Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: Mike Field 
Date:Wednesday May 12 2010
Time: 4:17PM
UK time is: 14:07:46
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Lerner Surprised By O'Neill Exit Rumours
Chairman Randy Lerner has admitted he was bemused by all the speculation surrounding Martin O'Neill as the season drew to a close.
Speaking on the Official Site Randy confirmed that O'Neill was to be our manager for next season and described the speculation surrounding his exit as 'bizarre'.
'The thing I want to get clear is that Martin will be back next season.'
Before confirming that they had been talking to each other on a number of occasions both in person and via the phone, and in the most recent meeting yesterday, Lerner actually pulled O'Neill out of a series of meetings he was having with club staff to discuss the direction next season.
'We feel very good about it. In basic terms, it represents continuity and clarity for players.'
Which it's hard to fault the logic of, nobody wants a return to the manager merry-go-round we were used to in years past and for players like Gabby, Ash, and Milner they will no doubt be pleased with the confirmation that Monny is staying and that they'll be able to continue their progress.
On the issue specifically of the speculation that developed a life of its own, he added:
'I'd been in contact with Martin and we were saying to each other 'What's going on? It was bizarre. I was surprised by the viral effect that it had.'
So there we have it, people will see from the forums that fans remain torn by this, especially the news that Luke Young may have been listed but there are no doubts the club has improved over the seasons and we all have different ideas on the 'strength' of the problems we all see ie subs, no plan B etc etc.
Whether those can be rectified this season only time will tell, but we'd all live in hope that they can be, because again 'last season' it was more than possible for us to have grabbed that Top 4 but we let it slip for one reason or another.
Next season let's hope we don't.
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Your Comments
good news i think.
A decent run in the Europa will give MON the chance to look at other players/options - but he must play players who perform in this competition - and drop players who don't (from League fixtures) Else where is the incentive? How do we progress and become less predicatble to inferior opposition?
surely MON will learn and not just pick his mates again and again - almost regardless of performance?
Gordon's Alive
They have done what most of us were asking for, clarified the situation very quickly. So ok, moving on. Lets hope for a good summer of purchases and some lessons learnt from the frustrations many fans and a few of the players seem to feel. The right addition or two and things could 'click' !
The Fear
I was pinning my hopes on O'Neill leaving this summer. Apparently he isn't. Wake me up at the end of next season.
Albarnista
You're on your own Albarnista don't you think that if MON left so would milner and young?, I couldn't be more pleased that MON is staying, I'm taking a guess that transfer funds were talked about and that hopefully deals can be done early, this is the fifth year of a 5 year plan, I'm feeling confident.
claretandbluearmy
I'd rather you just stayed asleep, Albie ... :o)
BobTheBuilder
Great news to me... "They have done what most of us were asking for, clarified the situation very quickly"... Disagree Fear, MON could have just laughed and said "it's utter rubbish" in the first place, which would have quelled the whole thing imo.
badger0-0
The sooner this blows over the better.
And then i'd like to hope that MON really goes for it this summer.
A bid for at least 1 luxury player would make me happy, a Van der Vaart or a Benzema, who look as though they could be available for cut prices.
Van der Vaart for around 7 million would be amazing, thats seems to be around the rumoured price at the moment.
A right-back, an experienced centre midfielder as back up or possibly to challenge for a start, and a really decent striker would make me happy.
Callum_ws
not looking forward to another season of predictable formations, no plan B, no subs etc but agree the alternatives aren't exactly exciting either and at least this maximises the time available to build in the summer (as long as MON doesn't bugger off on hols again - go after you've sorted stuff out Martin so that you don't mess up pre season). I'm hoping the listed players are speculation only though, young, davies, shorey and NRC would be further down the list than a fair few others (some of whom have been playing week in week out) for me and if they all go we'll be looking for like for like replacements or having a threadbare squad again.
AVbornandbred
Great news, hopefully we can get deals tied up a bit earlier this summer, though with the World Cup I doubt it. Anyone know if he's part of the BBC team? Always entertaining when he's on board.
SchoolBoyError
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