No Gray Areas - Martin O'Neill was selfish

As a former Aston Villa player with an inevitable soft spot for the club I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't disappointed in Martin O'Neill for walking out on the club like that, or more precisely, his timing. It was a huge decision, a massive surprise to not only Villa fans but the whole of English football and a decision I regard as a very selfish one that has shown a massive disregard for the fans.

He's certainly not the first manager in history to be told that the funds generated from the sale of a star player wouldn't be available to re-invest in the transfer market. Look no further than last summer when Sir Alex Ferguson lost Cristiano Ronaldo, not only his star man but just about the most in-form player in world football at the time, for what is still the world record transfer fee.

He was told by the board that he'd have some of that money to find a replacement for Ronaldo and (perhaps bring in another player for a modest fee) but that the bulk of the fee was needed to balance the books and you didn't see him sulking about it and making demands. He got on with the job and did the best he could with what he had, in the knowledge that sometimes some housekeeping is necessary in football and that you just need to ride the storm.

Now that O'Neill has gone the next step is for the football club to decide who's the best man to succeed him. I see the Betfair market has USA coach Bob Bradley (currently trading at [7.6]) and Sven Goran Eriksson ([7.6]) amongst the favourites but I have serious doubts that either of them are the right man for the job. Sven is a nice, polite man, a proper football man, but I'm not sure that having him in charge would take the club forward in any way. If anything, there's a danger that appointing him will do more harm than good, both short-term and long-term.

Bob Bradley? I was mightily impressed not just with what he achieved at the World Cup but also with how he did it. His USA team went out in the quarters to a wonder goal in extra time from Ghana and for much of that match, they looked the better side. But what I really liked about the team was the way they were superbly organised, everyone had a job to do, everyone did it.

That said, I'm not convinced he's the right man for the job either. By his own admission he knows very little about this league, the players and its intricacies. There's more to Premier League management than knowing that an away match at Stamford Bridge is an uphill task or that Gabriel Agbonlahor has pace to burn.

If he'd been appointed at the start of the summer at least he would have time to learn about the league, get to know his players and prepare for the season properly. Throwing him in at the deep end with the league under way would do him or the club no favours.

I wouldn't mind seeing Jurgen Klinsmann ([32.0]) being given the job. He had two spells here as a player for Tottenham and will have played against plenty of Premier League clubs in European competitions. Okay, that was over a decade ago, but he's admitted to following the league very closely ever since and could bring some real energy and ambition to the club.

Amongst the more lively outsiders I'd make a good case for Ruud Gullit ([100.0]) as well. We all remember he had a torrid time at Newcastle, but before that he was very successful at Chelsea, having initially represented the team as a player.

I work with him on Champions League nights for Sky Sports and am continually impressed with his knowledge of the league and understanding and reading of the game - Villa could do a lot worse than appoint him.

Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald currently trades as the [2.9] favourite to land the job on a full-time basis after leading Villa to a convincing 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday, a performance that saw MacDonald singled out for individual praise by Randy Lerner, and rightly so.

There are many who will feel that he should be given a go at it and that to promote someone internally would mean minimum disruption in terms of the way things are done at such an important part of the season. That's a fair point, but it's worth remembering that the Villa job is a big one and that they'll face far tougher tests than a home tie against a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season.

For my money, the search for the next manager at Villa Park is far from over...

Andy Gray is now on Twitter so follow him for his exclusive tips and his take on the biggest stories in football each week.

Published: 17 Aug 2010

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