When Martin O’Neill took over in August 2006 the club needed an overhaul and together with Randy Lerner, he built the club back up to the top level and restored the fan’s faith in the team, embedding optimism and ambition that was missing in previous years. This is a balanced account of his achievements at Villa.
O'Neill is a great man manager and he raised a lot of good young players, turning them into top Premier league talents. Players such as Agbonlahor, Young and Milner would not get close to the levels of recognition they enjoy today without his belief and leadership. We also have a British spine to the team, providing a number of players to the England setup recently.
Despite finishing 16th in O'Leary's last season in charge, O'Neill got rapid results. He took us back into the top third of English football in his second season, maintaining that position for a further two seasons. This proves his ability as a manager as the squad he inherited was weak and underachieving.
Traditionally we have Cup pedigree and for the first time in years MON gave us success (nearly). He took us to our first major final and semi-finals for years, showing us how close we were to glory.
The attacking style of football we played under him got us scoring goals and winning matches, making us more entertaining to watch. He also got us back into Europe. A return to the scene of our greatest triumph was the "dream" he said. Big teams need European football and MON made the fans feel that he shared their view in desiring continental success.
He fought to keep Barry and Milner. He believed that we are equal to the top 4, making other teams in the PL take us seriously and his hardball approach won us a lot of respect. But most importantly for Villa fans, MON renewed our enthusiasm for football and created a feel-good factor that lasted for the majority of his reign.
Whilst we have a lot to be grateful to MON for, there are drawbacks to his time at the club. He spent over the odds for a number of players (£120mil) in his time at the club, many of whom arrived for big money and never really got a chance in the first team. Some signings such as Sidwell and Beye were also unjustifiable in their lack of ability.
Despite some remarkable achievements MON was stubborn. He constantly played the same XI and his insistence to play some players out of position (Cuellar) and not give others a chance (L Young) was frustrating. This approach led to fatigue and accusations of us having a threadbare squad when our depth is not as bad as people think.
No plan B. When plan A worked it was fantastic and we could win games easily, especially after the defence was strengthened. However, he rarely trusted his subs' (bar Heskey) ability to turn a match and would persevere with the same tactics for the whole 90 minutes. Consequently teams learnt our style and we became predictable and tired.
His decision to prioritise the league over the UEFA Cup in 08/09 was a mistake. This upset the fans who were desperate for European progression and interrupted the team’s rhythm at a key point in the season. Also, MON was reluctant to look abroad for players. We are crying out for a creative midfielder, a rarity in Britain, so he should have gone abroad for one but it seemed he lacked an insight into foreign football. A few good signings with money spent on players like Sidwell would have helped MON persuade Barry and Milner to stay and avoided public tugs of war.
He lost face after his public challenge to Lerner, giving the owner an ultimatum. He stayed but didn’t spend anything, suggesting Lerner had called his bluff, damaging their relationship.
MON made us competitive, restored our status as a top PL side and launched a number of promising careers at Villa. The fans are once again proud of the club and it is in fantastic condition with a good squad. His achievements are incomparable and most Villa fans are extremely grateful to him. However, his transfer policy was flawed and his stubbornness over his starting XI and the way they played made it impossible for us to reach higher than sixth. The team petered out in the last third of each season and had MON put more trust in the players that he had bought then we stood a chance at breaking the top four.
Lerner had every right to take stock of the club’s position this summer. MON spent heavily since 2006 and Lerner has invested generously, enhancing the club on and off the pitch. To be told to sell before he could buy was not unreasonable given our spending in the last four years (training ground, facilities, forgoing sponsorship etc).
The perceived glass ceiling between the top 4 and everybody else is a myth. We had the tools to achieve it but MON was defeated by himself. MON should have accepted that he had to sell some players to buy more. If he could not sell the players that he bought but did not rate then selling Milner is something he should have come to terms with.
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