Aston Villa News 24/7Martin O’Neill does not have rocks in his head.
I’ll be brief. The inevitable is finally happening and Rafa is being shoved out the Anfield door, it’s just a matter of negotiating how big his golden parachute will be. I hear that he’s currently holidaying in Sardinia and it’s down to the lawyers to sort this mess out.
Whether a pro or anti-Rafa Liverpool fan, now can’t be much fun to be a Red and they have as much sympathy as my schadenfreude will allow me to muster. Sorry guys, it really isn’t much, but I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, I will say that.
I won’t go over events from 2008 again – I recapped the end of the 2007/08 season and specifically included the beginning of Barrygate at the bottom of this post so I wouldn’t have to – but I recall Martin O’Neill saying on several occasions that Liverpool’s actions were not the Liverpool of old and he was right. I’m not naive about how these things work, but there was an unjustifiably brazen arrogance to Liverpool’s behaviour during the Spring and Summer of 2008 that must have left a bad taste in any reasonable person’s mouth. It did in mine.
But look, I said I’d be brief, so here’s the bottom line for me in relation to any nonsense about Martin O’Neill replacing Rafa…
The answer is simple and obvious. Anfield is toxic right now, I wouldn’t want to be in the same telephone area code. Unless Martin O’Neill has rocks in his head, neither will he. Why on earth would he abandon what he’s spent 4 years building at Aston Villa to jump into that mess? I’ve heard of enjoying a challenge, but that would be nothing short of self flagellation.
I’ve no idea why Ladbrokes et al. have apparently installed our manager as favourite, but I doubt it’s based on anything beyond the economics of operating a gambling enterprise. Pro Tip: the house always wins.
I’m no expert on Liverpool, but it seems to me that whoever takes over will likely have the same owners and lack of money to work with. The club is up for sale, but who knows when a genuine buyer can be found? (By ‘genuine’ I mean they’re not going to make the same mistake twice!) I would imagine that whoever takes over will more than likely have a strong and passionate connection to the club and be doing so for the greater good, to keep the ship steady and see it through to calmer waters. For that reason, I can’t see past the next captain of the good ship Liverpool being anyone but Kenny Dalglish.
Despite my obvious disdain for the Reds right now, I really do hope they get themselves off the rocks in good order…
…just not with Martin O’Neill at the helm.
EDIT: Rafa has now gone and it seems that Kenny Dalglish will be involved in the successor selection process. It’s not impossible that he’ll pick himself, but it would seem unlikely. There goes my theory then!
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9 Comments to “Martin O’Neill Would Only Go To Liverpool If He Had Rocks In His Head”
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It’s a good job Liverpool are in such a state or else O’Neill would have to be tempted.
He has but in four great years at Villa laying foundations and building. But it must be frustrating for him when he builds up a head of steam and the then the vultures that are the traditionally bigger clubs or the new rich come and try and take the fruits of his toil, Barry, Milner etc.
At Liverpool he would assume he could hold onto his stars no matter who came knocking, but maybe that is the Liverpool of the past.
on the other hand, if liverpool were in a stronger position would o’neill be a target? is he a target now? i don’t know tbh.
there is the problem of failing to make the top four and then having your best players poached thereby preventing you building on last year’s performance.
so far we’re continued to improve year on year, but i feel we’re reaching a key point where we couldn’t lose our best players and still move further forward.
The question I’d be asking myself is “are Liverpool really a bigger club than Villa?”
Immediately, yes of course they are, but I’ve been reading Pool blogs and there are many fans who are extremely worried now that Benitez has actually gone.
Even they are questioning who’s going to pay the Yanks’ ridiculous asking price and without a sale, they’re potless.
So any new manager will have to sell the crown jewels to raise money to change the squad.
Even with our supposed sell to buy policy, at least there should be some money to spend at Villa.
Another thing that he should consider is that if he doesn’t like criticism from the fans, he’ll get plenty of it at Pool.
I’ve seen quite a few posts saying that they like the bloke, but can’t stand his football.
Couple that with the higher expectations too and I really don’t think he’ll go there.
yeah, the liverpool fans seem very much split so far as i can see.
a good friend of mine would love him there, he told me so again today in fact. others, quite the opposite.
i get plenty of visits from liverpool fans to the transfers page and they tend extract what they want from it. some will use the information as a stick to beat MON with, others see the opposite. villa fans do the same from what i’ve seen.
that’s humans, we’ll never all agree.
oh, but yes, there’s a huge fear among reds fans that they’re on the precipice of some really bad juju.
Sadly weve gotta get used to the fact that whenever a top boss goes, Mr Oneill will be one of the first names bandied around. However there is no way he will go to Liverpool. Under their current tyrannical rule by some unruly yanks (like them two old men muppets) who would want that job? Someone who needs one, not someone who’s got a good one.
I beleive the reports Hughes is likely. Hes young and was unlucky at man city, Dalglish might be a good bet until they get the club sold, however you tell me the amount of times bringing a relic out who hasnt managed for a long time has helped a club out? Graham Taylor comes to mind.
Anyway i think Oneill knows hes got it good and his own way at Villa, and i personally only think theres one job that we couldnt stop him taking and thats down to Fergie retiring and Man U wanting him.
Only separate point i would make is, would his style fit these top 4 clubs? He needs to get villa playing more football, rather than the down the wings and cross it to the big man style he likes. The league table doesnt lie and we struggled for home wins this season as at times we looked clueless at unlocking team with a plan b.
I’d agree Hughes was unlucky at Citeh.
But doubt the Pool fans would be happy with him getting the job.
Indeed, I’d suggest they’d see it as a massive step down and an admittance that they’re headed for mediocrity.
As for MON at Villa, we conceded too many goals, so he sorted it with Dunne, Warnock and Collins, simple.
Now our problem is we don’t score enough.
I’m massively intrigued as to whether he can sort this one out.
I really expect him to sign someone out of the blue again, that none of us will like.
But will do the business.
I think us Villa fans do MON a massive disservice that we’ll only realise when he’s gone.
Have to agree with you. I think we don’t appreciate how good we have it at the moment at Villa. I am not going to list off all the positives but you know what I am talking about.
I have a fear that if O’Neill left we would be looking back at his reign as a golden period that might not happen again for a long time
“The league table doesnt lie and we struggled for home wins this season as at times we looked clueless at unlocking team with a plan b.”
two things…
firstly, you’re right, but let’s be clear here, we’re not playing in a vacuum. teams are paying us the respect of sitting deeper and playing more defensively than in the past. that’s because they know we’ll take them to the cleaners if they don’t. that’s a good thing, credit where it’s due.
second thing, i frequently talk about being just two players shy of being a *very* dangerous outfit – a central midfielder and a striker. bring those two in, especially if it’s a clever, creative midfielder and i think things will be very different.
still, even with a home record that could be improved, this team just delivered a season over 38 games that is only bettered by one other premiership season and that was 17 years ago.
on that basis, the boss seems to have a pretty good handle on things IMO.