O'Neill: Villa fans left me petrified!
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The incredible reception Martin O'Neill received from Aston Villa fans yesterday has left the Ulsterman "petrified"!
Over a 1,000 supporters greeted O'Neill last night - and they want instant success.
O'Neill admitted: "From the briefest of conversations I had with fans, I realise expectations are pretty high.
"I'm petrified! It's a great challenge and I'm raring to go but I have to prove myself and show I can do the job.
"Everybody is well aware of the history of the club and while trying to restore it to those glory days is a long way away, why not try?
"It's a quarter of a century since they won the European Cup and that's a long way away at this minute."
O'Neill, 54, has agreed a rolling 12-month £1.6million deal and today jets out to Germany to join up with the team on their pre-season tour.
He replaces David O'Leary, who was sacked two weeks ago after trying to engineer a player mutiny - although an internal investigation cleared him of any wrong-doing.
And the appointment comes as Villa continue to be the target of a £64m takeover.
After a six-year absence from the Premiership, O'Neill cannot wait to lock horns with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson.
He added: "I left the Premiership in 2000 and while the game has changed it's not as if I'm blind to it.
"I want to do well here and if Villa are going to be a success I would like to be the man to do that.
"But in just over a fortnight's time we play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium so that's a fair baptism."
O'Neill has been out of the game for 15 months because wife Geraldine has been fighting cancer - but she is fully behind him taking the Villa job.
The Ulsterman resisted overtures from Newcastle and Middlesbrough and was short-listed for the England job.
But he said: "I've missed it greatly. There's not been too many days in the past 15 months when I have not given it a great deal of thought."
Over a 1,000 supporters greeted O'Neill last night - and they want instant success.
O'Neill admitted: "From the briefest of conversations I had with fans, I realise expectations are pretty high.
"I'm petrified! It's a great challenge and I'm raring to go but I have to prove myself and show I can do the job.
"Everybody is well aware of the history of the club and while trying to restore it to those glory days is a long way away, why not try?
"It's a quarter of a century since they won the European Cup and that's a long way away at this minute."
O'Neill, 54, has agreed a rolling 12-month £1.6million deal and today jets out to Germany to join up with the team on their pre-season tour.
He replaces David O'Leary, who was sacked two weeks ago after trying to engineer a player mutiny - although an internal investigation cleared him of any wrong-doing.
And the appointment comes as Villa continue to be the target of a £64m takeover.
After a six-year absence from the Premiership, O'Neill cannot wait to lock horns with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson.
He added: "I left the Premiership in 2000 and while the game has changed it's not as if I'm blind to it.
"I want to do well here and if Villa are going to be a success I would like to be the man to do that.
"But in just over a fortnight's time we play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium so that's a fair baptism."
O'Neill has been out of the game for 15 months because wife Geraldine has been fighting cancer - but she is fully behind him taking the Villa job.
The Ulsterman resisted overtures from Newcastle and Middlesbrough and was short-listed for the England job.
But he said: "I've missed it greatly. There's not been too many days in the past 15 months when I have not given it a great deal of thought."
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