You Talkin' To Me?

If there is one thing learned very early in life it is that 'the boss is not always right but he's always the boss'.

Martin O'Neill's veiled threats last season could not have continued much longer and Randy Lerner did what he was always going to do and protect HIS $$$$$.

Despite the procrastinations from O'Neill, similar to those of Rafa Benitez when at Anfield, they were indeed both given a lot of money to spend and if success through trophies is limited to just a few, the least supporters and the owners wanted to see was football played in a way that appealed to the majority - to sell the 'brand'. Too many poor players bought and a style of football that diehard supporters found difficult to watch was the eventual undoing of both managers.

The days of the Moores' dynasty in funding, initially Everton, and latterly Liverpool; Jack Walker at Blackburn and even 'Deadly' Doug Ellis at the Villa, are long gone. New money in football is only for the shorter term and must yield both success and a return on that initial investment, whether monetary or political.

Jose Mourinho was made aware of that, as was Alex Ferguson, Mark Hughes, Rafa Benitez and Roberto Mancini. There are no more benefactors and those pundits like Stan Collymore and Paul Merson, whose initial reaction is that O'Neill had to be given money to spend to keep up with the 'big boys', need to 'wake up and smell the coffee'.

A deeper look at Aston Villa's relative success was more than matched during the Lerner years by Everton who have keep done so without spending each year.

There is no great secret to the Everton formula - a good manager - the problem is that there are not that many about. Bill Kenwright knows how lucky he was when he persuaded him to move from Preston.

There is a constant bemoaning of the lack of young English talent coming through the system but not at Everton. Whether home produced or signed at a young age, Wayne Rooney, Francis Jeffers, Richard Dunne, Tony Hibbert, Leon Osman,Jack Rodwell,Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Victor Anichebe and Jose Baxter are some of the recent talent seen at Goodison.

Pundits will have you believe that there is an abundance of good managers - Harry Redknapp, Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce, O'Neill; the names roll of the tongue, but apart from Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes all have yet to prove themselves to do the job at a club consistently before leaving or being pushed.

Redknapp at the moment is reveling in his good publicity but he and Mancini could be the next of the big names under pressure if progress is not at least maintained.

Hodgson is in a different position. He has been brought in to do a 'holding' job until the financial mess is sorted out and then the new owners will have their own decision to make. Unlike previous Liverpool managers he does not the luxury of many saleable assets and, in padding out his squad, will need to manipulate the market similar to the way he did at Fulham. The problem for Hodgson - that the 'success' levels so celebrated at Fulham will not be tolerated by Liverpool.

Football fans love a drama - but in O'Neill's case it is drama on the eve of a new season Villa fans could do without. Lerner arrived with a reputation as a non-interfering owner who was hailed in most circles but, like many modern owners, he had his own interests at heart. He gave O'Neill a chance. O'Neill fell short. Business is business. The boss is always the boss.