Certainly never saw that coming either.

Can understand it in a sense that he is potentially losing a 1st choice player and not getting much / any of the cash to replace him but at the same time thats the way it is at a lot of clubs at the moment - its not as if he has a poor squad even if Milner goes.

They must be in pretty deep financial shit if they're selling Milner for a possible £30million and none of that being likely to go towards replacing him.

They've not got a poor squad like you say, finished 6th 3 years running and a Carling Cup final last season as well but they have struggled in pre season and with O'Neill walking now just a week before the first league game, that throws all their preparations right into the shitter.

Definitely a shock, he had a good board who gave him a decent amount of money and he was building a really good young squad, he must have another job lined up?

Wouldn't mind their poor squad.

Big surprise for me, Randy Lerner was generally touted as the good American running the club in a sensible way. Looks like the economic crisis might be hitting them too, perhaps with having to renegotiate debt repayments.

Does pose a big question-mark. If Milner and Ashley Young both leave too then psychologically it could be tough for them.

What a tosser.

How about he just gets on with his job, or was he afraid that Villa would do poorly this season?

At least we won't have to put up with his constant whinging now.

What a tosser.

How about he just gets on with his job, or was he afraid that Villa would do poorly this season?

At least we won't have to put up with his constant whinging now.

Wouldn't mind their poor squad.

Big surprise for me, Randy Lerner was generally touted as the good American running the club in a sensible way. Looks like the economic crisis might be hitting them too, perhaps with having to renegotiate debt repayments.

Does pose a big question-mark. If Milner and Ashley Young both leave too then psychologically it could be tough for them.

If the reports are true, then it would be easy to sympathise with O'Neill, would you do the same if you were told that 2 of your best players will be sold for big money and it would be likely that you would not recieve much (if not none of) from those transfers to replace them?

And suppose they start doing really because the squad has been seriously weakened? Will he just be asked to get on with his job then?

How many players have they 'lost', two?

Just Nickey Shorey but Milner is expected to go and so is Ashley Young

Can't think of anyone. The general feeling a few years ago was that he would take over ManYoo when Ferguson retires, but god knows when that will be.

My feeling is it's probably just what the story says, he is pissed off with players being sold and no money re-invested in the squad.

Strange irony if it was Milner being sold that again precipitated a manager's resignation...

We might get the full 3 points now against them

Hardly a squad clearout. Milner had a good season but lets face it, he's only a bit above average. Newcastle fans should know that more than anyone.

Young would be a loss but he is definately a form player. Anonymous when off-form.

I was thinking that. Was his transfer from Newcastle believed to influence Keegan's departure though? In fact did he say why he wanted to leave Newcastle?

I may be wrong, but he strikes me as pretty unloyal despite being considered a 'model pro'. I'm not a big fan of players who signal their desires to leave a club who clearly values them highly as soon as a slightly better offer comes in.

Not totally but it was certainly one of the major factors that made Keegan walk, well that and Dennis Wise being a total fecktard.

I agree with you though on the suggestion of Milner being unloyal, I could understand Milner wanting to leave us in the first place (too many managerial changes and possibly saw coming the shitstorm that was about to hit Newcastle at the time) but now, leaving when Villa are not exactly in dire straits on the pitch, finishing in 6th place 3 years running and seemingly 1 or 2 good signings away from having a real crack at a top 4 spot.

But like nearly every other player, money talks and if there's a quick and easy route to achieving your ambitions rather than building it up with another club, they'd take it hands down.

Clearly an important player for Villa though. I think you're being rather harsh on O'Neill - he has been dealt a raw deal here if the reports are right that Milner will be sold with none of that money being spent on replacing him. Whether or not you rate him as "only a bit above average" (and I agree with you that he ain't worth £30m), it's clear that O'Neill saw him as a crucial player in his team for the long-term future - and that's a lot of money not to be re-investing in the squad.

I dont think O'neill has particularly spent what money he has had that wisely though bar a couple of good buys so by the same token I can see where the board is maybe coming from on this one.

Bet Liverpool are kicking themselves now, would of been a far better choice than Hodgson as a manager.

Firstly, if they don't have any confidence in his purchasing then they should sack him and hire a different manager. Simply withholding funding in the hope that he'll get the message would be Ashley-esque incompetence.

Secondly, I don't think there are any managers who get it right every time. O'Neill didn't spend a huge amount of money but constructed a squad with a reasonable mix of experience and (re-sellable) youth and were fairly comfortable in that pursuit-of-a-UEFA Cup spot position. You can mention some of the less successul players he signed, but the simple fact that Young and Milner are being pursued so keenly by City and Spurs suggests that he got some of his signings right.

I didn't quite realise they'd spent that much... I suppose it's just par for the course for a team chasing europe these days.

