Now that really was a bolt out of the claret and blue! Who would have predicted that less than one week before the
start of the new Premiership season Martin O'Neill would resign as boss of Villa? He bought success and stability -
what does the future hold for the club now? With O'Neill at the helm the Birmingham club have finished sixth for the
last 3 seasons and last season they appeared in the Carling Cup final at Wembley. The
latest football betting
odds on a top 6 finish for Villa this season are 15/8.
So why go? Well there has been a lot of speculation but it looks as though the issue of transfer funding and the pressure to sell players like James Milner and possibly Ashley Young finally proved too much. Relations between O'Neill and Lerner are said to have been strained for some months. Funds from the sale of players would no longer be available to buy replacements it seems.
Before we all start blaming the owner it has to be said the Randy Lerner has given massive financial support to the Villa - his total investment is said to be o179 million since he purchased the football club in 2006. However, Lerner is on record as saying that the club would have to adopt a sell-to-buy policy and it seemed inevitable that Villa would lose the services of James Milner to Manchester City before the transfer deadline at the end of the month. Former Villa captain Gareth Barry also went to the Cheshire club last year.
The club is staying pretty tight-lipped with only a short statement on their site saying that the manager had
resigned with immediate effect and including a quote from Chief Executive Paul Faulkner thanking O'Neill for the
great work he had done over the past for years. According to the statement Kevin MacDonald, the reserve team manager,
will now take over as caretaker manager and will prepare the team for the opening game of the Premier League season.
Villa will be taking on West Ham on Saturday and the
online betting
odds on a Villa win are 4/6. The odds on a Hammers win are 7/2.
Although Kevin MacDonald will be in temporary charge, the hunt will now be on for a long term replacement. Possible candidates in the frame are said to be former Villa player Alan Curbishley, who had successful spells managing Charlton and West Ham, Gareth Southgate, another ex-Villa player who was in charge at Middlesbrough and then there is the former Croatia manager Slaven Bilic. Martin Jol would be a popular choice but his present club, Ajax, would need to be persuaded to let him go. If media reports are to be believed Mark Hughes is also being considered even though he has just signed a deal with Fulham.
As for Martin O'Neill, you can bet that there will be no shortage of offers from clubs who need the sort of managerial and motivational skills that he has. Will he go abroad? Back to Celtic? We will have to wait and see.
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Can Aston Villa Prosper Without O'Neill at the Helm ?