Stunned O’Neill looks to pick Villa up
Monday 29th March 2010, 11:59AM BST.
A shocked Martin O’Neill today began one of the toughest challenges of his managerial career following Villa’s catastrophic collapse at Chelsea.
O’Neill has 12 days and counting to rescue his players from despair in time to face Carlo Ancelotti’s team again in the FA Cup semi-final after Saturday’s humiliation. The 7-1 hammering was declared the manager to be the worst defeat of his career and was Villa’s biggest for 46 years.
But the real worry for the claret and blues is how much psychological damage has been inflicted upon the players, before their Wembley showdown a week on Saturday.
The Villa boss has a Premier League game at Bolton to negotiate first, in the hope of beginning the recovery process for his squad.
But he conceded: “The buck stops with me. It is my responsibility, it is as simple as that and we have got a week now to prepare for Bolton and a week after that the semi-final.
“Thankfully we don’t have any midweek games now for a little while, but that would sound like the number of games we’ve played is an excuse.
“Please don’t even go there – that was nothing to do with whether we had a midweek game or not. We’ve shown a lot more desire and a lot more character than we did against Chelsea and that is totally my responsibility.
“Whatever you say about performances and it is all very well talking about the players, that is down to me and that is my responsibility.
“I will have to address it obviously and I’ll draw on a couple of experiences from this year and before.
“Yes, I’ve been beaten before, perhaps not in the same fashion as that but this will be a tough test.”
Nevertheless, injuries and tiredness are an extra worry for the manager. Strikers Gabby Agbonlahor and John Carew both left the game because of injuries, Emile Heskey was already ruled out and there remain persistent worries about problems for James Milner and Richard Dunne.
But O’Neill said: “We came in here with as good a defensive record as anyone, we have been hammered in a game and deserved to be hammered.”
UK Sport
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We need to get this in to some perpective – we got thrashed by a very good Chelsea team – but come the semi final we will turn it round because believe it or not we have a great manager in O’niell and he will not let this happen again to the famous Aston Villa.
John Terry will be made to eat his words
COME ON THE VILLA
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No offside goals to save you this time then ?
Has Jack-in-the-box run his course ?
Would he be better off going back to Scotland to manage?
Aston Villa arrogance is in tatters. Lucky against the Wolves and dreadful against Sunderland, Chelsea showed just how far you are away from a top four place.
Top side in the West Midlands ? Your time is running out.
Blues on the rise, Wolves with great chance of staying up and the Albion on the way back.
Reckon Chelsea’ll bother to play Drogba in the semi final ?
Not so funny now Oldburyite….and Dazza….bye !
Lord Molineux has spoken
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Steve, good on yer mate, some positive thinkin.
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There’s now no need for O’Neill to say a word in the Wembley dressing room pre-match. Chelsea have said it all thanks to Terry, Cole and Lampard. I remember them spouting similar crap after the Champions League 1st leg against Inter! Look what happened there! MON just has to stick the comments up on the dressing room wall.
Terry did have ‘one’ good point though when saying that Chelsea had noticed how Villa get tired in games after 60/70 minutes. O’Neill has been saying this for over three years, so WHY is it happening? Lack of a fitness coach?
As for Little Lord Fondlehimself, there speaks a boy with a long memory. Wasn’t he one of the cretins who called for McCarthy’s head in December? Now Wolves are almost the best teams in the Midlands, well, Wolverhampton anyway!
Wear your silver-paper helmet with pride my boy, but DON’T eat your crayons!
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I know Lord whatever he calls himself will read this, his very own arrogance will not allow him not to have a look at what kind of a response his post has got, his over inflated ego, has blinded him to the fact, that whatever happens at Villa, it is not we who are in a relegation dogfight and for his information, neither is Birmingham City.
He’s right about WBA though, they are coming up and even if Wolves survive, they will still be Villas poor relations.
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Wolves are playing with more spirit than that season they have got better not weaker look forward to playing the enemy next season
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