Is Martin O'Neill up to the job at Aston Villa?

i feel this is the start of the usual villa slump, except it will come before christmas this year. i still cant get out of my head why harwood booted the ball out for a spurs throw in when he had it in the corner? what is wrong with that guy?

i still trust in him ... but not as much as i did!

I think MON is the right man for the job but he needs to start getting it right soon.Teams like man city are startin to overtake us and the takeover might aswell not have happened coz we are going to be left behind as usual.There's no doubt we have come a long way in 18 months but so have a lot of other clubs.But who is there to replace MON in any case.

MON - let it be admitted - has by no means got it all right. I feel that the ethos instilled by Brian Clough has taken a knock or two and that he is, as intimated by some, trying to get his head round the modern Premiership game. And maybe he was expecting too much from Harewood and Petrov. But, heck, I recall GT Mk 1 making a couple of signing howlers, but he also signed Platt, McGrath, Yorke, and brought back Cowans.

They key thing, though, is that his approach must be pretty good since he gets the clear support of the players and General Krulak, who himself knows what it is to be a leader of men in action, and who gave a significant endorsement of MON's leadership capability.

MON is working to a general plan, and I feel he's on the way towards achieving it. Maybe we'll see a knock-back take place once or twice, but while we're on the edge of overtaking Chelsea and Everton in the table, with Newcastle behind us, I don't think we should have a lot of worry about being able to move on.

I still trust him but I'm losing faith. He makes some poor decisions and is a few years behind the modern game. He needs to play catch up quick which is going to cost us time and it may cost him his job.

Last night was a masterstroke cock up from MON and I hope he learns from this like he learned from not being able to buy value for money.

Yes I'm gutted we didnt win last night, but we have to accept the average age of our team is marginally higher than a local junior school. With Youth, comes inexperience. Inexperience that is to deal with difficult situations and react calmly under pressure.

We are witnessing a fantastic revolution at Villa, we have pace, stamina, strength and a will to win. These qualities come from the heart of our young team, we have to accept both sides of the coin for now.

Last night was without doubt an absolute classic, and although gutted, I'm proud we scored 4 goals away from home without big John. We should of won last night, we should also have hammered Newcastle and claimed at least a draw at Man City - the signs are postive, the futures claret! Keep the faith you miserable lot !!!!

I was hugely disapointed with the result last night. I really feel that O'neil was mostly to blame for making the wrong changes at the wrong time. When moore went off, we looked hopeless in attack and when gardner came off, spurs had too much space on their left. i also think harewood is not up to it, much the same as reo-coker. Their effort was hopeless and both of them can f*** off back to west ham. Up the Villa!

Do not be fickle, Aston Villa fans! I am tired of you. One or two bad matches and you are about considering of sacking MON! What a pitty...

There are good games, and there are bad games, every team have them. What is your problem?

Lets not forget that at the end of 05-06 season we played Spurs away and got absolutely trashed (5-0?) and looked rubbish. Since then, they have spent a shed load of cash on a collection of players, we have spent less and built a team of young home grown players of genuine quality. Some stop gaps players have been bought (Harewood, Knight)and a we have cleared the deck of high earners who were taking us nowhere(Angel, McCann, Samuel, Hendrie.

After last night we are (rightly) disappointed to draw 4-4 - but lets remember how far we have come since that trashing by spurs 50 prem games ago, and what that we have genuine cause for optimism as this team gains experience.

You're only fanning the flames with an article like this. Maybe MON did make some poor decisions - noteably the Harewood subsitution; and some would say poor team selection for the Leicester game, but too call for his head is ludicrous. Back Magic Martin - he's a top man and a fucking good manager! Before the game many would have taken a point against Spurs - alls not lost - back them and they'll boune back v. West Ham. NRC will smash his old club to bits - if we back the boys and make some noise! I'm 100% behind MON, the board and the young charges that wear the shirt (Harewood and Petrov have had their chance) - and will continue to be until I feel Martin cannot take us any further.... plenty of strides to be taken under MONs leadership over the coming seasons... UTV!

I dont comment to much on post's as i always enjoy other peoples comments!
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;)
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But i do beleive in MON and the 'plan' but players like Harewood worry me. He just looks clumsy and i dont think he managed to put decent pass together. And as for the Pen!! I shall say no more.
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We should certainly get 3 points at the weekend and hopefully carry on from there. As Damian say's its a hard pill to swallow but it will (hopefully) get better

UTV

we draw 4-4 and suddenly question his ability. rubbish, we had only conceded 4 goals all season until last night only man utd and liverpool had conceded less. we are in the top half of the table. yes petrov and harewood are not what we want but we are not in europe so what do you expect.

in regard to the honeymoon, that finished when we didnt win in 12.

he is far better than anyone else, and deep down everyone knows that

i cant belive you are even questioning MON. This is unreal. ok we threw away a 3 goal lead put it down to inexprience next time we are 4-1 up the same thing will not happen. this is a good young team and will get better with time & MON is the man to bring us forward. damian you shouldnt be posting an article just for the sake of posting one. Up the villa and MON!!!

I have every bit of faith in him. He likes to keep the game young, fresh and most of all british.
Many other managers would have let several youth player go without hesitation, though MON sees the potential and wishes to get the most out of all the youngsters in the squad, although I personally do think that we need some more household and most of all european cup experienced players

i still faith in him, he's bring many furthur players to our teams, defeat just only entertainment and poor substitution by the means not we fails to win on other game and we learn to win more games with secure score when against upfront, eqauliser not bad but is the lesson to remembered.

