Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: eastie on January 13, 2014, 07:57:21 PM
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Interview with paul faulkner here-
@thegoalzone: FAULKNER EXCLUSIVE: Listen back to Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner speaking with me earlier today... http://t.co/OsZMHMXNuN
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PF doesn't really say anything of real value in this.
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
The fact he thinks we have made real progress this season is very depressing.
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
The fact he thinks we have made real progress this season is very depressing.
And even worse he and Randy truly believe it
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
The fact he thinks we have made real progress this season is very depressing.
And even worse he and Randy truly believe it
It's the picking and choosing of certain stats that boils my piss. Lambert excusing 25% possession by saying its the score line that counts (all while ours have been shit) and now PF seeing being 11th as progress and using facts like more clean sheets! How about, less goals scored, worst home record in the existence of time etc
They will just continue to use whatever 'stats' detract from this utter garbage and lack of investment.
They will be more concerned after this season though (hopefully we survive) when season ticket renewals are sooooooo low and they'll wonder why!
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He gets on my tits. He's an estate agent. Shouldn't be anywhere near a football club. Definitely not acting as some kind of mouthpiece for the club.
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
The fact he thinks we have made real progress this season is very depressing.
And even worse he and Randy truly believe it
It's the picking and choosing of certain stats that boils my piss. Lambert excusing 25% possession by saying its the score line that counts (all while ours have been shit) and now PF seeing being 11th as progress and using facts like more clean sheets! How about, less goals scored, worst home record in the existence of time etc
They will just continue to use whatever 'stats' detract from this utter garbage and lack of investment.
They will be more concerned after this season though (hopefully we survive) when season ticket renewals are sooooooo low and they'll wonder why!
Not sure the ST's make much difference financially. Its the tv money thats the key
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Awful interview not helped by PF being interviewed by a yesman puppet. None threatening drivel
The fact he thinks we have made real progress this season is very depressing.
And even worse he and Randy truly believe it
It's the picking and choosing of certain stats that boils my piss. Lambert excusing 25% possession by saying its the score line that counts (all while ours have been shit) and now PF seeing being 11th as progress and using facts like more clean sheets! How about, less goals scored, worst home record in the existence of time etc
They will just continue to use whatever 'stats' detract from this utter garbage and lack of investment.
They will be more concerned after this season though (hopefully we survive) when season ticket renewals are sooooooo low and they'll wonder why!
Not sure the ST's make much difference financially. Its the tv money thats the key
Yes, true. Bit it's the season ticket sales that get managers the can
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I thought the interview was quite good. Faulkner's answers were shit though.
It boils down to "we are not going to try and win anything, look we are 11th, thats good enough for us."
Fuck off.
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I thought the interview was quite good. Faulkner's answers were shit though.
It boils down to "we are not going to try and win anything, look we are 11th, thats good enough for us."
Fuck off.
The emperor has no clothes.
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I really can't stand this fuckwit. Real progress smh!!
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Middle management corporate bullshitter. Not a CEO of a massive football club.
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Middle management corporate bullshitter. Not a CEO of a massive football club.
Thought it for a long time. He's a man Randy trusts, not the best man for the job.
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Middle management corporate bullshitter. Not a CEO of a massive football club.
Thought it for a long time. He's a man Randy trusts, not the best man for the job.
The interview shows why we don't have a DOF what would be the point with this clown in charge?
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Clueless, the chairman and him. But they will keep spinning the same line and people will suck it up.
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15 minutes of corporate platitudes.
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I'll never get that 14 minutes back again.
He sounds like a politician, pretty much said nothing but tellingly said January wasn't a good time to do business and that he knew the FA Cup means a lot to Villa fans.
The only question he brushed over was the one about how Villa were financially, "Yeah good. Positive....". Thanks for that you utter no-mark. The game tonight didn't piss me off, this interview did though. He seems utterly clueless.
This would be the time to come out and say, we're backing the manager and actively looking to strengthen. Instead just gobbledygook, fills me with no confidence in the direction the club is going.
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Haven't listened to it and won't bother. He's an idiot.
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I notice he got in the opportunity to talk up his involvement in the FA. The only time he sounded excited.
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Well, he will be popular amongst the other bigwigs in the league. After all, our hospitality is second to none. Nobody leaves Villa Park empty handed.
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I've always said that Lerner/Falkner should communicate with us more - after that facile drivel I will never ask again. Stop in your office Paul.
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Middle management corporate bullshitter. Not a CEO of a massive football club.
Yep - bout sums it up for me. If he was in charge of Corporate Sales or some such position then I would have less of an issue.
The fact is he will be, as things currently stand, the recruiter of the next manager.
Now does anyone think this no football knowledge buffoon is in anyway qualified for such a role.
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It’s when I listen to stuff like this that I realize just why I am rapidly falling out of love with Aston Villa football club. Don’t get me wrong, she will always have a place in my heart, but if I am honest I just remember her as she used to be; a beautiful vision on a cold winters evening with the roar of an expectant crowd drawing me in. Sure she was still punching under her weight and could have done better, but there was always that expectation that she wanted to be there and that although she wasn’t, she mattered to other clubs and our management and owner knew that.
Now she’s just another faceless club, ran by faceless executives whose only ambition is to simply to continue to suckle at the teat of the Premier League. She demands my loyalty but is prepared to give me absolutely nothing in return anymore, apart from empty promises around some utopian dream of creating the United class of ’92 on a shoestring budget.
I don’t have a problem with Faulkner, I am sure he is doing a good job, but the problem is that we are a football club and his remit is clearly very off kilter with the remit of us supporters who wish to attend VP and watch our team actually compete. And this is the crux of it all really. When Lerner came we were swept up with the euphoria of it all, supporters groups rejoiced, the battle against Doug was over, we had the owner we always wanted. He cared, he was one of us; the club could be remembered for what we did on the field and not what our octogenarian owner spouted. We had a plan to reach the Holy Grail of the Champs League, the club were taking ever opportunity to listen to fans, to improve our infrastructure and make us happy.
Christ it all seems a bloody long time ago now and it’s the fall from grace, interviews like this and mostly the fact that the owner I truly believed has now lost all interest in us, which is driven why I am falling out of love with my club.
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Caught some of it on the way there last night, i'll have another listen sometime today. I did smile when I heard it was Tom Ross interviewing him. I take it PF is still keeping WM waiting and rightly so.
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It’s when I listen to stuff like this that I realize just why I am rapidly falling out of love with Aston Villa football club. Don’t get me wrong, she will always have a place in my heart, but if I am honest I just remember her as she used to be; a beautiful vision on a cold winters evening with the roar of an expectant crowd drawing me in. Sure she was still punching under her weight and could have done better, but there was always that expectation that she wanted to be there and that although she wasn’t, she mattered to other clubs and our management and owner knew that.
Now she’s just another faceless club, ran by faceless executives whose only ambition is to simply to continue to suckle at the teat of the Premier League. She demands my loyalty but is prepared to give me absolutely nothing in return anymore, apart from empty promises around some utopian dream of creating the United class of ’92 on a shoestring budget.
I don’t have a problem with Faulkner, I am sure he is doing a good job, but the problem is that we are a football club and his remit is clearly very off kilter with the remit of us supporters who wish to attend VP and watch our team actually compete. And this is the crux of it all really. When Lerner came we were swept up with the euphoria of it all, supporters groups rejoiced, the battle against Doug was over, we had the owner we always wanted. He cared, he was one of us; the club could be remembered for what we did on the field and not what our octogenarian owner spouted. We had a plan to reach the Holy Grail of the Champs League, the club were taking ever opportunity to listen to fans, to improve our infrastructure and make us happy.
Christ it all seems a bloody long time ago now and it’s the fall from grace, interviews like this and mostly the fact that the owner I truly believed has now lost all interest in us, which is driven why I am falling out of love with my club.
Excellent post.
I've heard it said recently that the Villa job is too big for Paul Lambert, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree.
