Martin O'Neill 'learned lesson' over Aston villa UEFA decision
May 1 2009 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail
MARTIN O’Neill says there is much to learn from Villa’s season which sees them set to qualify for Europe direct for the first time in 11 seasons.
It is a little over two months since he left eight players at home for the UEFA Cup match in CSKA Moscow.
And the boss says managers can get away with fielding weakened teams – but only if they win.
“You always sit down and analyse the season that has just gone on and you can learn from it,” he said.
“We battled all summer to get into the UEFA Cup and then in February we had to make decisions in the manner which we did.
“Things like that we would hope to be able to learn from.”
Sir Alex Ferguson is set to change his Manchester United side for the trip to Middlesbrough tomorrow ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Arsenal.
He did the same by fielding a weakened side against Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals.
