Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Diablo on December 04, 2014, 05:28:54 PM
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Talking about his time with us apparently and the need to go abroad and re-invent himself as a coach (as Steve Mclaren did) judging by this clip. Should be interesting...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30332273
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A good man, Lambert kind of is too but I'd trust Alec more. Must feel bemused at the leeway his successor has gotten compared to him.
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Nice bloke who I would gladly buy a beer for. I was happy to see him go though. Honestly I hated seeing Villa play 4-5-1 like that.
I am not really enjoying seeing how we play nowadays either though.
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Talking about his time with us apparently and the need to go abroad and re-invent himself as a coach (as Steve Mclaren did) judging by this clip.
That should read "...the need to go abroad and re-invent himself: as a coach"
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I have no axe to grind with Eck. Again a very respecting man who always talked the club and the fans up rather than the opposite. I've not heard him slag the club since he left either and whilst his football wasn't great I have respect for him and a degree of sympathy. I wish him well wherever he ends up.
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A decent man who really did care about us. As I've said before, though, he was the wrong man, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.
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Well-meaning duffers aren't going to get us anywhere. I'd rather be sat here in 10 years saying, "x was a total knobhead but you can't argue with two FA Cups and a season of Champions League football."
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He almost seems somewhat gung ho as a manager compared to Lambert at the moment. Almost.
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Disastrous appointment. No other way to dress it up.
What I don't understand is the complete lack of self awareness he had in taking the job. I suspect the recompense helped.
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A decent man who really did care about us. As I've said before, though, he was the wrong man, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.
and crap at his job.
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Yep, nice guy and all of that, given an impossible task, but watching the team he set out on that Monday night at Spurs, is still one of the most depressing things I've seen as a Villa fan, and that includes the years since.
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Disastrous appointment. No other way to dress it up.
What I don't understand is the complete lack of self awareness he had in taking the job. I suspect the recompense helped.
Got nothing personal against the man, but his appointment has got to be right up there as one of the worst decisions made in the club's 140 years.
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Disastrous appointment. No other way to dress it up.
What I don't understand is the complete lack of self awareness he had in taking the job. I suspect the recompense helped.
He knew exactly what he was doing. Get passed the first year of hell and raise his profile significantly or, get the sack and cash in handsomely. He was out of his depth, but he was no mug. The mugs were all in the boardroom.
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garyshawsknee - totally agree, that Spurs Monday night game was incredibly depressing. The only bright spark that night,was seeing that Villa fan in a wheelchair make it half way towards where McLeish was, to give him some words of advice i'd imagine.
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I still feel to this day that the Bolton game was a major turning point for me as a fan, it was the night a i started to fall out of love with football.
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Blame the buffoonery of Lerner and Faulkner for the appointment not Eck .
Eck took the chance to manage villa and we cannot blame him for that.
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Blame the buffoonery of Lerner and Faulkner for the appointment not Eck .
Eck took the chance to manage villa and we cannot blame him for that.
Spot on - If I was offered the chance to manage the Blues for £1m I know I would take it and they would be relegated that season
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The problem with the appointment was that it said:
'Welcome to the small time Aston Villa'
Our stock was so low that this was seen as the most appropriate appointment. A complete joke and not a funny one at that.
I'm not sure if our wider credibility can recover for sometime. Certainly not while Lerner is here.
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I still don't like he's name mentioned
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Now we've been shit for a few years it would appear that some are re-appraising his time in charge. At the time it was the insanest managerial appointment certainly of our history, possibly in English football history. Just because we're no better now, it doesn't detract from the sheer WTF?? of that decision.
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garyshawsknee - totally agree, that Spurs Monday night game was incredibly depressing. The only bright spark that night,was seeing that Villa fan in a wheelchair make it half way towards where McLeish was, to give him some words of advice i'd imagine.
I was at that game. I'd been dumped by an ex the day before too. So it really was a depressing 24 hours
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The problem with the appointment was that it said:
'Welcome to the small time Aston Villa'
Our stock was so low that this was seen as the most appropriate appointment. A complete joke and not a funny one at that.
I'm not sure if our wider credibility can recover for sometime. Certainly not while Lerner is here.
Only Villa fans thought that though, nobody else cared.
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The problem with the appointment was that it said:
'Welcome to the small time Aston Villa'
Our stock was so low that this was seen as the most appropriate appointment. A complete joke and not a funny one at that.
