Martin O’Neill surprisingly quit as manager of Aston Villa on Monday, just five days before the start of the Premier League season.
Although Villa gave no reason for the sudden departure, O’Neill has been frustrated in recent weeks by the potential sale of key players James Milner and Ashley Young — having lost midfielder Gareth Barry the previous year without being able to secure a high-profile replacement.
“It definitely was a bit of a surprise,” said Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who is in the US ahead of a friendly with Brazil. “I spoke to some of the guys on the team, and from what they said, he left training this morning and obviously made an announcement this afternoon.”
PHOTO: EPA
“I’m not sure [why]. We’ve got to find a way to move forward and get ready for the start of the season,” he said.
Last season, Villa finished sixth for the third year in a row, and O’Neill has been widely credited for making the club a solid contender for European competition spots since replacing David O’Leary in 2006 after a year’s break from the game.
However, the club has failed to break into the top four of the Premier League, and O’Neill has reportedly been at odds with US owner Randy Lerner over a perceived lack of financial backing needed to make the club a Champions League contender.
“I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely,” the 58-year-old O’Neill said in a brief statement on the club Web site. “It’s obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club.”
After talks in May, Lerner had convinced O’Neill to stay at the club after weeks of speculation that the former Celtic and Leicester manager might leave. Now Lerner is searching for a replacement, with reserve team manager Kevin MacDonald in temporary charge as Villa prepare to host West Ham on Saturday in their Premier League opener.
“The club would like to thank Martin for the great work he has done at Aston Villa over the past four years,” Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said. “He has helped to establish the club in the upper echelons of the Premier League, has taken us to Wembley and we have also qualified for European competition for the past three seasons under his management.”
US coach Bob Bradley has already been linked with the job. His representatives last month discussed him potentially taking the Fulham job, which went to Mark Hughes.
“I’ve said over and over as well that [I’m] always excited about new and different challenges,” Bradley said on Monday. “Certainly coaching in Europe at some point is something that I would love to do ... People spoke to Fulham on my behalf. I did not actually speak to anyone at Fulham.”
Guzan certainly believes that Bradley is up to the job of coaching a non-US team for the first time.
“He’s obviously a good manager,” Guzan said. “When you’re at that level and you’ve put in good performances it’s going to go noticed by big clubs all around the world.”
“And so for him, obviously I’m sure he’s honored by being put in the mix,” he said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB