HARRY REDKNAPP has always liked to play down the role of the manager, frequently insisting that it is the quality of the players, not tactics or formations, that holds the key to success.

Rapid Vienna 1 Aston Villa 1

MARTIN O’NEILL apologised to around 300 Aston Villa supporters in midweek and offered to buy them dinner, after fielding a deliberately weakened team in the UEFA Cup in Moscow.