The Villa board is unhappy and so are the players and fans. Martin O’ Neill’s move to walk out of his job days before the start of the season will be an infamous moment in his career. And fans have long memories – this will not be easy to live down.
An ex Marine general, Charles C Krulak, serving as Randy Lerner’s right hand man on the board criticized O’ Neill as putting himself above the club.
“No one person is bigger than our club. Not Randy, not Paul Faulkner, not Martin and not me,” Krulak said. “What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact.”
A bit of the Marine comes out in the general.
“He knew full well about the need to bring wages in line with revenue, the same as every Premier League club. He was absolutely supported by the owner during his time. All one needs to do is look at the money spent. The reality is that the wage-to-revenue issue was not addressed and Martin apparently was unwilling to help address it. He quit.”
Curtis Davies, Villa’s central defender on the coach’s departure:

“It is not an ideal situation four days before the season, not to have a manager,” he said.
A sampling of fan comments show that this decision is not sitting well with them either: Below is a typical reaction.
” I’m just angry O’Neill has quit five days before first day of the season. Thanks a lot. I appreciate what he has done in his four years as manager but I believe it was time for him to go.”