AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Heskey is hardly the best option at £3m. In hindsight no it wasn't . At the time Carew was injured and the idea was he would be foil for Gabby. It didn't work as we know. But who else was around for that sort of money? It was a mistake no doubt, But reason Arsenal finished above us was they signed a quality player for £15 million as we didn't. Then our team was dismantled after that bit by bit. I think we'd have finished 4th had he never changed the formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Villa are much bigger than Sunderland. Based on history yes Current day, not sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDrums Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Agree, but who else of his pedigree was there at that time for that money ? Shane Long would have been better than Heskey and would have cost at most £4m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Agree, but who else of his pedigree was there at that time for that money ? Shane Long would have been better than Heskey and would have cost at most £4m. Shane Long scored 9 in 38 in Championship, most would have seen that as a terrible signing. Shouldn't have signed anyone really or at least kept the team the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDrums Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Maybe so, but he'd have been better than Heskey anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey55 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 No, definitely not. Mediocre manager with some fatal flaws. He's lucky to get the Sunderland job in all honesty. I think to have this opinion you have to over rate the impact a manger can have in the modern game. I think the clubs infastructure is by far the most important factor. As a Villa fan to not rate MON surely you have to think he didn't take the club as far as other managers could given the restrictions placed on them by the infastructure of the club. I'm sure you could list numerous things MON did badly, but the same could be said of Pep at Barca or Mourinho at Real. No manager is perfect but the set up of certain clubs allows for the manager to make many mistakes and still have success, whilst other jobs are less forgiving. Given the circumstances MON worked in when at Villa, I'd say 3 6th place finishes were pretty good. Had Mourinho taken over at the same time do you really think he'd have done any better?Yes, I do think other managers could've taken us further. The thing is though, Mourinho wouldn't have spunked so much money on medicore British players and I doubt he would've relied on such a small core of players either. But if you look at the lower priced players, who Villa could arguably have signed, that have been brought by Mouinho in his last few jobs, they've been pretty average. Reallistically the only players that were in the Villa price and waqe range htta he singed when in the Prem were Kezman, Tiago, Morais, Del Horno, Jarosik, Boulahrouz, Kalou, Ben Haim and Pizzarro. That gives you a rough idea of the calibre of player he'd be looking at and to be honest, I'm not sure all of them would have agreed to join Villa, so he might have had to look at even lesser options. Basically alot of Villa fans complained about MON's buy British style, but when you look at the foreign rubish the best manager in the world bought when in the Prem, it perhaps makes MON's less adventurous transfer policy look better. I can understand fans perhaps not liking the style of football uner MON and limited technical ability of some of the players he signed. But when it comes to motivating and getting the most out of them, I'd say MON is up there with the best. I don't think the likes of Mourinho would have bought any better and I don't think he'd have really got anymore out of them either. And I think Mourinho is an amazing manager, but I just think many fans really under estimate just how limited a mangers impact is by the clubs status and infastructure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I just don't get how you can see O'Neill as mediocre, lucky to get Sunderland manager etc... he did an excellent job here, even if he left in an extremely poor way. I'd kill to have someone of his quality as our manager these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 He will make S'land a much more organised and hard to beat outfit from day one His major strength is man management Remember our first game under him with a shoddy squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanvilla_1994 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Wouldn't have him back and lost all respect I had for him when he shat on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDrums Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I just don't get how you can see O'Neill as mediocre, lucky to get Sunderland manager etc... he did an excellent job here, even if he left in an extremely poor way. I'd kill to have someone of his quality as our manager these days. I agree. I think its people just being bitter about our current position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 He will make S'land a much more organised and hard to beat outfit from day one His major strength is man management Remember our first game under him with a shoddy squad Ah yes the Arsenal away game. We drew didnt we 1-1 ? Think Djemba Djemba was in the team ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 No. Davis, McCann and Barry I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Not Djemba x 2 played but the likes of Ridgwell Samuel and Hendrie did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 No. Davis, McCann and Barry I think. Yeh my mistake. Tho he did come as a sub. Aston Villa: Sorensen, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Samuel, Agbonlahor, McCann, Davis (Hendrie 83), Barry, Angel (Laursen 90), Moore (Djemba-Djemba 89). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Phillips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Jesus, that team.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bose Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Yep remember that game very well. It was Arsenal's first game at the Emirates and Mellberg scored the first competitive goal there. Then a 17 year old Theo Walcott ruined it in the end and set someone up for their equaliser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I remember on the way to the game thinking MoN jumping on the touchline, a lot of jumping He didn't disappoint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Those were the days! Could do with a few of those players now, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Gavin McCann.. :notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 At the time I was convinced Luke Moore was on the verge of being a superstar Such a shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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