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Aston Villa's English revolution: O'Neill out to storm top four with a squad full of the finest homegrown talent
by NEIL MOXLEY
Last updated at 12:36 AM on 05th August 2009
Home rule: Villa could put out 10 English players, including Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young (above), but who will exciting teenager Fabian Delph (below) dislodge from this side?
When Martin O'Neill was passed over for the top job at Soho Square, he didn't bear a grudge. He simply used Aston Villa to build his own England team.
Never mind that the Irish manager lost out in the race to succeed Steve McClaren in 2007. Perhaps his preparation for that FA interview afforded him rare insight.
Fabian Delph's £7million move from Leeds United makes the teenager the 14th player qualified to wear the Three Lions to be signed by O'Neill for Villa. Out of 22 players to have joined since O'Neill succeeded David O'Leary three years ago, only eight are not eligible to play for the country they use as their professional base.
O'Neill's investment in home-grown talent stands at £82.9m, three times the cash he has splashed abroad.
Of course, the trend over the past decade has been to cherry-pick the best talent from overseas.
Arsene Wenger has plucked unknowns from France. Jose Mourinho used a core of Portuguese players to stunning effect at Chelsea. Rafael Benitez headed to Spain for vital components in Liverpool's title chase. And Sir Alex Ferguson has used Manchester United's worldwide web of scouts to his best advantage.
That is not - and is never likely to be - O'Neill's way. 'There is a perception that there aren't any young English players about,' he said. 'I believe that there are.'
Three months ago, at a League Managers' Association dinner, O'Neill took part in a question-and-answer session alongside Tony Mowbray, then at West Bromwich, and Wolves' Mick McCarthy. They were each were asked to explain their approach to the game.
Mowbray has a wonderfully lyrical manner. He painted a beautiful picture of sweat-soaked players glorying in the camaraderie of a hard-earned victory after a week's preparation. He received a round of applause and passed on the microphone to O'Neill.
'Er, my approach,' said Villa's boss. 'Well...my approach...I'm a football manager and I'm paid to win matches.' And with that, he passed the microphone to McCarthy.
It is not just O'Neill's contrary nature that has seen him shy away from a more typical approach to the transfer market, though. Scratch the surface and the arguments for staying at home make sense.
O'Neill's pro-English policy has been evident for some time. But to understand his reasons, it is important to grasp the central tenet of his philosophy and that of Brian Clough, his tutor during his playing days.
Passionate: Martin O'Neill
It has little or nothing to do with protecting home talent. Rather, students of O'Neill's career will know that there is a pattern to his purchases. Clough was never a man to complicate matters. Neither is O'Neill. Clough trusted what he saw and so does O'Neill.
The Villa boss was a visitor to Vicarage Road on more than one occasion to see Ashley Young play. Then Villa faced Watford and Young starred. Months later, in January 2007, the current PFA young player of the year became a Villa man for a £9.65m fee that now looks cheap at twice the price.
It was a similar story with Steve Sidwell. O'Neill's first Villa home game pitted his side against Reading. The former Arsenal trainee gave a powerful display in a losing side, but O'Neill was beaten to the midfielder's signature by Mourinho and Chelsea. He finally snared his man a year later.
O'Neill was in attendance, too, to see James Milner's spectacular display for Newcastle against Coventry 11 months ago. O'Neill knew all about the England Under 21 forward, of course, having tried to sign him for £3m in 2006. But that evening at the Ricoh Arena reinforced his opinion.
That is not to say O'Neill refuses to gamble on foreigners, provided he knows their games inside out first. Stiliyan Petrov was his first Villa capture from Celtic for £7m. John Carew would have been well known following his exploits in Europe when the 57-year-old O'Neill was in charge at Parkhead. And O'Neill would have had enough contacts in Scotland to receive sufficient reports on Carlos Cuellar.
However, it remains O'Neill's belief that home players are more consistent. They understand the demands. They will turn in consistent effort. For all that he is adored by the Holte End, Carew's inability to produce on a regular basis has driven his manager to distraction.
There are two other points worth mentioning. O'Neill was pleased Villa's rise enabled Gareth Barry to be recalled to the international fold following Sven Goran Eriksson's snub of the midfielder.
And those domestically reared players know that if they perform there is every chance that they will play week in, week out. After all, Clough did not rotate his double European Cup-winning side.
'I have gone down a particular route, to bring in English players,' said the Villa boss last season.
'We do have a good number here, when it is being said that others don't. I don't see any reason why they cannot progress here. It's only a year since Fabio Capello put five of them in his initial squad of 30.
'Being here has given them a better chance of playing for England because we have that core of English players.'
With FIFA president Sepp Blatter determined to push through a rule whereby six of the starting XI must be eligible to play for the nation of the host league, perhaps O'Neill is ahead of the game in cornering the market in England's best young players.
Whatever the reasons, Capello might have cause to be grateful. West Ham were credited with 'winning the World Cup' in 1966. Will Aston Villa be making that boast in 2010?
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1204351/Aston-Villas-English-revolution-ONeill-storm-squad-finest-homegrown-talent.html#ixzz0NGmbSzRR
by NEIL MOXLEY
Last updated at 12:36 AM on 05th August 2009
Home rule: Villa could put out 10 English players, including Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young (above), but who will exciting teenager Fabian Delph (below) dislodge from this side?When Martin O'Neill was passed over for the top job at Soho Square, he didn't bear a grudge. He simply used Aston Villa to build his own England team.
