Are we still Doug's club?

[Fergal]

Hands up who thinks Ellis would have employed the manager who just relegated Small Heath for the second time.

Hands up who thought he'd hire the all but retired Sir Graham for the second time?

Absolutely nothing compared to hiring McLeish, as well you know.

In terms of fan reception, then no, but both still count as left field appointments that didn't work out.

Oh come on. There's a bit of a difference between employing a still popular ex manager (all be it past his best) than taking on one of the most lamentable managers in Small Heath's history who had just relegated them for the second time. It pales into insignificance compared to the Taylor appointment. A ridiculous appointment that the likes of Ellis and Stride would have laughed at.

If they had made this appointment they would have corrected the mistake before we finished up in this mess.

Having said that I think we would have been relegated before this so he might not have corrected his mistakes

[saunders_heroes]

Did I imagine all the relegation battles we had under Doug?

I must have missed all the managers Ellis poached from Small Heath as well.

[rjp]

Are you getting confused with this guy?

[Californian Villain]

Hands up who thinks Ellis would have employed the manager who just relegated Small Heath for the second time.

Hands up who thought he'd hire the all but retired Sir Graham for the second time?

John Gregory did....and he was right.

[TonyD]

Hands up who thinks Ellis would have employed the manager who just relegated Small Heath for the second time.

Never.  He also wouldnt have burdned the club with £220m in debts for mostly shite players.

Hindsight eh.

[PeterWithesShin]

Did I imagine all the relegation battles we had under Doug?

I must have missed all the managers Ellis poached from Small Heath as well.

So you don't mind us being in relegation battles as long as our manager wasn't signed from small heath?

[saunders_heroes]

Did I imagine all the relegation battles we had under Doug?

I must have missed all the managers Ellis poached from Small Heath as well.

So you don't mind us being in relegation battles as long as our manager wasn't signed from small heath?

I don't want relegation battles, full stop. Only a naive fool who knows nothing about football in these parts would be stupid enough to employ a manager who has just notched up his second relegation with our most despised neighbours.
Ellis would never had done such a thing, and if Lerner had kept someone with a bit of Villa knowledge on board he would have told him so.

[PeterWithesShin]

Doug did however try and get rid of Ron Saunders, if only he'd won that power battle eh. No league title, no European Cup.

And we all knew Doug was doing the right thing employing Turner, McNeill, Dr. Jo and Graham Taylor MKII.

Just because Doug probably wouldn't have appointed AM isn't a reason to pine for him.

[saunders_heroes]

Doug did however try and get rid of Ron Saunders, if only he'd won that power battle eh. No league title, no European Cup.

And we all knew Doug was doing the right thing employing Turner, McNeill, Dr. Jo and Graham Taylor MKII.

Just because Doug probably wouldn't have appointed AM isn't a reason to pine for him.

I think you're mistaking me as a fan of Ellis' entire time at Villa. You couldn't be further from the truth. I'll stand my by claim that he'd never touch the manager of Small Heath though. Especially the same manager who had just relegated them for the second time. The appointments of Turner, Taylor (second time around) and any other manager under Ellis pale into insignificance compared to the McLeish one. It has been an abomination.

By the way, stop saying that Ellis got rid of Saunders. I've heard with my own ears Saunders say it had nothing to do with him.

[Mazrim]

Hands up who thinks Ellis would have employed the manager who just relegated Small Heath for the second time.

Never.  He also wouldnt have burdned the club with £220m in debts for mostly shite players.

Hindsight eh.

Oh dear lord. Firstly, he didn't sign the players. Secondly, the club isn't burdened with anything.
Randy has put money in from his own assets.

[Jimbo]

Some madness here. Doug was shite, Randy is proving to be very silly indeed.

[PeterWithesShin]

We'll probably stay up this season. Something we didn't do under Turner/McNeill. To me relegation is more of an abomination than staying up regardless of who is in charge.

I was talking about prior to winning the league. Short of it is Doug lost and left. Had he won and stayed then Ron would have gone. So no league title or European Cup. 

The simple fact is Randy and Doug both made crap decisions at times.

[saunders_heroes]

We'll probably stay up this season. Something we didn't do under Turner/McNeill. To me relegation is more of an abomination than staying up regardless of who is in charge.

I was talking about prior to winning the league. Short of it is Doug lost and left. Had he won and stayed then Ron would have gone. So no league title or European Cup. 

The simple fact is Randy and Doug both made crap decisions at times.

Yes they both have. Ellis made loads. My only point is that he would not have touched McLeish with a barge pole and I stand by it.

[TopDeck113]

In a bizarre way I would admit to missing the Doug of old, if for no other reason that we came to know where to pitch our expectations. A memorable season every five or six years, with a flirt with relegation in the intervening trough.

 The problem with the Lerner years to date is that we led to believe that we were going to, finally, be a creditable and consistent contender at the top end of the table.  It was that raising of expectations that has made the last couple of seasons so unpalatable.

The other thing I'll say for Doug is, that for all his self-aggrandizement, I do think he knew which hands to shake and arses to lick amongst football's movers and shakers - and also how the seedier side of the "business" worked.  That's something that Lerner, Faulkner, et al have failed to do - and it's costing us.

[Porky]

Hang on, it was time for Sir Doug OBE to sell his club, and I was okay with whom he sold to so was Doug.

Lerner started off like a rocket and all was well, except for some fans who decided to blame Doug for everything while giving him no credit. He sold for £64m, which was low we where worth nearer £100m.

Since O`Neill did one, Lerner who still has no football knowledge on the board off loaded all the top six and good squad players.

We have gone back 10 years.  I would like lerner to get a football man on board and sell some shares to another investor to bring some needed investment in.