"Mr O'Neill, I think you look like an old Harry Potter"
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Villa boss O'Neill will be hailed a true magician if his Russian gamble comes off
Martin O'Neill... Harry Potter...
Right, before we get into the serious business, let's start with a funny.
Picture the scene: Martin O'Neill hosting his official press conference for the Russian press ahead of the UEFA Cup tie in Moscow.
The Aston Villa boss has charmed his way around the room, as usual, before one intrepid reporter raises his hand.
'Mr O'Neill, I think you look like an old Harry Potter, have you got some magic up your sleeve for the game?'
Cue the sound of jaws dropping among the English contingent who are secretly thinking: 'This is going to be good.'
The Irishman turns to Luke Young who is on the podium next to him and says: 'What did he call me?'
'Er, I think he said you looked like Harry Potter, boss...'
How Young kept a straight face, I'll never know. He probably wanted to stay in a job, that would be it. Fantastic moment.Fair play to the Russian who was then accused, in a very pleasant, Martin-O'Neill-type-of-way of being hideously ugly.
A poll on a website has split Villa's support - half in favour, half against the decision by O'Neill to leave eight of his regular first-teamers at home.
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he lost against CSKA moscow
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he want to concentrate on epl. think like that better also. since now arsenal abit lost, best time to gain points in epl.
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O'Neill is a good manager, needs a better team.
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He sent a reserved team to play both matches, just like Spurs... I guess the Uefa cup isn't as important to these 2 premiership clubs... Only City find the Uefa cup important cos they got nothing to play for... lol... Villa got a 4th spot to fight for and Spurs got a Carling cup final on Sunday...
Another thing is, the money for winning the Uefa cup is also very little... Villa got a chance to get 4th and CL qualification means a guaranteed minimum sum of $10m to the possibilities of maybe $50m... For Spurs, winning the Carling cup and staying in the Premiership is more important to them than winning this second class cup...