Ian Taylor left out of tour...

[Damo70]

Regardless of whether Taylor was right or wrong to criticise the club, why didn't Villa come clean about his absence? so we need a new manager, new owner, couple of midfielders, a defence and a new Head of Public Relations.

We have appointed a new head of public relations today. Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf.

[pauliewalnuts]

Regardless of whether Taylor was right or wrong to criticise the club, why didn't Villa come clean about his absence? so we need a new manager, new owner, couple of midfielders, a defence and a new Head of Public Relations.

Because he wasn't our head of public relations, and what is there really to come clean about re a bloke who does meets and greets with fans not going on a week-long trip to the US?

Don't get me wrong, I think the club is a shambles, too, but this strikes me as creating a crisis which isn't really there.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Regardless of whether Taylor was right or wrong to criticise the club, why didn't Villa come clean about his absence? so we need a new manager, new owner, couple of midfielders, a defence and a new Head of Public Relations.

Because he wasn't our head of public relations, and what is there really to come clean about re a bloke who does meets and greets with fans not going on a week-long trip to the US?

Don't get me wrong, I think the club is a shambles, too, but this strikes me as creating a crisis which isn't really there.

I know he wasn't Head of Public Relations. Whoever is should add this to their list of recent cock ups and should be out of the door. The fact that we're creating a crisis here ( in your opinion) just highlights how badly the story has been managed by Villa and is a nice little microcosm of wider problems at the club

[pauliewalnuts]

I honestly don't see that there was much for them to manage. He didn't go on the tour because he wasn't asked to - it could really be that simple, surely?

Meanwhile I can think of about three dozen things off the top of my head that worry me more about the club.

The fact I don't trust them to sort any of them out probably says a lot, mind.

[garyshawsknee]

Tayls is at fault here. I don't use twitter. And if he has got nothing good to say about the business that pays his wages then maybe he shouldn't use it either.

He is one of my all-time heroes but how anyone can defend him is beyond me. 

For one of your all time heroes you sure don't know much about him

'Nothing good to say' have you ever heard Taylor talking about Villa ?
Obviously not, I can't think of any other ex player who has promoted and talked positively about the club on a regular basis as Taylor

It's beyond me how anyone can fault Taylor for his support of the club over the years,
To be honest the criticism of Taylor by Villa fans for saying next to nothing is a disgrace

I may be wrong but I think he's the only ex-player the club employ; that makes a difference. Then again this just goes to show the ludicrous emphasis placed on social media. Every organisation seems paranoid about it and everyone's thoughts are given ridiculously wide coverage.

It true what Danny Kelly said last night, it's modern day pub talk but it stays out there forever and is no gauge to how the majority think.

Excuse me. It's true what Danny Kelly AND I said. Unfortunately, as with some of the general's comments we saw how something posted online can be blown up and twisted for public consumption. 

Sorry to leave you out Dave. Shame you we're truncated a little last night.

[john e]

I honestly don't see that there was much for them to manage. He didn't go on the tour because he wasn't asked to - it could really be that simple, surely?

Meanwhile I can think of about three dozen things off the top of my head that worry me more about the club.

The fact I don't trust them to sort any of them out probably says a lot, mind.

Is it the club or the manager though,
My understanding is that Lambert didn't want Taylor to go, and the club will always back a manager in a issue like that

Although it seems trivial, it tells us something about the character of the manager, others have suggested he is trying to create a seige mentality, well in my view he's going about it the wrong way if it means ostracising Ian Taylor

I have worked at plenty of companies where I have been critical of my boss, and also people have been critical of me when I was a boss, I honestly can't believe others have worked in such places where they daren't say a word out of place, this is not my experience

but as long as its not done in a nasty way and is well intentioned, the only managers/bosses who in my experience have had a problem with a bit of criticism are weak threatened types who don't know what they are doing

So for me it's a bigger problem, because it shows the character of Lambert in a way that shows he has no control, and is sadly out of his depth

I realise I could well be over analysing this, but it's the type behaviour I have monitored in various jobs and positions in the past, it always ends the same way, and that's not a good thing

[pauliewalnuts]

I have worked at plenty of companies where I have been critical of my boss, and also people have been critical of me when I was a boss, I honestly can't believe others have worked in such places where they daren't say a
but as long as its not done in a nasty way and is well intentioned, the only managers/bosses who in my experience have had a problem with a bit of criticism are weak threatened types who don't know what they are doing

Yes, I take that point, but in this case it's not just criticising someone in the work place, it is criticising someone publically, which is a bit different.

Ultimately, it is - although we still don't actually know that - down to Lambert, I imagine, and if i were him, and if it is a seige mentality thing, then I am not too sure I'd be going about it that way, either.

That's still not the point, though.

Ian Taylor has publicly criticised the people who pay his wages. Pretty much anyone, whoever they work for, would expect to get in trouble for that.

Given that he has tens of thousands (not checked exact number) of Villa fans following him on twitter, that's really a pretty daft thing to do, and regardless of whether or not Lambert is doing the right thing in the way he is handling it, I just don't see how anyone is remotely surprised at it.

