O’Neill’s hearty praise for Mourinho as rivals heal rift

ASTON VILLA manager Martin O’Neill insists it’s far too late for him to change his animated style in the dugout, despite Jose Mourinho’s quip that the former Celtic boss may be a candidate for a heart attack if he fails to calm down.

O’Neill was jumping up and down, all fist-pumping passion on the touchline as he watched his side claim a creditable point at Stamford Bridge.

Gabriel Agbonlahor’s glancing header, moments before the interval, cancelled out Didier Drogba’s third minute opener, and maintained Villa’s impressive unbeaten start in this year’s Premiership. The two managers, meeting for the first time since Celtic’s 3-2 defeat to Mourinho’s Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, embraced at the final whistle when Mourinho offered the advice to his adversary. O’Neill felt the moment represented an end to the friction between the pair which had existed since the former Celtic manager expressed his “embarrassment” at the play-acting and unsporting behaviour of the Porto players in the closing stages of their narrow victory in Seville.