However I have felt for a while that the same applies to Faulkner and RL too. The expectations at a club such as ours will never just be to survive and exist in the top flight. Maybe RL and Faulkner would have been better off at a club more in tune with their ambition and expectations. A Bolton, Swindon or Bristol City spring to mind. Rather than the scorn and contempt they increasingly get here, they'd be feted as gods if they delivered Premier League survival to any of that lot. They could blather on about wage bills and so forth to their hearts content, I'm sure fans of those clubs wouldn't mind.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
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The club has never been more in need of someone at board level who knows something about football. At the moment, we're running ourselves like a struggling business, not a sporting institution. If it carries on like this, it won't end well.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
Good post - agree with that. Lerner & Faulkner are not Football men. It desperately needs someone like Steve Stride or Graham Taylor at the club with their finger on the pulse.
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Well, he will be popular amongst the other bigwigs in the league. After all, our hospitality is second to none. Nobody leaves Villa Park empty handed.
Including the visiting teams, 3 points every time
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
You'd really want Tan instead of Lerner? He's already changed their colours, it won't be long before the name is next!
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
Correct.
He did and with 2 of those he cut his lossess pretty quick.
I am fairly sure that Herbert would not have hired a person who had been out of front line coaching for some time with previous heart problems and who told us, somewhat patronisingly that 12th was acceptable.
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
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To be fair Doug did bring usSir Graham, BFR, Brian Little and JG.
Also sacked BFR when he was still popular, even though i was not happy with the sacking i would say Doug was right.
I don't think Doug would have gone for AMC either.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
you must have missed the bit where he hired Graham Turner from Shrewsbury to manage a First Division football club that two years prior were champions of europe.
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The HDE revisionism that has gone on of late is ridiculous.
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The HDE revisionism that has gone on of late is ridiculous.
It's off the charts crazy. If the internet was around in the mid 80's this place would have melted down.
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
You'd really want Tan instead of Lerner? He's already changed their colours, it won't be long before the name is next!
That was the first time I had heard that Tan was the man who convinced Martinez to go to Everton. As for his bad decisions and breaking eggs we already have that covered.
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter.
Behold the single most ridiculously over the top reaction on this site in ages.
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Yeah, there is all kinds of stupid going on at the moment.
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Anyone who is advocating Tan over Lerner needs to book an appointment with their doctor quickly.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
Maybe, but even Doug wouldn't have appointed Alex McLeish! - that's when I realised Lerner and Faulkner are complete buffoons!"
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Like he sacked O'Leary after Doncaster?
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
Maybe, but even Doug wouldn't have appointed Alex McLeish! - that's when I realised Lerner and Faulkner are complete buffoons!"
HE HIRED GRAHAM TURNER
Smashes head against monitor.
Yes McLeish was a disaster but I just told you Doug Ellis hired a lower league manager to take over a club that had only a couple of years stood conquerors of europe. Do you not see a problem in that?
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To be fair Doug did bring usSir Graham, BFR, Brian Little and JG.
Also sacked BFR when he was still popular, even though i was not happy with the sacking i would say Doug was right.
I don't think Doug would have gone for AMC either.
Also, Villa had a couple of serious tilts at the League title in 89-90 & 92-93 plus two league cup wins in 94 & 96. What chance of that under Lerner's regime?? Indeed, how many trophies in the last 8 years? Lerner is content with 10th or 11th place.
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To be fair Doug did bring usSir Graham, BFR, Brian Little and JG.
Also sacked BFR when he was still popular, even though i was not happy with the sacking i would say Doug was right.
I don't think Doug would have gone for AMC either.
Also, Villa had a couple of serious tilts at the League title in 89-90 & 92-93 plus two league cup wins in 94 & 96. What chance of that under Lerner's regime?? Indeed, how many trophies in the last 8 years? Lerner is content with 10th or 11th place.
Is it the chairman's fault that his club over two legs shit the bed against Bradford? Is it his fault that we didn't win the League Cup under MON, or advanced to the FA Cup final?
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
you must have missed the bit where he hired Graham Turner from Shrewsbury to manage a First Division football club that two years prior were champions of europe.
Not at all Toronto.
Did you miss my 'He had many faults.' ?
I went to lots of games under Turner. He had been Shrewsbury's best manager, was considered to be a bright, young and up and coming manager.
It turned out to be a much, much too big a job for him. Like it has been for all of Lerner / Faulkner appointments thus far.
Like many, I'm still hoping to be proved wrong with Lambert as it would mean a) we will have improved at least to a moderate extent b) it means Faulkner doesn't have to make (or is not involved in) another managerial apppintment anytime soon.
More pertiently does anyone know who at the club agreed £2m+ wages for Jermaine Jenas for a year without any rebate in the instance of injury?
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
Not sure if this is a joke post or not but just in case it isnt I direct your attention here:
(http://i.imgur.com/Of5ztE7.jpg)
I also enjoyed the poster who agreed that we would be better off with Tan because Lerner and Faulkner are not 'football men'
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Well, he will be popular amongst the other bigwigs in the league. After all, our hospitality is second to none. Nobody leaves Villa Park empty handed.
Including the visiting teams, 3 points every time
Or entry into the enxt round of the Cup competition.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
you must have missed the bit where he hired Graham Turner from Shrewsbury to manage a First Division football club that two years prior were champions of europe.
Not at all Toronto.
Did you miss my 'He had many faults.' ?
I went to lots of games under Turner. He had been Shrewsbury's best manager, was considered to be a bright, young and up and coming manager.
It turned out to be a much, much too big a job for him. Like it has been for all of Lerner / Faulkner appointments thus far.
Like many, I'm still hoping to be proved wrong with Lambert as it would mean a) we will have improved at least to a moderate extent b) it means Faulkner doesn't have to make (or is not involved in) another managerial apppintment anytime soon.
More pertiently does anyone know who at the club agreed £2m+ wages for Jermaine Jenas for a year without any rebate in the instance of injury?
Rob, but the comment about he would never have hired McLeish can't be used if he hired a man like Turner who was from two divisions lower and out of his depth of running a club that was where it was 2 seasons prior. McLeish for all his faults at least had some pedigree running big clubs and winning trophies. Or even Venglos to follow Graham Taylor who had a mixed past in europe to take over a side that just finished second in the league.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
you must have missed the bit where he hired Graham Turner from Shrewsbury to manage a First Division football club that two years prior were champions of europe.
Not at all Toronto.
Did you miss my 'He had many faults.' ?
I went to lots of games under Turner. He had been Shrewsbury's best manager, was considered to be a bright, young and up and coming manager.
It turned out to be a much, much too big a job for him. Like it has been for all of Lerner / Faulkner appointments thus far.
Like many, I'm still hoping to be proved wrong with Lambert as it would mean a) we will have improved at least to a moderate extent b) it means Faulkner doesn't have to make (or is not involved in) another managerial apppintment anytime soon.
More pertiently does anyone know who at the club agreed £2m+ wages for Jermaine Jenas for a year without any rebate in the instance of injury?
Rob, but the comment about he would never have hired McLeish can't be used if he hired a man like Turner who was from two divisions lower and out of his depth of running a club that was where it was 2 seasons prior. McLeish for all his faults at least had some pedigree running big clubs and winning trophies. Or even Venglos to follow Graham Taylor who had a mixed past in europe to take over a side that just finished second in the league.
Who would have thought 3.5 years ago Rodgers would be managing Liverpool 2 years later?
Shrewsbury were top half in Division 2 (which was the 2nd Tier in those days) - punching well above their weight. He was a very highly regarded young manager.
McLeish with 2 relegations and 3rd place finish with Rangers (which is equivalent to relegation) and no affiliation to Villa would not have even been considered by Herbert.
The Venglos appointment was imaginative at least - just the wrong bloke at the wrong club. Oft copied by other clubs ever since.
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Anyone who is advocating Tan over Lerner needs to book an appointment with their doctor quickly.
Missed this one.
Correct, though I suspect it might be too late.
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After listening I couldnt help think that Faulkner is like a clone of Doug! Even down to talking up his role at the FA, like we give a F'!
