Fans back Martin O'Neill in Birmingham Mail's Aston Villa survey

Jul 24 2008 By Bill Howell

ASHLEY Young remains the player Villa supporters are most excited by as the fans’ love-in with Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner continues unabated.

You have to look hard to find a single fan who is unhappy with the Irish manager or the American chairman as supporters have voted with almost complete blanket approval for the ambition shown by the pair and the manner in which they run the club.

But only three-quarters of fans are now happy with Villa’s ambition (74.4 per cent) compared to 92.9 per cent a year ago.

Interestingly, O’Neill’s dealings in the transfer market have seen a large fall in confidence with 38 per cent now rating his wheeling and dealing as “good” compared to almost double that a year ago.

Half of those fans who replied to the Mail’s exclusive survey expect Villa to enjoy a better season than last year’s sixth place, whereas it was almost uninimous a year ago Villa would better their 11th place in O’Neill’s first season.

If Villa want silverware they will have to be prepared for a dart at the League Cup, say fans who gave a resounding vote of confidence to the club’s facilities, merchandising and pricing structure.

BILL HOWELL