Fan Submission: No to Martin O'Neill

By Parkboy
February 9 2006

Alex Ferguson told his players after the 1999 Champions League triumph that greatness demands two triumphs in the European Cup. In recent history only three managers have pulled off this triumph of the will : Arrigo Sacchi with Milan, Del Bosque with Real Madrid and a certain Ottmar Hitzfled with Dortmund and then Bayern Munich....no mean feat in modern football.

Of course in the past such luminaries and mentally agile football giants as Bob Paisley and Brian Clough have also completed this feat - old Bob won it three times for Liverpool. These are the giddy heights at which first class management ability in all its various guises - from the genius and man management voodoo of Cloughie to the cold tactical awareness of Sacchi is judged. 
 
This if you like is the a la carte menu of footballing delicacy, this is a table that O'Neill has never been near. He is not an aristocrat of the game, he may be a top line motivator and 'make-do', he may well be the man for tough situations, but he hasn't the pedigree or vision to take a club to that next level. Suffice to say, apart from his exploits in the Tier Two SPL he hasn't had a top job. Who you may ask can really say he hasn't got it in him. The answer is that modern football is a mix of science and art, but most importantly it is also a business and we need to go by background and past achievments. Past results are future indicators. On O'Neill most people would agree: 'Solid" but not visionary, not a patch on old Cloughie. 
 
Although O'Neill reached the Uefa cup final in 2003 with a rejuvinated Celtic, that competition is widely accepted as the one for the also rans. To be fair it cannot be igonored that they beat many a good side along the way only losing to the 'gamesmanship' of Porto in the final under the guidance of that modern 'Machiavelli' Mourinho. But it is the likes of Mourinho, that the new Newcastle manager will need to out think and be seen as an equal of, if this confidence  is to filter through to the players. Often the differance between two well matched sides is the  ten minutes with the manager before a big game, if he has the respect and confidence of the players, then shadows are removed from minds. 
 
Of course O'Neill has the charisma and guile of the Irish and these gifts can take you so far, but over the long haul of a Premeirship campaign these things wither in the face of organisation, tactical balance and in depth knowledge of the game. To put it simply you ideally  want the man that has been there and done it. Kevin Keegan failed at the final hurdle not cause  he paid scant attention to the defence as is the common myth (we had the ability to outscore any side in the league at that time), but ultimately because he didn't have the deeper reasonings and answers that players need to see in vital judgement calls. 
 
You have to ask youself whether you want at the helm the man who developed the fiery Effenberger who he bought for a song and worked with Ballack in the key years, or the man who nursed the limited abilities of Guppy, Heskey and Savage. You see there is actually no real choice in the matter, the only thing holding us back is our desire for the best being regiestered and realised. I have seen on many forums the words, "I would like Hitzfeld, but would settle for O'Neill". This in essence is the the truth, some deep fear that our club might not be able to get the best man, almost as if we are already preparing for dissapointment. But this is no reasoning to start building a second tier argument in favour of the weaker applicant. 
 
A mometum is building around the club and its supporters and a vision is coming together. The name of Hitzfeld is now as often discussed as O'Neill when the latter was the clear favourite only a week ago. I too have a vision. The German in the trademark dark coat stalks the technical area, the crowd wait with baited breath at the arrival of the side on the lush green canvas that is SJP. This man has already laid waste much of the old European footballing aristocracy, but that seems like a former life. True leaders embody an element of the immortal, they have a certain presence, aura - call it what you will. The man looks to the sky for intuition, a misty morning has evaporated and strengthened to a Nordic glacial blue. The mythical hunting grounds of the Germans. The Geordie nation is hushed in the realisation that their time has come. 
 
We wait for the one they call, "Mr Trainer". 
 
Parkboy (c) 2006 

 
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