Not quite, Doug would've sacked Lambert long ago especially after the Bradford debacle 12 months ago....
Yes and hired Billy McNeill or Graham Turner or Venglos. He had a flawless managerial appointment record did Doug
And he would never have ever contemplated hiring TSM.
He had many faults and they have been well documented on this site but he knew more about football than Faulkner ever will.
you must have missed the bit where he hired Graham Turner from Shrewsbury to manage a First Division football club that two years prior were champions of europe.
Not at all Toronto.
Did you miss my 'He had many faults.' ?
I went to lots of games under Turner. He had been Shrewsbury's best manager, was considered to be a bright, young and up and coming manager.
It turned out to be a much, much too big a job for him. Like it has been for all of Lerner / Faulkner appointments thus far.
Like many, I'm still hoping to be proved wrong with Lambert as it would mean a) we will have improved at least to a moderate extent b) it means Faulkner doesn't have to make (or is not involved in) another managerial apppintment anytime soon.
More pertiently does anyone know who at the club agreed £2m+ wages for Jermaine Jenas for a year without any rebate in the instance of injury?
Rob, but the comment about he would never have hired McLeish can't be used if he hired a man like Turner who was from two divisions lower and out of his depth of running a club that was where it was 2 seasons prior. McLeish for all his faults at least had some pedigree running big clubs and winning trophies. Or even Venglos to follow Graham Taylor who had a mixed past in europe to take over a side that just finished second in the league.
Who would have thought 3.5 years ago Rodgers would be managing Liverpool 2 years later?
Shrewsbury were top half in Division 2 (which was the 2nd Tier in those days) - punching well above their weight. He was a very highly regarded young manager.
McLeish with 2 relegations and 3rd place finish with Rangers (which is equivalent to relegation) and no affiliation to Villa would not have even been considered by Herbert.
The Venglos appointment was imaginative at least - just the wrong bloke at the wrong club. Oft copied by other clubs ever since.
I wouldn't defend appointing McLeish but a couple of things need to be remembered. He'd won a trophy, managed a big club (and if third with Rangers is bad then surely his runners-up with Motherwell was a major achievement) and we were mid-table. His playing achievements were also worthy of respect. He had played and managed at the highest level. Turner was asked to go straight from Shrewsbury Town, the biggest club he'd ever been associated with, to a dressing room full of internationals and European champions, some of whom were barely more than a couple of years younger then him.
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So, we've had suggestions for Sam Allerdyce as manager, Jason Scotland being signed and now Vincent Tan to buy the club?
For those who claim things can't get any worse, there you go!
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If I was offered a choice between our absent no mark of an owner and Vincent Tan I think I would probably choose the latter. Granted Tan is making bad decisions but you dont make an omlette without breaking eggs. He is there every week, living through it with the fans proudly wearing his clubs shirt. He cares a great deal and is successful in other walks of life - Eventually he may get it right and push Cardiff on to the next level. For a start, how did he manage to convince solksjaer to go to Cardiff or Martinez to Everton when tinky-winky and la-laa could not convince them to take over the sleeping giant that is AVFC.
Someone should ask PF why Randy could not be arsed coming back over here when the future king of england came visiting recently. I have no faith in either of them
Not sure if this is a joke post or not but just in case it isnt I direct your attention here:
(http://i.imgur.com/Of5ztE7.jpg)
I also enjoyed the poster who agreed that we would be better off with Tan because Lerner and Faulkner are not 'football men'
Must be trolling.
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What a waste of 15 minutes. PR led drivel, not really telling us anything we don't already know. I tell you what though, Lambert isn't going anywhere - Lerner & Faulkner are delighted with what he's achieving - in terms of league placement currently we are bang in line with comfortable premier league survival, and all done on a shoe string. That's all they want - stay in the Prem, and keep sucking on the money teet. The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
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The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
a new contender emerges for being the most overly dramatic statement ever made on this site
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Are we taking up lacrosse instead?
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What a waste of 15 minutes. PR led drivel, not really telling us anything we don't already know. I tell you what though, Lambert isn't going anywhere - Lerner & Faulkner are delighted with what he's achieving - in terms of league placement currently we are bang in line with comfortable premier league survival, and all done on a shoe string. That's all they want - stay in the Prem, and keep sucking on the money teet. The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
One thing you are totally right about is lambert is going nowhere, he will not be sacked .
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The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
a new contender emerges for being the most overly dramatic statement ever made on this site
It dose'nt beat a call on WM just from a villa fan, who wobbled on about us not getting crowds of 25k when we're in the championship next season, then said he was on the verge of tears as he spoke.
'I'm going to make a fool of myself in a minute'. He wasn't wrong.
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Sorry, I forgot - everything at the club is rosy - especially the brilliant home form of 8 points from a possible 33. Keep up the good work Paul and Randy it really is looking like a "bright future"
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One thing you are totally right about is lambert is going nowhere, he will not be sacked .
He's most certainly here until the end of the season. Much depends on how we do between now and then. Season ticket sales will be key. I'd imagine they'll be in for a shock with their 'early bird' numbers as I'm guessing a fair few will be having a serious think this spring about automatically renewing.
As for the interview, I'd imagine the questions were agreed before hand. A waste of time for all concerned.
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The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
a new contender emerges for being the most overly dramatic statement ever made on this site
It dose'nt beat a call on WM just from a villa fan, who wobbled on about us not getting crowds of 25k when we're in the championship next season, then said he was on the verge of tears as he spoke.
'I'm going to make a fool of myself in a minute'. He wasn't wrong.
Was he called Dennis by any chance?
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Sorry, I forgot - everything at the club is rosy - especially the brilliant home form of 8 points from a possible 33. Keep up the good work Paul and Randy it really is looking like a "bright future"
Do you realise that there is a massive amount of possibilities between wrist-slashing depression and thinking everything is perfect? I'd normally assume that most people would but you seem to think that anyone who doesn't think it's the end of the world clearly thinks it's perfect so I assume you can only think in binary.
As for all the comments about it being a waste of 15minutes, would could he have said that you wouldn't be pissed off about? 1 example of something he could say that he wouldn't be ripped to pieces over is all I'm after.
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The days of Aston Villa being a football club is over and it's really bloody sad.
a new contender emerges for being the most overly dramatic statement ever made on this site
It dose'nt beat a call on WM just from a villa fan, who wobbled on about us not getting crowds of 25k when we're in the championship next season, then said he was on the verge of tears as he spoke.
'I'm going to make a fool of myself in a minute'. He wasn't wrong.
Was he called Dennis by any chance?
No, he was first on I think. He was his normal depressive self.
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Sorry, I forgot - everything at the club is rosy - especially the brilliant home form of 8 points from a possible 33. Keep up the good work Paul and Randy it really is looking like a "bright future"
One thing you can always guarantee whenever we get an opposing view from The End is Nigh is that somebody will immediately chip in with the incredibly unfunny and tedious "No, you're right everything's perfect" even though no-one has said that or anything like it.
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What I meant was we are a business first, football club second - but then I suppose that's Modern day football for you. I just wish we would show some ambition, remember who we are and what we are about. Surely we can do that whilst remaining financially prudent . Our squad has numbers now, so we will see where we are come Feb 1st. A centre back and centre mid with experience and some quality and things will look a lot rosier.
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What I meant was we are a business first, football club second - but then I suppose that's Modern day football for you. I just wish we would show some ambition, remember who we are and what we are about. Surely we can do that whilst remaining financially prudent . Our squad has numbers now, so we will see where we are come Feb 1st. A centre back and centre mid with experience and some quality and things will look a lot rosier.
Very much so.
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As for all the comments about it being a waste of 15minutes, would could he have said that you wouldn't be pissed off about? 1 example of something he could say that he wouldn't be ripped to pieces over is all I'm after.
I have no issue with his answers, it was the questions that made it a waste of time.
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As for all the comments about it being a waste of 15minutes, would could he have said that you wouldn't be pissed off about? 1 example of something he could say that he wouldn't be ripped to pieces over is all I'm after.
