flirting with relegation at times back then,

so if you accept that the top 4 would reamain the same, you were competing against Everton, Spurs,Newcastle or a smaller club having a great season to finish 5th or 6th,
Man City were no where near anything at the time,
 so with the many millions spent the 3 x 6th spots i dont think were anything that special

Better than the shit served up this season though!

You'd expect that for the vast amount of money spent wouldn't you? MON spent a lot more than 25m a season.

I agree. It's the relatively low wages we pay these days that's the reason we're looking to the lower leagues.

[SoccerHQ]

I think the difference this summer is that Dunne will certainly be off and hopefully Ireland, Hutton, Bent and maybe Given (just think he'll be near on impossible to shift unless he takes a big pay cut somewhere else) will all be off and that's a huge amount of wages to shift in one go as most of those are the highest earners at the club so say 200k a month.

And unlike previous seasons the big earners we will let go won't actually be our best players. That and the new Sky deal means I reckon we'll have a bit more scope in the wages department.

I don't buy this stuff we have a wage cap or whatever as even in our austerity mode we were still signing players like Given and Hutton on very decent wages.

[PeterWithesShin]

I reckon that if Lambert had the exact same conditions to work under as MON did he'd achieve more than MON managed.

[N'ZMAV]

I don't think MON would have unearthed Benteke, Westwood or Lowton.

[curiousorange]

O'Neill is incapable of building a dynasty. The players he brings in are either good enough at that moment or they never are, and you struggle to pick out a player he's improved. That's why he'll never land a job bigger than the one he had here, because his solution is to splurge a load of money on the assumption of getting it right first time. He nearly did it here, but I suppose that would have just delayed the situation that came after by a season or two.

[N'ZMAV]

He improved Ashley Young, James Milner and Gareth Barry in my opinion.

[N'ZMAV]

Maybe Agbonlahor too. But your point about not building a dynasty is fair. There isn't much long term about his buy proven attitude.

[N'ZMAV]

but none of them were bad players to start with.

[curiousorange]

He improved Ashley Young, James Milner and Gareth Barry in my opinion.

Here we get into the sticky realms of how much O'Neill can be credited with in their career development. I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on all three, just for recognising they could be effective in different positions (in the case of Barry and Milner) and for snapping up a clearly talented player (in the case of Young). But the cynic in me would suggest the only thing he actually had a hand in improving was their resale value.

[Steve R]

I reckon that if Lambert had the exact same conditions to work under as MON did he'd achieve more than MON managed.

I do wonder where we would be now if at the time of O'Neill's appointment we'd have got someone more similar to Lambert in terms of football philosophy and player evaluation.

[N'ZMAV]

I reckon that if Lambert had the exact same conditions to work under as MON did he'd achieve more than MON managed.

I do wonder where we would be now if at the time of O'Neill's appointment we'd have got someone more similar to Lambert in terms of football philosophy and player evaluation.

I think we'd be in a better position if Houllier had been able to stay on - He'd have got it right.

[olaftab]

If the dwarf does leave Sunderland, for whatever alleged reason, there will be those who would have him back at Villa Park.

I would. I could get used to going to Wembley twice a season and finishing 6th again after the current relegation battles and losing to lower league oppo in the cup.

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!

[PeterWithesShin]

If the dwarf does leave Sunderland, for whatever alleged reason, there will be those who would have him back at Villa Park.

I would. I could get used to going to Wembley twice a season and finishing 6th again after the current relegation battles and losing to lower league oppo in the cup.

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!

If you take the domestic cups under MON I think the best side we beat were probably Sunderland in the LC 2010 when we won on penalties up there. Which says it all really. Anyone decent and we lost.

[N'ZMAV]

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.

[maidstonevillain]

I reckon that if Lambert had the exact same conditions to work under as MON did he'd achieve more than MON managed.

And have £50m in change left over.