What a shocking thing to write this is exactly why i stopped going on internet forums as the fans that go on them are mostly made up of the fickle moaners who need an outlet for this type of rubbish.

Had harewood not given away that penalty and we won 4-3 we would all be saying how great o`neill is and what a performance.

at kieran

a shocking thing to write, why? read the other comments on this site and look at some of the aston villa forums .. its what people are talking about

i for one think he's absolutely the right man for the job but it's his second season - if some want to question him they can

I am questionning MON's transfer policy, we needed a striker in the summer and he signed Harewood, that i cannot understand, with Carew injury prone he should have gone out and spent big on someone who could make a difference, i hope he recognises his mistake and signs a big striker who will push us into europe

I think MON will get it right. Everyone must remember that Harewood was brought in as a squad player and nothing more. MON needs to see how he'll perform in a Villa shirt and has now seen (much to our dismay) just how influential he can be, even with what seemed like a comfortable 4-1 away lead.(Yes, he was genuinely fucking shite)
Petrov is now seemingly not favoured by MON as anything more than a squad player and although I dont feel that he was to blame for last nights' collapse, he's clearly not up to the prem standards. Reo-Coker will come good and has shown some good flashes of what he'll do for the team but it will take time, although I'm sure he'll go for it against his old team this weekend. Zat Knight has done well so far (no-one was moaning when he scored his debut goal!!)and I also think that he's cover until Davies gets up and running properly and Martin Laursen has been not far short of awesome this season when he's played. Ollie's off the boil and I think just playing out his contract (although he's playing out of position).
We surely need a right back and we must trust that MON has that lined up already as he's indicated. Nothing to say on Maloney except for some reason MON doesn't want to play him (the homesickness thing really stinks to me, these are grown up men with shit loads of money with a squad of players around them, so making friends shouldn't be that difficult - and yes, I know he's injured at the mo), so something must be going on behind the scenes that we dont know about.
MON will get things right but instant success that everyone would like, is not going to happen. Tottenham have been building up over the last few seasons and this season were tipped to be in the top 4 - fuck me, they're in the bottom 3. Do we really have it that bad????

I am still glad to have MON as a manager.I always anticipated that this season would be patchy,as I think that despite our average age being higher than Spurs, our side is very much a young team. The term 'young' does not necessarily have to correspond to age, but to time acclimatising to new roles. Even our oldest players Mellberg and Laursen are taking on new challenges in the EPL, and players like NRC and Harewood are fresh to their newfound status.

This will not be an excuse come the end of the season, but sitting where we are now I would not be so alarmist as to write them off just yet.

The one thing I appreciate about MON is that he appears to be giving support to players who have serious potential but have taken a couple of knocks - NRC, Harewood, Knight and even Luke Moore being examples. While I loathe to think that we could turn into a charity club, I think that this spirit will transpire to benefit us in the long run. Aston Villa are now a club that (particularly English) young players want to be playing for, and that can only be further exemplified by the likes of Scott Carson and Ashley Young singing the club's praises.

Mclaren refreshingly pointed to us as being flag bearers for the next generation of English talent (although shockingly excluded Craig Gardner from his list), and this is a revolution solely started by Martin O'Neill.

Nonsense. Wake up people, how many more seasons are we going to sit around waiting for things to get better? MON has to be questioned for a number of reasons:
1) No right back despite having months to find one (this include the time prior to the transfer window opening).
2) Harewood for £4m. Santa Cruz for £3.5m. Kanu for £4m (when he moved to Arsenal a few years ago). You do the maths.
3) Leicester game: thrown away the only (slim) chance to win something this season.
4) The lack of a SCOUTING SYSTEM effective enough to allow us to find young players on the cheap. Somebody please send the Villa staff to Arsenal so that they can learn how to structure a scouting system.
5) Too many young players with little personality, not enough leaders. This was evident way before this season started and nothing has been done about it.
6) After over a year of MON at Villa Park the team still has no shape and often goes missing in games, sitting back in panic and inviting the opponents to take control of the game. In a nutshell, the Aston Villa players are not able to pass and move like so many other teams do in this division.
7) The cronic abscence of ball playing midfielders able to create - Berger's too old and always injured and Maloney's either not getting a chance or is not consistent enough to command a 1st team place.

Those are the basics yet still we have people preaching that the Villa are going places - in 2 or 3 years time. I hope you're right because at this rate we will all be pensioners by the time MON completes his long term planning.

damien its a shocking thing to write because it is o`neill who has turned this club around and gave us some character again,As for looking on the forums i don`t need to look to know they will be talking about this because its mostly only the pesamistic moaners who have the motavation go on them because it gives them a place to moan.

God forbid they see that if harewood hadn` gave away the penalty we would have won and everyone would be saying how great o`neill is.Or point out the fact that we were unlucky or that we scored 4 away from home against a top team.Nah they will focus on the negative.

When we beat Chelsea I thought he was great, but now that we have drawn with Spurs he's obviously not up to the job. If we beat West Ham he'll be quality again. Bring back O'Leary or Jo Venglos I say. Is Tommy Docherty available? Alternatively, we could get behind the manager and stop this jive turkey talk about MON. If we have not made progress by the end of the season, fair enough, have a knock then.

