Northern Irish coach Martin O'Neill has been appointed as the new Aston Villa coach, the Premiership club announced on Friday. O'Neill will replace David O'Leary after Villa could only finish a disappointing 16th last season which fueled problems between the former manager and club president Doug Ellis. After previously taking on Wycombe Wonderers, Leicester City as well as leading Scottish giants Celtic to three Scottish League titles, 54-year-old O'Neill stated his delight to return to the Premiership with Aston Villa. "This is a fantastic challenge, I'm willing and ready to go," O'Neill said. "I'm well aware of the history of this club, trying to restore it to its days of former glory seems a long way, but why not try." O'Neill has only two weeks to prepare the team for the new season as he will fly to catch their German training camp before facing Arsenal on September 19th. "There are some funds available and I'm going to use them to strengthen the squad before the start of the season," O'Neill added. Meanwhile Ellis said that he is optimistic ahead of O'Neill's reign at the Midlands club. "Martin was my first choice at start and here he's today, to me his passion and ability to motivate players is unsurpassed," Ellis said.
