O'NOeill !
Posted by Kev in Newcastle | 16 March 2006
Now before I tell u of this World Exclusive, brought to you by Real Life News, I would like to remind you we are not a gossip column, but this could be the answer to the new man who will take the hotseat at the realm of St James' Park, and quite frankly, I am not too happy!
I have it under great authority that former Leicester City and Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has bought a house in Hexham, Northumberland - a half an hour drive from the Toon. Now, it could just be that he fancies a house in the North of England and seen Hexham as the ideal spot - but this is unlikely.
However, as he is a life-long fan of S*NDERLAND maybe he is planning to take the job at the Stadium of Light - again this is unlikely, as they would fail to attract someone with the reputation of O'Neill. But to be honest, he isn't a manager I admire.
I do not like his style of play, as he plays unattractive football, and that would not go down well with the Geordie faithful - hence why we don't want Big Sam. Another reason is for the players he would bring in. Now I don't think the guy is daft enough to bring players like Neil Lennon in, but I honestly believe we would have a midfield of Amdy Faye's - tought but not technical.
Maybe I'm being too harsh, but people refer to his time at Celtic and winning so many trophies - but lets face it Graeme Souness did it with Rangers, and he couldn't do it here.
When you have managers like Ottmar Hitzfield and Guus Hiddink out there willing to come to St James' Park, I don't see why we would want Martin O'Neill - do you?
Comments
wise up 2 urself o'neills da best manager in britian
If you donŽt want OŽneil you are in a minority of one as he is simply the best man motivator we have ever come across . In his years at Celtic we played the best football sibce the Jock Stein years-if you are lucky enough to get OŽneil-jump at the chance and you can thank me later
martin o'neill took celtic to european final knocking out 2 teams from the so called best league in europe on the way newcastle's problem is they have crap players
what a load of bull, apart from anything Hiddink isn't willing to come to SJP as he wants to concentrate on the international side. Hiddink has acctually said he doesnt want to come! Hitzfeld has said nothing, either one way or the other but rumours are he wants to stay on the continent.
A lot of people in the game respect O'Neill and think he's a top manager and I think this article's writer should stop whinging over nowt.
The reason Souness won so many trophies, is simply Celtic were a piss poor outfit.
The family dynasties were lining their own pockets.
Celtic should have had Trialist on the back of every shirt.
When MON took celtic to a treble
and the Uefa cup final, Rangers had already spent more money than any team in Scotland.
12 Mil. for Flo?
I hope MON gets the England job, I would hate to see Petrov, Maloney, Marshall, etc
leave the club.
I think they would if MON asked them to.
Never compare Souness with MON!
I completly agree with what you say in the article martin o neill dosent have the track record to come to the toon and plays boring football i feel hiddink or hitzfeld would be a far better appointment and have far more experience which is just what we need
Martin O'Neil purchased a house in Hexham ages ago for the reason that his wife has been very ill (the well publicised reason he left Celtic) and is based in the hospital there!
You guys down south do not have a clue! MON is one of the best man managers and motivators in the UK. At Leicester his team was pretty poor due to a lack of funds yet he took them to a top six finish and into Europe - with the likes of Heskey up front. What happened to Heskey's career at Liverpool under Houllier and at Birminghan under Bruce - exactly! At Celtic he completely turned things around - not only the fortunes of the team but the fortunes of numerous players. The football was a joy to watch initially but when we started to dominate the Scottish game teams simply lined up with 10 defenders - not exactly the makings for attractive football. So I would say to every Newcastle fan out there - if you have the chance to sign MON - grab it. The likes of Hitzfield and Hiddink are past it and would view it as a golden pension. Hail Hail.
Hiddink willing to go to newcastle?that'll be the same Guus Hiddink that's just said he'd take the Russia job ahead of the ing-er-lund one?don't think so. like the man said:the reason yous are crap is cos you have crap players. and by the way i've always had a soft spot for newcastle so i'm not rubbing it in.getting rid off the beast was a step in the right direction.MON would be another.
I think he is a great manager
but I think any manager that comes to nufc must be given time.
Then again are you sure he wants to come. I would think twice looking at what happened to the other 9 managers in the last 5 years.
Dont like the 'supposed' style of football he plays. How many trophies did Ruud 'sexy football' Gullit win for NUFC
The fact that MON won more trophies in the years he was with Leicester than NUFC have won in the last 50 years says it all.
KEV Says: So did Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness that doesn't say much does it?
its comments like this that make me ashamed to be a geordie,MON is the best man manager there is,in the mould of Mr Clough,who would you rather have ffs sven
apparantly o'neill bought this house a few months ago now
its true about the house, what gets skipped over is that o'neills wife has been recieving treatment in newcastle general for months now..
Absurd - we can start at the end and work backwards. Literally.
Hiddink and Hitzfeld have all but ruled themselves out of the job in the first place, with Hitzfeld being "flattered, but no thanks" and Hiddink stating clearly if no offer came in from England or Russia, he'd keep doing what he's doing with PSV, as he isn't sure he's done all he can there.
Regarding Martin O'Neill, I'm not entirely sure what level of Brazillian-esque football you expect Leicester City or Wycombe Wanderers to play, but given the expectancies of those clubs - he took Wycombe to what is now League 1 and Leicester to a League Cup victory over Middlesborough and 6th place in the Premiership - you could say he has done pretty well. Why must a manager have a trophy list as long as his arm to be considered 'good'? Surely being a capable manager requires more than just winning a trophy, including PR, keeping players happy, working to a budget and getting results however you can. Is Otto Rehagel a crap manager because Greece, with their plethora of outstanding talent (!), couldn't out-pass the Czech Republic on their way to Euro '04 success?!