I have no issue with his answers, it was the questions that made it a waste of time.
I'd agree with you on that, but given the amount of people on this thread lining up to slag off Faulkner I don't think that's the common sentiment on here.
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Does anyone have that Faulkner quote that appeared from a SCG a few months back?
Something along the lines of Lambert being able to spend the money however he sees fit?
Was that reported anywhere?
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Sorry had to work a bit late.
In response to the earlier exchange (Dave W and Toronto) I could see Doug's reasoning (wrong as it turned out) in hiring possibly the next bright thing in Turner. Someone on the way up. Howard Kendall, SGT, Redknapp and David Pleat were a new brand of managers who had impressed around this time and guess he thought he could poach him with minimum fuss. Not sacking him in summer 1986 was a worse decision.
I could even see the switch to someone with extensive experience and an exceptional playing career and McNeill was one of Scottish football's all time greats when they were good. He was the worse appointment of them all - even worse than TSM.
However, I could never see the reasoning behind Houllier (and Lacky) or McLeish in the 2nd decade of 20th century for different reasons. It would have been probably different if either had been hired 10-15 years earlier. The botched approach for Martinez and Whelan - say what you like about him - making Villa look like a bunch of amateurs and he was right.
McLeish prior to running down the engine at Rangers had an impressive record. However hiring someone based on a reference from a 'legendary' manager in charge of a superior competitor and making it public is a further embarassment to behold.
I could understand the hiring of Lambert for sure. I was one who thought the best practical available option. I am still bemused about the overt courting of OGS in such a public way prior to Lambert's appointment. Another Fergie accolyte potentially.
The upshot is as and when Lambert's replacement is hired, Herbert won't be involved, Faulkner will be as things currently stand. I'd rather he wasn't. Therefore, I hope for everyone concerned at Villa we want that to be a good few years away - for multiple reasons.
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Sorry had to work a bit late.
In response to the earlier exchange (Dave W and Toronto) I could see Doug's reasoning (wrong as it turned out) in hiring possibly the next bright thing in Turner. Someone on the way up. Howard Kendall, SGT, Redknapp and David Pleat were a new brand of managers who had impressed around this time and guess he thought he could poach him with minimum fuss. Not sacking him in summer 1986 was a worse decision.
I could even see the switch to someone with extensive experience and an exceptional playing career and McNeill was one of Scottish football's all time greats when they were good. He was the worse appointment of them all - even worse than TSM.
However, I could never see the reasoning behind Houllier (and Lacky) or McLeish in the 2nd decade of 20th century for different reasons. It would have been probably different if either had been hired 10-15 years earlier. The botched approach for Martinez and Whelan - say what you like about him - making Villa look like a bunch of amateurs and he was right.
McLeish prior to running down the engine at Rangers had an impressive record. However hiring someone based on a reference from a 'legendary' manager in charge of a superior competitor and making it public is a further embarassment to behold.
I could understand the hiring of Lambert for sure. I was one who thought the best practical available option. I am still bemused about the overt courting of OGS in such a public way prior to Lambert's appointment. Another Fergie accolyte potentially.
The upshot is as and when Lambert's replacement is hired, Herbert won't be involved, Faulkner will be as things currently stand. I'd rather he wasn't. Therefore, I hope for everyone concerned at Villa we want that to be a good few years away - for multiple reasons.
We'll never know how Houllier would have worked out - there's evidence on both sides but I would like to have seen what would have happened had he been able to bring in his first (or second) choice no. 2.
The managers you mentioned as bright young things in 1984 were a different situation to Turner. Sir Graham and Pleat had joined their clubs when they were in the lower divisions and worked their way up with them. Kendall was already a Goodison legend and had joined Everton when they were at a low ebb - think of Brian Little in 1994 for a similar scenario. Redknapp was at the start of his decade with Bournemouth. None of them had gone to a club that was massively in excess of anything they'd done before; as someone said the other day, it was like putting Dean Smith in charge of Chelsea, then within a few weeks he'd stuck John Terry at right-back and told him and Frank Lampard they were finished.
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Sorry had to work a bit late.
In response to the earlier exchange (Dave W and Toronto) I could see Doug's reasoning (wrong as it turned out) in hiring possibly the next bright thing in Turner. Someone on the way up. Howard Kendall, SGT, Redknapp and David Pleat were a new brand of managers who had impressed around this time and guess he thought he could poach him with minimum fuss. Not sacking him in summer 1986 was a worse decision.
I could even see the switch to someone with extensive experience and an exceptional playing career and McNeill was one of Scottish football's all time greats when they were good. He was the worse appointment of them all - even worse than TSM.
However, I could never see the reasoning behind Houllier (and Lacky) or McLeish in the 2nd decade of 20th century for different reasons. It would have been probably different if either had been hired 10-15 years earlier. The botched approach for Martinez and Whelan - say what you like about him - making Villa look like a bunch of amateurs and he was right.
McLeish prior to running down the engine at Rangers had an impressive record. However hiring someone based on a reference from a 'legendary' manager in charge of a superior competitor and making it public is a further embarassment to behold.
I could understand the hiring of Lambert for sure. I was one who thought the best practical available option. I am still bemused about the overt courting of OGS in such a public way prior to Lambert's appointment. Another Fergie accolyte potentially.
The upshot is as and when Lambert's replacement is hired, Herbert won't be involved, Faulkner will be as things currently stand. I'd rather he wasn't. Therefore, I hope for everyone concerned at Villa we want that to be a good few years away - for multiple reasons.
We'll never know how Houllier would have worked out - there's evidence on both sides but I would like to have seen what would have happened had he been able to bring in his first (or second) choice no. 2.
The managers you mentioned as bright young things in 1984 were a different situation to Turner. Sir Graham and Pleat had joined their clubs when they were in the lower divisions and worked their way up with them. Kendall was already a Goodison legend and had joined Everton when they were at a low ebb - think of Brian Little in 1994 for a similar scenario. Redknapp was at the start of his decade with Bournemouth. None of them had gone to a club that was massively in excess of anything they'd done before; as someone said the other day, it was like putting Dean Smith in charge of Chelsea, then within a few weeks he'd stuck John Terry at right-back and told him and Frank Lampard they were finished.
We wouldn't know how Houllier and whoever his preferred deputies (Thompson/McAllister/Others) would have worked out. Bent signing was fantastic - needing to sign Bent to get out of a relegation scrap was astonishing in itself based on how far we had fallen in 6 months. Like El Tel his record is not as good as mutliple media friendly writers would have us believe. Villa will never ever be an easy job, it never has been - so allocating it to someone who was out of coaching for 3 years with a previous well documented health problem was very unwise at best. I'd prefer to say stupid.
As for Turner, I was illustrating other youngish managers at the time doing well with limited resource and for different reasons. There were many rumblings about Kendall at the end of 1983.
Turner was a mistaken appointment but he wasn't the worse and I would suggest that Lerner/Faulkner's hires have been no better given the circumstances.
We are about the 8th biggest club in the country based on a multitude of various measures. We are in a 4th successive relegation scrap at the moment. We used to have one once every 3 or 4 years.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
Life is what you make it. We're no points from midtable.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
Life is what you make it. We're no points from midtable.
It's the home form that makes to feel like a relegation battle. It's horrific
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
Life is what you make it. We're no points from midtable.
It's the home form that makes to feel like a relegation battle. It's horrific
I think this sums up some of our problems. Dave is quite right, we're mid table and, actually, 5 points should feel like a bit of a cushion when there are so many clubs in the mix. However, the poor home form, the lack of possession and the apparent lack of confidence all contribute to a feeling that we've ridden our luck and a lack of belief in our ability to move clear of the bottom three over the next few weeks rather than get sucked in.
I suspect that the players feel that way too, and the lack of confidence and belief is self defeating. However Faulkner spins the stats, it must be utterly demoralising to lose week after week in front of your own fans. Especially if one of the teams you lose to is Crystal Palace.
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What type of player do you bring in if this isn't perceived to be a relegation battle? Probably a different type to that you would bring in during such times.
