by Bashmachkin Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:15 pm
I agree with the point in general regarding ignorant football pundits. However, I am inclined to defend O'Neill as a manager, because I think he has been criticised quite excessively here and elsewhere recently.
I never liked nor rated him as a manager at Leicester or at Celtic, but he has risen in my estimation during his time with Villa. He's only been at the club for three years, and he has overhauled their side in that time - after the departures of Barry and Laursen, Bouma and Agbonlahor are left as the only players he inherited in 2006 - and just a cursory glance at the Villa squad now suggests to me that, having inherited a squad consisting largely of diverse journeymen, he has built, reasonably quickly (albeit spending around £55-60 million net), a side with a particular style of play, containing a number of players with genuine talent and potential. I've never liked the way O'Neill's sides do play football - still, I think Villa's football is sometimes overly criticised - the likes of Petrov and Sidwell can play tidily in the centre of the pitch even if they're sometimes bypassed, but more, I think Young and Milner have a bit of quality about them; Milner makes up for a lack of blistering pace with trickery and the ability to cut inside; together, they're not just wingers who pump crosses into the penalty area. Overall, I think Villa are progressing under O'Neill. And it is fair to point out, especially as a financial consideration, that since taking over there, he has been unfortunate to lose some key players like Mellberg and Laursen for nothing.
As for O'Neill's insular nature, particularly when it comes to making signings - firstly, if O'Neill's style and favoured player is old fashioned in some respects, on the other hand the 4-3-3 he has used in the past, with hard-working, athletic wingers, is actually quite modern. I think he could be better in the transfer market; that he could increase the scope of his player searches; and that Villa could certainly benefit from a purely creative midfield player. Yet I also think it is interesting to compare O'Neill's Villa with Bobby Robson's Newcastle. Robson, given his wealth of experience abroad, could have been the opposite of an insular British manager, but in fact he tended increasingly during his time at Newcastle towards a very modern style of play, which utilised direct, long ball tactics, played increasingly by young, hard-working English players. I think this preference of Robson's undid him and us in the end - but, like with Robson, I don't think O'Neill's preference is necessarily or simply a product of an especially limited or insular manager.