Who is a better manager?: O'neill vs Mancini

[FXBlade]

So this topic has come around because of me and my brother having a late night discussion over a beer after work last night.

We are both Villa Fan's andlove what O'neill has done for the club.  He has had little money and has taken the club to be a top 6 premier league side, the Final of the Carling cup and 5th Round of the FA cup.  This season will by far be his best at Villa even if he fails to win the carling cup.  However, there is onething that eludes him, that 4th place champions league spot.  I don't that the 4th place team should get a spot, but it is a way into europes largest competition.  Anyway Villa were unable to capitalise on Liverpool andman citys bad form and find themselves out in the cold.  I have a never say die attitude, but my brother is convinced the 4th place will go to Man City.

His belief is that Mancini can attract bigger players and with the squad they have, they should be doing better.  In his eyes, 4th place in Man City's to lose.

We argued, and both fought a valid point, but in the end we drew a blank.  I believe O'neill has accompished more because of the teams he has managed, he hs had little money and they were particularly "small" clubs (I use that term loosely) when he took over, but has made a name for himself.  Wheras Mancini has managed clubs that expect to do well anyway.

The arguement is;  Is 3 Serie A titles better than 2 league cup wins with Leicester City?  Of course it is, but look at the teams they had.  Below are the honors of each manager, but what are your thoughts?


Martin O'neill

Wycombe Wanderers 1990â€"1995

    * Winners
          o Football Conference â€" 1993
          o FA Trophy â€" 1991, 1993
          o Division 3 Playâ€"Off Winners â€" 1994

Leicester City 1995â€"2000

    * Winners
          o Promotion to Premier League â€" 1995/96
          o League Cup â€" (2) 1997, 2000

    * Runners-up
          o League Cup â€" 1999

Celtic 2000â€"2005

    * Winners
          o SPL Championship (3) â€" 2000/01, 2001/02, 2003/04
          o Scottish Cup (3) â€" 2001, 2004, 2005
          o Scottish League Cup (1) â€" 2000/01

    * Runners-up
          o UEFA Cup Runner-Up â€" 2002/03
          o Scottish Cup â€" 2002
          o Scottish League Cup â€" 2002/03
          o SPL Championship (2) â€" 2002/03 , 2004/05

Aston Villa 2006â€"

    * Winners
          o The 2009 Peace Cup â€"

Roberto Mancini

ACF Fiorentina

    * Coppa Italia: 2000â€"01

S.S. Lazio

    * Coppa Italia: 2003â€"04

F.C. Internazionale Milano

    * Serie A: 2005â€"06; 2006â€"07; 2007â€"08
    * Coppa Italia: 2004â€"05; 2005â€"06
    * Supercoppa Italiana: 2005; 2006

I have my imput, but would be interesting to see yours...

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

O'Neill for the resources he has done wonders...Mancini is a gay scarf wearing twat

[Kenfucius]

Pretty much what Ian said.

That, and the fact that the Coppa Italia, much like most of the mianland cup competitions, is a nothing trophy that nobody in the major teams are interested in, plus it has to be remembered that Mancini's three Seria A Titles went as follows.

05-06: Everyone else in the Italian league were match fixing bastards, Inter win title by default when Juve and AC are found guilty.

06-07: Juve are in Serie B, AC, Fiorentina and others have been docked points, and Inter just bought half the Juve team that dominated the first half of the decade in Italy.

07-08: Juve are back, everyone's level on points again, but you know what? Inter have just won two titles in a row, with all the prize and endorsement money that brings, and they STILL have half the Juve team that owned Italy for the first half of the decade.

I think, to be honest, that Steve McClaren could have won those three Serie A Titles.

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

I think, to be honest, that Steve McClaren could have won those three Serie A Titles.

Steady on Kenny lol

[FXBlade]

O'Neill for the resources he has done wonders...Mancini is a gay scarf wearing twat

That is one way to put it!

Hands down I say O'neill is the better manager.  With the teams he has inherited, he has worked with the youth to bring them through.  Dating back to his time at Leicester he was the one who helped Heskey get noticed, Without O'neill working with him, Heskey wouldn't have been handed his move to Liverpool.  He has done the same thing with Players at Villa.  Ok, he hasn't brought Young up through the Youth system, but he has given him the chance to perform at the level he does every week, and that gained enough interest for just about every big club in europe trying to fight for his signature in the summer.

Mancini was lucky with what happened in Serie A which alowed him to strenghten the Inter side, but apart from that he isn't proven.  If he doesn't perform, he will be out either by the end of the season, or the beginning of the next.  Why? Because City are that relentless.

The only down side is, O'neill seems to spend 5 years at a club and then moves on, I really hope 2011 isn't his last at Villa.  But, and there is always a but, This is onemanager I do believe would be able to fit perfectly into Alex Ferguson's shoes when he finally does retire.

[Duckman]

I'm a bit late to the party on this one and as a Rangers fan this is hard to admit, but O'Neil by a country mile for all the reasons Kenny said.

Peace

Duckman