I'm not sure if our wider credibility can recover for sometime. Certainly not while Lerner is here.
Only Villa fans thought that though, nobody else cared.
From speaking to people it seems to me they were a bit bemused, if they took any interest. Much like we were.
Got nothing against Mcleish though. He gave it a go, it went disastrously wrong, he was fired. End of story really. End of the story as far as Villa are concerned anyway. For the future, I wish him well.
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The problem with the appointment was that it said:
'Welcome to the small time Aston Villa'
Our stock was so low that this was seen as the most appropriate appointment. A complete joke and not a funny one at that.
I'm not sure if our wider credibility can recover for sometime. Certainly not while Lerner is here.
Only Villa fans thought that though, nobody else cared.
No one else cared but were pretty much as gobsmacked and incredulous as we were!
Still find it hard at times to believe it ever happened.
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He was appointed to deflect from the board as the cutbacks began. It bought Lerner et al a bit more time before questions really started to get asked of them as the fans were going to turn on McLeish first
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
Didn't that rumour of the reaction/rejection come from McLaren himself though?
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
From the Meaning Evil at the time -
"But sources close to McClaren claim he has been told he would be "wasting his time" attending the meeting. The negative reaction of some Villa fans to McClaren being in contention for the post has been taken into consideration by Lerner."
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
Didn't that rumour of the reaction/rejection come from McLaren himself though?
From a media friend of his, I believe.
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
Didn't that rumour of the reaction/rejection come from McLaren himself though?
From a media friend of his, I believe.
Ah gotcha.
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
Didn't that rumour of the reaction/rejection come from McLaren himself though?
From a media friend of his, I believe.
Ah gotcha.
Would you want to publicly admit you'd been turned down in favour of Alex McLeish?
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Good man but a terrible appointment for Villa.
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Part of me still thinks Lerner did it as "fuck you" to the fans after the public reaction/rejection of the Steve McLaren idea.
Even though it's been explained about a hundred thousand times that such a reaction/rejection never took place?
Didn't that rumour of the reaction/rejection come from McLaren himself though?
From a media friend of his, I believe.
Ah gotcha.
Would you want to publicly admit you'd been turned down in favour of Alex McLeish?
Oh good lord no.
Dem fans. They had it out for me!
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Hated his season in charge tbh, there was no hope and hardly any decent games apart from Chelsea and Wolves away. Mind you it isn't a lot different now.
I wish him well though. Think he's doing alright at Genk.
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Hated his season in charge tbh, there was no hope and hardly any decent games apart from Chelsea and Wolves away. Mind you it isn't a lot different now.
I wish him well though. Think he's doing alright at Genk.
For me, there is very little difference in the season under McLiesh and the seasons under Lambert.
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
Until losing Dunne at the back we were reasonably solid under him. Of course scoring goals was the major issue. We also didn't help ourselves with giving away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box so often during Hutton's shit days, Collins and Warnock (who was utterly horrendous that season).
Our gameplan last season and this has been essentially exactly the same as McLeish. Defend most of the game and try and nick a result. Go a goal up and hold it. A goal down and most times it's game over.
I do think McLeish had the most horrendous injury hit of recent years though. Losing three key players long term/permanently in the course of month. Turning us from comfortable mid-table to probably another 2 games from relegation had the season been 40 games instead of 38. We were entirely reliant on Bent getting goals. Likewise Stan was still one of our top scorers that season when he got injured too.
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
Until losing Dunne at the back we were reasonably solid under him. Of course scoring goals was the major issue. We also didn't help ourselves with giving away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box so often during Hutton's shit days, Collins and Warnock (who was utterly horrendous that season).
Our gameplan last season and this has been essentially exactly the same as McLeish. Defend most of the game and try and nick a result. Go a goal up and hold it. A goal down and most times it's game over.
I do think McLeish had the most horrendous injury hit of recent years though. Losing three key players long term/permanently in the course of month. Turning us from comfortable mid-table to probably another 2 games from relegation had the season been 40 games instead of 38. We were entirely reliant on Bent getting goals. Likewise Stan was still one of our top scorers that season when he got injured too.
The lack of consistent competitiveness, the lack of excitement, beyond that of a plucky underdog wining against the odds. The lack of football.
I'd say we've had at least 4 seasons of shite.
