Everything is possible but Martin O'Neill heading off to Nottingham Forest is as likely as Liverpool winning the league
Wednesday, 12 November 08, 08:53 AM · Comments (52)
Don't get me wrong, I'm an optimist and like to think that everything is possible. If you work hard enough you'll be amazed at what you can achieve, however, I just don't think Martin O'Neill would leave to go manage Nottingham Forest.
Actually, now I think about it, there is every chance that if they approached him in the right way, that he would be very interested, but this rumour is in the Daily Express and while there may be some credibility, I doubt it.
However, you've got to look at why he might go before you can completely ignore the rumour. Let's assume there is a 'Middle East' consortium interested and they have, quite literally, more money than sense. One of the first things they are going to want to do is look for a top-flight manager and who better than a manager with a strong connection with the club?
If Martin O'Neill joined Forest today he'd keep them in Division Two (it is the second division) and even if they got relegated and he joined next season, he'd get them up and if he got his hands on all the money he wanted, you've got to quite fancy that he'd very quickly get them into the top-flight and when you're in the top-flight, anything is possible.
But does he really have a connection to Forest? Sure he had a ten year career and he won two European Cup winners medals, but does that really mean he'd want to go manage the club and always be in the shadow of Brian Clough?
There may be a consortium and they may want to buy Nottingham Forest but I don't see Martin O'Neill leaving to manage them, not unless Nottingham really is his home and he's a sentimental old fool. But you never know.
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52 Comments · Add yours
Al this building for the future with the young English players to just go and leave now?
I couldnt see MON being tempted too it but everyone has their price.
you bitter little man, take a look at the league! anyway, your probably right about him not leaving for forest as that would be silly, however, if a bigger club came calling he`d leave you in a heartbeat, ironically taking the opportunity for himself that he denied gareth barry
You know what they say, never say never! But like Damien said, i think MON would want to choose his own path not, not live in the shadow of the great one.
MON is in his 3rd year of a 5 year plan. We have achieved stability (despite recent results) We have the nucleus os of a very good team. But, even if/when MON decides to go... They'll always be someone else!
Firstly, there is no 5 year plan.
Secondly, He wouldn't be tempted by a consortium just because they had all the money in the world...he has the opportunity to spend big on players here but its not his style.
Thirdly, this is just daft talking about him leaving. We're only havin a blip, it will be fine after saturday when we've beat Arsenal
If we keep sustaining 6th or above or cup wins then he will probably stay put. But look what happens when results go bad. It turns out to be like the night of the long knives. If we struggle and MON keeps tinkering with no apparent plan, then I can imagine the players looking after themselves and laying the blame at MON's door. MON won't go, but I can imagine bloody overpaid, prima donna, selfish footballers will probably be the downfall of MON. My hypothetical point of view only..!
This story is just the Daily Express stirring the pot. Its pub journalism.
what a pathetic website, have wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this crap. How can you love a club as piss poor as villa. even the geordies can beat you guys
cmon damien mate i know o neil going to forest is a distinct possiblity but the liverpool winning league thing is a bit too much bitter.even people in india. and ..asia can sense that the title is gonna be very tight this year and anyone out of the big 4 can win it............
Stranger things have happened.
If we can't improve on last season it would probably be a good outcome for all parties.
Lerner could try to recruit somebody who's had success at the highest level to push us on, Forrest would get a great man manager who'd give them a great chance of progressing a la Leicester City style.
MON does have affection for Forest. He has interviewed for the job twice in the past but lost out to Platt and Megson. Forest fans are desperate for a Forest man in charge and MON or Pearce would be perfect. Don't right this off too quickly, rumours round here say there is something in it.
Also in interviews he has referred to himself as a Forest man. Our recent managers have been in the shadow of Clough be only because they played negative long ball football. Paul Hart and Frank Clark were loved by Forest fans.
Reply to villa r going down:
LOL you only wasted 5 mins just think how long your poor mother wasted pushing you out.
Can't see it somehow, but if he carries on with the selection and substituion antics of late it might be for the best.
Think Southgate would be a good replacement, seems to have an ordinary looking squad playing nice stuff, and reckon he still loves The Villa despite previous hostility.
I cant see it happening but you never know, O'neil does love Forest!!!
Has anybody heard any news on the Hamburg tickets, my flights and room are booked just want 2 make sure im sitting in the Villa end!!
Damian, Could you provide a link to the article – I can’t find it anywhere.
Gentlemen, recent events have only re-enforced the general maxims that have always held true for the affairs of men. It’s always about character. Especially the character of leaders. For success, money is important, but not as much as character.
Some men were born to lead. Their integrity, honour and purpose are so manifest that others cannot help but follow. Martin O’Neill is such a man. O’Neill’s character is what induced Lerner to open his large wallet and offer it to O’Neill’s judgement; it’s what is filling Villa Park with crowds not seen for fifty years; it’s what has enabled a team without a ‘world class player’ to compete at the highest level; it’s what makes me believe that it’s only a matter of time before the Villa are one of the big four. It is inevitable.
