Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill on taking over football's 'impossible job'

Feb 28 2010 by Andy Walker, Sunday Mercury

MARTIN O’Neill has grown used to being tipped to succeed the man who will be in the opposite dugout at Wembley this afternoon.

Dubbed the impossible job, several names have been thrown into the hat over recent years to follow Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

And should O’Neill win the Carling Cup and prevent Ferguson from claiming his 25th trophy with Manchester United, then the Villa boss is sure to be pushed to the front of the queue.

O’Neill’s managerial record with Leicester, Celtic and Villa has earned him a reputation as one of the best in the business.

But he is not getting carried away with speculation linking him to the top job in British club football.

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“I reckon that it will be in about the year 2030 when Sir Alex Ferguson decides, ‘Yeah, I think that Champions League has just gone past me the final time’.

‘‘I’ll have departed this earth long before him because I have a lot more worries than Alex Ferguson,” joked the Villa boss.

“I’ve never thought about that (succeeding Ferguson) at all. It has never bothered me.

There is always somebody’s name coming up. Somebody who is relevant at the time and it is always there. I never pay any attention to it, I genuinely don’t.

“I enjoy my job here and for us to win a couple of competitions and get qualification to the Champions League is what it is all about for us.

“Is it impossible for anyone to succeed Sir Alex? Absolutely right. But what can you do, he’s just won it ten times.”

O’Neill, with the investment of American owner Randy Lerner, has slowly but surely built Villa into a powerful Premier League force.