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Martin O'Neill
- Thread starter shadowplay
- Start date
We simply wouldn't have beaten Everton at home under O'Neill.
We had picked up 2 points from our previous 4 home games under O'Neill. This is against giants such as Swansea and Norwich. We were going down, a blind man could see it.
Di Canio saved us, simple as that.
Sea to Shining Sea
Striker
It wasn’t anything like the certainty you’re suggesting. We could have achieved the same outcome with a different set of results. A bore draw against Villa and Everton and a win against one of Stoke or Southampton would have seen the job done as well. That was entirely possible.
I’m not saying I’d swap that for the derby win. But the survival wasn’t miraculous under Di Canio and I think O’Neill gets a raw deal from a section of our fanbase.
(Edit: we actually finished a position lower in the league from where Di Canio inherited us)
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I definitely think this is the case and the same applies to a certain extent with Moyes.
If a manager has had a successful history at previous clubs then goes somewhere and fails then it's unlikely to be them that's the problem. The common denominator, in this period in particular, was Sunderland. If we weren't such a basket case of a club then I suspect that both of them might have done well.
Tex
Striker
Since leaving Sunderland what has MON done in his career to suggest his time with us was an outlier and he’s not a completely busted flush?
Sea to Shining Sea
Striker
Inside Forward
Winger
I read an article (a long time ago mind, probably 8+ years) where it was claimed Short used to ring Quinny up after a game if we’d had a poor result and go absolutely mental down the phone at him demanding answers. No surprise Niall looked fed up by the end and wanted out.
Cappuccino Kid
Striker
But the blame lies firmly with the manager for failing to address the problems at the club. There was clearly an unprofessional culture and O’Neill not only allowed it to carry on, but probably let it get worse by bringing in the likes of Johnson, Graham.
I still remember that story Danny Graham told that they thought they had a few days off because MON was ‘really good with days off’ only to find out he’d been sacked and they’d been called to the training ground the next morning. They’d been at a bar and Kilgallon had a full tray of drinks, when he was told they were all leaving he just tipped the full tray of drinks onto the floor. As well as them all getting mortal on the plane on the way to warm weather training. What a bunch of pricks they were.
No, it really doesn't. The manager might be able to identify the issues but it's often outside his scope - a lot of these issues need to be handled at boardroom level and sometimes the heart of the problem is the owner themselves (hi Forest). They give the manager a remit and he can only be expcted to operate under those parameters. There are plenty of clubs where the manager has had little influence on the exact names the club bring in or get rid of, for example. Le Bris at Lorient is about as good an example as you get. The board sold the four best players from a team who were exceeding expectations and didn't replace them. You can't then blame the manager for a shit transfer policy when things go south.
And Johnson was an outstanding player. The failures at club level with that situation were almost entirely HR related.
Shibby Safc
Striker
I was gutted when he was sacked BUT we were sleepwalking to relegation it was absolutely going to happen
Same, I liked him but 3 points in 8 games is relegation form absolutely nailed on. It was 100% the correct decision to sack him and Di Canio got a far better tune out of the players in the short term. Anybody who doesn't accept this is living in cloud cuckoo land.
O'Neill bought Danny Graham after the fans booed him. Utter madness and he turned out to be possibly our worst 'big' money signing ever. He was just as bad as a free signing at a lower level. A child could have done better in the transfer market
Cappuccino Kid
Striker
But my point is nothing to do about transfer policies and/or remit. It’s the managers job to control his playing squad, something that O’Neill failed to do. Plenty stories about how unprofessional the culture was, players out on the piss beyond what is acceptable for professional athletes etc.
Wes Brown, Seb Larsson, Kieran Richardson and many other have said on podcasts that they only seen Martin Oneil once max
Twice a week. If they had a good
Result he would let them have 4 days off. Absolutely ridiculous
The team had absolutely no stamina whatsoever. They'd be paggered after an hour
Definitely Maybe
Striker
There's the story from Keane as well just after Short took over. We'd lost the previous game (Villa I think) and had Arsenal up next. Short rang him up and said "We gotta beat the Gunners, man!"
Haven't heard the Kilgallon bit, but Kilgallon tells the story of how they went up to Scotland after we lost to Man United for Fletcher's birthday when they found out MON had been sacked. They were on the train coming back the next day when they got the call to say Di Canio had been appointed and wanted to see them the next day. At the same time, the buffet cart came round and Graham ordered more Stella. When they got off the train, Johnson and Graham got in a taxi back to Graham's house to carry on drinking and came in hungover the next day, Graham even fell asleep in Di Canio's first meeting.
Graham tells a different but even worse version - he reckons he was in London and got arrested and had to get a taxi back up to training when they let him out at 5am. A few other ex players have corroborated Kilgallon's version though and Fletcher's birthday was indeed around the same date so fuck knows why Graham would be in London.
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