Damien,

The harsh reality is that we're ninth in the league and could go fifth if we were to win our game in hand. That would be behind Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City. You can say that's bad, and I think it's good. There have been real disappointments this season, the biggest being the Leicester defeat.

Put it this way - if we had hung on last night and won our game in hand, we'd have gone third. These are ifs and buts, I know, but to be talking about whether someone is up to the job or not based on this record is pathetic.

About the signings, sometimes aspirations don't match reality. Sometimes things aren't as easy as you think they're going to be. I'd rather he built the squad up bit by bit than all at once. I respect him for NOT signing a right back if the one he wants isn't available. It's a bit like my boss at work won't employ a reserch manager cos he can't find the one he wants. Is he threatened with the sack for that? No, it's looked upon with respect, as he knows his mind.

Last season, only three teams lost less games than us. This season is about turning some of those draws into wins. Seems like, on the whole, that's what's happening this season.

Never thought i would say these words but i agree with a crusty stain.Funny how short some peoples memorys are.

i still think mon is the rite man for the job, it was frustratin to lose in the carling cup to end up drawin last nite when at one point we were 4-1 up but i still have faith, we are a better and stronger squad from this time last year and i think things are movin in the rite direction for villa, we have got rid of the dead wood brought some good players in n if he can strengthen even more in jan that great, i think next season will b the real test for mon

he is up to it, despite last week we are doing well in the league. it will take time, dont forget gardener is 20, gabby is 20, coker is 21, davies is 21, more is 22, young is 20...............it will take time to gain the kind of consistency barry displays game after game but we will get there. we also know we will be spending in january and next summer. as the old saying goes - all good things.

....or we could sack him and get who? Jol? Lerner is no mug.

maybe look at petrov and harewood in the summer and cash in. We missed McCann last night badly. someone who loves a tackle and breaks up play, because coker isnt that player.

Not even going to waste my time posting a responce to this..... Upps :o

There is no doult that martin o'neal is one of the best managers but he has not got enough ballers in his team and we stuggle to keep the ball and apart from barry most of our players seem to panic with a football, he is 3 to 5 signings away from being a consistantly good side

I can't believe anyone can even question whether MON is the right man for the job. We made progress last season and I am fully confident that we will again this season - with 7th or 8th looking realistic. It is not going to happen over night for the villa which some of you seem hard to understand. He's hardly put a foot wrong and is one of the best Managers around - and besides who better could we attract?? Get in the real world and get behind the manager and team.

The answer to the question is Yes of course he is.

But his substitutions last night at 4-1 up were a joke & we paid for it. To Bring Petrov on for Gardener?? & Harewood & play him up on his own. Not good. We were winning 4-1 so what was we doing wrong??? Why change the shape??? It was bloody working??
I hope he has learnt from his mistakes.

Claridge said:i still trust in him ... but not as much as i did!

I'll second that!

PJ ... I agree

kieran, it's written because if you look on other sites it is been discussed. i dont think it and my views are above and everywhere else on this site ..

i've just looked at one site there is a thread saying MON out with some saying he should be gone ..

i'm asking the question because this site is claret and blue. not red

i'm very pleased to see that the majority are still very much pro martin o'neill. i just hope that we get the right result at the weekend and the right one after ..

I still have faith in MON. When we play well, we play very well, and that's down to him. Also, despite everyone's doubts, he has brought in good players (well, save Harewood and Petrov) with plenty of pace. We're possibly the fastest side next to ARSEnal. Last night was horrible. Horrible. I was at a bar here in NYC and there are about as few Tottenham fans as there are Villa ones, but they seemed in much better spritis by the end of it. even worse, they barely deserved it. It's not os much that we lost the match as we didn't win it, you know?

Sometimes I wish that, as well as a man of the match, there was a dope of the match. That award would go to Harewood, who's is now starting to play like Homer Simpson as well as look like him. He's so bad it's shocking. Is he here just to keep Nige company? >:(

Absolutely he is the right manager and you wont find many out there as good as him. He knows what he wants, has a half decent squad which will be improved and we may well sneak Europe this year given the fact everyone else is beating each other!

Give him time and we will be a consistent UEFA cup team and you never know, if we can attract the right players, Champions league team, although even I think that may be out of our reach!

He is the right man for the job and as for how long should we give him,i think the 5 yr plan is a bit of a give away

I think we should all cool down and enjoy the fact we've made a fairly strong start of the season versus pretty good outfits.

Prognosis for the season would tell around 60-63 points judging by the start, and that would be at worst a 6th place, and mean direct uefa qualification.

MON is the man, and he has my full faith and will have so despite whatever results we encounter in shorter periods. It's gonna take big dozes of bad results and play before I get close to wanting him out. We are 7-7-2 on our last 16 matches in the PL, if things we're just we would have even a better statistic in that period, but it will improve this weekend anyways as we hammer the Hammers.

we dont need another manager,just some more players added to the very small sqaud we have,maybe we have not got the money we all thought we had,theres one thing for sure we must have one of the smallest wage bills in the division.
anyway a good win against the hammers on saturday will do us the world of good,i wonder if harewood will start against his old club,theres a thought.

give him time and he will show his class
very gutted bout last nite but we will b bak and hopefully sum wins against man u west ham and a bit l8r on the scum

we will b up that table soon and that will shut up the blues and glory hunting mancs who live in birmingham COME ON VILLA

Of course he is the right man! ok last night was an absoloute shambles, but look at how we are playing now compared too 12 months ago! our squad is too small that I will agree but the quality (with the exception of Harewood) is much better than that when O'Leary was in charge. If we can stay in the top half till Jan and we can bring in three or four new faces of decent quality along with the youth in the team, I firmly believe we will be a suprise to everyone. Oneill is the right man and he is here for the long run so we should get behind him and stop doubting him! UP THE VILLA!

