Takeover rumours

[MoetVillan]

Well, we didn't have a bottomless pit of money and he spent it all on those players. And yes - Dunne and Collins physically threatened a Villa legend, for one thing, and they and Warnock spent a lot of the GH and Eck years mouthing off at the young players whenever he messed up. Those three were a poisonous influence, for which privilege, thanks to MON, we paid six figures a week. The current mob are just cheap and trying their best. That's not to mention the money spent on the likes of Sidwell, Heskey, Harewood, Shorey, Carson, Davies, Knight. Yes he also signed good players, but they were hardly amazing finds - everyone in the league knew about Milner and Young, and he inherited Stan Petrov at Celtic, he didn't go out to find him, as he inherited Henrik Larsson, Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry. His scouting was UKIP-esque and his spending was like Mike Tyson's circa 1995.

As for guesswork, well, look at Moyes and Pardew - hardly the game's greatest thinkers but they assembled teams more cheaply than MON which played better football, had better squad depth and finished higher.

Martin O'Neill wasted the best opportunity this club had had in years, and he did so in such a spectacularly obnoxious, gratingly dislikable and flouncingly prima-donna-ish way that I can't believe he still has even one defender among Villa fans.

luckily he doesnt have a defender left in the squad either

[paul_e]

There isn't same prestige in most leagues, france and spain have their 2 big clubs each who are likely to dominate for a while now, Germany has it's own big 2, one who are already mega rich and the other who, whilst an option, don't fit with the ego boost that would be expected.  That leaves Italy really and I'm not sure how attractive any of the top clubs there would be, given the associated costs.  I doubt there are many sides higher up the list than us, Everton maybe, but as has been said, they share a catchment area with 3 of the 5 biggest clubs in England right now, which makes them a tough sell to anyone.

[Meanwood Villa]

O'Neill spent money he was given by the owner. Clearly you believe he wasted it and you're not alone. Personally I don't think it's a given another manager would have done any better. The decision not to give subsequent managers a similar level of cash is Lerner's. I would therefore apportion the blame for that decision, if you believe it to be a poor one, to that same person rather than someone's who's not even at the club.

[paul_e]

O'Neill spent money he was given by the owner. Clearly you believe he wasted it and you're not alone. Personally I don't think it's a given another manager would have done any better. The decision not to give subsequent managers a similar level of cash is Lerner's. I would therefore apportion the blame for that decision, if you believe it to be a poor one, to that same person rather than someone's who's not even at the club.

Do you think he spent the money well and left a club in a better state than he found it?

[Monty]

Oh, Lerner made and continues to make stupid decisions. Appointing McLeish was pretty amazingly stupid. The thing is though that Lerner seems well-intentioned even at his worst - MON was all about himself, and failed in a snarky, arrogant way.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Personally I don't think it's a given another manager would have done any better.

Following the same logic, I assume you think it's a given another manager wouldn't have done worse?

[villa `cross the mersey]

Mon`s stock has well and truly fallen following his fall from grace at Sunderland - I don`t watch too much TV these days so I do not know if his smug face still gets aired as a so called pundit. All his cronies at the BBC - Lineker, Hansen et al put him on a pedestal for so long - I wonder if they still hold him in such esteem now that his style of management has been sussed as "dated".

[Rudy Can't Fail]

His scouting was UKIP-esque..

Ten minutes later and I'm still sniggering away like Mutley. Thanks, Monty.

[brian green]

I would add Monty that he compounded all of the damage by turning his departure into a premeditated strike against the club which had given him so much.   So much money, so much power and so much freedom.

[Legion]

Tomorrow, I'll be plagiarising that.

[Legion]

I would add Monty that he compounded all of the damage by turning his departure into a premeditated strike against the club which had given him so much.   So much money, so much power and so much freedom.

Doing what he did 5 days before the start of the season was a disgrace. Pre-meditated and totally out of order. I'll never forgive him for that.

[Meanwood Villa]

Personally I don't think it's a given another manager would have done any better.

Following the same logic, I assume you think it's a given another manager wouldn't have done worse?

I think no-one knows what would have happened with another manager, better or worse. To read some opinions on here you'd think we were a shoe-in for the top 4 and O'Neill blew it. I don't think that's necessarily the case. Yes another manager might have done better but it's not guaranteed.

[London Villan]

He knew he was bust, hence the reason for chucking the toys out when he wasn't given a few more million. Like a gambler asking for one more spin...

[Meanwood Villa]

O'Neill spent money he was given by the owner. Clearly you believe he wasted it and you're not alone. Personally I don't think it's a given another manager would have done any better. The decision not to give subsequent managers a similar level of cash is Lerner's. I would therefore apportion the blame for that decision, if you believe it to be a poor one, to that same person rather than someone's who's not even at the club.

Do you think he spent the money well and left a club in a better state than he found it?

He could have spent the money better no doubt. I think he did leave the club in a better state he found it. We were 16th under O'Leary before he came. We were 6th and had reached a cup final when he left.

[Monty]

No, Moyes left his club in a stronger state than he found it. Our subsequent crises and stagnations following his departure suggests that MON left the club pretty much exactly as he found it.