Aston Villa have been stunned by the news that Martin O'Neill has quit as manager with immediate effect after four years in charge.

O'Neill has resigned only five days before the start of the new Barclays Premier League campaign.

Villa owner Randy Lerner insisted O'Neill had pledged his future to Villa in May after much speculation over whether or not the former Celtic boss would quit.

But O'Neill has now decided to end his reign with reserve team manager Kevin MacDonald taking charge of Saturday's opener with West Ham.

O'Neill said: "I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely. It's obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club.

"I would like to pay tribute to the Villa players, my coaching staff and the Villa supporters for all the support and encouragement they have given both the club and me personally during my time as manager.

"I wish them all the best for the future. I will obviously be assisting the club in the immediate short-term with regard to the handover of my duties."

O'Neill has transformed the fortunes of Villa since replacing David O'Leary during the summer of 2006 with three consecutive top-six placings in the league.

Lerner had backed O'Neill in the transfer market during that spell but it became clear this summer that the funds would not be available to help take Villa on to the next level.

Lerner insisted that Villa would have to adopt a sell-to-buy policy and O'Neill was resigned to losing the services of midfielder James Milner to Manchester City. That followed on from skipper Gareth Barry also moving to Eastlands last year.

A club statement this afternoon said: "Aston Villa can confirm that Martin O'Neill has resigned as manager of the football club with immediate effect.

"Kevin MacDonald, reserve team manager, has assumed the role of caretaker manager and will prepare the team for the opening Barclays Premier League game of the season against West Ham on Saturday at Villa Park."

Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said: "The club would like to thank Martin for the great work he has done at Aston Villa over the past four years.

"He has helped to establish the club in the upper echelons of the Premier League, has taken us to Wembley and we have also qualified for European competition for the past three seasons under his management. We wish him the best in the future."

sportinglife.com

In pratica i Villans attraversano un periodo di crisi e si è reso necessario un mercato fatto prima di cessioni più che di acquisti. O'Neill ha quindi pensato bene di abbandonare la barca che affonda.

Incredibile, direi.

C'è da dire che Lerner si è sempre dimostrato un presidente che ha sempre ascoltato e "assecondato" le richieste dell'allenatore, anche se la rosa dell'Aston Villa è sempre stata piuttosto corta (cosa che da 2-3 anni si traduce in crolli nel finale di stagione) mi pare che gli investimenti, prima di quest'anno, non siano mai mancati.

Su Facebook Cuellar ha scritto che è sorpreso delle dimissioni di O'Neill tanto quanto tutti gli altri.

Per sostituirlo circolano 3 nomi: Eriksson, Moyes e Bob Bradley.

Seecondo SkySport il prossimo allenatore dell'Aston Villa sarà Diego Armando Maradona
Il suo agente oggi dovrebbe incontrare la proprietà del team inglese.

Che figata.

Ma speriamo di no.

Sono simpatizzante Villans ed una retrocessione non riuscirei proprio a mandarla giù.

Con Maradona retrocedono.

Sì ma io parlavo del personaggio non dell'allenatore , anche a me stanno simpatici i Villans

Scusate, non mi ero accorto che se ne parlava già qui