Martin O'Neill on the Move

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MARTIN O'NEILL LEAVES ASTON VILLA


Aston Villa have been stunned by the news that Martin O'Neill has quit as manager with immediate effect after four years in charge.

O'Neill has resigned only five days before the start of the new Barclays Premier League campaign.

Villa owner Randy Lerner insisted O'Neill had pledged his future to Villa in May after much speculation over whether or not the former Celtic boss would quit.

But O'Neill has now decided to end his reign with reserve team manager Kevin MacDonald taking charge of Saturday's opener with West Ham.

O'Neill said: "I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely. It's obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club.

"I would like to pay tribute to the Villa players, my coaching staff and the Villa supporters for all the support and encouragement they have given both the club and me personally during my time as manager.

"I wish them all the best for the future. I will obviously be assisting the club in the immediate short-term with regard to the handover of my duties."

O'Neill has transformed the fortunes of Villa since replacing David O'Leary during the summer of 2006 with three consecutive top-six placings in the league.

Lerner had backed O'Neill in the transfer market during that spell but it became clear this summer that the funds would not be available to help take Villa on to the next level.

Lerner insisted that Villa would have to adopt a sell-to-buy policy and O'Neill was resigned to losing the services of midfielder James Milner to Manchester City. That followed on from skipper Gareth Barry also moving to Eastlands last year.

A club statement this afternoon said: "Aston Villa can confirm that Martin O'Neill has resigned as manager of the football club with immediate effect.

"Kevin MacDonald, reserve team manager, has assumed the role of caretaker manager and will prepare the team for the opening Barclays Premier League game of the season against West Ham on Saturday at Villa Park."

Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said: "The club would like to thank Martin for the great work he has done at Aston Villa over the past four years.

"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. We wish him the best in the future."

Martin O'Neill factfile:

1952: Born Kilrea in Northern Ireland, March 1.

1971: Makes international debut as a substitute against the USSR. Joins Nottingham Forest from Distillery in October.

1978: Member of Forest's league and League Cup double-winning side.

1979: Wins a second League Cup winner's medal as Forest retain trophy with 3-2 victory over Southampton.

1980: Wins European Cup as Forest beat German champions Hamburg 1-0 in Madrid.

1981: After 285 league appearances for Forest, with 48 goals, joins Norwich in February for the first of two spells as a player at Carrow Road. After 11 league appearances and one goal transfers to Manchester City.

1982: Returns to Norwich in January after playing just 13 league games for City. Makes 55 league appearances, scoring 11 goals.

1983: Returns to Nottingham in August, joining Notts County, making 64 league appearances with five goals.

1984: Wins last of 64 international caps in 2-1 win over Finland.

1990: Appointed manager of non-league Wycombe after spells with Stamford and Shepshed Charterhouse.

1991: Guides Wycombe to victory in the FA Trophy.

1993: Wycombe win GM Vauxhall Conference, securing promotion to the Football League. Clinches another FA Trophy success.

1994: Leads Wycombe to promotion from Division Three at the first attempt.

1995: Becomes manager of Norwich in June.

Resigns on December 17 after a series of clashes with chairman Robert Chase over money for team building. Appointed manager of Leicester on December 21.

1996: Leicester beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Wembley in the First Division play-off final, winning promotion back to the Premiership at first attempt.

1997: Wins Coca-Cola Cup final, beating Middlesbrough in a replay at Hillsborough.

Guides Leicester to ninth-place finish in Premiership.

1998: Finishes 10th in Premiership with the Foxes but O'Neill frequently voices concern over lack of funds.

1999: Leads Leicester to Worthington Cup final, where they are beaten by Tottenham, and to 10th place in the Premiership.

2000: January - Rules himself out of contention for the role as Northern Ireland manager claiming it would be impossible to carry it out on a part-time basis.

February - Leads Leicester to another Worthington Cup win as they defeat Tranmere 2-1 at Wembley.

May - Foxes finish eighth in the Premiership, their highest placing.

June 1 - Becomes Celtic manager.

2001: March - Wins first trophy in Scotland with a 3-0 CIS Insurance Cup final victory over Kilmarnock.

April - Celtic win Scottish Premier League title.

May - Beat Hibernian 3-0 to win Scottish Cup final and complete a domestic treble.

August - Celtic book their place in the Champions League group stages by beating Ajax 3-2 on aggregate.

2002: April - Celtic secure the Scottish Premier League title again with a 5-1 win over Livingston.

May - Celtic beaten in the Scottish Cup final by Rangers.

2003:

January 22 - Signs a new 12-month rolling contract.

March - Beaten 2-1 by Rangers in CIS Cup final at Hampden.

May - Celtic lose 3-2 in extra time to Porto - managed by Jose Mourinho - in UEFA Cup final in Seville.

Celtic lose SPL title to Rangers in thrilling final day.

2004: April 18 - Regains SPL title with 1-0 win at Kilmarnock with six games to spare.

May 22 - Earns second double in four years with 3-1 win over Dunfermline in Scottish Cup final.

July - Delays arrival in America for pre-season trip to care for sick wife, Geraldine.

2005: May 22 - Two late goals see Celtic lose 2-1 at Motherwell - and O'Neill's hopes of a fourth title in five years disappear as Rangers win 1-0 at Hibernian.

May 25 - Club announce O'Neill will step down after Scottish Cup final.

May 28 - Ends career at Celtic with 1-0 win over Dundee United in Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.

July 4 - Confirmed as manager of Aston Villa.

2007: May - Villa finish 11th in Premier League.

Following departure of McClaren rules himself out of England job.

2008: May - Villa finish sixth in Premier League.

2009: May 2 - Villa finish sixth again, a run of nine games without a win costing them Champions League place.

August 27 - Fails to take Villa to the group stages of the Europa League following a 2-2 aggregate draw with Rapid Vienna. Rapid progress on away goals.

2010: February 28 - Reaches his first final with Villa - but they lose the Carling Cup 2-1 to Manchester United.

April 10 - Villa lose 3-0 to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.

May - Villa finish sixth in the Premier League for a third successive year.

August 9 - Villa announce O'Neill has resigned as manager with immediate effect.

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Martin O'Neill for the England Job

I say come back to Wycombe Martin, you were and are, The Best