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
Until losing Dunne at the back we were reasonably solid under him. Of course scoring goals was the major issue. We also didn't help ourselves with giving away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box so often during Hutton's shit days, Collins and Warnock (who was utterly horrendous that season).
Our gameplan last season and this has been essentially exactly the same as McLeish. Defend most of the game and try and nick a result. Go a goal up and hold it. A goal down and most times it's game over.
I do think McLeish had the most horrendous injury hit of recent years though. Losing three key players long term/permanently in the course of month. Turning us from comfortable mid-table to probably another 2 games from relegation had the season been 40 games instead of 38. We were entirely reliant on Bent getting goals. Likewise Stan was still one of our top scorers that season when he got injured too.
The lack of consistent competitiveness, the lack of excitement, beyond that of a plucky underdog wining against the odds. The lack of football.
I'd say we've had at least 4 seasons of shite.
Yep. Though the Houllier season suddenly seems Barca-esque in comparison to the last 3 (and a bit).
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In 50 years of supporting Villa, there have been many heartbreak moments, ( but some brilliant ones as well ) for all of those Heartbreak moments I have never felt as bad as I did with that appointment.
Everyone knew it was wrong, the fans protested, he had no chance and it showed the absolute lack of understanding from Randy and his team of what it meant to the fans.
It was doomed from day one.
we did not give him the vocal slating from the start because, we were numb to the appointment, we were embarresed in case anyone noticed, and because he was a nice guy,
We (Fans called for Lambert) and in fairness, Randy sacked the one whose name should not be mentioned and appointed Mumbles.
Now we sit in limbo and wait for the next move.
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The Houllier season was equally as shite fir different reasons. We had some good players but the rot was evident. Wolves at home: hideous.
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I never liked houllier, particularly after the Anfield return antics .
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The Houllier season was equally as shite fir different reasons. We had some good players but the rot was evident. Wolves at home: hideous.
It was more the shock of falling so quickly after being accustomed to finishing 6th for a period. If Houllier had followed either McLeish or Lambert rather than MON people would've been a lot more patient.
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
Until losing Dunne at the back we were reasonably solid under him. Of course scoring goals was the major issue. We also didn't help ourselves with giving away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box so often during Hutton's shit days, Collins and Warnock (who was utterly horrendous that season).
Our gameplan last season and this has been essentially exactly the same as McLeish. Defend most of the game and try and nick a result. Go a goal up and hold it. A goal down and most times it's game over.
I do think McLeish had the most horrendous injury hit of recent years though. Losing three key players long term/permanently in the course of month. Turning us from comfortable mid-table to probably another 2 games from relegation had the season been 40 games instead of 38. We were entirely reliant on Bent getting goals. Likewise Stan was still one of our top scorers that season when he got injured too.
Houllier wins the injury award hands down....think at one point in November that year Sidwell, NRC and Petrov were all injured at the same time so it was incredibly Hogg (warming the Huddersfield bench) and Bannan as the midfield two. Gabby, Heskey and Carew were also injured at the same time so the Fonz started a few games around that period.
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We never got hammered under Mcleish did we ? Certainly no embarrassing 0-4's or 1-4's at home or 8-0's !
Until losing Dunne at the back we were reasonably solid under him. Of course scoring goals was the major issue. We also didn't help ourselves with giving away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box so often during Hutton's shit days, Collins and Warnock (who was utterly horrendous that season).
Our gameplan last season and this has been essentially exactly the same as McLeish. Defend most of the game and try and nick a result. Go a goal up and hold it. A goal down and most times it's game over.
I do think McLeish had the most horrendous injury hit of recent years though. Losing three key players long term/permanently in the course of month. Turning us from comfortable mid-table to probably another 2 games from relegation had the season been 40 games instead of 38. We were entirely reliant on Bent getting goals. Likewise Stan was still one of our top scorers that season when he got injured too.
Houllier wins the injury award hands down....think at one point in November that year Sidwell, NRC and Petrov were all injured at the same time so it was incredibly Hogg (warming the Huddersfield bench) and Bannan as the midfield two. Gabby, Heskey and Carew were also injured at the same time so the Fonz started a few games around that period.
I think Houllier at least had the benefit of being able to go and sign Bent and give us a huge jolt that season.
Sadly for Eck he was only allowed to bring in Robbie Keane for about 8 games. That long drawn out winless run was gut wrenching.
