Football: Varied Cast Combines to Give O'neill Backache ; Barclays Premier League

Summary

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If Martin O'Neill was to think too deeply about Aston Villa's defensive situation, he would develop a piercing headache. As a story, it has more sub-plots and characters sketches than the average Somerset Maugham novel and there is not even the guarantee of an edifying denouement.

Worse still, there is no knowing when or how the story started. Did it start when Olof Mellberg, Villa's most assured defender over the past six years, stalled on signing a new contract? Did it start when Gary Cahill, the most promising of Villa's younger defenders, was sent out on loan to Sheffield United? Did it start when Curtis Davies joined Villa in August but found himself on the periphery? Or did it start when Martin Laursen expressed concerns about his own future?

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Extract

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Football: Varied Cast Combines to Give O'neill Backache ; Barclays Premier League

Whatever, O'Neill knows that the managerial skills for which he is famed, the skills that nearly gave him the job as England head coach, will be required like never before as he bids to stabilise a defence that has, overall, perform...

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