O'Neill slams Eriksson

Martin O'Neill has slammed Man City boss Sven Goran Eriksson for touting Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg to Italian giants Juventus. The Swedish defender has performed outstandingly for Villa this year, and O'Neill has hit out at Eriksson for 'meddling'.

"Recommending Olof to another club is surprising," O'Neill told the Daily Mirror.

"Maybe I should recommend some of his Manchester City players to Barcelona or Manchester United and see how he likes it.

"Olof has shown a fantastic attitude for us this season and of course I would like to keep all our best players.

"I was really surprised with what Sven has said because it's out of character for him to be speaking like that. I'm not sure he should be saying things like that about our player unless he is aiming to take him for his club."