When Martin O'Neill was passed over for the top job at Soho Square,
he didn't bear a grudge. He simply used Aston Villa to
build his own England team.
Never mind that the Irish manager lost out in the race to succeed
Steve McClaren in 2007. Perhaps his preparation for that FA
interview afforded him rare insight.
O'Neill's investment in home-grown talent stands at
£82.9m, three times the cash he has splashed abroad. Of
course, the trend over the past decade has been to cherry-pick the
best talent from overseas.
Arsene Wenger has plucked unknowns from France. Jose Mourinho used
a core of Portuguese players to stunning effect at Chelsea. Rafael
Benitez headed to Spain for vital components in Liverpool's title
chase. And Sir Alex Ferguson has used Manchester United's worldwide
web of scouts to his best advantage.
That is not - and is never likely to be - O'Neill's way. 'There is
a perception that there aren't any young English players about,' he
said. 'I believe that there are.'