I know it hurts but Spurs conceded 4 at home when they were playing well, we conceded 4 away when we were playing shite.

end of

Of Course he is a good manager and needs to be given much longer, but at the same time he is also making some pretty basic errors as can be seen by all the comments, and needs to be criticised sometimes.

The substitutions were dreadfull, if we wanted to "Shut Up Shop" why not bring some defenders on, and why ask Agbonlahor to play right back, when he should have been left upfront for the counter attacks.

MON puzzles me sometimes, he really does.

MON still has till end of the season before I make my mind up.

He's a good manager we all know he should have gotten the england job so I'm ecstatic we have him. Clearly transfers failed something somewhere has gone wrong and I think we saw a hint of this towards the end of august with MON saying you can't get your monies worth or something similar. Hopefully he won't be tight in the villa wallet next time round.

So come January I'm expecting these "world class" signings! Our current form with its current squad I would expect us to be 6th so yeah its going alright.

I'm keeping the faith despite this voice buzzing in the back of my head saying same old villa beat the big boys struggle against those in the bottom 6.

Can't win them all, up the villa!

Anyone who thinks we should be looking for a new manager needs their heads looking at. MON is doing just fine. He just needs to bring in a couple of more experienced quality players. They will come.

He is the right man unless randy lerner is prepared to spend massive money. If its decent money then he's the man but if its more oniell cant deal in the transfer market. He has no knowledge of the european market and cant attract his targets from this country. Added to that petrov, harewood and even zat knight, with the money he's been given these aren't good enough signings. He's a brilliant man motivator which is why he's done so well at smaller clubs and he would do well with any squad of players but unfortunately i don't think he has the tactical ability or transfer awareness to manage a top side. I'm afraid to say it but we may need to look to a top continental manager and pay good money to attract the right one if lerner is serious about taking us high.
Yesterday can only be blamed on oniell. For a man who doesnt like making changes at the best of times (eg when your playing poorly against a championship side and havent even threatened them) he changed the game by bringing on petrov and harewood, petrov I dont want to see in a villa shirt again im afraid, he simply does nothing.
Unless lerner does want to spend millions upon millions, like tottenham, then oniell is the man but we must accept we will never finish higher than sixth or seventh.

he should get as long as it takes. we are no longer european champions it is now 2007 not 1982 we don't have a devine right to challenge for the league just because we got a shiny new owner with a large wallet, i think you have to earn sucess not buy it like chelski. do we really want that for the club? look at the roman empire now. as a villa fan i was dissapointed with last nights result and am still of the belief that herewood is the worst player bar none ever. we will get there 6th place is not beyond us and carew was a big miss towards the end lastnight. UTV.

I dont understand why your even discussing it. Its ridiculous, im pleased with the start to the season and who disagrees that a draw away to tottenham is a bad result? Talk of MON bein sacked would only dismantle the team. an i hope that come saturday the holte end will b right behind the team louder than ever! il be there 2 to do my bit come the c & b!!

FFS Damien!
NOW will you agree that you are bringing us down...... check out the voice of the large majority of Villans :P

i never wanted him at villa park in the 1st place.........sorry guys but villa will go nowhere with mon :'(

Get a grip. Of course MON's the man. You can't blame anyone except the players last night. They sat too far back and invited too much pressure. Any fool could see that. Up 4-1, the players thought they had it hand, and tried to just cruise to victory, obviously thinking there was no way they could give up 3 goals.

Of course Harewood made an idiotic mistake. He needs to step up and take responsibility like Davies did.

On the upside, 4 goals rather easily (thanks, Paul, for the help). I think the team were genuinely surprised to be up by 3 and didn't know what to make of it. Had it been 2-1, they probably would've been more focused and played better. MON was fit to be tied on the sidelines with how the team were playing. Clearly he wasn't pleased.

But the team are sitting in the top half, game in hand. They'll have learned a good lesson last night.

at bassettmax

how am i, single-handedly, bringing 'us' down?

did you even read what was written or did you just read the title of the post?

if you did read what i wrote tell me what is bringing 'us' down

in fact. re-read the first paragraph again. if you don't understand it, read it a second time and maybe even a third time until it sinks in

i never wanted him at villa park....i am sorry guys but villa will just be a mid table with him at the helm :'(

i think he is the right man for the job even though hes signings havent shown that,his first season we were only a few wins away from europe and we had the smallest squad in the premiership, this season has only just begun in my eyes and i am happy with our position, the points difference is so small that one win can take you up the table and a few losses can take you down, just look at how far we have came since david oleary, so talk of oneill being sacked or the fact he is not the right man for the job is ridiculous

I was as annoyed as anyone by last night's complete naivity, but I would lay responsibility at the few players who are not totally committed to the cause. Martin will sort it out, I have faith as always but there are positives to take from our start to the season. We look pacier and more threatening going forward than I remember and Laurson and Knight look promising for the rest of the season despite only a few games together. Lets see where we sit in the new year

so who would have done a better job??? he should have been england manager, theres a hint there

All we need is a bit of stability. We have a small side so people will be moved around to suit different positions. We as supporters must be patient even though MON has made a few errors. He has been out of the game and is getting back in to the rhythm of things. We noticed this about midway through the transfer period did we not? MON is doing well with a young English squad and now that we have a future I feel that January will be a time to focus on this year and the next few bringing in some quality, experienced players to do the job and push the youngsters on. Another thing thats buggered us is a lack of a real leader. While Barry may be one of our more consistent players he doesn't have the hype and the energy that Reo exemplifies. I almost miss the times when big Olly was skipper. If we bring in a right back, an out and out goal scorer, and someone with both physical AND mental presence I feel we will be unstoppable in the league and hopefully Europe. Give MON a chance.