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The McLeish season is the only time I got virtually no enjoyment from to games and stopped looking forward to going to VP, from about Feb onwards I actually started hating going to games. As shit as it's been at times under Lambert, i've never felt that way during his time.
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I still feel to this day that the Bolton game was a major turning point for me as a fan, it was the night a i started to fall out of love with football.
I'd actually mostly written a piece for H&V that night about footballing myths such as Rene Higuita's scorpion kick (the whistle had already been blown so as spectacular as it was it wasn't as the game was being played). The other one was about sides being at their most vulnerable after scoring. Then we went 1 up and Bolton went up the other end and equalised.
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The McLeish season is the only time I got virtually no enjoyment from to games and stopped looking forward to going to VP, from about Feb onwards I actually started hating going to games. As shit as it's been at times under Lambert, i've never felt that way during his time.
It's all about opinions of course but for me the Lambert era at Villa is the most painful I've ever experienced in all my 37 years as a regular at Villa Park. McLeish was bad but at least it didn't last long.
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The Lambert era seems worse because it has gone on much longer. At the end of McLeish's one season I think most Villa fans agreed that things would not improved if he got a second and that the chairman was right in his call to sack him. After Lambert's debut season most of us were willing to give him another season because we did at least finish the season strong, and there were bright sparks along the way. The difference between the two is that McLeish benefitted from still having a lot of players from the MON days and so actually made a decent start to the season, and picked up one or two good results (Chelsea away) along the way. Lambert had it tougher as he has had to rebuild almost a whole side/squad.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Agreed, but still think that overall McLeish is worse.
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I felt the same as PWS and began to dread going to games in the McLeish era. To put it in a different context I moved house on 22nd March 2012 and Villa didn't win a game for 6 months after that (Swansea in September) - I thought the house was cursed.
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The Houllier season was one of those what might have been. As someone alluded to we had appalling injuries in Oct/Nov/Dec but I'll never forget that half hour against Man United when we should have had 5 and ended up hanging on for a 2-2. But as someone rightly points out, Wolves at home that season, uuurgghhh! Oh and throwing the Cup game at Citeh to be ready for Bolton and somehow losing 3-2 despite tearing them a new one. And the night at Anfield, oh dear.....
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Agreed. I'll be forty at the end of this month and that's the worst time I've ever had as a fan. The worst times I've known at Villa Park have come under Lambert but that particular spell was just horrendous.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Spot on. He should have been sacked there and then but he was allowed to stay and fester.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Spot on. He should have been sacked there and then but he was allowed to stay and fester.
Exactly, that was far in excess that anything McLeish managed to do
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Agreed. I'll be forty at the end of this month and that's the worst time I've ever had as a fan. The worst times I've known at Villa Park have come under Lambert but that particular spell was just horrendous.
I've said this many times before, but after Bradford scored at Villa Park I witnessed the worst tactics I've ever seems from a Villa manager in my life and I'm not exaggerating. I've seen better tactics between a game of 6 year olds on a playground.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Agreed. I'll be forty at the end of this month and that's the worst time I've ever had as a fan. The worst times I've known at Villa Park have come under Lambert but that particular spell was just horrendous.
I'm over fifty and the period under Lambert (and latterly Lerner) has been the worst ever for me. At least when it was shit before, you knew Doug would get rid and it was oddly exciting because of that. This unremitting mediocrity we now serve up season after season with no change has left me clinging on dear memories of previous decades
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
Agreed. I'll be forty at the end of this month and that's the worst time I've ever had as a fan. The worst times I've known at Villa Park have come under Lambert but that particular spell was just horrendous.
I'm over fifty and the period under Lambert (and latterly Lerner) has been the worst ever for me. At least when it was shit before, you knew Doug would get rid and it was oddly exciting because of that. This unremitting mediocrity we now serve up season after season with no change has left me clinging on dear memories of previous decades
You've summed up my own thoughts in one post.
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Changing the subject for a moment, this is the first time I've watched Football Focus for years and it'll be a while before I watch it again. Why couldn't they show the midweek goals from the proper angle instead of trying to be clever and showing them close up? It ruined half of them.
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Even though there have been a collection of low points over the last four seasons the eight months under Billy McNeill were the worst time to be a Villa fan over last 40 years.
