O'Neill in pledge to Lerner

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has spoken of his desire to repay the trust paid in him from chairman Randy Lerner.

There is no doubt that among the majority of Villa fans, Martin O'Neill was the right man for the job when he was appointed. While that will still be the belief in many cases, recent results have put O'Neill under the spotlight. However Randy Lerner has been full of nothing but praise for the manager as of late, even going so far as to state that he 'could not conceive of better fortune than working with Martin O'Neill.' Lerner has certainly backed up his words with actions, too. In January Villa were one of the busier clubs in terms of transfer activity. In came Ashley Young for an initial £8m, though that will potentially rise to £9.65m, making him the most expensive Villa player in their long history. John Carew also arrived in a swap deal with Milan Baros heading the other way to Lyon, and Shaun Maloney was yet another of the managers former players to join, in a £1m last-minute move on deadline day. Phil Bardsley had also joined earlier in the window, on loan from Manchester United. In addition to Maloney, Stilian Petrov had joined soon after O'Neill himself for around £6m, again with the fee potentially rising, this time to £8m. Chris Sutton and Didier Agather also both joined on free transfers as out of contract players, but Lerner still obviously has to make a finanical contribution in terms of signing-on fees and wages. Agathe has since left after he failed to recapture his best form from Celtic, and Sutton has been plagued by an eye injury since the 3-0 home defeat to Manchester United in December. Still, there is no doubt that both men served their purpose as a 'short-term solution', albeit with varying success. Lerner has also been at the heart of numerous other iniatives. The rebuilding of training ground Bodymoor Heath and the Holte Hotel have been implemented, as well as various other aspects of the club. A new chief executive, Richard Fitzgerald, has been appointed. The free coaches to Stamford Bridge for a Carling Cup tie earlier this season got a decent amount of positive publicity, as did former manager Ron Saunders returning to Villa Park for the first time since he left as manager in 1982. Perhaps most popular with fans, certainly those that use the World Wide Web, is the fact that director General Charles C Krulak uses 4 different independant Villa fan sites to communicate with the supporters. This writer is a keen user of both the Villa site on Vital Football and, in particular, VillaTalk. From personal experience I can tell you that the 'General Krulak' thread has provided some great communication between the club and the supporters. While General Krulak and the other goings on have been very popular, another business move of note is the replacement of Hummel as kit manufacturer with Nike. This again is very popular, but there is no doubt that this is the most significant. Hummel symbolise a lot about the old Aston Villa - not rubbish, not great. Unable to compete with the top players but has a comfortable spot in the middle of the market. Nike are a big player, however. They are associated with many of the top clubs in Europe, and have an excellent marketing strategy. They symbolise the new ambition held by Aston Villa and their supporters. Which brings us back to the manager, Martin O'Neill. There can be no doubt that results have not been going well as of late. Some may feel that O'Neill should be doing better with Villa so far. Some people may have expected him to do so, quite frankly. Still, O'Neill is aware that things have not been going well as recently, and is also aware that there has been a lot of faith put in him. A very ambitious man himself, O'Neill is very much aiming to repay that faith and be a success with Aston Villa. On the subject of the recent compliments paid to him by Lerner, O'Neill said, "It's very nice of him to say such things. I get on very well with him and I won't abuse that sort of relationship in any way. But the best way for me not to abuse it is by reciprocating and by winning matches." O'Neill is also keen to point out that not everything Lerner has tried to do has come off, possibly referring to a failed move for Shaun Wright-Phillips in January. "He's been fantastically supportive - every single thing you could ask for he's done - even if we haven't been able to put some of the ideas we've had into practice," he said. At the press conference last month where O'Neill unveiled John Carew and Ahley Young, he did say that Villa may go back to looking at Wright-Phillips in the summer. There is no doubt that whatever happens there though, this summer will be a big one for O'Neill and Aston Villa. While O'Neill will look to get a better run of results going in the final stage of this season, many believe that next season could be a real indication of where the future of Aston Villa is headed. If the team on the pitch can start to match the action and ambition of the board, the future for Aston Villa will be a bright one indeed. Source: icBirmingham