We don't need faith, I haven't felt so positive about villa since big ron's day's.
We are really progressing - I don't need to explain myself.
Sladico hits the nail!
Up Mon Up the Villa!

What a totally rubbish question >:(
Totally provocative, and yes you are bringing us down with this tosh. Imagine if you're MON or one of the players, reading this.
Wouldn't you think "what's the bleeding point?"

@ Mick
Prick, nuff said.

We have one have the best managers in the game.
All of you who want it now are all going to be disappointed.
Give the bloke a chance, he knows what he's doing.

We'll get europe, this season.
Think about it.
Jammy Pool winner, Man city were lucky to win.
Last night was down to MON, IMO, but there you go, we're all entitled to the odd mistake.
A bit of luck and we'd be up there.

does anyone else think its time to change the name of the doug ellis stand, i respect the man so much but i dont think he has earned the right for a stand to be named after him,

Martin o neill is more than up for the job i have my little moan now and then but deep down there is nobody on the face of this earth id rather see in charge of villa than martin

LOL Damian got urself some enemies..Dont got to mad at him my fellow villa fans its only a question.If you think randy is guna get rid of martin u must be on some serious drugs cause those 2 are very good freinds and randy would fight for his life should someone try to prize martin away from us

For all the wingers who are questioning wether MON is the man for the job, please enlighten us with who you think could do the job better and would come to villa park?
sensible answers please
give the club your full support we do not need moaners,
up the villa.
p.s.
or would you prefer to be a blue-nose?

What a ludicrous post. All this serves to do is pervade further negativity amongst supporters. Anybody bemoaning MON's appointment as Villa Boss at this stage is clearly bankrupt in the intelligence department.

@ Badger: Prick? Is that all you can come up with? No wonder you have the patience to sit there waiting season after season - the improvement rate fits the speed of your brain just fine. Next time come up with an answer rather than a one word monkey sound, you simpleton.

Firstly, MON is the man for the job. We're doing better than we have in ages and we'll continue to get better.

Secondly, stop criticising Damian for merely allowing people to air their views.

Mick,
What would you do then in MON'S position? Or would you replace him with someone else? I'd certainly be interested in who you THINK you'd get? Don't tell me..You'd get DROGBA for £2mil and RONALDO and ROONEY on loan until we make the Champions League. That'll be followed by the cheeky double signing of RONALDINHO and MESSI for your old Scalextric track and a free pass to LEGOLAND. We have not been forerunners for the Champions League because we have not been able to compete with the 'Top 4' for many obvious reasons. This will only change once we gel a 'TEAM' together who first and foremost want to play for AVFC. We are in the embryonic stages of revolutionising the club and people are starting to take notice,however, some of the players would really like will not become available until we put in consistently good performances. This might happen this season but realistically look at the following couple of seasons for real success. Are you really expecting us to go from mid-table push overs to world beaters in one season? Anyway, please feel free to give details of your superior masterplan and cc them to Mr.O'Neil.

This question sums up the problems we have, not only as a club but as a group of supporters. We as supporters see a European Cup in our Trophy cabinet and become full of expectation. This expectation is also fueled by the club who constantly remind us of the great heights we once reached. The problem is that we expect too much from our club and expect it too soon. The sooner we realize that we are not the huge club that we once were the better, that way we can start afresh and stop asking stupid questions like 'Is MON the right man for the job?'. This is the best condition the club has been in for the last 15 years as far as I am concerned. We have decent backers and a great coach far better than anyone else we've had in that period. This is a guy who Utd were interested in, that's Utd arguably the best side in the world. If we give this guy time and I mean 5 years, I have no doubt that we can achieve things that we only dream about as Villains. Stop worrying about hiccups like Monday night, these things happen, growing pains. Get behind the coach, the team and the club as a whole and we will reach those heights again.

MON is the man for the job - he states that 'it's a young team who will learn form their mistakes'. I also believe that he is a young manager who will also learn from his mistakes. We were told that there is 5 year plan which is in it's early stages. Be patient, all will come good, however we must expect there to be some ups and downs. I'm just happy that Villa are being recognised again after being a mediocre team for the last number of years (especially coming from a family where we have Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Celtic and Leeds supporters)
Keep the faith!

to richard beech;

could this be the start of Aston Villa's 1st Northern Ireland supporters club?

Actually it's Republic of Ireland and there's already quite the following over here from the good old days. Townsend, Houghton, Staunton, McGrath(What a legend!). As the Boss once said 'Thinkin about those Glory Days'.