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Changing the subject for a moment, this is the first time I've watched Football Focus for years and it'll be a while before I watch it again. Why couldn't they show the midweek goals from the proper angle instead of trying to be clever and showing them close up? It ruined half of them.
Did they play them to music as well which gets right on my you know whats? With cut aways to images of managers on the touchline and fans in the stand so you never actually get to see the goals properly in their entirety?
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Changing the subject for a moment, this is the first time I've watched Football Focus for years and it'll be a while before I watch it again. Why couldn't they show the midweek goals from the proper angle instead of trying to be clever and showing them close up? It ruined half of them.
Same here. I watched it the other week for the first time in God knows how long and really irritated me that they showed goals from stupid angles. No one's interested in the camera next to the corner flag, just show the goals from the correct angle. It's obvious an idea thought up by some smart arse straight out of uni.
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I've said this many times before, but after Bradford scored at Villa Park I witnessed the worst tactics I've ever seems from a Villa manager in my life and I'm not exaggerating. I've seen better tactics between a game of 6 year olds on a playground.
I'm over fifty and the period under Lambert (and latterly Lerner) has been the worst ever for me. At least when it was shit before, you knew Doug would get rid and it was oddly exciting because of that. This unremitting mediocrity we now serve up season after season with no change has left me clinging on dear memories of previous decades
Couldn't agree more and the fact Doug's reign is looking not so bad is some indictment on the current lot.
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Changing the subject for a moment, this is the first time I've watched Football Focus for years and it'll be a while before I watch it again. Why couldn't they show the midweek goals from the proper angle instead of trying to be clever and showing them close up? It ruined half of them.
That's been a real bugbear of mine for a few years now. You can never quite see the build up to the goal or the finish due to the swoopy, zoomed in cameras and quick jump cuts. So frustrating.
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The lowest point for me was that Xmas under lambert that went 0-8, 0-4 and 0-3 then the cup exits v millwall and the Bradford debacle.
That period for me topped any of the mcleish travesties.
But as I already pointed out McLeish had a slightly better squad. Don't forget that run under Lambert was when Benteke was still finding his feet. The idea that a manager should be sacked half way through his first season just shows how short term the modern football fan's mindset is.
Spot on. He should have been sacked there and then but he was allowed to stay and fester.
Exactly, that was far in excess that anything McLeish managed to do
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Annoying highlights angles aside, anyone know what Fookin'Eck had to say about his time up the Villa?
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Reckoned he would have turned it around had he been given time. Thought in hindsight that it was probably not the right move for him. There would have been a minimum of 30,000 at Villa Park who could have told him that.
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Even though there have been a collection of low points over the last four seasons the eight months under Billy McNeill were the worst time to be a Villa fan over last 40 years.
well, I've be pondering that. The 8 months ended in relegation, which was pretty bad. But it was only 8 months, and we quickly found redemption with SGT.
This run of four seasons has been unremittingly bad, it has sucked the spirit out of many fans and established a new level of ongoing mediocrity that has become the norm. After two Wembley visits in 2010, we have had nothing to raise our spirits.
So, in 50 years of supporting Villa, I'd say this period is the worst, and it's nadir of 0-8, 0-4, 0-3 has to be the 'eye of the storm'.
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Does anyone have access to the billy McNeil season stats ? Think his first league game we won 1-0 at highfield rd which was a top day out , then it quickly turned to rat shit.
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Some stats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Aston_Villa_F.C._managers)
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So, in 50 years of supporting Villa, I'd say this period is the worst, and it's nadir of 0-8, 0-4, 0-3 has to be the 'eye of the storm'.
It's really worse than being relegated to division 3, 8 straight years out the top flight, 14 straight years of never finishing higher than 15th and managing 3 top 10 finishes in 20 years?
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Some stats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Aston_Villa_F.C._managers)
Cheers .
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Does anyone have access to the billy McNeil season stats ? Think his first league game we won 1-0 at highfield rd which was a top day out , then it quickly turned to rat shit.
