I was just updating some data and I noticed a little nugget; Martin O’Neill has now amassed 189 points in the Premiership from his 123 league games in charge of Aston Villa, which is the same number of points Brian Little achieved in his 130 game career.

Next target, John Gregory’s 229 points from 148 games:-

1. John Gregory – 229 points, 148 games
2. Martin O’Neill – 189 points, 123 games
3. Brian Little – 189 points, 130 games
4. David O’Leary – 145 points, 114 games
5. Ron Atkinson – 141 points, 98 games
6. Graham Taylor – 58 points, 51 games

It will actually be a challenge to match JG’s record – MON has 25 games to find the 40 points, which is an average of 1.6 points per game. His overall average at Villa is 1.54 pts/game, but he’s steadily improved over the course of his 3 seasons – 2006/07 1.32 pts/game, 2007/08 1.58 pts/game & 2008/09 1.63 pts/game.

We currently have 17 points from 9 games, which equates to 1.89 pts/gm. If this pace is continued, not only will MON beat JG’s managerial record, but Villa will finish the season with 71 or 72 points.

There’s a long, long way to go yet though!! I’m not getting carried away just yet, but I’ll keep my eye on how this progresses.