ExiledAjax Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Brief and fairly unremarkable interview from GON on the EFL website. Couldn't see it mentioned anywhere else. "If there is a man you want in your dressing room at a Play-Off Final, it’s Gary O’Neil. The midfielder has been there three times during his career so far, has and never lost. The Beckenham-born midfielder has not long passed the 450 professional appearance mark, and along the way, as in any career, he’s seen his fair share of ups and downs — fortunately for him, when the big occasion has come calling, he’s usually been on the winning side. 2003, 2012, 2014, and 2015 are the years that O’Neil has made the climb out of the Sky Bet Championship and into the Premier League, with the latter three all coming via the Wembley route. It’s a special day for any player, and any club. The EFL’s showpiece event is always full of drama but unfortunately for O’Neil, in the hoops of QPR, the 2014 drama began at the core. With an hour played against Derby County, he was shown the red card by referee Lee Mason for a challenge on Johnny Russell. However, he was spared by his teammates when Bobby Zamora produced ‘that’ goal in the dying seconds. “I wouldn’t say I have a favourite promotion campaign,” he explained, when asked about his quartet of achievements. “The lads pulled through for me at QPR, though. I was sent off at Wembley, and that was a horrible feeling. “It was a special moment with Portsmouth to win the league and not need the Play-Offs. My first final with West Ham was amazing, though. It was so important to the club to get up at the first time of asking, and it was my first appearance at Wembley — I won’t forget it. “It’s the best way to go up, but the problem is, there is no guarantee. Luckily I've been there three times and won all three, but that won’t happen too often. If you can get in the top two and go straight up its certainly less stressful.” Now with Bristol City, O’Neil could be set to embark on another Play-Off campaign. The Robins sit fifth, five points clear of seventh-placed Middlesbrough, but they’re only six points off Cardiff City who lie second. It’s a stark contrast to last year. Lee Johnson’s side were 11th at this stage, and ended up finishing 17th. This season feels very different though, and the midfielder has a strong belief that this side are much improved and ready to mount a serious challenge. On the pitch, things are working well, and they are off of it, too. The whole world has started to take notice of every Bristol City goal, due to the goalscoring GIFs which have become a viral sensation on Twitter. All good fun, which just adds to the dressing room spirit at Ashton Gate. “They're fantastic,” chuckled O’Neil when asked about the GIFs, which started with high fives and have evolved over the months with the use of props such as fire extinguishers and plastic bottles. “We’ve enjoyed doing them as we had never done anything like it before.The lads have been adding to them as we go along. Aden Flint has had some decent ones, we all laughed at him DJing on the plates! “The aim from the start of the season was to be in and around the top six. We didn’t know how easy or tough it would be; we just knew we had to work hard to get there. “We've made some good additions to the squad from last year, and the players that were already here have made big improvements. We've got some fantastic young players coming through too, and they're getting better and better as the season goes on. We want to continue that and be right up there come the end of the season. “We've got a fantastic energy that comes from the mix of youth and experience, and people have struggled to deal with it. We've got off to fantastic starts in games, and if that doesn’t work, the lads are fit and strong enough to come good at the end. Everything has been working well.” League form aside, City have been going pretty well in the Carabao Cup too, knocking out Premier League opposition along the way. Wins over Watford, Stoke City and Crystal Palace have set up a pre-Christmas date at home to the current holders, Manchester United. “The lads are feeling confident going into it,” claimed O’Neil. “It's a tough game, but we were pleased to get a big draw at home, we've beaten three Premier League sides already and two at Ashton Gate. “Manchester United will be a completely different test because they’re a team competing at the very top in Europe and England, but we're looking forward to it — there are big games to come before that though, and we must have all eyes on them.” https://www.efl.com/news/2017/december/efl-exclusive-gary-oneil-talks-wembley-memories-and-bristol-citys-top-flight-target/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negan Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Forgot he was at the club to be honest. Be great to get him off the wage bill in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledAjax Posted December 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 22 minutes ago, Negan said: Forgot he was at the club to be honest. Be great to get him off the wage bill in the summer. Yeh. Can't imagine they had trouble fitting this interview into his diary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoncider Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 27 minutes ago, Negan said: Forgot he was at the club to be honest. Be great to get him off the wage bill in the summer. Bit harsh considering he is recovering from a long term injury, and always conducts himself in a manner respresenting the club in a great light. We don't know what hes done behind the scenes or on the training ground developing our young squad. Keep GON I say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SStandUp Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 37 minutes ago, Negan said: Forgot he was at the club to be honest. Be great to get him off the wage bill in the summer. I was going to say, be great to get him fit. He is a good player with vital experience. Harsh to hold his injuries against him. Him more than anyone will upset about the last couple years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFCGav Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 2 hours ago, devoncider said: Bit harsh considering he is recovering from a long term injury, and always conducts himself in a manner respresenting the club in a great light. We don't know what hes done behind the scenes or on the training ground developing our young squad. Keep GON I say Yeah I think so. Good experienced head in the dressing room and a very decent midfield option (when back to fitness) should we need to rest Korey, Josh or Marlon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsteral Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 He played in the carabao cup game against plymouth and i thought he was outstanding in his workrate and organisation skills.If he comes back to fitness in january he could be a vital member of the squad for the second half of the season. Would i offer him a new contract for next season, probably not, too much of an injury risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFC II Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Would like to see him on a coach/player role next season, reckon he'll be fantastic with the likes of Brownhill and Bakinson and he's also still a very good footballer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 12 minutes ago, JBFC II said: Would like to see him on a coach/player role next season, reckon he'll be fantastic with the likes of Brownhill and Bakinson and he's also still a very good footballer I think he will be, just not with us. He`ll go to his boyhood club if they stay up, Millwall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negan Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 4 hours ago, devoncider said: Bit harsh considering he is recovering from a long term injury, and always conducts himself in a manner respresenting the club in a great light. We don't know what hes done behind the scenes or on the training ground developing our young squad. Keep GON I say Thank god you don’t make the decisions. It was only 6 months ago GON was rumoured to be undermining LJ. Now you want to keep someone who is constantly injured? No doubt he does do stuff behind the scenes but I’d rather he does what we pay him to, play football. Supposedly on 15k a week so a nice 1.5 million in wages for not a lot of football by the time his contract is up. Opening statement remains, be happy when he goes and I hope he stays injury free and has a good end to his career wherever that may be. No hard feelings or bad taste towards him, just hasn’t been worth the money we’ve been paying him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bristolcity Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Such an organised player, and a natural leader, but sick note of the gilt edged variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petehinton Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 He will be our most important player when fit. Knows exactly how to organise a team to get them out of the championship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoncider Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 1 hour ago, Negan said: Thank god you don’t make the decisions. It was only 6 months ago GON was rumoured to be undermining LJ. Now you want to keep someone who is constantly injured? No doubt he does do stuff behind the scenes but I’d rather he does what we pay him to, play football. Supposedly on 15k a week so a nice 1.5 million in wages for not a lot of football by the time his contract is up. Opening statement remains, be happy when he goes and I hope he stays injury free and has a good end to his career wherever that may be. No hard feelings or bad taste towards him, just hasn’t been worth the money we’ve been paying him. I think the two words I've highlighted from that statement say it all. You have no real idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 Spent a lot of last season (whilst injured) working with the youth teams. Might not have been justifying his £x grand a week, but not ‘stealing a living’ either. Easy to label an injured player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted December 3, 2017 Report Share Posted December 3, 2017 We have missed his experience. He will be an asset when he's back fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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