For many, the exit of Martin O’Neill as Aston Villa manager at the beginning of the previous season was the prime reason for their decline. When O’Neill took over for the 2006/07 campaign, Villa had finished a lowly 16th the year before under David O’Leary, managing only 42 points. In his first season in charge, O’Neill took his new club up to 11th, before three straight seasons of 6th placed finishes, bringing European football and a renewed sense of optimism to Villa Park.
At the time, many saw Villa as a side that could potentially break into the top four and potentially earn a Champions League spot, finishing successively closer each season, despite being behind Everton. The emergence of a strong core of English stars like James Milner, Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Luke Young, Stewart Downing, and Stephen Warnock, along with important contributions from Martin Laursen, Brad Friedel, Stiliyan Petrov, and others. But the worrying trend has been their tendency to sell their best players, rather than try and fight off interest- Barry, Milner, Young, Friedel, and most recently Downing have all exited for bigger paychecks and declared higher ambitions.
Aston Villa Begin The Rebuilding Process Under McLeish