If he wanted to be a critic with full free speech to say what he liked about the club, then he'd have to resign his position. Which I notice he hasn't done, so i suspect it's not that big a deal to him, anyway.

[john e]

I have worked at plenty of companies where I have been critical of my boss, and also people have been critical of me when I was a boss, I honestly can't believe others have worked in such places where they daren't say a
but as long as its not done in a nasty way and is well intentioned, the only managers/bosses who in my experience have had a problem with a bit of criticism are weak threatened types who don't know what they are doing

Yes, I take that point, but in this case it's not just criticising someone in the work place, it is criticising someone publically, which is a bit different.

Ultimately, it is - although we still don't actually know that - down to Lambert, I imagine, and if i were him, and if it is a seige mentality thing, then I am not too sure I'd be going about it that way, either.

That's still not the point, though.

Ian Taylor has publicly criticised the people who pay his wages. Pretty much anyone, whoever they work for, would expect to get in trouble for that.

Given that he has tens of thousands (not checked exact number) of Villa fans following him on twitter, that's really a pretty daft thing to do, and regardless of whether or not Lambert is doing the right thing in the way he is handling it, I just don't see how anyone is remotely surprised at it.

If he wanted to be a critic with full free speech to say what he liked about the club, then he'd have to resign his position. Which I notice he hasn't done, so i suspect it's not that big a deal to him, anyway.

As long as you accept that after a 4 nothing defeat or whatever and twittering 'not good enough' is openly criticising the manager in a strong enough way for him to throw you out

I don't think it is,
 it's actually barely even criticism, let alone ' slagging' and 'nothing good to say' as others have suggested

I agree with what Clampy said in an earlier post, when he said he could understand it if Taylor had been more direct in what he said but he wasn't, he said virtually nothing, I don't see why people think he's done something so bad to deserve his treatment, it's quite unbelievable really

[old man villa fan]

I have worked at plenty of companies where I have been critical of my boss, and also people have been critical of me when I was a boss, I honestly can't believe others have worked in such places where they daren't say a
but as long as its not done in a nasty way and is well intentioned, the only managers/bosses who in my experience have had a problem with a bit of criticism are weak threatened types who don't know what they are doing

Yes, I take that point, but in this case it's not just criticising someone in the work place, it is criticising someone publically, which is a bit different.

Ultimately, it is - although we still don't actually know that - down to Lambert, I imagine, and if i were him, and if it is a seige mentality thing, then I am not too sure I'd be going about it that way, either.

That's still not the point, though.

Ian Taylor has publicly criticised the people who pay his wages. Pretty much anyone, whoever they work for, would expect to get in trouble for that.

Given that he has tens of thousands (not checked exact number) of Villa fans following him on twitter, that's really a pretty daft thing to do, and regardless of whether or not Lambert is doing the right thing in the way he is handling it, I just don't see how anyone is remotely surprised at it.

If he wanted to be a critic with full free speech to say what he liked about the club, then he'd have to resign his position. Which I notice he hasn't done, so i suspect it's not that big a deal to him, anyway.

As long as you accept that after a 4 nothing defeat or whatever and twittering 'not good enough' is openly criticising the manager in a strong enough way for him to throw you out

I don't think it is,
 it's actually barely even criticism, let alone ' slagging' and 'nothing good to say' as others have suggested

I agree with what Clampy said in an earlier post, when he said he could understand it if Taylor had been more direct in what he said but he wasn't, he said virtually nothing, I don't see why people think he's done something so bad to deserve his treatment, it's quite unbelievable really

I can see that you are taking a blinkered view of the situation but do you not understand what the role of an ambassador is.  Whether Taylor agrees with the state of things at the club or not, as an ambassador he cannot show the club in a negative light.  In this position he cannot undermine the manager, owner or players.  Taylor like many other ex players also need to understand that the media are not their friends, they just use them to create sensational headlines over sometimes trivial matters.  Mortimer was a good example of this.

I think it was Paulie who said that Taylor in his club role is nothing more than a glorified meeter and greeter, there to try and show the club in the best light (granted very difficult in these times).  If he wants to be a fan or the fans representative, he should not be in the role as ambassador.

I did not hear what he said that has caused the problem but when I have heard him, he talks well, clearly has the club at heart and I am interested listening to him.  It is very easy when you are disappointed to say inadvisable things when you have a microphone stuck in front of you or when people are expecting you to make a comment through social media.  Many people are critical of Lambert's interviews but I should imagine he is in a difficult position of not being over critical of the players in public for fear of undermining their confidence.  There is a time and place to be critical.

[mjravfc]

You can't be a fan and speak your mind as freely as we do on fan sites, AND be on the club payroll at the same time, especially at a time of relative strife.  He's got a bit of 'previous' anyway over the Gareth Barry saga, so whilst I might agree with his criticisms and what he has to say, he'd probably have been a bit wiser to wind his neck in a bit.