Unlike years ago, when you could bring in a clogger during February, you no longer have that luxury. It may pay to consider where we are heading based on current form and not the league position, taking note of the form of others. If that points to a relegation battle then you must do something accordingly to stop it. This may mean not ruling out a wise old head who may only have a couple of seasons left at the top. If you plan for the future, you bring in younger players, but they might take us down. Looking at our potential plight, it may be a short term plan that we need, while we have the chance.
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The owners of both Hull & Southampton are threatening to leave, so they will both return to being relegation fodder to shield Villa, too. I'm thinking more like Faulkner every day. But, looking forward to playing well and winning was way more fun.
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Dave is spot on there.
I also wonder how much of a catalyst Benteke's consolation goal on monday may be, not just for him but the whole team, especially Lowton?
It will be ironic that another VP defeat but against the leaders and with a 15 minute display may just be the turning point, let's hope anyway. I've already put a tenner on us beating the Dippers 2-1.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
Life is what you make it. We're no points from midtable.
It's the home form that makes to feel like a relegation battle. It's horrific
I think this sums up some of our problems. Dave is quite right, we're mid table and, actually, 5 points should feel like a bit of a cushion when there are so many clubs in the mix. However, the poor home form, the lack of possession and the apparent lack of confidence all contribute to a feeling that we've ridden our luck and a lack of belief in our ability to move clear of the bottom three over the next few weeks rather than get sucked in.
I suspect that the players feel that way too, and the lack of confidence and belief is self defeating. However Faulkner spins the stats, it must be utterly demoralising to lose week after week in front of your own fans. Especially if one of the teams you lose to is Crystal Palace.
And losing at home to Sheffield United from League One? I've had a ST for over 25 years - unless things change (which I doubt) then I will not be renewing - the value for money in the last 4 years is shocking.
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Apparently the owner of Hull will "Quite literally just walk away". Which would be interesting. And also throw up quite a few questions.
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Three league titles and four cups would indicate a decent manager no matter what the media say.
Those managers you held up were totally different to Turner and at totally different clubs. You can't compare them with him.
And it's a strange relegation scrap when you're eleventh with half the season left.
It feels like a relegation scrap. We're only 5 points above the drop zone after all.
Life is what you make it. We're no points from midtable.
It's the home form that makes to feel like a relegation battle. It's horrific
I think this sums up some of our problems. Dave is quite right, we're mid table and, actually, 5 points should feel like a bit of a cushion when there are so many clubs in the mix. However, the poor home form, the lack of possession and the apparent lack of confidence all contribute to a feeling that we've ridden our luck and a lack of belief in our ability to move clear of the bottom three over the next few weeks rather than get sucked in.
I suspect that the players feel that way too, and the lack of confidence and belief is self defeating. However Faulkner spins the stats, it must be utterly demoralising to lose week after week in front of your own fans. Especially if one of the teams you lose to is Crystal Palace.
I have to say, I am unconvinced as to how secure our mid table status is, given the small points count seperating everyone from 11th or so down.
However, I have noticed that in the media we are almost continually referred to (at the moment) as being in a relegation struggle, yet some teams who are below us in the table, and therefore in more of a struggle, are not referred to that way.
I guess it's more interesting to talk about a big club as being in a relegation struggle than, say, someone like Swansea.
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Apparently the owner of Hull will "Quite literally just walk away". Which would be interesting. And also throw up quite a few questions.
That interview on SSN (assume it's that which you are referring to) was absolutely mental.
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Assuming he is trying to exert maximum pressure on the authorities regarding the name change he really has painted himself into a corner if they say no. "Have I ever said something before and not done it"?
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I heard the Interview and about the only thing i agreed were the positive comments about our home support, great attendances week after week considering some of the dross being served up, i'm amazed we're still getting very healthy crowds. Well done us !
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Apparently the owner of Hull will "Quite literally just walk away". Which would be interesting. And also throw up quite a few questions.
That interview on SSN (assume it's that which you are referring to) was absolutely mental.
I know R Lerner is receiving a lot of stick and some quite unnecessary abuse of late, but it could be a whole lot worse !! Imagine having this guy or Mr Tan as our chairman
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unless things change (which I doubt) then I will not be renewing - the value for money in the last 4 years is shocking.
Can't argue with the second part of that statement.
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I heard the Interview and about the only thing i agreed were the positive comments about our home support, great attendances week after week considering some of the dross being served up, i'm amazed we're still getting very healthy crowds. Well done us !
If you speak with fellow ST holders, if this current scenario continues, then you'll see a massive drop-off in ST sales next season; ST's are awful value for money for what you're subjected to watch, especially in the last 4 years. Sorry, but I've got zero confidence in Lerner and Faulkner running this club.
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Just depressing, VERY depressing
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HYPERBOLE ALERT
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5 point cushion or not, unless our form changes dramatically we will absolutely be in a relegation scrap.
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If our form carries on how it has done so far this season we will finish... 11th.
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FFS. I said form, not points over half a season.
Or are you suggesting we are playing well, with all that possession we are retaining and all?
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We must be lucky to be in 11th then. The table doesn't lie.
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Am I right in thinking that strictly speaking form means results as opposed to performances although people commonly refer to performances as form also?
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'Form' for fucks sake ie
LLLDWL
does that make it clearer?
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FFS. I said form, not points over half a season.
Or are you suggesting we are playing well, with all that possession we are retaining and all?
Yeah you said form.
We can have form over two games, won one and lost one or we can have form over 21 games. And we're 11th.
Any questions?
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A fair measure of form is the last 6 games, as per the form guide here.
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/form-guide.html?tableView=total
4 points in 6 games is very much relegation battle form. Add to that our desperately poor standard of play over the last few games and it is a depressing picture.
My statement was, if we carry on with our current form we will be in a relegation battle. I think you are trying to be a clever dick and argue for the sake of it. However, a serious question - do you think we have been playing well lately?
And if we carry on how we are playing do you think we will get many good results?
Or do you think if we carry on playing like we have for the last 6 games we may get dragged into a relegation battle?
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By your theory had we carried on with our form from our first six games we would be top 8 by now?
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And yes we have been playing well lately, the latest 15 minutes of our latest game was pretty good.
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I think it is fair to say that whilst most of us quite correctly point out we are currently in mid table, our recent performances and results mean we are tending to look behind us rather than look up when it comes to the league table.
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edit - reply to Westley
Yes, of course we would.
That's the point I'm making - last 10 games, including cup humiliation
LLLLDWLL
Those games reflect our recent form since early December. I say again recent 'form' If we carry on like that we will be in a relegation battle.
Is that really such a controversial statement?
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I think it is fair to say that whilst most of us quite correctly point out we are currently in mid table, our recent performances and results mean we are tending to look behind us rather than look up when it comes to the league table.
Completely agree tbh.
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edit - reply to Westley
Yes, of course we would.
That's the point I'm making - last 10 games, including cup humiliation
LLLLDWLL
Those games reflect our recent form since early December. I say again recent 'form' If we carry on like that we will be in a relegation battle.
Is that really such a controversial statement?
So where is our win at Southampton on your LLLLDWLL??
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The game before. If you include southampton its
WLLLLDWLL
Does that look significantly better to you?
Why are you even arguing this point other than to be a troll?
Do you think our form has been good? Mid table? Or relegation battle standard?
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The game before. If you include southampton its
WLLLLDWLL
Does that look significantly better to you?
Why are you even arguing this point other than to be a troll?
Do you think our form has been good? Mid table? Or relegation battle standard?
I'm not saying it looks better, you just proved my point that people of your outlook chose to start the form from the defeat at Fulham despite a win three days earlier.
And yes our form as keep saying has been poor of late, but despite a shocking run the fact is we remain mid table.
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And what has that got to do with my controversial statement that you are insisting on challenging that
"5 point cushion or not, unless our form changes dramatically we will absolutely be in a relegation scrap"
I say again, you appear to be picking a fight for the sake of it.
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The game before. If you include southampton its
WLLLLDWLL
Does that look significantly better to you?
