Villa Chairman Says MON Is ‘Fantastic’

In a final set of comments from Randy Lerner he says he is happy with the progress made by the club since he bought it and adds that Martin O’Neill has been ‘fantastic.’

He said on our progress,

‘We are doing okay. There are any number of initiatives from the beginning, some of which have been met, some of which have been put off and some of which went away and new ones have appeared. In my mind we are doing well on certain areas of the plans like upgrading infrastructure, finishing building at the training ground, upgrading some of the hospitality, bringing in new players. You want to do more as you get into it and those start to become the new plans.’

‘But if someone said when I arrived that we would have two successive top six finishes and done the work we have behind the scenes, I would have been delighted.’

And on the manager: ‘Am I confident of keeping Martin O’Neill? I am long term even if a big job came up. I think Martin has bought into the club. I think he has emotionally invested. He has bought into me and my ambitions to some extent.’

Adding on the official site: ‘He’s been fantastic. I think Martin has bought into the club. He has emotionally invested and I think it suits the way he is wired. We’ve improved steadily and we have qualified for Europe two years in a row.’