O'Neill eyeing a European Villa

Fifth in the Premiership, Aston Villa FC maintained their unbeaten start to the season last night with a 2-1 English League Cup second-round victory at Scunthorpe United FC. The result may be unspectacular, but it underlined the strong opening to the campaign that the revived Birmingham club have made under new manager Martin O'Neill.

Season of woe
The last time Villa made the trip to face lower-league opposition in that part of the country, they came away from east Yorkshire with their tails between their legs. A demoralising League Cup defeat ten months ago, 3-0 at the hands of a Doncaster Rovers FC side languishing in the third tier of English football, was a notable trough in a season low on highs. Villa eventually finished the Premiership campaign just two places above the relegation zone in what was the 25th anniversary of their last league triumph.

Few changes
Discontent in the stands reached an apogee and the winds of change blew through Villa Park during the summer; out went manager David O'Leary and in came O'Neill, the man who guided Celtic FC to the 2002/03 UEFA Cup final. He has breathed life into the team with two wins and three draws lifting them up the Premiership table. Changes are afoot off the field too and last night was the 1982 European Champion Clubs' Cup winners' first evening out under their new chairman after American billionaire Randy Lerner completed a lengthy takeover on Monday.

Special memories
His arrival has instilled further belief among Villa's large fan base and although modest, O'Neill is beginning to echo them: "We have a chance of getting into European football. It's a million miles away at this minute and it is important for us to go as strong as we can, just keep confidence going." Twice a European champion as a player with Nottingham Forest FC, he experienced the atmosphere of the UEFA Champions League during his five years at Celtic and is keen to revisit the competition. "European nights were when Celtic Park really came alive," he said.

'Fantastic nights'
"There was a loudness I had not heard at many grounds before or since. You felt you could do extraordinary things. Villa have had some fantastic European nights themselves. I was speaking to Gordon Cowans [a midfielder in the 1982 side] about it and he told me the evenings here were amazing. Those are the nights I would love to bring back to the club. They are only four million light years away."