MON the saviour

[Mowen]

A reasonable comparison yes, but I don't know enough about the Villa game to know how fair it is. Villa may have battered Wigan, and been unlucky (Wigan's goal should have been disallowed for starters), or Wigan may have played out of their skin.

 

Newcastle fans are disappointed because Arsenal were there for the taking - they aren't often - and our tactics didn't seem to even try and take advantage of that.

 

The comparison isn't worthless, but context needs to be taken into account.

[brummie]

What would concern me if I were a Villa fan, is that MON is an impact manager, he comes in and has an impact from the get go, and then maintains that, that's his style and has served him well throughout his career. But at Villa he hasn't really had a big impact in that way, you know just what he wants his team to do and will work harder than most to get his ideas across, but when I watch Villa they are not a MON team, or certainly don't play like one, and after near enough a full season in charge, I'd be slightly concerned about that. That said, the previous years of mismanagement will have been so ingrained into the club's fabric, it will take many washes if you like to get rid of those stains. I still think he'll do a decent job but I don't think he'll get you regular CL football, sadly the top four pretty much have those places sewn up for a long time in my opinion.

 

I fear this is very true. There might be one surprise package every few years, but by and large, the gap is too great.

 

In reference to the impact thing, I'd say he actually did have a big impact at Villa, in that we were the last team to be beaten across all the divisions, but that in the latter part of the season, we faded, but as you said, we're not yet a MON team, not by any stretch.

 

Worth remembering, he parachuted into the job two weeks before the start of the season, and with Ellis still in charge. That's no preparation.

 

Let's have this conversation in 12 months time, that'll be a fair time to judge - a full summer transfer window, a full pre-season and a whole season of his own team, then we'll have a better idea of how things are going to pan out.

 

Don't get me wrong, if things go badly, then I'll be happy to say I'm disappointed, but at the moment, i'm incredibly optimistic that things will go well, we've got a great manager, we've got rid of the worst chairman in the league and replaced him with a guy who is looking more and more like he could be the best in the league.

 

MON has everything in place to be a success, if he isn't, then there'll be no getting away from it, it will be there for all to see. But judging him now is unfair.

[Rich]

It's great how Villa fans are actually giving O'Neill time and patience to put his stamp on the club, a manager most people on here would have jumped through hoops to get ahead of Souness and Roeder, and we're slagging him off for them because he hasn't turned them into world-beaters in 8 months. People are quick to forget that the whole club at Villa is changing/being remodelled after Ellis, it's not simply a manager stepping into an already-prepared set-up, the whole club has been shaken to the core and is probably getting turned around for the better.

 

I hope he does well there, because Villa are one of the few clubs I can't say too many bad words about - if any at all. Actually, Lee Hendrie are two that I could say, but that's about it - and he's not even really there at all these days. Martin O'Neill as well, I can even forgive him his shite punditry because he generally seems like a bloke with his head screwed on.

 

Villa deserve some respite after suffering Ellis for as long as they did towards the end, I don't know how anyone could deny them a bit of hope/optimism, despite their current situation.

[brummie]

Janitor, I applaud you.

 

And even we don't like Lee Hendrie. We're convinced he's a bluenose.

[Dave]

He's definitely a cocknose.

[Rich]

He's definitely a cocknose.

 

;D

 

First real "laugh out loud" moment on here since the "if forumers were Wrestlers" thread.

[Howaythelads]

It's great how Villa fans are actually giving O'Neill time and patience to put his stamp on the club, a manager most people on here would have jumped through hoops to get ahead of Souness and Roeder, and we're slagging him off for them because he hasn't turned them into world-beaters in 8 months. People are quick to forget that the whole club at Villa is changing/being remodelled after Ellis, it's not simply a manager stepping into an already-prepared set-up, the whole club has been shaken to the core and is probably getting turned around for the better.

 

I hope he does well there, because Villa are one of the few clubs I can't say too many bad words about - if any at all. Actually, Lee Hendrie are two that I could say, but that's about it - and he's not even really there at all these days. Martin O'Neill as well, I can even forgive him his s**** punditry because he generally seems like a bloke with his head screwed on.

