The fall out was nothing to do with the Milner deal and the Ireland part of it is not dead ! Here is why he jumped ship from General Krulack :
. Obviously I am not in a position to name "targets" for the new Manager...that would not be a smart thing to do. What I will say is that we recognize this is an important decision and one that needs to be done rather quickly but, equally important, in a manner that gets the right man. We DO know how important this will be...no one is thinking it will be easy. Reality is that we have 4 days before our first game and rushing out to get a Manager is not the smart thing to do...just to have someone on the sidelines. One of the sad things about this whole affair is that Martin left when he did. I agree that the Club needs to come out with a statement...and they will. Likewise, Randy will have something to say. Speaking as a Fan, I have read every article about Martin's departure and must say that they are pretty one-sided. There is absolutely no question that Martin did a good deal for Villa and I have said, over and over, that I felt he did a fine job. At the same time, I can promise everyone that he knew and understood the long range plans for the Club and bought into them. He knew full well about the need to bring wages in line with revenue...the same as every Premiership Club. He was absolutely supported by the owner during his time with the Club...all one needs to do is look at the money spent. The reality is that the wage to revenue issue was not addressed and Martin apparently was unwilling to help address it. He quit. Do I think we have some rough times ahead? Probably...but nothing that we can't handle. I have been in some tough scrapes before...and I never got out of them by "wishing it away". I just put my head down and continued to grind it out. At the end of the day, is the aim to get into the Champions League? Absolutely! Is this realistic? Absolutely! Do we still have a way to go? Absolutely! As an aside, no one person is bigger than our Club...not me, not Randy, not Paul, not Martin. What is interesting is that, apparently, only three of those named understand that fact. We will continue to try to do what is right by the Vlla...with the very best of intentions. Will we always get it right...probably not. But we will work damn hard to do the right things.