04.10-A Coventry 1-0
11.09-H Southampton 3-1
18.10-A Watford 2-4
25.10-H Newcastle 2-0
01.11-H Leicester 2-0
08.11-A Manchester C 1-3
15.11-H Chelsea 0-0
22.11-A West Ham 1-1
29.11-H Arsenal 0-4
06.12-A Sheffield W 1-2
13.12-H Manchester U 3-3
20.12-A Oxford 2-2
26.12-H Charlton 2-0
27.12-A Chelsea 1-4
01.01-A Everton 0-3
03.01-H Nottingham 0-0
24.01-A Tottenham 0-3
07.02-H Queen's PR 0-1
14.02-A Luton 1-2
21.02-H Liverpool 2-2
28.02-A Norwich 1-1
04.03-H Wimbledon 0-0
07.03-A Newcastle 1-2
21.03-A Southampton 0-5
25.03-H Watford 1-1
28.03-H Coventry 1-0
04.04-H Manchester C 0-0
11.04-A Leicester 1-1
18.04-H Everton 0-1
20.04-A Charlton 0-3
25.04-H West Ham 4-0
02.05-A Arsenal 1-2
04.05-H Sheffield W 1-2
09.05-A Manchester U 1-3
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Anyone else remember that bloke who put a big bet on us winning the last 4 and staying up and saying he'd give the winnings to the squad?
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Cheers . So we had a 12 game winless streak starting 27.12 and HDE didn't pull the trigger ?!
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So, in 50 years of supporting Villa, I'd say this period is the worst, and it's nadir of 0-8, 0-4, 0-3 has to be the 'eye of the storm'.
It's really worse than being relegated to division 3, 8 straight years out the top flight, 14 straight years of never finishing higher than 15th and managing 3 top 10 finishes in 20 years?
The Taylor, Cummings. Docherty era was by far the worst period of my supporting life, but it should be remembered that after we'd hit rock bottom in the third division it heralded the beginning of a golden period that lead to our greatest triumph.
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And no one who watched us be shit for those 20 years knew that at the time. So the point stands, it was far worse for 20 years than where we are now. Who knows, maybe in 10 years we'll be champions of Europe again, doesn't stop it being crap right now does it.
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So, in 50 years of supporting Villa, I'd say this period is the worst, and it's nadir of 0-8, 0-4, 0-3 has to be the 'eye of the storm'.
It's really worse than being relegated to division 3, 8 straight years out the top flight, 14 straight years of never finishing higher than 15th and managing 3 top 10 finishes in 20 years?
Good challenge, and perhaps hindsight helps to soften the effect of the late sixties/early seventies. However, I remember at the time in the early seventies (including the '71 League Cup run and the FA Youth Cup win) having a "we're Aston Villa and we don't care" attitude that seemed to get us through those times. There was a positivity and sense of hopefulness that I don't feel now.
But that may be hindsightism and me being an old cynical git.
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And no one who watched us be shit for those 20 years knew that at the time. So the point stands, it was far worse for 20 years than where we are now. Who knows, maybe in 10 years we'll be champions of Europe again, doesn't stop it being crap right now does it.
I was agreeing with you, remembering the despair of the downward spiral, not knowing where it would end. No one could be sure that when we hit the third that we wouldn't be in the fourth the following season, but my point was that there was positivity soon afterwards as Vic Crowe laid the foundations for Ron's teams.
It was the crappiest time to be a Villa supporter in my lifetime and I often think that it was only the eternal optimism of youth that kept me going.
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Ah my mistake. Apologies.
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In my opinion comparing now, as crap as it is, with the late 60s is entirely bogus. Any dewy-eyed nostalgia based on what subsequently happened as we rose again is just that, combined with the natural enthusiasm and optimism of the youth that we had back then.
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Not sure there is any point in comparing. Surely, if it's shit, it's shit? And boy, it is shit.
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Annoying highlights angles aside, anyone know what Fookin'Eck had to say about his time up the Villa?
Think he did one sometime last season when he admits he underestimated the feeling of disgust at his move from both sides and he started avoiding eating in the city centre as a result.
He did manage in a few derbys before moving to us so I was surprised he said that unless he thought it was a tea party compared to the Old Firm.
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I think the big difference between Lambert and McLeish was that when we appointed Lambert it was seen as a positive move due to his reputation as a highly rated younger manager. We knew what was going to happen when McLeish rolled into B6.
That said, McLeish always held us in high regard and respected the clubs size and also the fans - despite some of the bile that was rained down on him. He never patronized us in the way Lambert has.
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Right man, wrong club. Nothing against McLeish.