Aside from all of this, we're ONLY Newcastle United. Yes, I know, this is one helluva shock for some of you, but I'm afraid that the facts are we haven't won an English trophy since 1955, haven't won a league title since the late 20's but still base everything on the fact that we were the 'entertainers'!! It absolutely baffles me that this club can emerge from the near-death of Graeme Souness and have the downright arrogance to say "O'Neill isn't good enough". A decent, honest, hard-working family man, with a handful of trophies and one of the biggest reputations in British football ISN'T good enough for a team who boast Robbie Elliott, Peter Ramage, Shola Ameobi and Amady Faye? A team with Shepherd as a chairman? A team with a recent 14th placed finish to their credit?!
Wake up, please. If it ISN'T O'Neill, might I suggest you can get a whole lot more disappointed than you (bafflingly) already are.
O'Neill is not the man for Newcastle, his style of football is all about tough tackling,long ball and a target man. No matter what any Celtic fans tell you he turned an exciting footballing team into a negative team that no neutral would watch, yes they won trophies in Scotland and got to UEFA Cup Final but take away Larsson and they wouldn't have done anything and Larsson was already their. O'Neill signs players who are past their best and doesn't give youth a chance.
Look at the mess he left Strachan!!!
If O'Neill comes to the Toon he will destroy them.
You should research your facts B4 making comment, Souness was arguably one of the highest qualified managers ( winning cups )at Newcastle. Just WHAT has MON won ???? Also against WHAT opposition ???? A two horse race at best, and please do not bring Leicester into the argument. I do not understand why there is ANY call for MON to be the next Newcastle manager, he is not as qualified as Souness and look what happened when he was in charge.
There is ONLY one outstanding candidadte, he is OTTMAR HITZFELD, just look at what he has achieved, there really is no comparison, I am sure you would agree. People who consider MON honestly do not know that they do not know, about HITZFELD. Do a little research and yuo will see there is only one for the job, IF HE WOULD COME TO THE TOON.
martin o'neill had too little to work with at Celtic and achieved so much when Rangers had invested heavily but never really achieved anything during O Neill's time at Celtic. He doesn't have an attractive style of play but has a very efficient style which is required to win trophies. Also it would be interesting to see him come up against Mourinho again
Typical narrow-mindedness from a supporter of a mid-league team in the 'best league in the world!' MON is the best thing that happened to Celtic. He changed the style of football yes - to a winning style. He is a super-intelligent, gifted, talismanic tactitian of a manager and could also change any team in the world, I reckon, from a losing (NUFC) side to a winning (CFC) side. You ask any of the 100,000 or so Celtic fans and I garauntee a 100% confirmation of all of these points. You should feel honoured if he even considers it. Which he won't. He can pick his next appointment anywhere in the world, that's how good he is.
I have to say, Martin O'Neill would be my top choice by far. He has a proven record in England and Scotland and although gets the usual "Well anyone can win in Scotland" commments, can i just point out he didn't just win in Scotland, he came in and toppled Rangers who had won the title 10 times out of the last 11 or something like that. He went on to break all sorts of points records and still so after Larsson left. I agree Hiddink and Hitzfeld are good options, but feel they are getting overhyped due to their track records and too many people are jumping on the bandwagon without actually looking into it. How many people who are backing Hitzfeld actually watched his sides play week in week out when he was a manager?! Santini came into Spurs winning trophies for France, look what he did. Its all well and good getting a manager that has won European Trophies. But Newcastle aren't in Europe and are well off the pace of Champions League contention. Martin O'Neill would come in and take this club forward like he has with all his previous (Wycombe promoted straight away, Leicester promoted straight away and won cup, and Celtic he absolutely destroyed Rangers grip on the SPL.) I think the comment that he plays unattractive football is unfair, as all his sides i have seen play good passing football, which is the basis for attractive attacking football. I think he's the best bet, and we should do all we can to get him...
I'm really not so sure about O'Neil's credentials for the job. On the one hand, he is an outstanding motivator. But it takes more than just motivation to win games. On the other hand, who if not him? No one else in their right mind would come to us.
On a separate note, am I the only person to object to Neil Crossley's comment? Yes, insult the others as much as you want, but Ramage is a quality young player (disregarding saturday).
Arty....you're bang on mate!! Hitzfeld has the best record of all the managers linked to the Toon job. And all his successes have come in leagues very similar to the English style of play (Germany, and not the flair/sluggishness of Spanish/Italian football). O'Neill has done great in Scotland for Celtic, but get real boys....it's the Mickey Mouse league!! As it's been said above, Souness did it up there, and how he failed in England! Down here he took Blackburn to the doldrums and then almost did the same to us! I think O'Neill wouldnt be as bad as GS, but he certainly wouldnt do better than mid-table - and we need better than that. For all I would LOVE Hitzfeld to come to Newcastle though, it looks like that deal's dead in the water.
I hear rumours that Houllier would love to return to England though, and I think Newcastle would be a great place for him. Suited to the league, and regarded as a great manager. He's straight talking, and if anything, he would be able to pursuade Owen to stay longer! I fully understand we arent the "great" team every Toon fan likes to think, but we deserve better than O'Neill. I would love to say that England can have him, but I dont want them to go down the pan either! Nuff said!
Well he seems to be doing pretty well for us Villa boys? Do you regret not getting him now?
