Martin O'Neill 'lost control of wage bill'
Departed Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has been slammed by a director at the club for allowing the wage bill to spiral out of control.
With no confirmation for the reasons as to why O’Neill suddenly announced his resignation this week, press speculation suggested that he left the post due to the ‘sell-to-buy’ transfer policy put in place by owner Randy Lerner while it was reported that the manager was told he would not be able to re-invest most of the money generated by James Milner’s imminent move to Macnehster City in the squad.
However, there may be some more reasons for the Northern Irishman’s departure, as evidenced by the comments made by non-executive director General Charles C Krulak on a Villa supporters’ website. Villa’s wage bill had increased to £71m under O’Neill, a figure which accounts for 85 per cent of the club’s annual turnover. Krulak wrote that: "There is absolutely no question that Martin did a good deal for Villa and I have said, over and over, that I felt he did a fine job.
'Revenue issue not addressed'
"At the same time, I can promise everyone that he knew and understood the long-range plans for the club and bought into them. He knew full well about the need to bring wages in line with revenue . . . the same as every Premiership club. He was absolutely supported by the owner during his time with the club . . . all one needs to do is look at the money spent. The reality is that the wage to revenue issue was not addressed and Martin apparently was unwilling to help address it. He quit."
Krulak also hinted that O’Neill’s ego was out of line with other senior figures at the club. In comments sure to draw the ire of the club’s former manager, he added that: "As an aside, no one person is bigger than our club ... not me, not Randy, not Paul, not Martin. What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact."
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