Why are you even arguing this point other than to be a troll?
Do you think our form has been good? Mid table? Or relegation battle standard?
I'm not saying it looks better, you just proved my point that people of your outlook chose to start the form from the defeat at Fulham despite a win three days earlier.
And yes our form as keep saying has been poor of late, but despite a shocking run the fact is we remain mid table.
For balance our results since the start of the season:
WLLWLWLWDLLDWDDWLLLLDWLL
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And what has that got to do with my controversial statement that you are insisting on challenging that
"5 point cushion or not, unless our form changes dramatically we will absolutely be in a relegation scrap"
I say again, you appear to be picking a fight for the sake of it.
By having an opinion different to yours?
Dear.
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For clarity when I say form, I mean recent form. I would have thought that most people would consider form to mean how you are playing lately and recent results, say the last 6 games (as the BBC form league seems to adopt).
I apologise if the phrase is that confusing and some people took it to mean results over a whole season, disregarding quality of recent performances.
For the pedants, I will amend my statement to "if we carry on playing with the style, possession levels and results as we have done over the last 6 or so games, then I think it is likely that we will be in a relegation scrap notwithstanding our 5 point cushion"
I am amazed such an obvious innocuous statement required defense, explanation and qualification - surely the gist of what I was saying was blinding obvious? But such is the nature of internet forums.
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By that notion then, after the first 6 games we should be top 8, we are not, similarly after the last 6 games doesn't mean will continue in that form.
.
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By James Nursey | 14/01/14
Randy Lerner is giving Paul Lambert his full support after Aston Villa insisted he will not be axed despite some “brutal” flak.
Some Villa fans have been bombarding radio phone-ins and Twitter calling for the Scot’s head.
Monday night's home defeat to Arsenal was the Villans’ sixth loss in eight games - including an FA Cup exit at home to a Sheffield United side fighting against relegation to League Two.
But Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner says there has been “definite clear progress” at the club since Lambert took charge in June 2012.
Villa came 15th last season - despite some humiliating beatings - with 41 points, after finishing 16th with 38 under Alex McLeish a year before.
Now the Midlands club, owned by American Lerner, sit 11th with 23 points and six clean sheets this term.
Lerner’s right-hand man Faulkner, who also sits on the FA Council, said: “Football is a harsh, brutal business. Criticism and stick goes flying about. But being in the middle of it, you have to stay strong together and support each other.
“If you don’t keep going when there is a little bit of stick, then you won’t achieve anything ultimately. With the right guy, you have to weather those storms when they come.
“Twelve months ago, we were in a really bad run. We stuck together during that and saw the benefits in the second half of the season.
“We know what the manager is trying to do, we believe it is a good way. Over time it is going to allow Aston Villa to put ourselves in the best position to compete and challenge in the right half of the table where we want to be.
“If you just look at the short-term you can cause yourself real problems. And equally if you are too fixated on the future in two or three years’ time you can get too caught up in events over-taking you.
“It is about how do we keep making those positive strides forward and making this club bigger and stronger again. Those are steps along the way and I am a big believer in stability and continuity giving you more of a competitive chance. But it is never linear and you are not going to go up in a smooth line.”
Villa have slashed their wage bill since Martin O’Neill quit as manager and have loaned out big-earners such as Darren Bent and Shay Given, while Stephen Ireland has now joined Stoke permanently following a successful loan spell.
With Lerner anxious for Villa to become self-sufficient, they have opted for cheaper signings from abroad or England's lower leagues.
Lambert’s side are now no longer prone to the thrashings they endured last season like the club-record 8-0 loss at Chelsea.
But fans are frustrated at only two wins at home in the League this season as Villa are regularly booed off.
Faulkner added: “It is very understandable frustration - people want to see their team win. But there is very clear definite progress in terms of points and league place.
“The team is also a lot more solid. Last year one of the statistics that got thrown about was the lack of clean sheets. This year we are a harder team to break down and beat.
“Now we get into the second half of the season where we are trying to look upwards and are desperate to improve the home form.”
Villa continue to scour for bargains this month and have snapped up striker Grant Holt, who played for Lambert at Norwich, on loan from Championship side Wigan.
But Faulkner has ruled out a January spending spree. He added: “We were busy in the summer and brought in seven players, that [the summer window] is always going to be the bulk of your business.”
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By that notion then, after the first 6 games we should be top 8, we are not, similarly after the last 6 games doesn't mean will continue in that form..
No, you are quite right it doesn't. But I said if we do continue the form. More importantly our poor form has been a trend since early December and is probably therefore a reasonable barometer of where the team currently stands quality and performance wise.
sorry for being so controversial.
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The problem with looking at form of a short run of games is that it doesn't really tell the whole story. Of those 6 games Vlaar and or Benteke were missing from a fair number of them and we had 3 or 4 suspensions as well. Most clubs would wobble a little in that situation. If you take a snapshot of 6 games from any point in the season you'll see it averaging at around 6-7 points, leading to 23 points from 21.
The other thing that often gets ignored in these discussions is that the teams below us have been less consistent than us. We might see a couple of sides turn things round and get a run of 24-25 points from the last 17 but we're not going to see 4 or 5 clubs do that. We'd have to hit a sustained rut in our form to get sucked into it in real terms.
If you're of a mind to see things badly it's really easy to say it's only 5 points so we could be down there by the end on January (I think it was before the Arsenal game that people were talking about us being in the relegation zone after the baggies game) but as soon as you start looking at the specific results required for that the chance of it happening gets very small, in real terms we'd have to lose, in my opinion, 5-6 of the next 7 games to be genuinely in danger and, whilst we've had a bad run in the last 6 earlier in the season we had a decent unbeaten run with the same players and largely similar performances.
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So this is Lerner's ''Bright Future'' - worrying about getting sucked into a relegation scrap season after season.
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So this is Lerner's ''Bright Future'' - worrying about getting sucked into a relegation scrap season after season.
I can't believe how far our once great Football club have fallen.
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So this is Lerner's ''Bright Future'' - worrying about getting sucked into a relegation scrap season after season.
I can't believe how far our once great Football club have fallen.
Not bad, but it lacks a certain something.
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So this is Lerner's ''Bright Future'' - worrying about getting sucked into a relegation scrap season after season.
I can't believe how far our once great Football club have fallen.
Not bad, but it lacks a certain something.
How about:
"Once great,now shit" :)...only kidding folks!
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They're to be applauded for not losing their shit and instantly sacking someone for no reason, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have the right guy currently in place.
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How can Faulkner honestly say there's been progress? If anything, we're going backwards!
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How are we going backwards?
Assuming we finish in our current position of midtable, which I think we will do, we'll have improved two seasons in a row from McLeish's 16th placed finish. Unlike when McLeish was here, we'll have achieved this with a young squad on very low wages, which gives us a great platform to add quality rather than quantity going forward.
IF we finish lower than 15th this season, which I don't believe for a moment we will, then yes - we will have gone backwards. If we finish above 15th, which I think we will, we'll have made progress.
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How are we going backwards?
Assuming we finish in our current position of midtable, which I think we will do, we'll have improved two seasons in a row from McLeish's 16th placed finish. Unlike when McLeish was here, we'll have achieved this with a young squad on very low wages, which gives us a great platform to add quality rather than quantity going forward.
IF we finish lower than 15th this season, which I don't believe for a moment we will, then yes - we will have gone backwards. If we finish above 15th, which I think we will, we'll have made progress.
Backwards from the last few months of the season. We really haven't played well in many games this season and that concerns me.
I'm sick of just hoping there's three worse teams than us every year.
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By that notion then, after the first 6 games we should be top 8, we are not, similarly after the last 6 games doesn't mean will continue in that form..
Well I am in your camp Chris, 5 points from the bottom 3, 5 points from the fuckin bottom, unless decent purchases are made in midfield and at left back we will almost certainly be involved in the relegation shake up just as the last 2 seasons.