 

Villa deserve some respite after suffering Ellis for as long as they did towards the end, I don't know how anyone could deny them a bit of hope/optimism, despite their current situation.

 

O'Neill's record is no better than Souness, tbh.

[Guest Knightrider]

If MON did come here, and we were down where Villa are or where we are under Roeder, the pressure on him would be huge and there would be many who wanted him, doing big U-Turns at this stage. I agree with Janitor, it is good to see MON being shown patience and understanding by Villa fans, which will aid his chances of succeeding without a doubt.

[Guest Knightrider]

It's great how Villa fans are actually giving O'Neill time and patience to put his stamp on the club, a manager most people on here would have jumped through hoops to get ahead of Souness and Roeder, and we're slagging him off for them because he hasn't turned them into world-beaters in 8 months. People are quick to forget that the whole club at Villa is changing/being remodelled after Ellis, it's not simply a manager stepping into an already-prepared set-up, the whole club has been shaken to the core and is probably getting turned around for the better.

 

I hope he does well there, because Villa are one of the few clubs I can't say too many bad words about - if any at all. Actually, Lee Hendrie are two that I could say, but that's about it - and he's not even really there at all these days. Martin O'Neill as well, I can even forgive him his s**** punditry because he generally seems like a bloke with his head screwed on.

 

Villa deserve some respite after suffering Ellis for as long as they did towards the end, I don't know how anyone could deny them a bit of hope/optimism, despite their current situation.

 

O'Neill's record is no better than Souness, tbh.

 

True but his list of skills outnumber Souness' skills by far, and this for me, not success or the CV, is the best way to judge a manager - on their skill set.

[brummie]

If MON did come here, and we were down where Villa are or where we are under Roeder, the pressure on him would be huge and there would be many who wanted him, doing big U-Turns at this stage. I agree with Janitor, it is good to see MON being shown patience and understanding by Villa fans, which will aid his chances of succeeding without a doubt.

 

Don't get me wrong, the pressure on him is huge, but there is, as The Janitor said, a lot of other stuff going on at the moment, in terms of the club being changed absolutely to the core, it is hard to fully describe how deep the changes they are making are going.

 

This has a doubled-edged effect for MON. It makes it harder in some ways, as everything is changing all the time. It makes it easier in other ways, because the fans are just so relieved to be rid of Ellis, and happy to see the other changes, that they'll give him a season to basically settle in to the job.

 

I think he'll get it right, I really do. I can't think of anyone outside the top 4 I'd rather have at the club as manager, regardless of the criticisms that can be made of him, and I genuinely can't wait for the transfer window to open and for next season to start.

 

It is all about ambition, under Ellis there was none. Under the new regime (managerial and board level) there is ambition galore, and the structure and cash to back it up, so that'll buy him plenty of patience.

[madras]

It's great how Villa fans are actually giving O'Neill time and patience to put his stamp on the club, a manager most people on here would have jumped through hoops to get ahead of Souness and Roeder, and we're slagging him off for them because he hasn't turned them into world-beaters in 8 months. People are quick to forget that the whole club at Villa is changing/being remodelled after Ellis, it's not simply a manager stepping into an already-prepared set-up, the whole club has been shaken to the core and is probably getting turned around for the better.

 

I hope he does well there, because Villa are one of the few clubs I can't say too many bad words about - if any at all. Actually, Lee Hendrie are two that I could say, but that's about it - and he's not even really there at all these days. Martin O'Neill as well, I can even forgive him his s**** punditry because he generally seems like a bloke with his head screwed on.

 

Villa deserve some respite after suffering Ellis for as long as they did towards the end, I don't know how anyone could deny them a bit of hope/optimism, despite their current situation.

 

O'Neill's record is no better than Souness, tbh.

 

True but his list of skills outnumber Souness' skills by far, and this for me, not success or the CV, is the best way to judge a manager - on their skill set.

class coach,just class,slipping in some made up rubbish and seeing if anyone realises.