Quote from: LeeB on December 24, 2015, 11:30:19 AMQuote from: hoyle87 on December 24, 2015, 11:16:41 AMPeople talk about DOL and Gregory in the same way as MON because all three finished sixth, but for me there is a big difference between doing it once and finishing consistently there, like MON did.Yeah, about £150m.Precisely. It's not about comparing. 30-odd years of his predecessors had shown that getting Aston Villa into the top six is pretty much a prerequisite of the abilities of anyone wanting the job. People's big gripe is that sixth, and no trophies, was all he achieved in 4 seasons with free rein and an open cheque book.
Quote from: hoyle87 on December 24, 2015, 11:16:41 AMPeople talk about DOL and Gregory in the same way as MON because all three finished sixth, but for me there is a big difference between doing it once and finishing consistently there, like MON did.Yeah, about £150m.
People talk about DOL and Gregory in the same way as MON because all three finished sixth, but for me there is a big difference between doing it once and finishing consistently there, like MON did.
Quote from: Lastfootstamper on December 24, 2015, 11:59:01 AMQuote from: LeeB on December 24, 2015, 11:30:19 AMQuote from: hoyle87 on December 24, 2015, 11:16:41 AMPeople talk about DOL and Gregory in the same way as MON because all three finished sixth, but for me there is a big difference between doing it once and finishing consistently there, like MON did.Yeah, about £150m.Precisely. It's not about comparing. 30-odd years of his predecessors had shown that getting Aston Villa into the top six is pretty much a prerequisite of the abilities of anyone wanting the job. People's big gripe is that sixth, and no trophies, was all he achieved in 4 seasons with free rein and an open cheque book.Equally you can't compare fees/wages between eras due to the distortional effects of the recent TV money. We still spent loads back in the day on the likes of Curcic, Collymore, Angel etc
Quote from: saunders_heroes on December 20, 2015, 09:40:06 PMAtkinson was a better Villa manager than Little. Best football I've ever seen at Villa was under Big Ron. O'Neill was top notch though and he built a bloody good team here, and I loved the "never say die" attitude of his players. How many games did we get late winners or equalisers? Pity it all turned sour when Lerner bottled it and gave up. I'll never forgive him for what he's done to our club since O'Neill walked. Apologies for the late quote but only now I'm having a read right through the whole thread.I wouldn't say O'Neill was top notch even though he did get us back in the league as a respected competitive force in this league.Top Notch would've been a manager who'd find a way to win us more than 8 home games a season. In his final season we finished 5 points off Spurs or thereabouts. They won 14 home games that season, we won 8.Top notch would've been a manager who would've rotated well during the season so our players weren't completely fcuked by the time we got to March. Like the clocks going back we'd never bleeding win a game in March under him, one of the most crucial parts of the season.Top notch managers wouldn't sign Habib Beye when Luke Young was already in the squad as a good right back option. And then decide to play Cuellar at RB anyway.Top notch wouldn't make a lazy signing like Emile Heskey.Top notch would've actually bothered to scout players from abroad.Don't get me wrong the results were good and what I did like was how respected in the press and among rival fans around that time. Remember all the positive stuff about us providing a good third of the england side when Downing, Milner, YOung and Gabby were all in good form?We were respected back then even if we typically couldn't make the final step. I miss that now when we're derided as a joke to everyone given our results over the last 5 years.A man who'll divide opinion forever. What's certain to me is everyone involved in this club in the last 5 years needs to take responsibility for when we are relegated. They've all played a part, even if some of it is minor.
Atkinson was a better Villa manager than Little. Best football I've ever seen at Villa was under Big Ron. O'Neill was top notch though and he built a bloody good team here, and I loved the "never say die" attitude of his players. How many games did we get late winners or equalisers? Pity it all turned sour when Lerner bottled it and gave up. I'll never forgive him for what he's done to our club since O'Neill walked.
Equally you can't compare fees/wages between eras due to the distortional effects of the recent TV money. We still spent loads back in the day on the likes of Curcic, Collymore, Angel etc
I could give MON more credit for our top 6 standing under him if he hadn't needed to cripple us for the next 2-3 years with players on over-inflated, long contracts and no re-sale value. It's all been done before but no way does the profit on Young, Milner and Downing cover the 8-10 duffers we lost big money on.
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/24/martin-oneill-makes-shocking-remark-about-his-aston-villa-select/Anyone see this little snippet yesterday? Sly dig at Curtis.
That's the point that Paulie usually raises and it's a very good one....the luxury he had each summer of being given 30-40m to rebuild the defence.Summer 2008- IN- Shorey, Luke Young, Davies (permanent deal was confirmed at end of 2008 season), Friedel, Cuellar.Summer 2009 IN- Warnock, Dunne, Beye, Collins.
Quote from: SoccerHQ on March 25, 2016, 10:15:38 AMThat's the point that Paulie usually raises and it's a very good one....the luxury he had each summer of being given 30-40m to rebuild the defence.Summer 2008- IN- Shorey, Luke Young, Davies (permanent deal was confirmed at end of 2008 season), Friedel, Cuellar.Summer 2009 IN- Warnock, Dunne, Beye, Collins.Were any of them better then the defence he could have started with from the beginning of his reign that were already at the club?End of 2005/2006 think our defence options were Bouma, Samuel, Laursen, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Hughes and Delaney (I know he was basically retired due to an injury when O'Neill signed)So even with the injuries and players moving on surely it did not need a complete new one each season.I think what gets forgotten with O'Neill is he had a fairly decent defence to start with so wasting that money on a new defence each season was stupid.
Quote from: kippaxvilla2 on March 25, 2016, 09:49:53 AMhttp://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/03/24/martin-oneill-makes-shocking-remark-about-his-aston-villa-select/Anyone see this little snippet yesterday? Sly dig at Curtis.He's a bitter man, quite sad really.
We were supposed to be challenging for the CL places and I'd argue that not one of defenders signed by O'Neill were top 4 or CL standard.chequebook.