Soccer

Villa appoint O'Neill as manager

Aston Villa have confirmed Martin O'Neill as their new manager.

Fri Aug 04 2006 - 01:00

Aston Villa have confirmed Martin O'Neill as their new manager.

The former Celtic and Leicester boss has been appointed amid the backdrop of a battle for control of the club, with several parties looking to buy out chairman Doug Ellis.

But with the start of the Barclays Premiership season just 15 days away — Villa go to Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium on the opening day — the club have decided they could not afford to leave the decision any later.

O'Neill has been out of football for 15 months, leaving Celtic at the end of the 2004-05 season after five successful years at Parkhead.

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Before moving to Celtic, he spent four and a half seasons with Leicester, who under O'Neill became established as a mid-table Premiership side.

Villa, who sacked David O'Leary on July 19th, aspire to be so stable after a poor 2005-06 season in which they finished 16th.

They see O'Neill as the man to bring success back to Villa Park, after a barren decade since their 1996 League Cup victory.

The 54-year-old has been repeatedly linked with top Premiership jobs since leaving Celtic, however he stood down from the Scottish giants to care for his unwell wife, Geraldine, and has stayed out of football management as a result.

Ellis quickly made contact with O'Neill once it became clear O'Leary's three-year reign was coming to an end. The Northern Irishman was allowed to mull over the job offer, which came despite their being four consortia vying to take control of the club.

The groups, led by American billionaire Randy Lerner, life-long Villa fan Michael Neville, deputy judge Nicholas Padfield QC and Sven-Goran Eriksson's agent Athole Still, will be happy with O'Neill at the helm.

Having accepted Villa's offer and confirmed his readiness to return to the game, O'Neill should be able to join up with Villa for their three-game pre-season tour of Germany and Holland. The tour begins with a match against Hanover tomorrow.

O'Neill's tried and trusted backroom team of John Robertson — a former team-mate at Nottingham Forest — and Steve Walford will link up with him at Villa.