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| Sacking of Hughes 'crazy', says O'Neill • 'It's a sad indictment' of the game says Villa manager• 'Manchester City could still win Premier League' Martin O'Neill last night described Manchester City's decision to sack Mark Hughes as "crazy" and a sad indictment of the changing landscape of English football. The Aston Villa manager, who believes City could still win the title this season, claimed that the club's Abu Dhabi owners were naive to think that spending millions would guarantee instant results and also suggested that Hughes's record in the Premier League this season should have kept him in a job."I suppose it is a microcosm of our game," O'Neill said, reflecting on Hughes's departure. "Manchester City have lost fewer games than anyone else in the league, they are in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup and seemingly this decision was taken three or four weeks ago. As a manager, it doesn't inspire you with great confidence. Unfortunately, it happens in the game and that's the nature of it. It's a sad indictment. It's crazy."In any other industry, you would be given the time to do the job, you really would. But football is not like any other industry and more so than ever before. I must admit that very little surprises you but I was half-surprised about this, due to Hughes's record and the fact he has lost fewer games than anyone else."O'Neill believes English clubs are now in danger of following their counterparts on the continent, where managers are generally afforded little time to build successful teams. He believes City's position remains healthy despite their stuttering form of late and has not altered his view at the start of the season that they are genuine challengers for the title, saying: "Manchester City could still win it."He added: "Mark Hughes will be disappointed not to have been given the chance to see the job through. Good, bad or indifferent, you have a situation where you have been given a job, handed some money but because you have been given this money it doesn't follow that you go out and win your next game 6-0. That just doesn't happen. You need a bit of time for it all to gel."O'Neill, meanwhile, hopes Emile Heskey will be available at Arsenal on Sunday. The England international limped out of Saturday's match with Stoke City but fears that he might not play again until the end of next month have been allayed after a scan on his groin."The scan showed a little something but he's improving and feels much better," said the Villa manager who will start with John Carew alongside Gabriel Agbonlahor if Heskey fails to recover in time. "While we had big concerns that he might be out for five or six weeks, we're confident enough to tell you that's not the case. He hasn't yet ruled himself out for any of the two games. He'll continue to get treatment and we'll monitor it."Mark HughesManchester CityMartin O'NeillAston VillaPremier LeagueStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Tottenham Hotspur 2 West Ham United 0: match report Luka Modric returns to help Spurs maintain their impressive record against London neighbours West Ham. telegraph.co.uk |
Arsene Wenger letter warns Barcelona and Real Madrid off Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he wrote to Real Madrid and Barcelona to warn them off his star players. telegraph.co.uk |
Liverpool sign Maxi Rodriguez on free transfer from Atletico Madrid Liverpool have signed Argentina international Maxi Rodriguez on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid. telegraph.co.uk |
Barcelona remains unbeaten Spanish leader Barcelona beat Valladolid 3-0 on Saturday to finish the first half of the league season unbeaten, opening an eight-point advantage over Real Madrid. cbc.ca |