SOCCER NEWS: MARTIN O'NEILL sent Nigel Reo-Coker home yesterday after a training ground confrontation with the Aston Villa midfielder and will decide whether the player should face any further sanctions after the weekend.
Reo-Coker has also been jettisoned from the squad for today’s match against Portsmouth and, although the Aston Villa manager expects the 25-year-old to pull on a first-team shirt again, the player is understood to accept that his career at the club is almost certainly over.
O’Neill said no punches were thrown and dismissed suggestions that the incident, which occurred during an 11-a-side training game on Thursday, had led to him ending up on the ground with Reo-Coker. But he admitted there had been a “row” that required other members of the first-team squad to separate them and acknowledged it was unusual for a manager to clash with a player in such a way.
Reo-Coker is said to have been deeply upset following the fracas, which was witnessed by the entire Villa squad and which appears to have occurred after O’Neill believed that the former England Under-21 international had unfairly criticised a team-mate, prompting a heated verbal exchange between manager and player. Conflicting stories have since emerged about the incident when the two squared up to each other, including allegations of throat-grabbing.
O’Neill, however, was not in the mood to discuss the finer details. “You can go with third party, shocked onlookers, call it what you want,” he said - and suggested that the confrontation was “more of a verbal thing” rather than a brawl. There does, however, appear to have been some physical contact. “There was a bit of a contretemps between myself and Nigel, which usually happens between players really and the manager separates them. There were no fisticuffs. There was no wrestling to the ground. I don’t remember lying on the floor. But it was enough for me to treat the incident seriously. Nigel won’t play (today). I have given him the weekend off and so it’s entirely up to him if he comes to the match.”
Reo-Coker learned that he was not welcome at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training base when he reported yesterday morning. It is understood that he was asked to apologise for the incident and, when he failed to respond to the manager in a room that included other first-team players, was told to “take the weekend off”.
He is later believed to have tried to speak to O’Neill on his own but, following a brief exchange with the manager, was informed that he should leave the premises.
O’Neill has yet to decide whether Reo-Coker will face any further disciplinary action such as a fine but the Villa manager indicated that he would consider that possibility once the Portsmouth game is over.
Whatever the outcome, the path ahead appears uncomfortable for both parties, not least because the transfer window has closed.
In the meantime O’Neill will get on with running a football club and ensuring that the rest of the Villa players understand what is expected of them. “I make the rules,” said the Villa manager. “I am the manager of the football club. I am a custodian of the football club and so my rules apply. The players have to get used to that. It’s as simple as that.”
Guardian Service