Make no mistake, I was gutted on Sunday, but hardship along the way is also inevitable. Overcoming disappointment takes character – that’s why character is important. If success was easy, everybody would have a piece of it. And if success was that easy, why bother with it? We want it precisely because it’s so difficult to achieve, and we are privileged to have O’Neill as our manager. His work is a wonder of the age and it is our pleasure to watch him go about his business.
Great men, like everyone, value their creature comforts – so wealth is not insignificant. But it doesn’t come first on the agenda. Following your dream and achieving something difficult comes first. And here’s the important bit: men like O’Neill have to do it their way. Someone else’s way is of no use to O’Neill, even if it brought success. One thing we know with absolute rock-ribbed certainty is that O’Neill will not spend his way to success. Heaven knows, this trait has driven some here to madness.
This is how I know that a consortium cannot tempt O’Neill away simply by placing money at his disposal. He simply doesn’t value it enough.
Reply to redscouse:
What a load of drivel. Since when did the Express start employing Bill Howell?
MON is here to stay and thank God for that!!
(Not Paul McGrath but the other one)
Heres the article
LINK
It also says Sam Allardyce is in the running to buy the club!!
What a load of bull
Reply to villa r going down:
You dad wasted a sack full of sperm !
Haha, nice one Hooly. Cant imagine O'neill going to forest, bit of a non-story in my opinion - in defense of Liverpool though they do look slightly better this year, probably due to far less chopping and changing from Benitez, still probably not quite enough to top the league at the end of the season but you never know...
In recent weeks our football has been absolute cack overall and we really could do with getting something from our next few games - starting at Arsenal this weekend. They have been a bit up and down this season too though and of the top four, they are probably the weakest in my opinion. But did anyone watch the carling cup game last night? I was blown away by how good those kids were, not just one or two of them but pretty much the whole team, some of them are probably gonna be superstars.
We've always had a good youth system but it would be nice to see some of them come off the bench every so often, maybe MON doesnt have too much confidence in them, maybe we'll never know. The ones who come through over recent years havent exactly set the world alight, gabbys doing ok but hes still got alot to learn and a long way to go.
Bloody arse keep churning out brilliant youngsters half of those last night would give our 1st xi a run for their money no doubt.
I wonder what Wengers secret is, its like a worldwide talentfest superstar-producing sweatshop.
Reply to HOOLY:
Ha ha thats quality mate!
Reply to churchil:
Nice one! Churchil for priminister!!
Daily **** Link
LINK
Damien at times you come out with some pointless drivel, if I were you I would concentrate n reading papers with a bit more clout than the Daily Express. As far as Liverpool winning the league, they have as much chance as Man Utd or Arsenal given current form, so again a stupid statement. Bring back the Doc, his posts are thoughtful, unbiased and well written.
I can see it now at a press conference... Mr Mustaphawhatever introducing MON...'We have a five year plan and I'd like to introduce our new manager Martin to say a few words...blah blah'
Sound familiar..?
Reply to Jimmy Villain:
Liverpool have as much chance of winning the league as Marlon Harewood has being voted PFA player of the year. The point of this blog is that it is biased because we are all Villa fans and pro the club, apart from Taglor. Arsenal have no chance of winning the league either.
So your comment is not thoughtful or well written, "concentrate n reading papers". I would sort out your own ramblings before you start criticising others. Have a nice day now.
I take it from that then keef we have to say Villa have no chance of winning the league or probably even 4th place..!
Reply to redscouse:
Soon as fergie quits he'll be in the running for that job...reckon you deluded villains could keep hold of him then??
First may I say that I doubt any of this is true but there are two holes in your reasoning.
Firstly you say he has "no connection" with Forest, that being the case he has even less of a connection with Villa.
Secondly O'Neill was on the verge of managing Forest in the 90's but ultimately turned the job down because our board (the fools) would not not let him bring in his own backroom staff. So he clearly would have no fears of managing Forest and being in the shadow of BC.
Incidently we got Platt instead, now he's a man with Villa connections. If the 1,000,000 to 1 shot comes off and O'Neill does manage Forest perhaps you can have Platt as a replacement??? (I wouldn't wish that on you)
New post please.... Nottingham Forest have rubbished the reports
LINK
End of topic...
That obviously means there is something to it Chris..It's always the case. Denial followed by a complete U turn..!
I've never been and probably never will be a fan of MON, but i'm going to have to give credit where credits due,Yes, he's made some baffling moves in the transfer market but I couldnt have imagined 3-4years ago under that clown O'leary that we'de be in Europe beating the likes of Ajax and S Prague and maybe not seriously challanging but progressing at a substantial rate to maybe in a couple of years having a serious go at breaking into the top four ,everyone has the right to have a moan, gesh, its my number one hobby. MON won't leave,not in a million years.
I don't think MON would take the job yet, he's got unfinished business at Villa Park. By the same regard, i do think when fergies dies or retires (whichever comes first) MON will be in the running for that job! Will he take it? Really dont know, maybe, maybe not!
