BlufPurdi

Dead set against it. At the time I was on too much of a high with him doing so well during his caretaker period to think he could possibly relegate us, but even then, I knew he wouldn't do much good for us. The games against Man U and Liverpool (let's not mention Charlton away) were all the evidence I needed then to realise he would not take us where we want to be. All he did after Souness was play players in the proper position, attack teams, and beat the teams we should be beating at home. Sadly, it should never have even got to the position where he was being offered the job. Not only did he rule himself out initially, but we should have been aiming so, so much higher. Now people can draw whatever conclusion they want from that last sentence, "you just wanted Hitzfeld" etc. Yes, I did, but I'd also have preferred someone that was actually successful at at least ONE of his previous clubs. It's ashame, cause he's totally pissed on his great acheivement in not only just saving us from the Souness effect, but getting us into Europe. What gets me though, is those that were supportive of him and his appointment, are now by and large wanting Shepherd out, despite the fact you agreed with and supported the bloody choice. All in all, a terrible choice and should've been seen as such by a mile away.

People, well Vic, are forgetting Liverpool are a superb team on their day, yesterday was their day. But even still Villa kept battling and pulled one back, however futile it was, it's a mark of the determination O'Neill installs in his teams. I'd love to see a quarter of that in our team, by our moronic manager. Roeder "could" have acheived those results you suggested? Could he fuck, he's already proven so. And to answer the question, a Roeder managed Villa could not have beaten us at Villa Park, in my opinion. And failed first test? OK, I'll give you Arsenal drop points, but what about Chelsea? Oh, I suppose they're shit too, and always drop points. :roll: O'Neill has got what it takes to be a excellent manager. The only reason he's not seen as a great so far, is cause he's consistantly knocked back big teams like Man U and Liverpool (whether they were ACTUALLY after him remains a mystery, but he was certainly hounded by the media, and he then totally ruled out a move) and opted for a bigger challenge in Celtic and Villa. You've turned this into an almost O'Neill V Roeder thread. Which is quite ridiculous, as anyone with EYES can tell you who is the better manager, you don't even need a brain to acheive this.

The reactions are a little over the top in here, the guy is just throwing an idea about, one he says himself he's not sure about. Give it a break.

No, I don't think it would. Mainly because it would be extremely hard to get back up, we'd start to lose money, need to sell players and all that shit. Resulting in a very bad team/squad, and without the ideal manager, there's also no assurance we'd be able to rebuild. It would have a devastating effect. Not one worth having just to get rid of Shepherd, which there is no guarentee will happen.

It's interesting that people say this, as we kept that incompetant cunt Souness for a lot longer than three months. It's not our fault Roeder is so clearly bad that we're not prepared to let him possibly relegate us. Three months or ten months, he's proving he's not got what it takes.

Nearly as infuriating as Duff being unable to stay onside Eugh the number of times Carr got into a good position and I thought "just slide it across" only to watch him balloon it over everyone was incredibly frustrating. It would be laughable if we weren't in the position we are.

I'm not going to say we didn't 'deserve' to win, in the sense we had a couple of scoring opportunities, but this is becoming a familiar story. "We should've won, scored", "we dominated" etc, which all amounts to fuck all if a) you don't win the games or b) get fucking relegated by the end of the season. It was always going to be the case that we'd have more of the ball and more chances, this is a side sitting bottom of the league, looking to take a point (at most, really) realistically away from home this season. So us having more of the ball and a handful of chances means by and large fuck all in this game. Let's also not forget Bramble nearly gifted the fuckers a goal, which they luckily shot high or wide, can't recall, I was yawning at the time. They came here to defend and frustrate, and we couldn't get a breakthrough. And there's only one reason for that, and it's because we're utter fucking shite.

I saw the game, thus know we did not play "great football". Next.

I would usually say this but this: http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/9302/untitledfa7.png tells me otherwise. Facing facts now and if this becomes a proper scrap, we don't have what it takes to survive Coupled with the fact that Glenn has a nasty habit of relegating sides, assuming we'll finish mid-table with him in charge for most of the season is nothing other than dangerous, at best.

Great football? I beg your pardon?

Your thread was merged with an existing thread expressing the exact same issue. You get a grip and read what's there before typing ROEDER OUT!!!!!!

Back to normal ways... First-half diagnosis? Second-half diagnosis? Full-time diagnosis? Star man for United? Worst United player? Opposition comment? Toon-pros? Toon-cons? Post-match feelings?

What is the modest transfer budget? Well, it's only paper talk, I suppose, but I've seen things like £20m mentioned at various points since he took over. Either way, what I'm trying to get at is, if you're a team like Villa, looking to break into the top tier you're going to need to spend a lot of money. I rate O'Neill's skills to get the best out of everyone highly, but I don't think he can acheive that. Fair enough, but surely if Lerner is prepared to fund MON to the tune of, say, 100m (figure plucked from the air), he's hardly going to shout about it, is he? We're already getting (over the top) "new Chelsea" comments, we're going to get fleeced every time we go for a player. FWIW, I think this season will be about consolidation, I don't think he'll spend a lot in January, not because the cash isnt there, but because it is much harder to get players in Jan than it is in August. Going back to the original thrust of the thread though, only a blind man could deny that what he has done thus far has been nothing short of phenomenal, and if we are going to have a crack at breaking into the "elite", then him as manager and Lerner as chairman is pretty much the ideal combination to have. Agreed, on all points.

What is the modest transfer budget? Well, it's only paper talk, I suppose, but I've seen things like £20m mentioned at various points since he took over. Either way, what I'm trying to get at is, if you're a team like Villa, looking to break into the top tier you're going to need to spend a lot of money. I rate O'Neill's skills to get the best out of everyone highly, but I don't think he can acheive that.

Fair enough, I agree with the mid-table thing. Maybe perhaps a bit better, pushing for 6-7 every season and becoming UEFA regulars, but they're going to need a whole lot more than what is a modest transfer budget to break into the so-called 'elite'.

Some people go over the top, I give you that, but to look at his career and come up with "he's doing fuck all", you're in dire need of a shrink. He hasn't won countless Premierships, or whatever, but he's got a clear history is sorting teams out, making them solid to beat, both domestically and in European competitions. He's a good manager, could well become a great, but I can't see that happening at Villa. It all depends on this new owner/era of theirs.

True, but it's what he's ended out doing elsewhere, everywhere.

I don't think many would complain with that, nor would it not be an acheivement considering how bad O'Leary's Villa were. They'll be happy with progress, and O'Neill will almost certainly build on his previous season's success.

Ignoring holding Arsenal and Chelsea to draws at their own grounds, how convenient. Let's not get into a debate about Roeder being able to do whatever, O'Neill is a better manager than him. He's proved this at VARIOUS levels, it's all as clear as day. And a pretty pointless debate to have anyway.

Oh my God, he lost, shit manager.

Thank fook for that. Highlights are on ITV1 at 11pm. First-half diagnosis? Second-half diagnosis? Full-time diagnosis? Star man for United? Worst United player? Opposition comment? Toon-pros? Toon-cons? Post-match feelings?

Agreed, on both counts.