Return of O'Neill - divided opinion

[john e]

anyone who is finding the temptation to hard to bear, can i point you toward the 'borderline Boilers' thread,
 it might help

[NQsDiscoPants]

He spent £120.8m on 30 players

He sold 29 players for £39m

That's a net spend of  £82m

enjoy the next 2.5 seasons - I'm sure you'll have some fun but I know it'll end in tears

Ah so thestance is to not allow him any credit for the value of some the players that he left behind, who were sold for a huge profit after he left?

Convenient.

Like I said though, it's irrelevant. I don't give a damn how much he does or doesn't spend. All I care about as a fan are results.

I'll humour you for the time being though and ask why it is, given that you seem so sure that financial ruin awaits SAFC, MON managed huge success at Leicester on a shoestring and has turned us around 180 degrees this season without spending a penny yet?

Certain Villa fans have a clear agenda against MON, which is strange considering the fact that he did so much for AVFC. I suppose that for many, painting MON as some sort of devilish chequebook wielding maniac allows attention to be directed away from the bigger more real problems at the club.

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

[john e]

i know its hard, but come on, we can do this if we stay together

[TaxDodger]

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

In what way do you believe he was crapped on? The general consensus is that he was told to reduce the wage budget before he'd be allowed anymore significant funds to spend. That's hardly an unreasonable request considering we had players, that O'Neill himself had purchased, not playing and picking up ridiculously high wages.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Ah so thestance is to not allow him any credit for the value of some the players that he left behind, who were sold for a huge profit after he left?

Convenient.

For every Ashley Young or Stewart Downing, we could name a Zat Knight, Curtis Davies, Heskey, Warnock, Harewood, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Fabien Delph, Habib Beye, Shorey, Routledge, Luke Young.

Which one of thoise would you fancy at Sunderland?

And then there was the gift of Gary Cahill to Bolton.

 

[Risso]

He spent £120.8m on 30 players

He sold 29 players for £39m

That's a net spend of  £82m

enjoy the next 2.5 seasons - I'm sure you'll have some fun but I know it'll end in tears

Ah so thestance is to not allow him any credit for the value of some the players that he left behind, who were sold for a huge profit after he left?

Convenient.

Like I said though, it's irrelevant. I don't give a damn how much he does or doesn't spend. All I care about as a fan are results.

I'll humour you for the time being though and ask why it is, given that you seem so sure that financial ruin awaits SAFC, MON managed huge success at Leicester on a shoestring and has turned us around 180 degrees this season without spending a penny yet?

Certain Villa fans have a clear agenda against MON, which is strange considering the fact that he did so much for AVFC. I suppose that for many, painting MON as some sort of devilish chequebook wielding maniac allows attention to be directed away from the bigger more real problems at the club.

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

O'Neill is a ******.  You will get to realise this.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. 

That said, if I had an idiot boss prepared to give me more money after seeing £10m leave the coffers on Marlon Harewood, then I'd probably carry on spending on massively over expensive British-based players like a kid in a sweetshop too.

[pauliewalnuts]

Wow, some real bitterness here!

And to think I only came on to ask how we all thought Darren Bent was sleeping these days; assuming that he lies awake wondering if an extra £10k p/w was worth selling his career for?

"Selling his career for"?

You're not going to last long on here with snide like that.

Don't you remember when we signed him, all that "why's he going from a top six club to one down the bottom"? You clearly hadn't worked out that being in the top six in January is not the same as being there at the end of the season, which was kind of ironic when we actually finished above you in any case.

I'd also suggest that since he's been here, he's established himself as an England international, which is hardly "selling your career".

[Brend'Watkins]

He spent £120.8m on 30 players

He sold 29 players for £39m

That's a net spend of  £82m

enjoy the next 2.5 seasons - I'm sure you'll have some fun but I know it'll end in tears

Ah so thestance is to not allow him any credit for the value of some the players that he left behind, who were sold for a huge profit after he left?

Convenient.

Like I said though, it's irrelevant. I don't give a damn how much he does or doesn't spend. All I care about as a fan are results.

I'll humour you for the time being though and ask why it is, given that you seem so sure that financial ruin awaits SAFC, MON managed huge success at Leicester on a shoestring and has turned us around 180 degrees this season without spending a penny yet?

Certain Villa fans have a clear agenda against MON, which is strange considering the fact that he did so much for AVFC. I suppose that for many, painting MON as some sort of devilish chequebook wielding maniac allows attention to be directed away from the bigger more real problems at the club.

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

When he walks out on you 5 days before the start of a new season come back and talk to us again.  You could also tell us why and when he was crapped on from a great height by Lerner, where did you hear this?

