O'Neill To Go Full Circle

[Micky]

Milner was sold after he left.

The transfer was agreed well before O'Neill left.

 

[Micky]

He won't come back, no Ffin way this will happen..

We can dream. I once had a night of passion with Ursula Andress.

 

[Real Sharapova]

We can dream. I once had a night of passion with Eric Pickles.

Way, way too much info, Micky!

 

[Micky]

Way, way too much info, Micky!

You may mock me but all I care about is another notch on my bed post. Great arse by the way!

 

[Blue Maniac]

I really think very little but their record will be taken into account when hiring, unless SAF actually reccomends someone personally.

And you think he'll recommend someone older than he is, someone who's never spent more than three years as manager at a single club, or someone he plain doesn't like?

Benitez - a couple of cups? You forgot to mention one of these was the Champions League, he also came closest to winning the title for Liverpool for the first time in two decades. In the end the palaver over the American owners cost him his job, as you can see by a more than capable manager atm really, really struggling.

But they didn't win the title, and a single Champions League win (on penalties, don't forget, when they arguably shouldn't have even been in the final) should not hold too much importance, even if they did show enormous desire to win in the second half. Manchester United's board will not be fooled by it. Don't misunderstand me, winning the title with Valencia should not be played down, and he assembled a superb group there, but that was before he sullied his reputation with a merely adequate record at Liverpool.

Benitez' transfers can be question at Liverpool, sure, but so can MON's at Villa

Again, don't misunderstand me, I'm by no means saying MON is the man for the job at Old Trafford, but I feel that with the Manchester United logo (and cheque book, and academy set-up) on his side, he wouldn't be bringing in a raft of substandard footballers the like of which Benitez sadly now has a record of signing.

Bilardo won the World Cup, ffs! If that's not achieving at the top of the game, I don't know what is

That was in 1986, and with one of the greatest players who ever lived in his squad (and let's not forget the cheating and key moments of individual genius from said player).

and I don't get your attitude regarding the Copa Libertadores. How exactly is the biggest trophy in South American football not considered to be among the top of the game?

Is this a real question? Someone who knows the game like you do shouldn't need to ask this.

These teams regularly beat the top European teams in friendlies and supercups and such like and it's not like Brazil or Argentina are known for producing great footballers and football teams or take their football seriously, is it?

Not really the point, though, is it? What happens to every South American player who shows potential? They move to Europe. Not just Spain or England or Italy, but also secondary leagues like Holland, Portugal and Russia. Why? Because it's a step up. You surely wouldn't argue that the Dutch first division is the top of the world, would you?

Also, it seems very odd to me to be belittling the Copa Libertadores and then making reference to MON's medal tally?

Why? Again, I'm not suggesting MON is the man for the job, merely objecting to your insistence that these old men you mention would be preferred.

O'Neill's medal tally is made up of genuinely minor trophies.

With small clubs. Don't forget that.

Do you genuinely think the ManUtd board would take a honours list of Scottish League titles or League Cups over World Cups, Spanish/Argentinian League titles, Champions Leagues and Copa Libertadores?

Honestly? No. In a straight shoot, no. But I think they'd prefer recent success to trophies won in the 70s and 80s, or underachieving after overspending.

 

[escos66]

Thank you BM and PR it really is refreshing to see a debate on here about football and by two people who obviously know the game very well. IMO Jose will be on top of uniteds list if of course by then they can afford him. And I truly think Benitez winning the title with valencia is one of the greatest achievments in modern football.

 

[Joe_Fox]

And you think he'll recommend someone older than he is, someone who's never spent more than three years as manager at a single club, or someone he plain doesn't like?

But they didn't win the title, and a single Champions League win (on penalties, don't forget, when they arguably shouldn't have even been in the final) should not hold too much importance, even if they did show enormous desire to win in the second half. Manchester United's board will not be fooled by it. Don't misunderstand me, winning the title with Valencia should not be played down, and he assembled a superb group there, but that was before he sullied his reputation with a merely adequate record at Liverpool.