No, you are quite right it doesn't. But I said if we do continue the form. More importantly our poor form has been a trend since early December and is probably therefore a reasonable barometer of where the team currently stands quality and performance wise.
sorry for being so controversial.
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If anyone needed reminding that mid-table at Christmas isn't safe ...
From http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/georgina_turner/12/23/West.Ham.Christmas/index.html#ixzz2qUfpYOpz
"Reading pulled off a similar trick by losing 12 of its last 18 matches in 2007-08, slipping from a comfortable 12th place on Boxing Day to 18th by May. Middlesbrough's tumble in 1992-93 was even more slapstick: 12th place became 21st (the league was made up of 22 teams at first) thanks to 15 defeats in 18 -- it lost touch with safety weeks before the season's end. Crystal Palace, one of the original yoyo clubs, lost eight consecutive matches after New Years in the 1997-98 season, finishing bottom having celebrated Christmas in 13th. Ipswich Town was slightly luckier in 1993-94, freefalling from a festive 10th to survive relegation by the point it secured at Ewood Park on the last day.
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If our form carries on how it has done so far this season we will finish... 11th.
No that doesn't follow, as that would require every other team in the league maintaining exactly the same form. League position isn't just determined by our own form, but that of the other 19 teams in the league also.
Any questions?
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What has happened since O'Neill flounced out has been an orchestrated push by Faulkner to reduce massively our expectations of the club. I excuse Randy Lerner on the grounds of his naivety but I do not excuse Faulkner. He has followed a premeditated plan for the purging of the fans of any expectation of glory. Mazrim's description of him as corporate middle management is exactly right. He reads the papers and picks up on words like "silverware" and believes that we, the fans want a trophy cupboard at Villa Park with cups and shields in it. Her treats us like a parent who gives a child a bag of crisps when it wants a book to read.
Imagine what lies down this road. Picture me leaving on a Saturday morning to drive 200 miles (sometimes 400) to see a Villa game. My wife of many years asks if I really should be doing it at my age and why don't I stay home, have steak and chips for lunch and watch the racing on telly. Faulkner believes that I will reply "sorry dear, these are exciting times at Villa Park, we have balanced the books."
We need glory. We need famous victories. We need breathtaking flashes of skill. We need net bursting goals. We need singing and chanting and jumping up and down and hugging and kissing each other. That is what we need to disperse the pain and agony of years now of ridicule and piss taking by the media and by rival fans. Silverware has nothing to do with it but Faulkner with zero grasp of what football is all about is more interested in spinning the spin sufficiently plausibly not to be sacked and to climb his chosen career ladder .
I also think that the malaise at Villa can be laid squarely at his door because I am sure he has promised Lambert that his job is safe even if we are relegated. I would not be at all surprised if it is a promise in writing. It is the same massive vote of no confidence in Lambert that Lambert gave the players with his opinion of them that they were not up to winning the cup and staying in the premiership. Lambert can buy championship players on championship wages because it makes no difference to him. He has bought into the no glory ethos and everything he does and says tells you as much.
I watched Bent tear holes in one of the worst Norwich sides I have ever seen last night and I could not believe that we had come to having a 24 million player out on loan and signing a Wigan reject. What has happened to us? I asked myself over and over. Then I realized that the second part of the Lambert master stroke is to sign a Norwich player who cannot get picked for that utterly abysmal Norwich team, turned of the tv and went to bed in as black a mood as I can remember for many years.
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Spot on Brian.
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I watched Bent tear holes in one of the worst Norwich sides I have ever seen last night and I could not believe that we had come to having a 24 million player out on loan and signing a Wigan reject.
Bent showed us what he was capable of and then, later, what he could be arsed to do.
Whatever his value, we will never get anything back.
The new player starts with a clean slate for me.
Maybe Bent would have been better with a decent midfield etc but he didn't look like he was concerned to me.
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Bent stays for extra training,not a lot people know that.
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Spot on Brian.
Yes, agree, sums up most fans frustrations. Yet there's still people on here supporting this abysmal regime.
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Spot on Brian.
Yes, agree, sums up most fans frustrations. Yet there's still people on here supporting this abysmal regime.
What? People on a Villa fan forum supporting the club? Disgraceful.
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Spot on Brian.
Yes, agree, sums up most fans frustrations. Yet there's still people on here supporting this abysmal regime.
You have to support them,just because you don't agree with them we still have to back them.It's called football.
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I'm not so concerned about Bent, he has his enormous flaws like most of our players and was paid considerably more for them. I was always worried about the money spent and I happen to think that something had to be done. It may have been done too quickly and sharply, but we couldn't just keep doing what we were doing.
The problem for me is the complacency and insular nature of the club. They seem like the England cricket team - they show no apparent understanding at board level of football outside of B6, and place so much value in personal relationships that they forget that this sport is being done, on a budget, a lot better by other clubs. Lambert's style of play is stil incredibly limited and limiting, brutal, boofy, repetitive and neanderthal. On Monday, the most completed pass for us was Guzan to Benteke. But the board are so unconcerned with things like this that they don't even see anything wrong.
I don't want a Ken Bates. I don't want an Abramovitch in interference terms. But lots of clubs have people at board level who understand football, who follow the game, who try to think about the sport, what's going on and where it's going. Our board know so little that they're blind to any link between style of play and results, or style of play and fan discontent, and what the manager does. All Lambert will have to do is go to them and say 'I want to play entertaining football' and that will be good enough for them. It's inadequate.
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Spot on Brian.
Yes, agree, sums up most fans frustrations. Yet there's still people on here supporting this abysmal regime.
Supporting the team and having a different opinion.
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As a ST holder of 25 years plus I'll always support Aston Villa, I just can't stand the people currently running the club.
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I support the team. I always have and I always will. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing.
I have nothing at all against Grant Holt. The word I hear is that he will be expected more than anything to put a bit of iron into our attack and bollock the slipshod. I would not be at all surprised if he did not finish the season as our highest goal scorer. I remember being totally gobsmacked on hearing that we had signed bluenose Peter Withe.
What I am so angry about is that £24 million has been pissed away on Bent and everybody at the club behaves as though it was inevitable. Club directors are supposed to direct the affairs of the club, managers are supposed to manage. We are rattling our begging bowl for loans and cut price deals and behaving as though Bent went from prize asset to prize prat for reasons nobody can quite fathom.
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As a ST holder of 25 years plus I'll always support Aston Villa, I just can't stand the people currently running the club.
but did you ever? - Ellis was a dead hand and served the club poorly at a time when we could have really pushed on.
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I support the team. I always have and I always will. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing.
I have nothing at all against Grant Holt. The word I hear is that he will be expected more than anything to put a bit of iron into our attack and bollock the slipshod. I would not be at all surprised if he did not finish the season as our highest goal scorer. I remember being totally gobsmacked on hearing that we had signed bluenose Peter Withe.
What I am so angry about is that £24 million has been pissed away on Bent and everybody at the club behaves as though it was inevitable. Club directors are supposed to direct the affairs of the club, managers are supposed to manage. We are rattling our begging bowl for loans and cut price deals and behaving as though Bent went from prize asset to prize prat for reasons nobody can quite fathom.
We have never really had a good track record of making money from buying and selling players. It goes back way before RL.
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The thing with Bent though is that we were always going to make a loss, we bought him at the peak of his value. Despite that he should still be carrying £8-10m but he isn't because of his injuries, it's easy to criticise people at the club for him being left out last year but he didn't deserve to be starting at the time, he wasn't the same player that we signed.
I know he did well last night and I hope it continues but he's got 2 in 15 in the league this year and he offers very little when he's not scoring. He was the right signing when we got him and he looked like he was going to be a big player for us but the change in manager and sale of the 2 guys getting the ball to him started him on a descent and then he had 18months of barely stringing 5 games together without injury.
Most of his time at Fulham he's had the same problem for them as he did for us last year which is that he's been half a yard off the pace. By all accounts he was much more like his old self last night so maybe the change in manager at Fulham has given him the impetus he needed and if he goes on to have a strong finish to the season who knows what will happen with him in the summer.