Just look how much we have improved in just over 1 year, i dont think there has been a premiership team which has made such progress in such a short period of time to even question MON is a joke!. MON has been fantastic and all his signings have been excellent with the exception of Marlene, GB has always been a decent player but MON has got the best out of him, Gabby, Young, Gardner, Moore have all also improved and all the players want to play for him. 1 bad 20 minutes and people forget the brilliant work he has done. question MON but you will still sing his name on saturday when were winning, this site should be closed down! If we got rid of MON im sure Chelsea or Spurs would love him and many others! THIS SITE SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN FOR WRITTING SH*T LIKE THIS!!!!!!!

Villavon - all you ever do is have a go at other people for airing their opinions. its a free country you stuck up arrogant wanker

do you think this is an english coursework to see how many long words you can fit into your post?? means as your good at spelling see if you can spell C-U-N-T then look in the mirror and you will find one.

I like MON but if Mick wants to air his views, if he pays his money and time into the club he has got everyright to say what he thinks

Green Villain, I think you are slightly off beam - the club don't constantly remind us of the great heights we reached. Herbert Ellis spent years trying to bury the past and O'Leary constantly ran the club down. Only with Randy Lerner and MON has a bit of balance and pride in the history of the club been restored. But no one at Villa Park is pretending we are going to be European champions next week.

Villavon: your irony is third rate and your post achieved nothing aside from underlining how attempting sarcastic acrobatics beyond your cerebral capabilities only ends up making you look daft. You know fully well I wasn't suggesting fantasy football, you possibly may even understand my criticisms are not aimed at MON for the hell of it. I like the bloke a lot, I think he's a witty, bright breath of fresh air and have faith in what he's trying to achieve. However, it still remains clear that over the past 12 months he hasn't performed as well as some of us would have hoped. His transfer market ability (but more importantly the quality of his backroom & scouting staff) are still extremely open to debate given the Harewood purchase and the relying on MON's knowledge of his old Celtic players. In this day and age a manager - a modern manager - tends to scout all over the world. That is how Wenger have found the likes of Eboue, Toure, Sagna, Diaby, Clichy, Bendtner, Denilson, Fabregas, Vieira and many more for peanuts and has purchased Rosicky, adebayor, Kanu and Henry on relatively low prices if compared to some of the crazy prices paid by other clubs. That is how Mark Hughes at Blackburn spotted Gamst Pedersen, Samba and Nelsen as cheap bargains and nipped in to snap up Santa Cruz for half a million less we have paid for Harewood. Having an effective network of contacts all over the world and a cultured, prepared set of scouts so that you can spot those rough diamonds for decent prices is what we should be doing - in my opinion. No Legoland or Ronaldinho suggestions here Villavon, just ideas for a realistic set up so that the club can be as modern and as organised as the top 4/5 in the Premiership. And that's where I'm concerned, as MON seems to belong to the old generation of managers unable to see beyond certain boundaries when scouting or looking for a player. Next time instead of practicing pub irony try to read the posts a second time before patronising others, it may make you look less of a moron. Up the Villa.

I try to read this great site as often as possible. Many times I read that the Villa and MON do not have a credible scouting policy intact. Can someone explain to me if there are facts supporting this view?

I understand people's angst about the Spur's result and negative views on MON. That's football and no matter how well MON or any Villa manager performs there will always be knockers. I am sure that if you check out a Liverpool blog that there are doubters about their manager - and that's pretty incredible after what they have acheived over his time in charge.

My view on MON. The best manager and the best chance the Villa have since I can remember (I was on the Holte when Vic Crowe was manager).

UTV

Holte1970. Facts to support this view? here's the usual one: 12 months to find a right back, still didn`t manage to do it. One back up striker required, one donkey purchased. For 4m. By the way, back to fantasy football: Riquelme is still available despite being contracted to Villarreal. He is not getting a game there and Spurs and Everton are sniffing around. Just a thought, enquiring about it wouldn't cost owt - he is at a spanish club the size and history of Leicester City after all. Or is that far too ambitious too and maybe we need to wait another couple of seasons?

@ Mick
I unreservedly apologise for calling you a prick, I was out of order and hold my hands up, sorry.
The Stella had taken hold.

But having said that, do you really think MON hasn't tried to get people in?
FACT (IMO) top players won't come to Villa yet, until we're achieving.
MON knows we need a right back, he isn't stupid and did you forget he said he's looking to get the right bloke in (that he wants) come January?
I take from his comments that means the bloke is there, but the deal couldn't be done at the time, as simple as that.

You just cannot realistically expect to build a team in the what? 14 months MON has had and it's bloody unfair to suggest you can. Don't forget SAF nearly got the sack before going onto better things!

All the people slagging Harebrain, don't you think MON knows he isn't the best? MON realised that players aren't available cheaply now, with total mediocrity costing millions. I actually reckon he signed him in answer to the Villa fans who kept complaining about the lack of signings. But even then, Harebrain has averaged the best part of 1 in 3, so you never know.

I just despair when people slag MON, when IMO, he's the best thing to happen to Villa since the Ron Saunders era.