Never mind that the Irish manager lost out in the race to succeed Steve McClaren in 2007. Perhaps his preparation for that FA interview afforded him rare insight.
Fabian Delph's £7million move from Leeds United makes the teenager the 14th player qualified to wear the Three Lions to be signed by O'Neill for Villa. Out of 22 players to have joined since O'Neill succeeded David O'Leary three years ago, only eight are not eligible to play for the country they use as their professional base.
O'Neill's investment in home-grown talent stands at £82.9m, three times the cash he has splashed abroad.
Of course, the trend over the past decade has been to cherry-pick the best talent from overseas.
Arsene Wenger has plucked unknowns from France. Jose Mourinho used a core of Portuguese players to stunning effect at Chelsea. Rafael Benitez headed to Spain for vital components in Liverpool's title chase. And Sir Alex Ferguson has used Manchester United's worldwide web of scouts to his best advantage.
That is not - and is never likely to be - O'Neill's way. 'There is a perception that there aren't any young English players about,' he said. 'I believe that there are.'
Three months ago, at a League Managers' Association dinner, O'Neill took part in a question-and-answer session alongside Tony Mowbray, then at West Bromwich, and Wolves' Mick McCarthy. They were each were asked to explain their approach to the game.
Mowbray has a wonderfully lyrical manner. He painted a beautiful picture of sweat-soaked players glorying in the camaraderie of a hard-earned victory after a week's preparation. He received a round of applause and passed on the microphone to O'Neill.
'Er, my approach,' said Villa's boss. 'Well...my approach...I'm a football manager and I'm paid to win matches.' And with that, he passed the microphone to McCarthy.
It is not just O'Neill's contrary nature that has seen him shy away from a more typical approach to the transfer market, though. Scratch the surface and the arguments for staying at home make sense.
O'Neill's pro-English policy has been evident for some time. But to understand his reasons, it is important to grasp the central tenet of his philosophy and that of Brian Clough, his tutor during his playing days.
Passionate: Martin O'NeillIt has little or nothing to do with protecting home talent. Rather, students of O'Neill's career will know that there is a pattern to his purchases. Clough was never a man to complicate matters. Neither is O'Neill. Clough trusted what he saw and so does O'Neill.
The Villa boss was a visitor to Vicarage Road on more than one occasion to see Ashley Young play. Then Villa faced Watford and Young starred. Months later, in January 2007, the current PFA young player of the year became a Villa man for a £9.65m fee that now looks cheap at twice the price.
It was a similar story with Steve Sidwell. O'Neill's first Villa home game pitted his side against Reading. The former Arsenal trainee gave a powerful display in a losing side, but O'Neill was beaten to the midfielder's signature by Mourinho and Chelsea. He finally snared his man a year later.
O'Neill was in attendance, too, to see James Milner's spectacular display for Newcastle against Coventry 11 months ago. O'Neill knew all about the England Under 21 forward, of course, having tried to sign him for £3m in 2006. But that evening at the Ricoh Arena reinforced his opinion.
That is not to say O'Neill refuses to gamble on foreigners, provided he knows their games inside out first. Stiliyan Petrov was his first Villa capture from Celtic for £7m. John Carew would have been well known following his exploits in Europe when the 57-year-old O'Neill was in charge at Parkhead. And O'Neill would have had enough contacts in Scotland to receive sufficient reports on Carlos Cuellar.
However, it remains O'Neill's belief that home players are more consistent. They understand the demands. They will turn in consistent effort. For all that he is adored by the Holte End, Carew's inability to produce on a regular basis has driven his manager to distraction.
There are two other points worth mentioning. O'Neill was pleased Villa's rise enabled Gareth Barry to be recalled to the international fold following Sven Goran Eriksson's snub of the midfielder.
And those domestically reared players know that if they perform there is every chance that they will play week in, week out. After all, Clough did not rotate his double European Cup-winning side.
'I have gone down a particular route, to bring in English players,' said the Villa boss last season.
'We do have a good number here, when it is being said that others don't. I don't see any reason why they cannot progress here. It's only a year since Fabio Capello put five of them in his initial squad of 30.
'Being here has given them a better chance of playing for England because we have that core of English players.'
With FIFA president Sepp Blatter determined to push through a rule whereby six of the starting XI must be eligible to play for the nation of the host league, perhaps O'Neill is ahead of the game in cornering the market in England's best young players.
Whatever the reasons, Capello might have cause to be grateful. West Ham were credited with 'winning the World Cup' in 1966. Will Aston Villa be making that boast in 2010?
Enlarge
More...
- Aston Villa buck trend as £8m Leeds starlet Fabian Delph signs
- He is a Fab new signing for O'Neill, but who is £8m Villa capture Fabian Delph?
- Martin O'Neill plots to lure galactico Wesley Sneijder to Villa Park
- ASTON VILLA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NET
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1204351/Aston-Villas-English-revolution-ONeill-storm-squad-finest-homegrown-talent.html#ixzz0NGmbSzRR
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