Villa end dispute with Martin O’Neill
Wednesday 25th May 2011, 10:00AM BST.
A decision on Gerard Houllier’s Villa future is a step closer today after the club concluded an “amicable” resolution to their dispute with ex-boss Martin O’Neill.
Club officials had been busy bringing to a close a nine-month dispute between O’Neill and Villa after the Northern Irishman walked out on the club last August.
Both sides presented their cases to a Premier League managers’ tribunal and, after a four-day hearing, the matter was eventually resolved by arbitration.
O’Neill said: “I am pleased that all issues have now been amicably finalised. I am very proud to have managed Villa and I wish the club all the best for the future.
“I would also like to thank the League Managers Association and my outstanding legal team for their support and hard work in bringing my case to this very satisfactory conclusion.
“I am now looking forward to the future and getting back into football management.”
A Villa spokesman added: “It was an amicable resolution and the club wish to thank its legal team for their tireless support.”
The decision now paves the way for the Villa hierarchy to give their undivided attention to the issue of whether Houllier will resume management duties at the club.
Houllier was taken into hospital last month after he suffered heart problems but the 63-year-old Frenchman should get the green light to resume his duties.
However, Houllier must first persuade his wife Isabelle – who expressed concern at him taking the Villa job in the first place – that he is well enough to make a return.
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How many clubs will now sack their manager, knowing that Martin is back in business and looking for a club?
I’ll bet there are already offers on the table that we do not know about, this ones gonna run for a while.
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Oldburite – I’m not so sure O’Neills postbag will be bulging as much as you might think. As well as being a massive shock to Villa supporters, his abrupt and disruptive walk out on Villa would not have gone unnoticed by a fair few CEO’s and Owners up and down the country. And although we don’t know the full reasons of why he left, the petulant manner of how he left would suggest that quite a few potential employers would now think twice before handing him a job.
And let’s not forget that, for all the good work he did for us over 4 years, he did leave us with a large number of inferior players, on long contracts, picking up obscene wages, costing extortionate fees and with little or no sell on value.
I still think that he has a bit to do to repair what, up until August 2010 was an untarnished record!
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