August 4th 2006

[Chico Hamilton III]

O'Neill unveiled as Aston Villa manager
4 August 2006
Agence France Presse
BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug 4, 2006 (AFP) -

 
Martin O'Neill is the new manager of Aston Villa, the beleaguered Premiership side -- mired in complex takeover talks and facing an alleged players' revolt -- announced on Friday.
The inspirational 54-year-old saw his car mobbed by around a thousand fans as it drew up at Villa Park before a press conference to formally unveil the former Celtic and Leicester manager as the Midlands club's boss.
Villa chairman Doug Ellis said O'Neill had been chosen for his fabled motivational skills. "Martin's success at Celtic and Leicester is well documented but his ability to motivate players is unsurpassed," Ellis beamed.
O'Neill said he was excited -- and terrified -- by the challenge of rousing a club often described as sleeping giants.
Asked if he was nervous, O'Neill replied: "Petrified. It's a fantastic challenge and I'm willing and ready to go.
"I think everybody is aware of the history of the club. And while trying to restore it to its former glory is going to take a big effort, why not try?
"I'm ready for the challenge. I'm going for it."
O'Neill admitted he was taken aback by his reception as fans crowded his car. "I was overwhelmed to be honest," he said. "I didn't expect it."
O'Neill has just two weeks to bring a semblance of order to the Midlands club before the start of the new Premiership season, following a summer dominated by in-fighting and confusion.
Previous manager David O'Leary, under intense pressure after Villa finished just above the relegation zone last season, left last month, officially by mutual consent.
It followed an internal investigation into the publication of a statement allegedly drawn up by leading players, criticising their veteran chairman for a lack of ambition.
Adding further to the instability, no fewer than four potential owners are negotiating to buy the club from 82-year-old Ellis.
The favourite remains US billionaire Randy Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL team. He is known to favour recruiting O'Neill -- perhaps indicating a deal with Ellis could be looming.
O'Neill was also the overwhelming choice of Aston Villa fans.
A highly successful player, winning European Cups as a midfielder with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980, he came to attention as a manager by steering a cash-strapped Leicester City side to a series of top half Premiership finishes in the late 1990s.
He followed this with three league titles and a UEFA Cup final appearance during five years with Celtic, before departing in May 2005 to look after his wife, who was being treated for cancer.
O'Neill must get to work fast at his new club -- amid the chaos, no senior players have been signed during the summer, while midield lynchpin Gareth Barry has indicated he wants a transfer.
His most immediate task will be to lead the club's pre-season tour to Germany and the Netherlands, beginning at the weekend.
Villa fans would relish any sign of success. Despite an illustrious pedigree including seven league titles, seven FA Cups and a European Cup victory in 1982, the team has under-performed in recent seasons.
The other potential owners stalking Aston Villa are consortiums led by life-long Villa fan Michael Neville and a judge, Nicholas Padfield, and one fronted by Athole Still, the agent of ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The Neville and Padfield bids indicated this week they might join forces so as to boost their chances.

[peter w]

*sobs*

[OzVilla]

And I was so sure..................

[Legion]

I was delighted with this news at the time.

[peter w]

Weren't we all?

[Damo70]

It was a huge boost to the club and fans at the time he was appointed. I think  in hindsight he is judged too harshly. Financial cuts and poor decisions after he left cannot be attributed to him as much as they are. It was a similar story between 1982 and 1987 but I don't hear many people blaming Ron Saunders for our relegation. I accept he deserves some criticism but I think the amount of blame for where we are now is not as much down to him as some people like to say.

[ADVILLAFAN]

I remember being pleased when we got O'Leary as manager, which is worse.... 

[Chico Hamilton III]

His first game in charge when we played Arsenal at the new Emirates ( and Olof scored the first ever goal there) under our new chairman is up there with one of my finest Villa supporting moments. Without Doug, I felt like an East German after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Minus the dodgy mullets and sleeveless denim jackets, of course.

USA..USA...USA

How naive of me.

[OzVilla]

I agree that MON has been treated harshly and I'm glad I'm not the only one.

For what it's worth, I think Lerner went back on his word on a few things so MON bugged off pronto. Poor timing to say the least and i think MON genuinely regrets that but maybe MON saw then what he future held with Lerner.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

It could have all been so different, probably the biggest wasted opportunity since after our European Cup win.

By the way, this event is so recent, it surely should have a thread here.  Does anyone have a link to it, or do the old threads just get deleted after a certain time?

[usav]

Weren't we all?

I wasn't jumping up and down as much as most people were if I'm honest.

[Gregorys Boy]

Have said it before and will repeat now, given the state we were in when he took over I think O'Neill did a fantastic job.   So it didn't quite work out as we'd hoped, but we certainly gave it a great goal, besides its not easy getting in the top four.   People also forget that MON's most sucessful season was his last one what with us getting to a Cup final and another semi, plus another sixth place finish.  What a good job he did was actually proved the next season when the same set of players struggled under a different manager.  Yes mistakes were made alone the way, and we have certainly suffered for his over spending, but then if we had got in the CL then that would have been justified, just shows you the small margins in football.

This does bring back great memories of watching Sky Sports News that day,  and just the buzz I had during the time.

[levico]

I remember it well. The mood now is the total opposite - with good cause.

[DesBremner]

Was at a sports psychology lecture a few weeks ago.
Lecturer is a Villa fan.
he highlighted the difference between o'Dreary final season and MON in the first season with basically the same group of players

O'Dreary after another defeat  "they did as well as can be expected I can't ask for anymore from them"  -  subconscious interpretation by the players as no matter how hard we try we are not good enough

MON after the Arsenal game   " we gave it a right good go but tired really badly in the second half, when we get the fitness levels right we will be fine" - subconscious interpretation by the players we are good enough and when our fitness is up to speed we will be more competitive.
We then went onto to have one of our best starts to a premier league (if not the best ?)


Use of managers words and player interpretation is becoming more and more critical in player and teams performance

I have no idea what "we pick ourselves up and we go again" means though!

[usav]

I have no idea what "we pick ourselves up and we go again" means though!

We can't forfeit, so we will just have to turn up next week for another beat down.