And as for the European scouting system, IIRC, we've recently set one up, after never having one under Ellis, Jo Venglos apart.

we do have a scouting system albeit a strange one but we signed a right back in the summer eric lejay (or somthing spelled like it) a 6ft 18 yr old usa 1st squad player who will be good for the future) unkown and mustapha salifu the togo midfeilder aso unknown both signed for nomnal fees just like wenger at the gooners has done with most of his squad. so to say he hasnt looked at other countrys than the ones he knows etc... is a bit short sighted, he has always taken players and made them better, THEO ZAGORAKIS ANYONE ? whould we have known of him till mon brought him to the prem all those yrs ago, he knows talent he knows how to motivate he just needs to remember his tactical training. he said this week back to basics, good we need it we have a good team but it will take time to develope into a great team evolution not revolution we will be their in yrs to come man city will be no where again west ham will be relegated this season the only team i worry about for the future is liverpool they have a good manager top YOUNG players aswell as us, who rafa is moulding into a good team so dont panic people mon is right for the job we will be champs again but will suffer hurdles along the leaning path to glory.

UTV

cheers

Andy Air, right on, 100%. I know this is a post but if you look at what people post week in and week out, its funny (woodinho im picking on you sorry pal) when we win against Chelsea its all rosy, when we lose a lead at Spurs were going nowhere and MON should take the fall. Can anyone on here genuinely say that they thought we were going to finish top 6 this year. I for one dont think we will, but obviously id love to see us do it. It is going to take a bit of time ofcourse, i know things wernt helped by promises of "significant funds available", this makes us think that its all going to happen soon (top 6 etc). The fact is we are better than last season already, inconsistant, just like last year, but better, and in my book that is progress. Maybe not as much progress as we thoght we were promised but we have moved forward. Just remember that next time we lose or we take an away point like we did at Spurs, and more importantly when we win like we did against Chelsea. Sorry Woodinho

Big T (Twat??),
Like you said,this is an open forum for people to air their views/opinions.Try not to get too tetchy if people write things you don't like.Without being sarcastic or personal,my feeling is that people are already jumping on MON'S back for making 'mistakes.' No doubt he has,but,he's definitely got his own ideas as to how he wants to progress the club.It would appear that he is nurturing home grown talent which can only be good news for potentially seeing our players in an England shirt.I think MON had a 'culture shock' in the transfer market as regards to modern transfer dealings,but,not who he wants to sign.If we continue to show progress and ambition then more quality players will be interested in coming to VP.I think MON has tried to box above his weight in the transfer market and has been knocked back which is why he focuses on more realistic targets. This is not to be confused with a lack of ambition for the club.

i am going to lock these comments very soon ..

please, let's have a love-in instead

Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound

And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea

And I don't know if I'm just dreaming
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when you call out my name

(Chorus)
Love is in the air
Love is in the air
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Love is in the air
In the rising of the sun
Love is in the air
When the day is nearly done

And I don't know if you're an illusion
Don't know if I see it true
But you're something that I must believe in
And you're there when I reach out for you

Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise

But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

I've been really tryin', baby
Tryin' to hold back this feelin' for so long
And if you feel like I feel, baby
Then come on, oh, come on
Whoo, let's get it on
Ah, babe, let's get it on
Let's love, baby
Let's get it on, sugar
Let's get it on
Whoo-ooh-ooh

We're all sensitive people
With so much to give
Understand me, sugar
Since we got to be
Let's live
I love you

There's nothin' wrong
With me lovin' you
Baby, no, no
And givin' yourself to me can never be wrong
If the love is true
Oh, babe, ooh, ooh

Don't you know
How sweet and wonderful life can be?
Whoo-ooh
I'm askin' you, baby
To get it on with me
Ooh, ooh, ooh

I ain't gonna worry, I ain't gonna push
Won't push you, baby
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, baby
Stop beatin' 'round the bush, hey

Let's get it on, ooh, ooh
Let's get it on
You know what I'm talkin' 'bout
Come on, baby, hey, hey
Let your love come out
If you believe in love
Let's get it on, ooh, ooh
Let's get it on, baby
This minute, oh yeah
Let's get it on
Please, please, get it on
Hey, hey

I know you know
What I've been dreamin' of
Don't you, baby?
My whole body is in love
Whoo

I ain't gonna worry, no, I ain't gonna push
I won't push you, baby, whoo
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, darlin'
Stop beatin' 'round the bush, hey

Gonna get it on
Beggin' you, baby, I want to get it on
You don't have to worry that it's wrong
If the spirit moves you, let me groove you good
Let your love come down
Oh, get it on, come on, baby

Do you know I mean it?
I've been sanctified
Hey, hey
Girl, you give me good feelings, so good

Nothin' wrong with love
If you want to love me
Just let yourself go
Oh, baby
Let's get it on

Cheers by the way Badger, Stella will be our one and only downfall mate ;)

No question that MON is the best man we could get for the job, and I'm generally happy with progress. However I hope he learns that whatever he was trying to achieve with regard to signings in the summer failed miserably and mustn't happen again. I know it's not easy, but he has to attract some top quality players (probably foreign) to Villa Park within the next year, or I would consider replacing him. In the present climate, persuading top players to come here is possibly the most important part of a managers job. Do you know anyone who thought Harewood was a good signing? This isn't hindsight - we all KNEW he was rubbish! Look at the impact Sven had at Man City in only a couple of weeks! We need players - Soon.

ur all mental die hards i said months ago we wud suffer for injuries and oh look it's happened, rich idiots at villa couldnt even see that 1, I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO amateurs

IS MARTIN O'NIEL UP TO THE JOB? MMM, LET'S SEE......

ANGEL OUT, HAREWOOD IN.

RIDGEWELL OUT, CAHILL OUT ON LOAN, DAVIES IN.

