Martin O’Neill may decide to walk away from management with Aston Villa at the end of the season and is seriously considering his future ahead of a summer summit with US owner Randy Lerner.
O’Neill has reacted to criticisms aimed at him following Villa’s embarrassing 7-1 capitulation against FA Cup semi-final opponents Chelsea amid rumors of a breakdown with Lerner with a clear message that he retains the right to hand in his resignation.
Just days after rumors surfaced on the Internet claiming O’Neill had already walked out on the club, he revealed he has been given total backing by the owner of the NFL Cleveland Browns franchise.
PHOTO: AFP
The Northern Irishman insists there has been “no fall-out” with Lerner — but stopped short of confirming he will stay beyond this season.
The 58-year-old plans to sit down and “assess” everything with Lerner at the end of the campaign.
The former Celtic boss has a 12-month rolling contract with Villa which he “hopes to continue” — but was less forthcoming when asked about his long-term future with the Midlands club.
O’Neill said: “There is not an ounce of truth in the story that I have had a fall-out with Randy Lerner. In fact, he called me earlier in the week to see where these stories were coming from.”
“He was pretty surprised and also very supportive and it was good to hear that. I have been delighted with the investment put into the club. I have been allowed to invest £80 million [US$122 million] on players,” he said.
“If the chairman decided to sell and he has no intention of doing so, then he could get his money back with interest on four or five of those players. It is nonsense to say that I want to walk away now. There is still so much to play for and there is a renewed determination to see it through,” O’Neill said.
“I will assess everything at the end of the season. I will sit down with the chairman and see where we are going. There will be a number of determining factors, the supporters, the chairman who will have a big part in proceedings, and I will also play a part because it is my life,” he said.
O’Neill insists his zest for soccer is as strong as ever as he approaches four years with Villa. And he is refusing to give up on the possibility of Villa claiming a Champions League spot this season as they look to bounce back from the humiliation at Stamford Bridge when they visit Bolton today.
“I won’t need to get a reaction from the players. They will do that for themselves. We don’t have to keep beating ourselves up over that. It was disappointing, but we are still in there trying to get into fourth place,” he said.
O’Neill will check on the fitness of several leading players including Richard Dunne, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew before finalizing his side for the Reebok clash, while Bolton defender Zat Knight says he is seeking revenge on former club this weekend.
Knight will be hoping his side make amends for the 5-1 mauling they received at Villa Park earlier in the season, his first game against his old club since moving to the Reebok.
Owen Coyle’s squad will be looking for points to help them inch further away from the relegation zone.
“Aston Villa battered us at Villa Park. So hopefully we can get three points on Saturday and even things up for me a little bit,” Knight said.
“There are a few of us who feel the same way and we know that we still need the points to make sure we are safe this season,” he said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but