I think a lot of people have been quite harsh on him. He's been played out of position pretty much all season, except for the playoffs when he started playing very well and was part of a good team. He brought a good stability to the midfield to help us get promoted, and I remember him having some cracking games earlier in the season when he was allowed to play in the centre. I think he's more than good enough to be in a team where we haven't got enough of his type. We've only got Henry and Faurlin, and lord knows Faurlin is a risk with injuries. If we don't find anyone better, I recon he should be starting next season. If we find someone better he would make a good squad player.
Definite keep for me. Good squad player and always applies himself with energy. I also think he knows he is not the most gifted and plays within his limits. That's actually better than someone who has an inflated view of their own ability.
Keep as back up. We can't and we won't have 25 first team players, we need 15-16 players good enough to start every game. Then we need 9-10 players to make up the squad as back ups imo.
No. He's distinctly average and we can & should recruit a better calibre midfielder with more vision.
But... by nature he's a defensive or holding midfielder. Barton can have the vision while O'Neill is behind him. And I have nothing against signing a better player but you need someone else who plays that position. Another thing on O'Neill's side is that he hasn't lost his legs at all yet. I'm not saying he's the zippiest player but he's still got good stamina and agility.
Karl Henry has more vision and awareness than O'Neill. O'Neill in so many games I went to this season was anonymous. Remove the sentiment of the Wembley red-card heroics and he is an 'ok' player. No more no less. There are better options out there We need to step up a gear. I do not want wholesale change but many of last years squad won't cut it next season. Foe example I think Dunne & Clint are great blokes and no one can doubt their commitment. That said I don't want to see another Suarez demolition job at LR caused by slow ageing defenders. We need improvement through careful changes. O'Neill is upgradeable (if such a word exists)
Definite keep. We must not make the same mistakes as last time by breaking up the squad. Besides, he was played out of position a lot. When in the middle he can do a job.
He was coming to the end of this season so hopefully that will continue. We're still not sure Faurlin will be the player he once was, coming back from another serious injury. If it was between Henry and O'Neill for that role, I'd got with the latter. Redknapp opted for that too when the season reached a climax and it worked out. I thought he played well in the three crucial playoff games which were as close to PL games as you could get.
Distinctly average maybe a little harsh but agree we can & should recruit a better calibre midfielder.
He looked very mediocre in the champ and thus will be crap in the PL. Id give him another shot if he was under 25 as he may be able to step up but hes in his 30s. Also, it looks like he hasnt been offered another contract.
Simplistic in the extreme and not for the first time, displays a lack of understanding of footballers and football itself. Wait til you see. Some of the players that struggled last season will be better this year and one or two might positively shine. There's a myriad of reasons for that but unfortunately they'd be lost on you so there's no point going into it further.
The way to look at it is like this: Rate all the players in the squad giving them a "keep" rating, from the lowest (SWP) to the highest (Charlie Austin). O'Neill is certainly not at the bottom or top of that list but we will need to get rid of a few others before him. How many are the board/management prepared to bring in. If it is only four or five (did Harry say that somewhere?) then I suggest that there are that number or more below O'Neill on the list. Get rid of them first.
the last we should do is ripping this apart and starting again ( look how that fared out last time) get rid of the jenas's and swps of the squad and keep oneil on a 1 yr deal.
I'm voting get rid. Seems harsh but if you look at it logically it is a given. How many centre mids do we need?? I dont believe in square pegs in round holes so discount him as a right mid Barton, Faurlin, Henry, Granero I would also go and sign a certain starter in this position (eg Jake Livermore) and another improved acquisition from Championship (Will Hughes or even Thorne off Derby). Hughes being young and improving but more expensive and Thorne more affordable and experienced. Also keen on Ravel if we lose a flair player who shall not be named. Got to improve our quality in such a key position. Derby pissed all over him and Barton so that's an area we need o make at least 2 big signings. So would we need O'neil on top of 2 extra centre mids and those already retained? Not for me I see core of the promotion team being: Green, Murphy, Simpson, Onouha, Dunne, Hill, Traore, Barton, Phillips, Hoilett, Austin Yun because he's good enough Henry- back up and doubt anyone else will have him Faurlin- back fit That is 14 players and if we bring back Ravel and add to that Granero that is 16 players who can count. Add to that 7 or 8 signings of improved quality and as often as possible 'the right sort'.
