Aston Villa will take on Nottingham Forest in the Championship on Wednesday night.
BBC Sport pundit Garry Thompson has honestly stated that he can ‘never forgive’ Martin O’Neill for the manner in which he left Aston Villa in 2010.
O’Neill’s Nottingham Forest will take on his former club in the Championship on Wednesday night, nearly nine years after he left his then-Premier League post days before the season opener against West Ham.
During his time at the club, O’Neill guided the team to three top-six finishes, a League Cup final, UEFA Cup football and an FA Cup semi-final.
Speaking to the West Midlands Football Phone-in on BBC Radio WM (12/03/2019 18m), former Villa striker Thompson shared his brutally honest views on O’Neill.
“You asked about Martin O’Neill and the feeling, for me, I thought he did a decent job whilst he was here, but the way he left has soured the whole thing for me,” Thompson told BBC Radio WM. “I thought because it was premeditated, he waited and waited to cause maximum damage, and for that, I can never forgive him.”
Since O’Neill’s departure, Villa have capitulated in spectacular fashion, having to witness a number of bad seasons under the likes of Alex McLeish and Paul Lambert before suffering their first relegation in nearly three decades in 2016.
The former European champions crumbled under the ownership of Randy Lerner, who made poor boardroom appointments from Paul Faulkner to Tom Fox.
Managers came and went, and players such as Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards ended up being some of the worst signings the club has made in its history as relegation hit Villa six years after O’Neill left Bodymoor Heath.
The Midlands outfit have tried to rebuild since then and will be looking to earn promotion with boyhood Villa fan Dean Smith on the touchline and star man Jack Grealish on the pitch.
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