Sunday, March 1, 2009. The date many would argue was fatal to Aston Villa’s hopes of Champions League qualification after they threw away a two-goal lead in the dying minutes against Stoke City.

It was a glorious opportunity to open up an eight point gap over Arsenal and although a draw still left their destiny in their own hands, the psychological impact of squandering two points in the last two minutes meant that defeat to Manchester City three days later was almost inevitable.

Suddenly their lead over the Gunners in the race for a top four spot evaporated and their season crumbled as Martin O’Neill’s side only managed 11 points out of a possible 36

Many trace the source of their disastrous run to O’Neill’s decision to play a depleted team against CSKA Moscow in the Uefa Cup just days prior to the Stoke debacle, but their pitiful defeat in Russia would have been quickly forgotten if they were able to see out the closing stages against Tony Pulis’s side.

Villa’s collapse left some sections of disgruntled fans doubting O’Neill’s credentials to take the club that one step further and break the big four monopoly.

Of course getting rid off the Northern Irishman would be complete madness considering he transformed Villa from a side that narrowly escaped relegation in 2006 to one that has made significant progress– even if they did blow their best chance of Champions League football and somehow managed to cock-up fifth place and title of ‘best of the rest’.

During an extremely successful spell at Celtic, O’Neill built a reputation for getting the best out of what he had – thanks to his man-management ordinary players on paper would punch above their weight and not only compete but often topple superior sides in Europe.

It is clear to see his motivational skills have had a similar impact at Villa, but perhaps its now time for O’Neill to move beyond that motif and look to build a more refined team – an outfit that can last the course of the season rather than one that’s just greater than the sum of its parts.

Nobody should rely solely on big money transfers alone for success – a club should develop young players but to compete against the big four there needs to be more ambition in the transfer market.

And this appears to be O’Neill’s biggest flaw – in a bid to consolidate their top four place he bought Emile Heskey, an average striker well past his prime – in the January transfer window. To blame Heskey, who played under O’Neill at Leicester, for Villa’s slide is harsh though because signings at that time of the season rarely guarantee success – but it followed on from uninspiring additions made last summer such as Steve Sidwell and Nicky Shorey.

Of course getting rid off the Northern Irishman would be complete madness considering he transformed Villa from a side that narrowly escaped relegation in 2006 to one that has made significant progress– even if they did blow their best chance of Champions League football and somehow managed to cock-up fifth place and title of ‘best of the rest’.