Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner has hailed Martin O'Neill as a "genius" having twice witnessed the Northern Irishman transform the fortunes of a club.
The 25-year-old came through the ranks at Aston Villa under O'Neill before being sold to Birmingham, and is delighted to be playing under him again at the Stadium of Light.
"The way he turned Aston Villa around was unbelievable and the way he has turned Sunderland around is unbelievable," Gardener told the Sunderland Echo.
"Some people say he's a genius, some people say he's lucky; but he can't be lucky because he does it every time. He's just a top bloke and a top, top manager."
Gardner, 25, also revealed he has no ill feeling towards O'Neill even though he sold him while he was manager at Villa. Gardner was struggling to break into the first XI as he was second in line to a string of England internationals and as a result engineered his own exit from the club in a bid to further his career.
"To be honest, I've read a bit about the gaffer selling me previously, but it doesn't really paint the full picture," Gardner added. "The gaffer didn't want me to leave, but I needed to go because I knew that reserve-team football was no longer any good for me if I was going to develop as I wanted to."
Comment 1 - 4 of 4
Top half ?
Malcy, where do you "rightly" (rightfully) belong and at who's expense??
certainly has the stadium buzzing again no-one can deny him that, lets keep it going and get to where we rightly belong
Didn't I say? The man's a genius I tellya... a Woody Allen lookylikey genius
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