Randy Lerner says difference of opinion led to O'Neil's exit
Following the departure of Aston Villa manager, Martin O’Neil, the Club’s American owner Randy Lerner has said that there was a clear difference of opinion between him and the manager. He said that O’Neil had a different point of view on how to take the club forward while he had a whole different take on it.
It is believed that O’Neil was unhappy for several reasons. The most important one has been the sale of James Milner and other young players. O’Neil had earlier sad that he came to the club with a long term plan in mind, and he had been investing on players and trying to strengthen the squad gradually. The deal of Milner last season was one step towards the right direction, he had said that if players he brought in are let go like that he would never be able to make the team that he wants. After the deal was done there were more problems because he was not assured by the owner that all the funds gathered from the sale would be made available to him for buys in the summer.
Lerner said that he had been backing O’Neil for the last 3 seasons and agreed with his policies over that period of time. He said that the time had come when the thought process of both men did not meet the same level. He said the he was ready to employ the policy of sell to buy and that is what prompted him to sell Milner. Still he said that there are more reasons to his departure and it was just a matter of time; the exit of Milner probably instigated it right now.
The American businessman said that still the aim of the club remains the same, and there has been no change in plans. He added that they still are striving to make Villa one of the top clubs of not only English but European football as well. Lerner said that the aim last season was to make it to the 4th place which would have enabled them to play in Europe and would have given a huge financial boost to the club. Lerner showed his disappointment over missing out on the chance, he said that the team looked well on track but some slip ups in the final few matches cost the club dearly. He said that the short term strategy is to sort out the Milner saga as soon as possible and facilitate the caretaker Kevin McDonald so that he can get the team ready in time for the start of the season.
Meanwhile after O’Neil’s exit as it normally happens, several managers have been linked with the job at Villa Park. Everton Manager David Moyes is the man strongly linked with a move to Aston Villa. There was a fans poll conducted in Birmingham and according to that Moyes got 16.85 of votes, compared to 28% that were for Martin Jol.
However Moyes has ridiculed all rumours and said that he is a loyal servant to Everton and he has no plans of making a switch. David Moyes is hailed as a hero at Mersey side, and credited with all the success Everton have achieved in last few seasons. He also led Everton to a top 4 finish back in 2005 but sadly they could not make use of it and fell at the qualifying playoff before the Champions’ League.
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