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Buying and selling looking back under RL has overall been a disaster.Milner/Downing and Young are the 3 stand out's that we sold at a profit for big fee's but if you say the proceeds then went on Bent/Ireland /Nzog/Hutton and Given there is not much if any resale value there.
The amount of players in the Randy years who have come in for a sizable fee and literally had to be let go for free is embarrassing.Some transfers don't work out, every club has that but dear god we have had a bad run with every manager under Randy.
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Buying and selling looking back under RL has overall been a disaster.Milner/Downing and Young are the 3 stand out's that we sold at a profit for big fee's but if you say the proceeds then went on Bent/Ireland /Nzog/Hutton and Given there is not much if any resale value there.
The amount of players in the Randy years who have come in for a sizable fee and literally had to be let go for free is embarrassing.Some transfers don't work out, every club has that but dear god we have had a bad run with every manager under Randy.
This.
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I think arguing about form and points on the board comes secondary to what we are seeing week in week out in terms of the teams performances. We may be mid-table, but we are a poor side currently. Hopefully that changes with a few decent signings and a return to form for Benteke. If it doesn't I do think we'll be looking over our shoulders in April / May.
As for 'aiming to compete in the to half of the table'? How sexy.
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Buying and selling looking back under RL has overall been a disaster.Milner/Downing and Young are the 3 stand out's that we sold at a profit for big fee's but if you say the proceeds then went on Bent/Ireland /Nzog/Hutton and Given there is not much if any resale value there.
The amount of players in the Randy years who have come in for a sizable fee and literally had to be let go for free is embarrassing.Some transfers don't work out, every club has that but dear god we have had a bad run with every manager under Randy.
we made on Barry as well but your overall point is valid.
In hindsight, the strategy Lerner should probably have adopted was to have a DoF ... But then he would not have enticed MON into the manager role and he'd clearly identified him as the manager he wanted.
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Brian's right.
I want to see entertaining football. Jeeps we can't compete with the mega clubs but we should not be consistently struggling against dross at home. I want to see Villa in the Top 8 not scrambling around with also rans and never rans.
I want to see and hear Villa Park rocking. I want to se fans smiling. I want people at the club fron the tea lady to C.E.O. to be galvanised and the current underlyi g malaise reversed.
I want less Corporate Speak from Faulkner. I want more honesty and less bullshit. Lots of fans on thus forum don't appreciate being patronised with double speak. He can save that for his FA chums.
I want the Manager to stop mumbling the same rubbish after another home defeat.I want domestic cups to be a priority. We will not win the league in my lifetime. We can win these though.
Come on Villa - rise up again.
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I want to see entertaining football.
Yeh, this 'simple' thing seems to get lost in a lot of discussions when people say we are progressing. Look we're 11th in 'mid-table' they say, we've got more clean sheets than last year, and our income to wages expenditure is looking much better now too etc., etc. Maybe that's all true, and these are things that are important & show some underlying improvement, albeit against a petty low benchmark, but ultimately i usually end up sat there thinking, 'yeh, but our football is still mostly shit and painful to watch' and the reason i watch football is to be entertained.
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I want to see entertaining football.
Yeh, this 'simple' thing seems to get lost in a lot of discussions when people say we are progressing. Look we're 11th in 'mid-table' they say, we've got more clean sheets than last year, and our income to wages expenditure is looking much better now too etc., etc. Maybe that's all true, and these are things that are important & show some underlying improvement, albeit against a petty low benchmark, but ultimately i usually end up sat there thinking, 'yeh, but our football is still mostly shit and painful to watch' and the reason i watch football is to be entertained.
This is a fair point. One of the main things we agreed with during Mcleish's time is that we "just wanted to enjoy going to the Villa again." And during Lambert's first season, despite some well documented setbacks, it did look like he was working towards that goal. "We're Aston Villa - we're passing the ball," we sang during the Swansea and Sunderland performances of 2012/2013. But that seems to have gone bye the bye now. And Lambert is now saying things like "possession isn't that important". I'd guess this change in priorities comes from a pragmatic stance due to the players at his disposal and it has made Villa more resilient. You can tell that by the number of clean sheets we've kept. But yes it is painful, and it is dissapointing to see that going to the Villa is once again a chore.
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I only read the full interview for the first time this morning. To be honest I don't have a problem with anything he said.
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I only read the full interview for the first time this morning. To be honest I don't have a problem with anything he said.
I juts read the whole thing too and I can't find any fault in it. He's trying to be as candid as he can be about where we are where we want to go. No point writing cheques that can't be cashed or providing promises that gets everyone excited only to be let down. I think they all recognise that the volatility of the past few years simply cannot be repeated and that they'll ride this out. I'm sure behind the scenes they are not happy about a few things but they will never go into that detail publicly. I cannot believe for one second they have covered their eyes and ears to what is bluntly obvious, and some of that comes out in the article. I'm as frustrated as anyone and some of the progress feels blunted especially over recent weeks. But maybe the last 30 minutes of the Arsenal game gives some indication of what can happen with a bit of belief and our main forward scoring again.
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What has happened since O'Neill flounced out has been an orchestrated push by Faulkner to reduce massively our expectations of the club. I excuse Randy Lerner on the grounds of his naivety but I do not excuse Faulkner. He has followed a premeditated plan for the purging of the fans of any expectation of glory. Mazrim's description of him as corporate middle management is exactly right. He reads the papers and picks up on words like "silverware" and believes that we, the fans want a trophy cupboard at Villa Park with cups and shields in it. Her treats us like a parent who gives a child a bag of crisps when it wants a book to read.
Imagine what lies down this road. Picture me leaving on a Saturday morning to drive 200 miles (sometimes 400) to see a Villa game. My wife of many years asks if I really should be doing it at my age and why don't I stay home, have steak and chips for lunch and watch the racing on telly. Faulkner believes that I will reply "sorry dear, these are exciting times at Villa Park, we have balanced the books."
We need glory. We need famous victories. We need breathtaking flashes of skill. We need net bursting goals. We need singing and chanting and jumping up and down and hugging and kissing each other. That is what we need to disperse the pain and agony of years now of ridicule and piss taking by the media and by rival fans. Silverware has nothing to do with it but Faulkner with zero grasp of what football is all about is more interested in spinning the spin sufficiently plausibly not to be sacked and to climb his chosen career ladder .
I also think that the malaise at Villa can be laid squarely at his door because I am sure he has promised Lambert that his job is safe even if we are relegated. I would not be at all surprised if it is a promise in writing. It is the same massive vote of no confidence in Lambert that Lambert gave the players with his opinion of them that they were not up to winning the cup and staying in the premiership. Lambert can buy championship players on championship wages because it makes no difference to him. He has bought into the no glory ethos and everything he does and says tells you as much.
I watched Bent tear holes in one of the worst Norwich sides I have ever seen last night and I could not believe that we had come to having a 24 million player out on loan and signing a Wigan reject. What has happened to us? I asked myself over and over. Then I realized that the second part of the Lambert master stroke is to sign a Norwich player who cannot get picked for that utterly abysmal Norwich team, turned of the tv and went to bed in as black a mood as I can remember for many years.
you're a big drama queen Brian. I like reading your posts as i find them entertaining. But reality bites mate. We are where we are; which is slightly better than last season and a bit better than the season before it.
Progress (slow, yes) i call it. but progress none the less. the depressing thing is looking at the table, the points gulf will make it difficult to get much higher than 9th this season.
yes i have a higher aspiration, most of us do, but reality would suggest we will be mid-table for a few more seasons yet before kicking on. If we continue to improve each season, that is good enough for me with a steady manager like Lambert in place.
If you want to look at changing things at the top - who do you bring in and which players (realistically) who can kick us on to 6th - 4th place? I'd love to know.
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I don't think it needs a few more seasons to be honest. We're 2-3 players away from challenging Newcastle (and Everton next year when they don't have Lukaku) which should be resolved in the summer so 7-10 next year should be the aim, if we get the upper end of that then pushing to the top 6 can begin summer 2015.