Having played under Brian Clough for Nottingham Forest during their halcyon days, O'Neil cut his managerial teeth at Wycombe Wanderers, guiding them to 2nd place in the Conference before winning promotion in his second season and thus taking them into the football league for the first time in their history; he won a second successive promotion via the play-offs, and shortly afterwards left Wycombe to take charge at Norwich. He quickly resigned from Norwich due to a disagreement and took charge at Leicester City, where he was boo'd and jeered by supporters due to a slow start and subsequent stutter with a team already heading for promotion to the premiership when he arrived. However, he did ultimately win promotion and subsequently guided Leicester to silverware with 2 league cup wins, respectable premiership positions and European competition. His teams have always epitomised tenacity, diligence and a simple, direct passing style of play. Genuine success followed with Celtic where he won the fans' plaudits, managed a record 25 consecutive victories (a record for a British league club), 7 consecutive victories over Glasgow Rangers and a 2003 UEFA cup final defeat to Porto as well as 3 Scottish league championships, 3 Scottish cups and a League cup. Following a period out of the game for personal reasons, he returned with Aston Villa and continued his approach of signing solid, hard-working players rather than superstars. Over the course of his few seasons at Aston Villa, he has begun to make in-roads towards the possibility of a champions' league place in the top 4, though he faces stiff competition from wealthy Manchester City and a resurgent Spurs under Harry Redknapp. BBC pundit Alan Hanson described O'Neil as "possessing the Midas touch" and he was one the few managers to be praised by his mentor Brian Clough in his autobiography. It remains to be seen whether O'Neil can win major silverware in England as he has done in Scotland. If he can, he will undoubtedly be propelled into the top 10.
British league champions: 3
Foreign league champions: 0
European cup: 0
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