Martin O'Neill a Miracle Man(ager)

Little Scoonie Scudderson of Birmingham, England, died at eight years old in early 2006 when a Kanshaku crawled into his liver. Luckily, doctors discovered the mythical 16th century Japanese bug fighting its way toward little Scoonie's chest cavity and let him know that he had one month to live.

At first, it sucked. Little Scoonie cried... and cried... and cried some more. Who wants to die at age eight, right? Then, the Make A Wish Foundation called and said they were going to make Scoonie's last, er, dream come true.

"Hooray!" croaked the boy (talking was hard, what with the angry creature inside him chomping organs constantly), and he thought to himself, "This Kanshaku is the greatest thing that ever happened to me!" and a big smile broke out on his face.

The Make A Wish people had never seen someone so excited about dying, and so they asked the little boy, "What'll it be kid?"

Little Scoonie smiled, winked at himself in the mirror, and confidently whispered, "Could, could ya, could ya please make sure Aston Villa qualifies for the Champions League next season?"

The Make A Wish Foundation people looked at one another, nodded solemnly, then bursting out laughing!

"No one told me this boy was retarded?"

"Out of the question!"

"Impossible!"

"YOU MIGHT AS WELL DIE NOW KID!"

And Little Scoonie did die. Right that second.

But his last wish lived on. Or so the story goes that Martin O'Neill heard of Little Scoonie and his impossible request and vowed to himself that he would make that little boy's wish a reality in his honor. True to his word, everything he has done at Aston Villa has been nothing short of miraculous.

With a squad long on young, potential stars made good and veteran retreads rejected by Europe's elite, and short on big name, big money signings, O'Neill has hauled Aston Villa up to table to where they sit today... one point off Arsenal for fourth place in the Premier League. The December 26 meeting between the two should be the most intense game of the first half of the season.

In just over two years, O'Neill has transformed Aston Villa regular Gareth Barry into England regular Gareth Barry, a level he'd been short of for almost five years prior; cast a spell on Ashley Young, manipulating him into an England hotshot preferred over Aaron Lennon and David Bentley on the wing; and concocted one Gabriel Agbonlahor, arguably his Magnum opus, the nation's top prospect for the future.

In a league that has become depressingly staid, overhyped, and ridiculous, he's a refreshing, down-to-earth figure that promises little and delivers large. One has to wonder whether Villa would be fighting for first, rather than fourth, if he'd spent like folly fiends Tottenham.

Alas, it was a miracle Scoonie demanded, and only Little Scoonie would've believed that Martin O'Neill could do so much with so little.

Now if only some eight year old Leeds fan were to be about to die with a commensurate wish... then we'd all be REALLY impressed Martin.

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