Martin O'Neill needs to change a little if we are to break the cycle

Morning all, or should that be good morning all? I ask, because it isn't that bad even though we've had it a bit rough the past few days and while I'm the first to shout tactics or formation and I'm one of the first to look at the statistics, I'm also one of the first to shout about consistency and I factor that in as a very important attribute to a successful team.

Now, you need a consistent formation and I fancy Martin O'Neill will figure it out soon, but in the same breath, playing week in week out with two out and out strikers is his current way of doing it consistently, so he's doing it. Putting our most expensive player at right back whenever we are chasing a game is, again, consistent.

Maybe he just needs time to figure these things out, which I'm sure he will as he's a smart man, a thinker. I have to hope he does, otherwise what hope have we?

But this post isn't about formations or tactics or which players should be playing and it is definitely not about speculation that is mounting about a lost dressing room. It's about us, as fans, putting the knives away and supporting the manager, regardless.

You see, the voice we have as a collective can be heard. You'd be surprised at who reads this site and other Aston Villa sites but that is just the start, when the players get booed off the pitch, that is heard by everyone and the whole country knows it happened the next morning.

Sure, it should be the clearest sign the supporters can give the manager that they are not happy with what he is doing and while we have the most stubborn manager in the league, he will take notice and hopefully he will think why, maybe ask a few questions and you never know, things might change a little.

My point is, O'Neill is so close and now is the time that he needs to be supported. I know there are some that have never liked O'Neill and I know that there are some that for quite a while now have said that he isn't the right man for us, but and I hate saying this, because it is a different game now and often say this when people bring it up, it took Sir Alex a bit of time at Manchester United to get things right.

I hate writing that bit, but it is an effective one, even if the game is different now and even if maybe it doesn't stack up. But the bottom line is, we have to stick with O'Neill. Change now would cost a lot of money, money maybe Lerner doesn't have, because the club is leveraged to around £75mn at the moment, how much more is he going to be able to borrow for a new manager who has his own ideas?

But that isn't where it stops. What happens in another three or four seasons when the new manager doesn't quite do what is expected, do we get another new one? We have to break this cycle of a new manager every three or four seasons and trust that the manager will get it right.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with the performances and lack of any ideas we have been served up since February but I'm not going to blame any one player or even the manager directly, not just yet, he needs this time. When Spurs got rid of Jol, we all laughed as we all saw he was the right man for them.

Other fans all know O'Neill is the right man for us, let's not hound him out just yet. Instead, maybe a new chant is started; '4-5-1, 4-5-1, 4-5-1'.

Right, that is it from me today unless the club tell us something and I am sitting on a couple of posts that were sent in recently, which I'm hoping to get up later.