[luke25]

He spent £120.8m on 30 players

He sold 29 players for £39m

That's a net spend of  £82m

enjoy the next 2.5 seasons - I'm sure you'll have some fun but I know it'll end in tears

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

I've read some absolute bollocks on this forum over the years but this sentence has outdone it all.

[5ft811st2 Durham]

He spent £120.8m on 30 players

He sold 29 players for £39m

That's a net spend of  £82m

enjoy the next 2.5 seasons - I'm sure you'll have some fun but I know it'll end in tears

Ah so thestance is to not allow him any credit for the value of some the players that he left behind, who were sold for a huge profit after he left?

Convenient.

Like I said though, it's irrelevant. I don't give a damn how much he does or doesn't spend. All I care about as a fan are results.

I'll humour you for the time being though and ask why it is, given that you seem so sure that financial ruin awaits SAFC, MON managed huge success at Leicester on a shoestring and has turned us around 180 degrees this season without spending a penny yet?

Certain Villa fans have a clear agenda against MON, which is strange considering the fact that he did so much for AVFC. I suppose that for many, painting MON as some sort of devilish chequebook wielding maniac allows attention to be directed away from the bigger more real problems at the club.

I'm genuinely surprised to read that certain sections of the support for what is a very good old club have so much hatred for a bloke who was quite clearly cr*pped on from a great height by Lerner.

Irrespective of what he did or didn't do at Villa, it's clear that his initial impact at Sunderland is now diminishing and from recent interviews he looks diminished himself. Tired and unwell.

Consequently  I wouldn't expect him to be around your place too long, and certainly don't expect him to achieve anything. He probably wants the Spurs job anyway.

[dave.woodhall]

We clicked our fingers, Sunderland's best player came running.

[VillaAlways]

I hear there was booing at the SOL on Saturday ? A word of warning MON doesn't like any form of criticism Mr NQDiscopants

[Ads]

O'Neill is a ******. Shit on? Are you taking the piss?

[barrysleftfoot]

  Don't miss him, won't boo him, time to move on.

 Randy believed the hype about MON, and he was the best backed manager in the Lge at a time when there was no Man Citeeeh, Lplop in decline, Chelsk or Arse not spending, and Spuds nowhere to be seen.Yet we failed to make the top 4.He bought some good players, but made too many bad buys to be considered a great manager.

 RL made a mistake, hopefully he will rectify it in the summer.We are still a top 20 European side, time to act like it.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Sunderlandpants.

You'll be fine with O'Neill, as long as you remember these 10 golden rules.

1. You are privileged and blessed to have him as your Manager, should you ever forget this, his media chums will be on hand to remind you on a regular basis.

2. Allow him to spend £12m including transfer fee and  wages on a centre half and over £8m in transfer fees and wages on a 32 year old right back, if he decides within weeks of their arrival that he does not want them, DO NOT question his judgement, instead offer him more money for replacements.

3. AT NO POINT must you employ anybody at your club who will try to pull rank on him in any shape or form. REMEMBER that he is the 21st century Brian Clough and must be given the same sort of workplace freedom that the late, great man enjoyed.

4. DO NOT BE FOOLED that O'Neill has no plan B when you are struggling to break down any obstinate opposition, please remember that Martin's brain is a thing of computer like complexity, constantly churning out possible new formations and styles of play.

5. One of your best young players is James McLean, DO NOT question Martin's judgement if he inexplicably sells him to Bolton for a bargain basement fee. Martin will have one eye on a replacement and will be carefully weighing up the pros and cons of Karl Henry, or even using his vast worldwide army of scouts to pluck a rough diamond from the Swiss second division.

6. DO NOT COMPLAIN should he sign either Richard Dunne or Emile Heskey from Aston Villa, to the unsophisticated, untrained eye of the beer swilling man on the terraces, they look like fat, inept Sunday morning cloggers, but only a man of Martin's footballing knowledge, who possesses a hawk like ability to spot what no other person can, will see the qualities that they have in abundance.

7. If he should ever attend any social function involving Sunderland supporters, do not DARE to question the great man on supposed bizarre team selections. Martin positions his team on the pitch as Bobby Kasprov would position his pieces as he approaches check mate.

8. PLEASE do not make any minor disparaging remarks about him of any sort, Martin has a crack team of solicitors working 24/7 to ensure that ignorant so called football supporters do not bring his impeccable character into question.

9. If at all possible, please have discussions with the Premier League about changing the club name to MARTIN O'NEILL'S SUNDERLAND, it's best to keep on the right side of Martin at all times and this could go a long way to cementing a solid relationship, or at least stop him from walking away like a manbaby, 5 days before the season starts.

10. Guffaw and laugh at his hilarious stop/start interviews, after a witless surrender against lower opposition, take comfort in Martin's endearing habit of continually pushing his glasses up his nose and repeatedly saying the words 'wee' and 'terrific'