Alternative view from Lawrenson? - no, not really!

[olaftab]

"They are a selling club now and selling clubs don't reach the top four."

or top 6.

[Greg N'Ash]

He's right in some respects but it comes across very much as an article written by someone who's dipped into the story, checked all his facts in who we've sold and how much we've spent and totally missed the main gripe of the fans. I don't think  anyone expected AM to match the performance of the moneybags MON era but we certainly have enough to be  aiming higher than the standard AM achieved at Blose. And that's the problem - most of us expected us to get beat by spurs but not to go into the game looking to keep the score down to double figures, which is why he's got more grief  than he did for the Citeh game.

[Iago]

"They are a selling club now and selling clubs don't reach the top four."

or top 6.

Might as well give up hope this season, see you guys next season.

[TheSandman]

He's not wrong with much of what he says. The thing is for a supposed expert pundit his article lacks an in-depth and insightful analysis of how things got to this.

I'm well aware of our place in the world and I'm well aware that Spurs have a better side than us (in spite of the fact their matchday side actually cost less to assemble) and would have beat us 99 times out of 100 regardless of what we did. I just wished that the journey was a little bit more exciting and rather than shite, overpaid players like Hutton and Heskey we used youngsters. A few weeks ago someone on here coined a rather excellent metaphor. Houllier was the Captain of the Titanic and McLeish is the tugboat captain taking us on a rather slow, dull cruise around the harbour. It's not the fact that we expect success within the harsher financial regime. We would just like a slightly more enjoyable mediocrity. Which considering the value of players we have in our squad is the least we can expect.

[eamonn]

It is very depressing to see in print.
When we were being called a selling club 2 or 3 years ago, most of us were up in arms, but quite comfortable in the knowledge that the so-called experts were all wrong and that we knew our club better than them.

Now ? yes, the truth does hurt.

We were competitive three years ago that is the major difference.

Precisely.
Our fall from grace is nothing less than spectacular.

It's not even that long. ''Three years'' is what's always bandied about on here but it was just over 18 months ago that we were challenging for the top four, in the semis of the FA Cup and having just lost the Carling Cup Final in controversial circumstances.

[Greg N'Ash]

There was an interview with gareth bale in a paper this week and they touched on the hutton/Cuellar marking job. His reply was "I'm used to it but Wigan was the worse" That sums us up really- we're now adopting the tactics of Wigan - clubs that know they'll get beat at  spurs and just want to keep the goal difference down to give them a chance in the relegation mini-league.

[Iago]

He's right in some respects but it comes across very much as an article written by someone who's dipped into the story, checked all his facts in who we've sold and how much we've spent and totally missed the main gripe of the fans. I don't think  anyone expected AM to match the performance of the moneybags MON era but we certainly have enough to be  aiming higher than the standard AM achieved at Blose. And that's the problem - most of us expected us to get beat by spurs but not to go into the game looking to keep the score down to double figures, which is why he's got more grief  than he did for the Citeh game.

He is only right about the obvious player sales. The rest is just a poorly constructed, one dimensional, contradictory argument about Aston Villa's expectations. Lawrenson knows nothing about this great club or our supporters.

I do not expect a lot from AM, but even his so called defensive qualities have been questionable lately.

 

[Mister E]

allegedly written by an ex-footballer who was of course renowned for his finesse on the pitch as much as he is now known for his academic insight into all things football.

Don't know whether you're being sarcastic but he was actually renowned for his finesse on the pitch; as reasonably cultured CB.

[Vanilla]

He has said what Faulkner should say and that would leave no one under any illusions.

The funny thing is that Faulkner's comments seem o have caught the manager off guard going by his comments to the press. He is probably thinking 'F**kin' ell, this isn't what they said when they appointed me! Back then it was, 'Just don't get relegated'.'

[gervilla]

What a load of rubbish.
"Pushing for top half" my arse.
Now, yes, by mid January pushing for the bottom 6 or worse.

[KevinGage]

He has said what Faulkner should say and that would leave no one under any illusions.

The funny thing is that Faulkner's comments seem o have caught the manager off guard going by his comments to the press. He is probably thinking 'F**kin' ell, this isn't what they said when they appointed me! Back then it was, 'Just don't get relegated'.'

If Big Eck feels the job description has changed, he could always resign on a point of principle...

[Sexual Ealing]

He's right, but this paragraph (one sentence long) ought to attract a prison sentence for its appalling inanity:

Lerner has taken one look at Villa and seen that he is losing good money after bad - spending hand over fist and not getting any return on his investment.

[junxs]

"They are a selling club now and selling clubs don't reach the top four."

or top 6.

Might as well give up hope this season, see you guys next season.

...in the championship.

[eastie]

The truth hurts but lawro is bang on the money!

[OzVilla]

As for "selling club", I've still not seen a definition of what it means, despite the phrase being frequently bandied about willy nilly.  In my opinion it's just a convenient phrase normally used as a way of intellectualising an insult.

I thought 'The Modric to Chelsea' Story was a classic example of the difference between a selling and non selling Club.

Old Waxface stick to his guns and Modric is still at Spurs now and I can see them finishing above Chelsea this season.  Had Modric been a Villa player we'd have taken the cash without a second thought.

That's the difference right there.