Did you turn on Randy like a den of vipers?

[Mac]

The timing of O'Neill's departure certainly plays to the theory that he was very much the bad guy in this.  Besides, Randy's got a lot of credit in the bank.  A lot.  He's paid for Martin to have £40M worth of players that MON fell out with in the stand.

It would take a lot to convince me otherwise that Randy's anything other than whiter-than-white over this.

A new appointment was always going to be a tricky thing, and I think I can guess what decisions have been made prior to approaching a manager.

Absolutely no point in rushing to appoint the likes of Curbishley just so he can buy 2 players.  We need someone that can move us forward.  And I think that Houllier can.  We may just have to be prepared to finish 8th rather than 6th.  And given our propensity to be dumped out of the Europa League at the first hurdle it'll make no difference.

[Concrete John]

The timing of O'Neill's departure certainly plays to the theory that he was very much the bad guy in this.

If looked at another way, you could ask what had happened to make Martin make such a radical decision? 

I guess which side of that argument you fall on depends on your opinion of Martin prior to his leaving.

[peter w]

The timing of O'Neill's departure certainly plays to the theory that he was very much the bad guy in this.

If looked at another way, you could ask what had happened to make Martin make such a radical decision? 

I guess which side of that argument you fall on depends on your opinion of Martin prior to his leaving.

True up to a point. I wanted O'Neill gone but I'm wondering exactly what it is that made him do what he did when he did. Totally selfish? Maybe, but the way the General is reacting and things that he says is making me think that its if not 50-50, then the board have some culpability.

[Mac]

The only semi-plausible scenario that shows MON in a good light that I can think of is if he was having the sale of Milner/acquisition of Ireland forced on him.  He may have had to accept the sale, but not the purchase.  And the deal may not have gone through without Ireland swapping clubs too.

That said, Randy toughed it out with Barry so it's a big leap of faith to accept the above as true.

As I said, Randy has a lot of credit in the bank.  MON had used most of his up.

[Chris Smith]

And I think that Houllier can.  We may just have to be prepared to finish 8th rather than 6th.  And given our propensity to be dumped out of the Europa League at the first hurdle it'll make no difference.

I think it will make some of our better players question whether they want to stay or not.

[peter w]

And I think that Houllier can.  We may just have to be prepared to finish 8th rather than 6th.  And given our propensity to be dumped out of the Europa League at the first hurdle it'll make no difference.

I think it will make some of our better players question whether they want to stay or not.

Which in turn will force us to wonder why the club didn't act quickly, or quicker in appointing a manager and getting players in.

[Concrete John]

The only semi-plausible scenario that shows MON in a good light that I can think of is if he was having the sale of Milner/acquisition of Ireland forced on him.  He may have had to accept the sale, but not the purchase.  And the deal may not have gone through without Ireland swapping clubs too.

That said, Randy toughed it out with Barry so it's a big leap of faith to accept the above as true.

As I said, Randy has a lot of credit in the bank.  MON had used most of his up.

That's the issue though, we don't know what went on behind closed doors.  You class the above as semi-plausible, yet I find it MUCH easier to believe than martin had decided to go and out of spite he waited for 5-days before to truely screw us over.

And I think the stance over Barry had as much if not more to do with Martin as it did with Randy.  have we not been told that he had full control over such matters?

[peter w]

The only semi-plausible scenario that shows MON in a good light that I can think of is if he was having the sale of Milner/acquisition of Ireland forced on him.  He may have had to accept the sale, but not the purchase.  And the deal may not have gone through without Ireland swapping clubs too.

That said, Randy toughed it out with Barry so it's a big leap of faith to accept the above as true.

As I said, Randy has a lot of credit in the bank.  MON had used most of his up.

A lot of credit, yes, but split between two clubs, or franchises, or whatever they should be called. Of that how much is really put aside for us? I do believe that Randy has put a lot of money MON's way which hasn't always been spent well, but by and large it has. Its only now that Randy has pulled the plug which is fair enough, but you still cannot help but question why we've bought absolutely no-one?

As for the players that we would have sold i.e. Sidwell, why did they not go unless the board knew we wouldn't be bringing anyone else in?MON may have used his credit up but that's no reason for Aston Villa FC to have used up their credit.