As for these deluded scousers, well where do i start? Villa? Piss poor? Ive not heard those words in the same sentence for quite a while! I've got as much chance of getting a blow job from Angelina Jolie than L'plop have of winning the league! Admittley, ive got more of a chance of getting a blow job off the queen than Villa have of winning the league. But we get this every year. Could this be L'plop's year? Nopeski would be the short answer!
You'll find the PL title going towards London with Scolari and his steam train!
Reply to philbob88:
I heard those words...(Villa & piss poor) in a sentence many times over the past week to be honest Phil
Reply to __AA__:
Villa have no chance of winning the league this season.
Villa still have every chance of finishing top four.
Even Vogra feels optimistic!
Firstly, as you quite rightly say, the mighty Reds have refuted all of this story.
However, the rumours that Forest are about to be taken over have been rumbling for two or three months. Our club has a history of saying one thing and then doing the complete opposite and so I would also take the denials with a pich of salt.
As for Forest getting Martin (and no doubt Robbo as well - even more of a Forest man) it would be unlikely at the moment. He has had numerous opportunities to join the club in the past (indeed was seen at the club a number of times prior to Colin Calderwood's appointment - just a couple of months before he joined you). He was very close and tempted (in his own words) to leave Leicester to join Forest just after they won the League Cup in the 90s (Forest were also in the 2nd tier then).
Make no bones about it, he is a Forest man through and through and the pull to the club appears to always remain strong from all who played under Cloughie. The success of the late seventies (TWO European Cups by the way!) clearly created an incredible bond among that group of players, most of whom still think of Nottingham as their home 30 years later.
Anyway, as I said at the top - it is almost unthinkable that Martin would leave a club firmly in the top six of the Premiership, with a team that he has built, prior to them winning something, especially for a club a division below.
Indeed, the great man himself (Mr Clough - not Ron Saunders) was in a similar position in the seventies. Derby (baaaaa!)approached him and Peter Taylor about a return to the Sheep Dip. Taylor was keen to go but Clough turned his back on them to stay with Forest. And the rest, as they say, is history....
Good luck for the rest of the season and I hope you get into the top four - it's about time that boring monopoly was broken.
Reply to Villa_Chris:
sssshhhhh!
Its a secret!
Vogra....Why have you never been or never will be a fan of MON?
maindog, just don't rate him as highly as other people do, i think he's a tad overated. He's also not that great in the transfer market, just my opinion mate.
Best left foot for Villa; Barry or Staunton? Has to be Steve Staunton. Right?
Marlon Harewood has being voted PFA player of the year!! Who Knew!
Just checked the Official Site. It's not true.
Keefvilla you old trickster!!
Reply to HOOLY:
thats funny
No chance of him leaving unless it is to a bigger club, like Man U, England etc.
Vogra likes MON.
I can tell. You were just pretending to want him sacked.
You love him.
Cor, Damo, you've really stirred up a hornets' nest there old son. He he, the scouse are out for blood. Harsh words mate, well harsh - but fair mind you. Ha ha ha.
Liverpool are, at this very moment, two goals down to the Spuds. Har har hardy har.
MON HAS TAKEN VILLA AS FAR AS HE IS CAPABLE OF DOING,HE'S NOT A GOD,HE'S JUST A GOOD MANAGER WHO CAN MOTIVATE A TEAM TO RELATIVE SUCCESS,RELATIVE BEING THE OPERATIVE WORD.
ACHIEVEMENTS AT LEICESTER WERE RELATIVELY BETTER THAN BEFORE HE BECAME THEIR MANAGER HE TOOK THEM AS FAR AS HE COULD TOP SIX,CELTIC WELL ITS NOT HARD FOR A GOOD MANAGER TO WIN TITLES IN SCOTLAND.
VILLA NOW NEED A MARINO TYPE MANAGER SOMEONE BOLD AND EXCITING WITH CHARISMA.
I AM NOT GETTING OUT KNIVES FOR MON HE HAS DONE A GOOD JOB,I JUST THING HE IS THE MAN TO GUIDE US TO THE PROMISED LAND.
i have just seen taglor pull out side villa park with his a2z he said it took him hours to find as he had never been to villa park before and the ground looked small on his portable tv, and he was here to drive mon to nottingham himself.
The sooner the better...He can take his gay buddy Barry with him also.
We can then get a proper manager like Mark Hughes to do the job...!
What you have to also consider is MON's relationship with randy. At Villa he controls everything. At a middle east lead consortium (like that at man city) he wouldnt. and therefore, i think that the progress he has made with the club, the progress he is currently making and his relationship/understanding with the money men means he wont leave. MON will be at AVFC until Man Utd come calling.
Reply to keefvilla:
This is not unlike Damien's ramblings and drivel so I see why you pop up on the defensive as you clearly share the same brain cell. A typo does not constitute a ramble, reading rags like the Daily Express and trying to make some meaningful argument does. Why don't you pop off for your tea break, try and do the sun crossword and have a nice game of bingo while you are at it.
I reckon there's every chance he would go to manage Forest - specifically because of Brian Clough's shadow. I reckon he wouldn't stop until he'd got them into the UEFA cup.
Nottingham is a shithole.
Reply to Arrlui:
I appreciate the above comment. So concise.