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Between the two if I could go for a pint with either it's Mcleish . Imagine getting the round in with Lambert , you'd never know what he wants
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Between the two if I could go for a pint with either it's Mcleish . Imagine getting the round in with Lambert , you'd never know what he wants
Oh, but it would be a very long session. You know every time that pints finished "we would have to go again".
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
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I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
It would have meant a lot less pressure on him but I just don't think he is quite good enough to consistently do well in the Premier League.
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In my opinion comparing now, as crap as it is, with the late 60s is entirely bogus. Any dewy-eyed nostalgia based on what subsequently happened as we rose again is just that, combined with the natural enthusiasm and optimism of the youth that we had back then.
Not sure there is any point in comparing. Surely, if it's shit, it's shit? And boy, it is shit.
True
But everything is always better or worse in the old days, it's just the way we think
Pick your ultimate sporting hero outside of Villa, and for most of us it will be someone from our youth, mines Botham who is from my younger days
My Dad's is Stanley Mathews same applies
Pick your favourite film of all times, bet it's something from yonks ago
So yeah it was really really bad in the mid eighties, but I still had more hope then than I have now
(So I've just proved my theory wrong there I think)
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Well-meaning duffers aren't going to get us anywhere. I'd rather be sat here in 10 years saying, "x was a total knobhead but you can't argue with two FA Cups and a season of Champions League football."
Indeed. It seems it's almost the law to start any sentence about McLeish with the words, "Decent bloke, but....".
Look at the managers who win things regularly like Ferguson and Mourinho, utter ****** to a man, but then they're winners so get away with it.
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Well-meaning duffers aren't going to get us anywhere. I'd rather be sat here in 10 years saying, "x was a total knobhead but you can't argue with two FA Cups and a season of Champions League football."
Indeed. It seems it's almost the law to start any sentence about McLeish with the words, "Decent bloke, but....".
Look at the managers who win things regularly like Ferguson and Mourinho, utter c***s to a man, but then they're winners so get away with it.
I still mark him down as a chancer. I don't buy the 'nice guy' schtick.
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I did not want him as manager but i did like him as a bloke. He took some stick but kept his dignity. I wonder what DOL would have done if he was in the same boat.
Once he got the job i wanted it to work out and wonder how we would have felt if Blues had stayed up and we had then taken their manager?
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
As much as most of us gave him a fair stab at it despite his previous club, he still wasn't exactly warmly welcomed given his association with the shite. You'd have to say the fans have been more patient with Lambert, who's been just as bad.
Had he come straight from Scotland, who knows? He would have had a more positive entry into the club. Would the Bolton game have had quite the same vitriol in some sections? I still think the result would have been the same. We'd have struggled and he'd have been fired probably.
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
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Not sure there is any point in comparing. Surely, if it's shit, it's shit? And boy, it is shit.
Not really. There is a huge distinction between finishing 16th/15th in the top flight and playing in the 3rd division.
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
And the last time it wasn't a two horse race, whose team came second?
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
And the last time it wasn't a two horse race, whose team came second?
Romanov?
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
And the last time it wasn't a two horse race, whose team came second?
Romanov?
Alex McLeish's, I believe.
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
And the last time it wasn't a two horse race, whose team came second?
Romanov?
Alex McLeish's, I believe.
Lost me. In 2005-06 it was Celtic (Strachan), Hearts, Rangers (McLeish). How Hearts managed to come second with 3 managers in a season.
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Didn't McLeish also manage to get second with Hibs?
Anyway, i'll echo the thoughts of many others. As a bloke I always found him likeable before,during and after his time at the club. The fact he came from the Blues never bothered me, if he's have been a success it would have made it even better, but the football under him was absolutely dire. I do wonder what might have been though had Bent not got injured when he did. If I remember correctly we were sitting comfortably around 9th and Bent was scoring regularly, once again proving the fine margins in football.
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It was an interesting interview with him and I'm pleased to see he's got a bit of enthusiasm back for football. They should a picture of him after the league cup win, only 3 and a half years ago. He seems to have aged about 10 years though. Possibly in now small part thanks to his year here.
Good luck to him. Decent bloke, but as others have said, this wasn't the club for him.
I wonder if it would have been had he come here straight from Scotland.
Not really. He could not wipe out his average record in Scotland. Although winning some silverware, he still managed to come third in a two horse race. Saying that, it has been a long time since it was truly a two horse race. For as long as I can remember, it has either been Celtic or Rangers dominant, not two teams battling it out together.