Again, don't misunderstand me, I'm by no means saying MON is the man for the job at Old Trafford, but I feel that with the Manchester United logo (and cheque book, and academy set-up) on his side, he wouldn't be bringing in a raft of substandard footballers the like of which Benitez sadly now has a record of signing.

That was in 1986, and with one of the greatest players who ever lived in his squad (and let's not forget the cheating and key moments of individual genius from said player).

Is this a real question? Someone who knows the game like you do shouldn't need to ask this.

Not really the point, though, is it? What happens to every South American player who shows potential? They move to Europe. Not just Spain or England or Italy, but also secondary leagues like Holland, Portugal and Russia. Why? Because it's a step up. You surely wouldn't argue that the Dutch first division is the top of the world, would you?

Why? Again, I'm not suggesting MON is the man for the job, merely objecting to your insistence that these old men you mention would be preferred.

With small clubs. Don't forget that.

Honestly? No. In a straight shoot, no. But I think they'd prefer recent success to trophies won in the 70s and 80s, or underachieving after overspending.

get a room

 

[Profondo Rosso]

And you think he'll recommend someone older than he is, someone who's never spent more than three years as manager at a single club, or someone he plain doesn't like?

But they didn't win the title, and a single Champions League win (on penalties, don't forget, when they arguably shouldn't have even been in the final) should not hold too much importance, even if they did show enormous desire to win in the second half. Manchester United's board will not be fooled by it. Don't misunderstand me, winning the title with Valencia should not be played down, and he assembled a superb group there, but that was before he sullied his reputation with a merely adequate record at Liverpool.

Winning the biggest trophy a club manager could win doesn't hold too much importance? Really?! It's what ManUtd will be aiming for, he's proven he can win it in the past, you don't think they will look very kindly on that?

And it was hardly an adequate record, he was their best manager since Joe Fagan. Even as recently as the 2008/09 season people were rightly regarding Benitez as one of the finest managers of his generation and fwiw almost all Liverpool fans were gutted to see him go and considered his fall in his final season to be more to do with the board than his managerial ability: http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=258886.0

Again, don't misunderstand me, I'm by no means saying MON is the man for the job at Old Trafford, but I feel that with the Manchester United logo (and cheque book, and academy set-up) on his side, he wouldn't be bringing in a raft of substandard footballers the like of which Benitez sadly now has a record of signing.

I am not saying anything about whether MON would be the best man for the job or not, I am simply saying I cannot see ManUtd hiring him.

That was in 1986, and with one of the greatest players who ever lived in his squad (and let's not forget the cheating and key moments of individual genius from said player).

Maradona himself will say how important Bilardo was to that side and how revolutionary his tactics were. There is no doubting that he was the catalyst behind the 86 win.

Not really the point, though, is it? What happens to every South American player who shows potential? They move to Europe. Not just Spain or England or Italy, but also secondary leagues like Holland, Portugal and Russia. Why? Because it's a step up. You surely wouldn't argue that the Dutch first division is the top of the world, would you?

I wouldn’t argue that the Dutch first division is the best in the World, no, not at this point anyway (though it undoubtedly has been up there in the past), but the Copa Libertadores is still one of the world’s Premier trophies, far more prestigious than anything MON has ever won and the ManUtd board will look on a lot more kindly, especially when someone like Bianchi has won it 4 times(!)

Why? Again, I'm not suggesting MON is the man for the job, merely objecting to your insistence that these old men you mention would be preferred.

I will admit I did not consider age when listing those managers, I don’t know the exact ages of any of them off the top of my head.

With small clubs. Don't forget that.

Yes, they are small clubs, which is exactly my point, what makes you think ManUtd would want to hire a manager who has done well with small clubs as opposed to big ones?

Honestly? No. In a straight shoot, no. But I think they'd prefer recent success to trophies won in the 70s and 80s, or underachieving after overspending.