Bear in mind also that he did make some money back from those players, often for undisclosed fees. If the stories are accurate then he'll have made half of it back from just three players (Young, Milner and Barry).

Spending £60m in four years doesn't quite sound so extravagant.

Surely O'Neill must realise the books have to balance somewhere he's spent a fair bit of cash at Villa and that spending just can't continue for a team not in the champions league anymore with the current financial state of the world.

Some of O'Neills signings.

Petrov £6.5m
A.Young £9.65m
Knight £3.5m
Reo Coker £8.5m
Davies £7.5m
Sidwell £5m
Friedel £2.5m
Shorey £4m
L.Young £5m
Cuellar £8m
Milner £12m
Heskey £3.5m
Downing £10m
Delph £6m
Beye £2.5m
Warnock £6m
Collins £5m
Dunne £6m

His total spending at Villa is around £118m hardly worth getting in a strop about when the board want to get some of that money back.

Just Nickey Shorey but Milner is expected to go and so is Ashley Young

Why are all these Toon fans so bitterly anti-O'Neill and anti-Villa? Is it because Milner saw Villa as a better bet than you? You saw fit to loan him to us, and to agree to sell him and then renege at literally the last minute. Or is it because Villa Park was where you went down in disgrace, while disrespecting the farewell of model pro Martin Laursen?

My mate reckons we could give Shearer a try, but I think taking one team down at Villa Park should be enough for anybody.

As for whingeing (the actual spelling), we'll all know what that sounds like when you're scrapping for dear life to keep your blubbing heads above Blackpool

Hotts, meet Cuban, who is a mate of mine

Cuban, meet Hotts who is a right-on liberal wikipedia addict

You two will get on like a house on fire

I quite like MON. I wanted him when we went and got Big Sam instead

I don't begrudge Milner leaving for Villa either. It could have been interesting to see what would have happened had he stuck it out though.

Why are all these Toon fans so bitterly anti-O'Neill and anti-Villa? Is it because Milner saw Villa as a better bet than you? You saw fit to loan him to us, and to agree to sell him and then renege at literally the last minute. Or is it because Villa Park was where you went down in disgrace, while disrespecting the farewell of model pro Martin Laursen?

My mate reckons we could give Shearer a try, but I think taking one team down at Villa Park should be enough for anybody.

As for whingeing (the actual spelling), we'll all know what that sounds like when you're scrapping for dear life to keep your blubbing heads above Blackpool

Hotts, meet Cuban, who is a mate of mine

Cuban, meet Hotts who is a right-on liberal wikipedia addict

You two will get on like a house on fire

I'm certainly not a liberal

Marxist?

More like it.

Schadenfreude has a habit of biting you on the backside but I don’t think that anyone present at Villa Park that fateful day in May 2009 won’t be absolutely laughing their proverbial cocks off at the goings on in Britain’s second (in terms of size, somewhere just outside the top 40 in terms of desirability) city in the past couple of days. O’Neill has had enough of keeping a straight face whilst extracting £30m for the likes of Milner and Barry and has done away just days before the start of the season. I enjoyed a wry smile as Britain’s most fickle support (season ticket sales down 40% already this season even ahead of this comedy aberration) fought back the tears on the radio predicting a rapid descent with Bob ‘The Builder’ Bradley being lined up as a replacement. Sob on the Tyne? I nearly cried laughing. Brilliant start to the new season.
****************************

O'NEILL QUITS VILLA AS CHAIRMAN SIGNS SUBBUTEO FIGURES

MARTIN O'Neill has quit as manager of Aston Villa after being asked to mould a trophy winning team out of tiny plastic figures who have to be flicked around the pitch.

Villa owner Randy Lerner told O'Neill that there was no money for new signings but that he had picked up the 1994 Brazil squad on Amazon for £14.99.

O'Neill said: "I was excited at first, though I was concerned that perhaps Bebeto and Romario would be past their best.

"But my fears were entirely misplaced because they turned out to be 12mm high and glued to a little rounded base."

He added: "That said, some of these little plastic fellas are not bad, but in order for them to play to their full potential you would need someone who is really good at Subbuteo and the club just can't afford that."

Cash-strapped Villa is set to lose all its star players, as well as its squad players, utility players, reserve players and a really nice lamp from reception.

Meanwhile, local fork lift truck hire firm Uperlif has confirmed interest in the letters 's' and 't' from the club's name.

Lerner said: "For £14.99 I would have been insane not to snap them up.

"World cup winners, still in excellent condition, though the goalkeeper has recently been glued back onto his little stick and I'm just not sure if that's going it work.

"I've also asked the FA to consider changing the size of the regulation football. My new Aon Villa squad is world class but they do need to play with a ball that is roughly the same size as they are."

Left wing crypto-fascist

True Faith's comment on the O'Neill business