We've not had a Martin O'Neill argument in ages...

[saunders_heroes]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

[cdward]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

Tell that to the chairman

[cdward]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

[dave.woodhall]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

[cdward]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

MON walked away with compensation.
The chairman is trying to run away now though.

[saunders_heroes]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Everyone knows the chairman's apathy and desire to get out is the real reason for the decline of Aston Villa, but it's the manager who receives the majority of the grief from the fans. Lambert deserves everything he gets but I won't forget who the real villain of the piece is, and that's Randy Lerner.

[Meanwood Villa]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

On that basis couldn't you say that the mess was the chairman's responsibility more than the manager's?

[dave.woodhall]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

MON walked away with compensation.
The chairman is trying to run away now though.

The good old "he got compensation" line, as discredited every time it crops up.

Good for the chairman. That's what you want isn't it?

[saunders_heroes]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

The buck stops with the chairman. And irrespective of how O'Neill walked away, what Lerner has done to the club in the 5 years since is simply unforgivable.

[dave.woodhall]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

The buck stops with the chairman. And irrespective of how O'Neill walked away, what Lerner has done to the club in the 5 years since is simply unforgivable.

In all seriousness, and I'm not defending him, but what would you have realistically done differently? We have regular Lerner/Lambert/everyone else is/was shit arguments on here, but I'm interested in knowing what else could have been done given the situation we faced in 2010.

[cdward]

If the chairman was not responsible for MON walking away, why did he pay him compensation?
Randy forced the situation then, and is still responsible for the situation now, (with Lamberts inadequacy not helping)

Or do you prefer the good old "MON flounced out" line

[Holte L2]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

The buck stops with the chairman. And irrespective of how O'Neill walked away, what Lerner has done to the club in the 5 years since is simply unforgivable.

In all seriousness, and I'm not defending him, but what would you have realistically done differently? We have regular Lerner/Lambert/everyone else is/was shit arguments on here, but I'm interested in knowing what else could have been done given the situation we faced in 2010.

Forced the transfer budget issue earlier in the summer?  If MON was going to leave then getting out of the way at the start of that pre-season would have been beneficial to all parties, allowing us adequate time to get his replacement in. 

[dave.woodhall]

If the chairman was not responsible for MON walking away, why did he pay him compensation?
Randy forced the situation then, and is still responsible for the situation now, (with Lamberts inadequacy not helping)

Or do you prefer the good old "MON flounced out" line

I don't believe he "flounced out" as that would indicate an element of spur of the moment emotion. I believe he walked out at a time he deliberately calculated would cause maximum damage to Aston Villa. If you want to see the compensation element discussed, scroll back a few pages to where industrial tribunal experts talk about it.

[Villa in Denmark]

If the chairman was not responsible for MON walking away, why did he pay him compensation?
Randy forced the situation then, and is still responsible for the situation now, (with Lamberts inadequacy not helping)

Or do you prefer the good old "MON flounced out" line

As has been described several times before,  most employment tribunals of that ilk usually end up settled out of court.

For the claimant a quick win and avoids the possibility of losing face in court.

For the employer, usually cheaper than paying your legal bills all the way through, when the chances of being awarded costs, much less actually reclaiming them are something less than the square root of 0.00000000000000000000000000000001.

How would you chose to describe the actions of someone who leaves such a high profile and significant role within an organisation so close to the start of an important project because he can't get his own way over spending even more on a budget that is already hopelessly out of control.

I've worked for a few of project managers like that and they were to a man (and woman) spineless, back stabbing, self image fixated wankers.  Reputations to protect, and the first sign of a slightly bumpy ride and offski.

[Clampy]

I still can't believe that there are Villa fans out there that still think O'Neill was good for the club.

This is the guy who sold Gary Cahill for pittance and then replaced him with Zat Knight ffs.

Consistent top 6 finishes, cup final and semi final appearances, european football, buying players and selling them for massive profit, having several Villa players playing for England, never losing to our local rivals, were all good for the club. He was certainly better for the club than Lambert, McLeish or Houllier.

Give them what he had and see.

That's the crux of the problem - the chairman.

you just beat me to it

Exactly. O'Neill ran away when he saw the mess he'd created. The chairman couldn't.

The buck stops with the chairman. And irrespective of how O'Neill walked away, what Lerner has done to the club in the 5 years since is simply unforgivable.

In all seriousness, and I'm not defending him, but what would you have realistically done differently? We have regular Lerner/Lambert/everyone else is/was shit arguments on here, but I'm interested in knowing what else could have been done given the situation we faced in 2010.

Continuing to spend like we were wasn't an option, which is what I suspect some people wanted the chairman to carry on doing. Despite that, he still gave Houiiler £24m to spend on two players when he came in.