I disagree. Big teams will simply not hire managers who have finished 10th or something on a budget. Can you really see Arsenal hiring Sam Allerdyce or Tony Pulis over, say, Vicente Del Bosque? Mourinho has been hired by Real Madrid based on wining trophies with big spending top teams. Chelsea hired Ancelotti, Scolari, Ranieri and Hiddink all based on winning trophies with big spending top teams. Mancini was hired by ManCity for simply managing top teams in the past without any real success.

The fact is ManUtd are a big spending top team, they will want someone who has proven themselves in that type of role, not proven themselves by over achieving by leading Leicester to a couple of league cups or proven in the Scottish league, as it needs an entirely different type of management to get success. I'm not saying that MON doesn't have what it takes to be successful with a top club, but he has never proven it.

We are not just talking about a big club here, we are talking about one of the absolute biggest, probably only Real Madrid and Barcelona are better supported and a bigger prospect for managers nowadays, they will want someone who has at the very least won a few major trophies while competing against major opposition.

 

[jb5000]

So do you think we could convince United to come in for Sousa?

 

[indierich06]

Benitez' transfers can be question at Liverpool, sure, but so can MON's at Villa

He signed a few stinkers; Curtis 'pub team player' Davies for about £10 million (who the jury is still out on really) and Marlon Harewood for £4 million, BUT he also signed Ashley Young for £8 million, James Milner for £12 million and swapped Milan Baros for John Carew... surely it's been way more good business than bad business?

O'Neill's worst signing was probably Curtis Davies at Villa, but if my memory is correct, he's never signed a high profile flop at Villa, while Benitez has spaffed about £40 million on just two players in Aquilani and Keane.

I would say, on the whole, O'Neill is a much better judge of a player than Benitez.

 

[FryattFox]

The transfer was agreed well before O'Neill left.

It wasn't, but I get the point.

 

[FryattFox]

O'Neill's worst signing was probably Curtis Davies at Villa, but if my memory is correct, he's never signed a high profile flop at Villa, while Benitez has spaffed about £40 million on just two players in Aquilani and Keane.

Maloney, Routledge, L Young, Shorey, Sidwell, Davies, Beye. Not as high profile as the two you mentioned, but still decent transfer fees for a club Villa's size with no real success.

 

[Mystery benefactor]

I personally hope that Martin O'neil doesn't come back to Leicester, because I like many Leicester fans hold him in high regard and it probably won't work if he comes back. And we I for one would prefer his Leicester record to be unsullied. I obviously don't know the bloke, but this is probably the reason for the saying "never go back."

And I am also of the opinion that he has done a "meh" job at villa. Probably could have the same myself with all they money he has spent.

 

[indierich06]

Get him in, and then give him a load of cash and try to get Delph, Albrighton and Delfouneso in on loan. If we're gonna dream, we may as well go the whole hog!

 

[drummindefender]

Get him in, and then give him a load of cash and try to get Delph, Albrighton and Delfouneso in on loan. If we're gonna dream, we may as well go the whole hog!

Delph is crocked, and the other two are hardly going to be desperate to come and play for a manager who never gave them a chance.

But I'd take him over Sven any day!

 

[indierich06]

Delph is crocked, and the other two are hardly going to be desperate to come and play for a manager who never gave them a chance.

But I'd take him over Sven any day!

Should be fit again in time for the January transfer window and he'll need to get fitness back... you never know!

 

[Hazzman]

Maloney, Routledge, L Young, Shorey, Sidwell, Davies, Beye. Not as high profile as the two you mentioned, but still decent transfer fees for a club Villa's size with no real success.

According to most Villa fans at least four of those were good enough players, just that O'Neill either fell out or didn't rate them.

 

[Spanky Fox]

What A FecKing DAAAAAY!!!!

 

[jb5000]

What A FecKing DAAAAAY!!!!

Are you going to do this on every thread?

Don't. It's the lame.

Or at least go and do it on a Forest forum.

 

[Spanky Fox]

Are you going to do this on every thread?

Don't. It's the lame.

Or at least go and do it on a Forest forum.

It was fun cause you went through each thread to see what i had put down