And the last time it wasn't a two horse race, whose team came second?
Romanov?
Alex McLeish's, I believe.
Lost me. In 2005-06 it was Celtic (Strachan), Hearts, Rangers (McLeish). How Hearts managed to come second with 3 managers in a season.
I meant before that one. I think it was Motherwell under McLeish.
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The mcleish 'nice guy' commenst are akin to hearing that a gal has a 'nice personality'. You know what both really are saying.
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Back on the horse - replacing Mido as manager of Zamalek in Egypt.
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Back on the horse - replacing Mido as manager of Zamalek in Egypt.
Don't you mean a camel ?
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The mcleish 'nice guy' commenst are akin to hearing that a gal has a 'nice personality'. You know what both really are saying.
Quite right. He is another bitter bastard. He's been fairly quiet up until recently-I believe due to the fact that he was our pinnacle of wankness. Now we are worse than under his 'guidance', he's crept out to have a dig. Fuck him. I wish him only failure, the boring bastard.
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He has the balls of a caterpillar the fecking dull pleb. Who's going to come out next for a pop Billy Mcneill?
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He has the balls of a caterpillar the fecking dull pleb. Who's going to come out next for a pop Billy Mcneill?
I'm waiting for Bent,Weimann and even Heskey to get stuck in to us...
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After watching Darren Bent against Brentford last Saturday, I can reliably say the only thing our old mate will be getting stuck into is another visit to Greggs.
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I saw him in the intu shopping complex in Derby last Thursday and he looked pretty lean to me
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Well his feet never left the floor when he 'jumped' for the ball. Looked podgy to me and I should know, I'm podgy.
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Well his feet never left the floor when he 'jumped' for the ball. Looked podgy to me and I should know, I'm podgy.
Are we talking a little bit rotund, or full on Gabby gut?
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Certainly not Gabbyesque. Perhaps it's just me but I did here a Brentford fan say to his mate that he looked a lot heavier than he did when he played for Spurs. He just voiced what I was thinking. He got hooked after an hour and looked knackered, I don't know why, he'd contributed nothing. I felt sorry for him.
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One of his managers at Fulham more or less said that he was a fucking fat fucker who couldn't be fucked and he should fuck off out of it.
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One of his managers at Fulham more or less said that he was a fucking fat fucker who couldn't be fucked and he should fuck off out of it.
Seven Fs in Fulham?
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I invited my younger brother - who was a rabid Villa fan - to a pre Christmas get together last year in Cadgwith, Cornwall, together with my sister and her husband. Cadgwith is An unspoilt fishing cove near the Lizard and the scene of many happy holidays as kids, but this was the first time any of us had been back since the early 1970s. Sadly, all holiday cheer was extinguished when he told me he had become a season ticket holder at Fulham . I knew he's transgressed a few times since moving to Putney a while ago , but a season ticket holder! Rather childishly, after trying to come to terms with this news, I didn't give him and his wife their Christmas present.
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I invited my younger brother - who was a rabid Villa fan - to a pre Christmas get together last year in Cadgwith, Cornwall, together with my sister and her husband. Cadgwith is An unspoilt fishing cove near the Lizard and the scene of many happy holidays as kids, but this was the first time any of us had been back since the early 1970s. Sadly, all holiday cheer was extinguished when he told me he had become a season ticket holder at Fulham . I knew he's transgressed a few times since moving to Putney a while ago , but a season ticket holder! Rather childishly, after trying to come to terms with this news, I didn't give him and his wife their Christmas present.
Childishly!! You'd have been within your rights to ask him to leave immediately. Could have been worse I suppose he could have ended up at Chelsea....
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I invited my younger brother - who was a rabid Villa fan - to a pre Christmas get together last year in Cadgwith, Cornwall, together with my sister and her husband. Cadgwith is An unspoilt fishing cove near the Lizard and the scene of many happy holidays as kids, but this was the first time any of us had been back since the early 1970s. Sadly, all holiday cheer was extinguished when he told me he had become a season ticket holder at Fulham . I knew he's transgressed a few times since moving to Putney a while ago , but a season ticket holder! Rather childishly, after trying to come to terms with this news, I didn't give him and his wife their Christmas present.
A little off topic but Cadgwith and Ruan Minor are beautiful spots in the world.
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indeed they are.