O'Neill praise for Mourinho
29 Sep 2006 - 08:10:51
- O'Neill praise for Mourinho
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has hailed the achievements of his Chelsea counterpart, Jose Mourinho, and rejected suggestions that money alone explains the Blues' success.
Mourinho has long had to deal with pundits saying that the big-money backing of AS Roman Abramovich has been the crucial factor in Chelsea's back-to-back titles, but O'Neill believes that the Portugueses should be given more credit.
He said: "Jose has proved himself to be a top-class manager. He proved himself in Portugal and he is proving himself at Chelsea.
"While we all think we'd like the best players available, you still have to go and manage them and he's proved capable of doing it.
"Chelsea are a terrific side. They are going for a third consecutive league title, have not lost at Stamford Bridge for so long and they have set such a high standard. They make winning games a habit.
"I have nothing but admiration for the top managers in the game - Jose, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Rafael Benitez. They have all done it.
"I've seen some quotes from people trying to stir it up a bit with Mourinho about me saying 'we are not going down the Chelsea way'.
"What I said is I don't see Randy Lerner adopting the same approach. I didn't say the Chelsea way was wrong."