Kendrick Says It's Time To Ask Questions

[sirlordbaltimore]

Mat Kendrick's latest piece. I have to agree with him

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mat-kendrick-comment-fans-must-6743554

[Singapore Villa]

Fair play.  That is a good article.  Well said.

[Dave Clark Five]

As if by clockwork, this arrives. Kendrick is obviously hearing something that tells him he can start getting critical. The first wind of this was, indirectly, after the West Ham game. Now he is opening up.

[Irish villain]

Fair play Mr. Kendrick.

[pauliewalnuts]

As if by clockwork, this arrives. Kendrick is obviously hearing something that tells him he can start getting critical. The first wind of this was, indirectly, after the West Ham game. Now he is opening up.

Who do you think is telling him he can start to be critical?

[Mister E]

He's right: we get what we're prepared to put up with.

[dekko]

What I brought away from that (and maybe I'm projecting) was that as well as being frustrated with the direction the club is going in on and off the field (hes a Villa fan too remember), hes also getting fed up of not knowing whats going on himself.

His job is to get information out of the club, and the whole place is sealed up so tight its rare he ever has any interesting or useful information to put in his articles.  If you ever watch the press conferences on the website, Lambert never gives anything away, and the only thing we ever get from them are vague injury updates.  The local journos deserve some criticism for not putting Lambert on the spot enough, but remember last year when Kendrick asked some tough questions and got blanked for a few weeks?

As for 'asking questions' i think some sort of supporters group or campaign needs to be put together.  I don't think a simple 'Lambert Out' message will be that useful as in my view the current management is only a small part of the problem.  What I want is for the heirarchy to come out and tell us what the timescale of this 'plan' is, I want to know if we'll start spending money again, I want to know if their plans for long term success and sustainability amount to anything more than hoping Lambert is up to the job and letting him get on with it.  At this point I'd settle for a press conference from Randy Lerner just to shed some light on what the flying fuck is going on.

Constantly giving us the vague, sunshiney view of what is frankly an unacceptable situation is patronising and disrespectful to the fans who pay huge sums of money to support the team, and don't get enough in return.

[pooligan]

Sounds to me,the club are putting feelers out to see what the fans are really thinking before they make any decisions at the end of the season

[DrGonzo]

  I feel that matters are coming to a head.  the board need to let the fans know, firstly, what the long term plan (if such a thing exists) for the club is, and secondly what restrictions Lambert is being asked to work under in terms of wage structure/transfer funds, to allow us to judge more reasonably his suitability as a coach.

  If Randy, as he likes us to believe, is passionate about the club and it's "Proud history/bright future" he should be enthusiastic to let us know what shape that future is likely to be.  If he is so passionate about the club we should be made aware of the difficulties that are seeing our wage structures reduced.  We should be aware of what the plans for growing revenue are, so that we can aim to increase our outlay without breaking a wages/turnover budget.
 
 I have no problem with fiscal responsibility, I would more than anything, hate to see Villa end up in the same hole that has swallowed Leeds and Portsmouth.  Within that statement though is an explicit wish that we do not lower our targets and accept mediocrity, this means driving revenues up to allow spending on the pitch..
  If there is no long term strategy along these lines then Randy needs to admit that he is merely bumbling on from season to season and let his respect and passion for the club really show by allowing somebody with greater vision to take his place.

[amfy]

As if by clockwork, this arrives. Kendrick is obviously hearing something that tells him he can start getting critical. The first wind of this was, indirectly, after the West Ham game. Now he is opening up.

Who do you think is telling him he can start to be critical?

I'm no expert, but my guess is its that we're shit.

[Dave Clark Five]

As if by clockwork, this arrives. Kendrick is obviously hearing something that tells him he can start getting critical. The first wind of this was, indirectly, after the West Ham game. Now he is opening up.

Who do you think is telling him he can start to be critical?

I was more thinking he would be critical of the manager and not the whole set up. Very unusual move for someone who likes the comfortable trappings of the local media.
There is something going on, that's for sure.

[levico]

As if by clockwork, this arrives. Kendrick is obviously hearing something that tells him he can start getting critical. The first wind of this was, indirectly, after the West Ham game. Now he is opening up.

Who do you think is telling him he can start to be critical?

I was more thinking he would be critical of the manager and not the whole set up. Very unusual move for someone who likes the comfortable trappings of the local media.
There is something going on, that's for sure.

I hope you are right, but could it be that seeing how us fans are reacting on sites such as this, he feels that he can put a negative head above the public parapet without getting it blown off?

[Dave Clark Five]

Sounds to me,the club are putting feelers out to see what the fans are really thinking before they make any decisions at the end of the season

Definitely. This is an old trick.

[not3bad]

As for 'asking questions' i think some sort of supporters group or campaign needs to be put together.

What about the Supporter's Trust?

[Billy Walker]

Whatever happens - and I agree with Kendrick when he says that the supporters need to get together and demand answers from the Board - we need to keep it positive inside Villla Park on match days.  Meeting up outside the ground before/after matches and letting our feelings be known just could be the way ahead.  I'm totally behind the manager BUT I need to know what the vision of the Board is.  A couple of seasons back PF stated that the aim of the club was to be in the top 20 wealthiest clubs in Europe every year (no mention of trophies among his aims, alas) and it seems to me that the Board has failed to even meet this target.

The Board needs to clarify where this football club is going - just what are the their aims and intentions?  The manager needs to be seriously backed this summer and if he isn't the alarm bells will finally start ringing with me.  At the very least we should be challenging for top six and cups - I need to see that the desire for this still exists in the Boardroom.