Unai Emery was backed to get Aston Villa back into consistent form in the 2025/2026 season by the last manager who took them to Europe.
Villa have won five games in a row in all competitions after starting the season without a win in six and scoring just twice. Gradually, the players and the team as a whole began to resemble their old selves.
Former Villa manager Martin O’Neill believes the test for Emery lies in how he handles the recovery from a problematic run of poor results and poorer performances, a process now well underway.
When asked what he would do if he were in Emery’s shoes, O’Neill shared OLBG: “Well, he’s going to work now, right at this moment. All managers, the great managers, have tough times. This is how you get through them.”
O’Neill is an outspoken admirer of the current Villa boss and did not think a dip in results would pose a long-term problem for a manager who is one of the best. Evolving and improving is only part of the game.
“[Pep] Guardiola has been doing it quietly for years and years,” said O’Neill. “Great manager, but suddenly loses a few big players. Rodri injured, but sure [Kevin] De Bruyne leaves the football club and you try to rebuild the club.”
One thing that Villa’s football department will think carefully about is that there are a number of key players who are approaching or even exceeding the age of 30.
While there is no immediate cause for concern – Villa are looking to protect the value of some of these players with contract extensions, but will certainly allow players to leave for a good fee in the coming transfer windows – the situation does require Emery and his colleagues to have a succession plan in place.
“Sir Alex Ferguson was a master of rebuilding quickly,” O’Neill said.
‘You’ll get it done’
“This idea of bringing the younger players into the team and letting them learn. Sometimes that doesn’t happen even with great managers. They need some time to get going again.”
“I would think so [Emery] should actually be fine. You’ll get it done again. You get it done because you have confidence in yourself because of what you did in the game, and you have confidence in your team.”
O’Neill was appointed Villa’s manager in the summer of 2006, a year after leaving Celtic to care for his wife.
The former Wycombe Wanderers and Leicester City boss flirted with the top four during his time in charge, securing successive sixth-place finishes in the Premier League and a brief but long-awaited return to European competition.
He left in August 2010 and has since managed Sunderland, Nottingham Forest and the Republic of Ireland national team.
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