O’Neill transfer policy is a failure
Monday, May 11th, 2009
It doesn’t matter how you look at it, Martin O’Neill’s transfer policy has hurt Aston Villa badly this season. Just 1 win in 14 games is a wretched return given the Scrooge McDuck-like amounts of cash he’s pissed away — at last count he’d spent ~£60m in two years — on signing all the wrong players.
Aston Villa’s single victory was against Hull and the results don’t lie: the last time O’Neill guided Aston Villa to a victory against a team anywhere near the top six was 27 games ago against Everton.
You might remember this victory; afterwards O’Neill suggested that Ashley Young was a “world class” player comparable to Lionel Messi. A comment, before you spit your cornflakes out, which he qualified by saying:
This is my opinion. I look at players; I see a lot of games in Europe, I watch a lot of football.
Phew! I was starting to think he was a manager completely out-of-touch with reality for a moment.
Criticising O’Neill’s antics in the transfer market is a risky business, and one which saw the 365 Media Group sued. My concern isn’t whether his dealings are shady or not; I have no evidence either way. However, there is a growing catalogue of evidence demonstrating his inept judgement in the transfer market.
And this one is a classic…
In December, Aston Villa were still riding high, but lacked an out-and-out goalscorer. Someone with a proven goal scoring record. The January transfer market offered O’Neill a chance to land his man, and, by all accounts, the Villa board were willing to bankroll a substantial signing. The push for the Champions League was too irresistible not to.
In January, O’Neill did sign a striker. Emile Hesky for £3.5m; a player with a stike rate of approximately one goal every five games.
The more you look into it, the worse it gets for O’Neill.
Carlos Cuellar for £7.8m; a centre-back he wastefully plays at fullback. Nigel Reo-Coker for £8.5m; a midfielder who can’t tackle, goes missing for entire matches, and has scored 1 goal in ~60 games. James Milner for £12m; this… is… just… beyond… words…
Despite this, I still think O’Neill can do a good job for Aston Villa. He is known to a be an excellent man manager and a popular coach. With a decent Director of Football with well-established contacts to sign new players — and a less myopic scouting network — Villa might just threaten to win some silverware. The trouble is, I think O’Neill is a rather old-fashioned type of manager; he will not relinquish any of his power or recognise his own deficiencies against someone more qualified.
