Turmoil

[ROBBO]

Once Lamberts stratedgy of geeting young promising players from the lower divisions blew up in his face then Randy should have sacked him, to give him a four year extension after three or four decent games was mind blowing incompetence.
Does anyone believe that Lerner is capable of replacing Lambert without us looking ridiculous, as i've stated before we probably have the only billionaire owner that is genuinely dumb, he must be because nobody makes as many mistakes as he has without having an intelligence deficit.

[Jimbo]

The word 'clusterfuck' was invented for our current plight. And it all has its roots in one man.

[curiousorange]

One of the things I really hate about our situation is how we're now one of those basket case clubs that we used to look at and say 'thank God that's not us'. You look at Leeds, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Doncaster - the list goes on - and I never really felt like Villa could be one of those clubs that implode, making joke decisions and angering their fan base spectaularly. And look at us. An institution, eroding.

I suspect a lot of people won't give a shit about how we 'look' to the wider world. But we ought to. We're the only ones who care enough about how things are going. Nobody's going to sympathise when we go - they'll laugh, because that's what happens when you're the joke.

[Chico Hamilton III]

One of the things I really hate about our situation is how we're now one of those basket case clubs that we used to look at and say 'thank God that's not us'. You look at Leeds, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Doncaster - the list goes on - and I never really felt like Villa could be one of those clubs that implode, making joke decisions and angering their fan base spectaularly. And look at us. An institution, eroding.

I suspect a lot of people won't give a shit about how we 'look' to the wider world. But we ought to. We're the only ones who care enough about how things are going. Nobody's going to sympathise when we go - they'll laugh, because that's what happens when you're the joke.

We've become the new old Man City.

[DaveD]

It's not really turmoil, it's just slow decline. We're circling the drain in the same way Coventry were in the 90s. One year - and it might be this year - we won't get lucky and we'll go down. Nobody outside the Villa fanbase will care, just as they didn't about Coventry, as we've really done nothing to inspire anybody neutral for a long time.

What happens after that is anyone's guess. 1987 style root and branch reform and revival hopefully, but I think continued stagnation is more likely.

If Randy pulls the plug or becomes less fussy about who he sells to, something worse is possible, although improbable IMHO.

[Gareth]

I was hoping Tom Fox was going to steady the ship a bit but it may have gone too far for a quick turnaround. He may be merely "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic".

Who is to say that he isn't doing a full review of the operations top to bottom??  its not something that would happen overnight & equally would not be something that would be publicised.

Saying that, it would require balls of steel if they weren't concerned with the league position

[NeilH]

It's not really turmoil, it's just slow decline. We're circling the drain in the same way Coventry were in the 90s.

That's been my take on it for a long time. Everything about the club right now stinks of decay and decline. I was standing looking at the newly installed lamp post-Soton game and all I could think it that our club is turning into a dusty old museum piece that used to mean something once, but has long since been consigned to the display case near the fire hydrant and the emergency exit. If one day it breaks, no-one will care much about fixing it, it will simply get chucked into the cellar and forgotten.

[levico]

The word 'clusterfuck' was invented for our current plight. And it all has its roots in one man.

Or even 'omnishambles'

[john2710]

It's quite simple, when you start making the right decisions, everything else starts to fall into place. When you keep making bad decisions on top of bad decisions it just compounds the problems. An example being the expulsion of Hutton for two years & then turning around to give him a new contract.

Until Lerner starts making good decisions, employs someone capable of making the decisions for him or he sells up we are, at best, treading water. No one expects us to compete with the top few but the level of incompetence and apathy surrounding the whole club is staggering. Have we gone back to being run like a corner shop?

[pauliewalnuts]

I was hoping Tom Fox was going to steady the ship a bit but it may have gone too far for a quick turnaround. He may be merely "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic".

Who is to say that he isn't doing a full review of the operations top to bottom??  its not something that would happen overnight & equally would not be something that would be publicised.

I think that's fair comment, we can't really make any judgment on what Fox is doing, because he hasn't been here that long, certainly not long enough to have major decisions attributed to him.

[silhillvilla]

Fair enough re Fox but I know someone who has met and spoken with him and the very clear feel he got was that he knows little about football. I hope he proves me wrong though.

[RussellC]

I think that Lerner has been neglectful and inept, but I honestly do hold Lambert accountable for most of the current problems.

The revolving door on our playing squad and coaching set-up is undoubtedly his responsibility. As is the lack of leadership and character within the team. In a footballing sense, we're completely planless. Collymore hit the nail on the head when he described our set-up as "hoping" instead of "coaching." Yes, hes had to work within some tough constraints and amid uncertainty over the clubs' ownership, but he's still had enough time and money to do a much better job than he has. Had we had a Tony Pulis or a Steve Mclaren (2 Managers that 90% of us would have turned our noses up at given the choice) in place for the last few seasons, I'd wager we'd be in a much better place than we currently are, and the off-field situation would be more of a frustration that an actual concern.

[Lee]

I think that Lerner has been neglectful and inept, but I honestly do hold Lambert accountable for most of the current problems.

The revolving door on our playing squad and coaching set-up is undoubtedly his responsibility. As is the lack of leadership and character within the team. In a footballing sense, we're completely planless. Collymore hit the nail on the head when he described our set-up as "hoping" instead of "coaching." Yes, hes had to work within some tough constraints and amid uncertainty over the clubs' ownership, but he's still had enough time and money to do a much better job than he has. Had we had a Tony Pulis or a Steve Mclaren (2 Managers taht 905 of us would have turned our noses up at given the choice) in place for the last few seasons, I'd wager we'd be in a much better place than we currently are, and the off-field situation would be more of a frustration that an actual concern.

Valid points. Agreed that he has worked under constraints, but the fayre served up should be a whole lot better

[Monty]

The media silence about Lambert's incompetence is something else. The Graun mentioned us in their Ten Things We Learned From The Weekend blog, to the effect merely that 1) Lambert might start to lose popularity and 2) maybe its our fault anyway, as the team plays with 'greater freedom' away from home. The idea that the general fan position on Lambert is anything other than overwhelmingly negative has failed to penetrate the general mediasphere, as have his amazing statistics accrued during his time here.

On Tom Fox, who knows, he might be the next Billy Beane or whatever, but coming from Arsenal doesn't necessarily suggest someone used to knowing when to fire a manager, or with experience of hiring a new one (though it might have left him with a certain minimum standard as to how modern top-flight football should be played, which would be something).

[Villafirst]

I was hoping Tom Fox was going to steady the ship a bit but it may have gone too far for a quick turnaround. He may be merely "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic".

Tom Fox's appointment isn't going to arrest a dire situation. The slide that set in during 2010 has gathered pace this season and will see the club finally relegated to the Championship. Two questions: Have we scored a single goal in the second half of any game this season? and, what was the last goal scored by a Villa player at the Holte End?