DAVIS OUT, PETROV IN.

HUGHES OUT, NOBODY IN.

STILL TO BE PROVEN, ZAT KNIGHT, REO COKER, SHAUN MALONY(HOMESICK, WANTS TO GO BACK TO JOCKLAND), WHATSISNAME FROM TOGO.

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ASH YOUNG AND BIG JOHN AND MAYBE SHAUN MALONY, IF HE STAYS, THE REST HAVE BEEN A DISASTER, SOME EVEN CATOSTOPHIC DISASTERS.

I TOLD YOU IN THE SUMMER THAT O'NIEL HAD BEEN OUT OF MANAGEMENT FOR THE BEST PART OF 2 YEARS, HE'S GOT A LOT OF CATCHING-UP TO DO, HE'S LOST THE THREAD A BIT. I WONT CRITICISE THE PLAYING SIDE OF HIS MANAGEMENT TOO MUCH, YET. BUT HIS TRANSFERS COULD GET HIM THE SACK, MOST OF THEM ARE A JOKE; AND WHY DOES HE KEEP PLAYING PLAYERS WHO ARE EITHER SHIT OR STRUGGLING FOR FORM I.E REO COKER,
HALF DECENT PERFORMANCE AGAINST CHELSEA AND NEWCASTLE, THE REST, CRAP. LEAVE HIM OUT, PLAY GARDENER, HE CAN TACKLE, PASS AND SCORE THE ODD GOAL.

JUST A QUICKIE TO PONDER ON BEFORE I SIGN OFF, HOW MANY MORE TIMES DOES HE NEED TO SEE PETROV PLAY, BEFORE HE FINALLY REALISES HE'S A BAG OF SHIT. AN EXPENSIVE BAG OF SHIT AT THAT. HE WOULD STRUGGLE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

i think mon isnt up to it he been out and football as changed so sorry to say sack mon and get another one in mourhino or capello i dont no how but its got to be a manager he will bring us the league into europe

Villa to win, just need to keep i lid on Ashton who looks strong. I think 2-0, or 2-1 Villa, and end this "form slump"............

MON is no good to us with shit so-called fans our club manages to produce. Keep the manager, sack the 'fans'. ;)

If you're not behind the squad i'll happily throw you out of your seat come match day.

taglor and woodyo,

you just make me want to laugh and then cry.
laugh...... because i can't belive you are not satisfied with 5th in the table, playing well and players being reconginsed for england. i suppose ou think we should be above manu, liverpool and arsenal already? you ar4e jsut unrealistic, uninformed and obviously have no idea about football. Success doesn't happen overnight and good, big clubs are built on solid foundations NOT expensive foreign 30 year olds and millions of pounds. Chelsea are the perfect example.

Cry.... because i can't undertsand waht it will take for some so called fans to support our club and manager. You guys who insist on this instant success and won't support our club are what us football fans call glory hunters. so pick up your man u clander from wollworths and grab a red hat and take yourselves up to old trafford and sit with the rest of the foreign glory hunters. and don't forget to drop in at the stadium of light for one of roy keanes prawn sandwiches!!!!!!!!!!

glory glory woodyo taglor

rob h

can you read, we know you can't spell.
i said i wasn't critical of the playing side of his management, yet, although you need to ask yourself why we insist on playing so deep when we are in front. ask yourself why barry hasn't hardly had a shot at goal for weeks, it's because he's to busy protecting the defence. look at the possession stats for yesterday 65/35 to west ham. we need to dominate these teams at villa park. but to dominate possession we need better quality players, better quality than o'niels brought in, that was my point. he's transfers deals, on the whole have been crap.
tell me you muppet! are you happy with harewood, petrov, davies or even zat night. if you are, your're just another under achiever, why don't you become a carer for ellis you look like a match made in heaven.
we have everything almost in place now, an owner with some financial clout, a boardroom team capable of launching the villa brand worldwide. we don't need a manager holding up that progress with his shit transfers of average to poor players.
we all know o'niel can get that extra something out of players of linited ability, why don't he try it with players who already have that ability.

in future, read the articles properly, thats assuming you can actually read. [b][/b][b][/b]

i am still upbeat about things. its not an ambitious to say, but to be gutted after gettin a draw at spurs? surely thats not a bad thing. jus shows the ambition we have now that we are (mainly) optimistic about things. maybe 6 months ago, we wudnt hav scored at spurs, let alone 4. villa are gettin recognised this season, but we will really know wot the score is at the end of may. for me, mon is top banana thus far.

Whatever...lets get over the Spurs debacle, if you can call it that. Did anyone see the article on the betting choice website re betting in-running? At least I did get something out of it...

MON is great and you just need to have a little faith! Anyway, its early on in the season and we are only just behind Chelsea ;)

ARE u really all stupid. O'neil has done a fantastic job there are a lot of players, who he tried to sign which never went through, for example riise from liverpool, simply because there hinze bid was refused buy united! you lot need 2 wake up if there is any man 2 carry this club forward its him! look what h did wiv celtic u will see, i can assure u villa will be what we used 2 be!

who eva sed that he aint gud manager need swakin up the soft cunt!he best manager we had and were startin 2 play quality football and were goin sumwhere now and the summer will bring big signings to the club!Also MARLON HAREWOOD IS THE BEST SIGNING THE CLUB HAS EVA MADE

he is a god you have one of the best managers in the country bet most of you are eating youre words now