Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: adam#1 on January 06, 2011, 09:46:50 AM
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Ok, so they've done a lot of good since arrival, revamped the Holte pub, invested in the playing staff to a level, stopped child seat prices in the middle Trinity (OK maybe not that one) but I think the following are important negative factors in what is going on here:
The mysterious departure of Richard Fitzgerald and Michael Cunnah.
The replacement appointment of a relatively inexperienced (in football and quite possibly business terms) CEO in Paul Faulkner, who’s main skills for the job seem to be that he’s been part of the inner cycle – one wonders if going out to recruit would have been better..
The failure to manage MON effectively leading to his untimely departure.
The dithering over the appointment of a manager after mismanaging MON’s departure.
The appointment of a manager who is performing poorly.
The cessation of squad investment for the last 18 months.
They are responsible for the relationship between the wage bill and revenue, not the manager.
The retreat from communicating with fans when the going gets tough other than to put out an ill timed backing of a disliked manager after a mediocre result (granted an exciting game) against a failing top 4 side.
The failure to drive up attendances to increase revenue.
I’m not one to start screaming for the Randy Out or Faulkner Out or any such knee jerking, I’m just pointing out that there have been significant failings at a high level and its time they started to correct matters.
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I agree with a lot of what you have just said, BUT
We do have to thank them for the good times over the previous 4 years, when we had a team we could be proud, dared to dream a little and provided some of the most exciting times in the PL era.
I especially agree with your point that the board should shoulder blame for the wages, if MON negotiated the wage levels alone (which seems unlikely) why wasnt someone from the board whose expertise was in what wages the club could afford accompanying him at negotiations???
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Good post and whatever they say there is no excuse for taking 5 weeks to appoint a manager .missing the transfer window has cost us big time and we cannot afford not to bring in new players this month.
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I tend to agree. For the best part of four years they didn't put much of a foot wrong, except for maybe giving O'Neill too much power. Since then though, hardly anything has gone right. Things were clearly not right between Lerner and O'Neill, so he should have been replaced before he was allowed to get to the stage where he could walk out as he did.
They then took ages to appoint a manager, clearly chose the wrong man, and the manner in which he started, or didn't, was a farce. We've had no investment in the team except for Ireland, and a series of other PR disasters including the shirt cock up, and the General's comments on fan websites being picked up in the media.
All in all, not good enough by a long way, and it's culminated in the mess and possible relegation. I really don't think Randy's heart and wallet are in it any more, despite jumping all over Faulkner in the Chelsea match.
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Good post and yes we should be grateful for the good times. Looks like they are well and truly over now though. I think we will be going through a spell similar to the 1960's.
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I posted this comment some time ago and still believe that most problems at clubs are caused by the vanity or inexperience of owners. They can't bare to see someone else's appointment being successful, and then they start tinkering, and before you know it your doing a Newcastle or Leeds.
I've been giving the situation at Villa Park some thought for quite some considerable time now, and I think we have to look to our recent history for the route of the problem and the solution.
Part of the problem is how Aston Villa are perceived outside of Villa Park . To the media we are no more than a mid table team at best, they continually rate Everton, Spurs and Newcastle as bigger than us. Now i'm pretty sure that our trophy list is bigger than Everton, Spurs, definately Newcastle and maybe even Chelsea. So part of the problem is perception. How are we ever going to attract top players or managers if we are perceived as being a slightly bigger version of Blackburn or Bolton?
Our next problem is chairman/owners. They are the route of all the problems at most clubs. Take a look at Newcastle for a good example of an owner playing god with the club. But it's our history that concerns me. Ron Saunders was easily the most successful manager of modern times but was undone by an owner who wanted to tinker with his contract. Now after just winning the first league championship in 71 years I can understand Mr Saunders annoyance. No wonder he told them to get stuffed. That brings us on nicely to Deadly Doug. Only Doug could have sacked the man who brought us the european cup,and replaced him with the manager of Shrewsbury Town (Graham Turner). No matter what your opinion of Tony Barton was, you don't replace him with Graham Turner. It's like Man Utd winning the champions league, then sacking Fergie and replacing him with Keith Hill from Rochdale. Obviously only a mad man would do that. Not content with the Graham Turner experiment he then inflicted Bingo Billy on us. Sure enough relagation followed and only then did he really see that to run a massive club like Villa you need a massive character, and not a yes man. So well done Doug for the appointment of Sir Graham Taylor. But then look at some of Doug's other appointments. Dr Josef Venglos - once again the Chairman's vanity nearly got us relagated, and once again we went looking for another manager. In stepped Big Fat Ron. It was a case of so near, yet so far. We played exhilarating football at times, but fell at the final hurdle. But Doug being Doug couldn't stand to be in the shadow of Big Fat Ron, so he had to go too. We then had a succession of managers, some more succesful than others, but all with the exception of O'Dreary couldn't or wouldn't work with Doug. Granted Doug then installed MON at the helm, but what promisses or assurances he made is anyone's guess.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is this: History shows us that to be a success at managing a massive club like Villa, you need a massive character, and in my opinion Houllier is not that man, and like many of his predecessors and the media he has been taken by suprise by the passion that the fans have for this club.
No one really knows why MON and Randy fell out, but one thing is for sure, Randy has most definately not learnt from history. If you have a succesful manager, you back him. If you can't work with him you must absolutely appoint a top manager. Someone hungry, someone with a proven track record. Not an old man! The Graham Taylor experiment(2nd time around proves this).
So what do we do now? I think it's too late this season to change. Big Sam imho is not the answer. I think we need to get our prayer mats out and come May time say thanks to Ged and appoint a new man no matter what division we are in. But, and I hope Randy learns from this experience, and that of our history, we are a massive club. We need a massive character. Not a yes man! Randy, please don't become another Doug. With the right backing and the right man at the helm we can mix it with the best. History proves it!
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The board have been brilliant for four years, but I can't help thinking that the whole thing's been almost a total mess since the final whistle blew at the end of last season. We stood still all summer and now we're going backwards, fast.
We have to bring in some quality this month, the earlier the better. Pay the transfer fees, pay the wages, do whatever to ensure our survival.
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Ive begun to feel the same and the summer just gone was one hell of a mess up by them:
Once Martin had left for reasons we still dont know they dithered and left KMAC in chrage for that long we had no window left to sign reinforcements (and he'd chosen to not bother with Europe). During that time they sold our best payer and replaced him with Ireland. They then looked at only managers who were available. Which is a bit like building your squad on free transfers...
after we look at what sounded like a wonderful bunch of chaps we pick the old french one who has been out of the game for a few years.. instead of looking at him and going: "you know what, lets have a year contract with an option for another year" we go: "stay for 4 years!".
This man has then come in and annoyed all the players and taken us into the relegation zone.. to which the board (if Mat Kendrick is to be believed) have said they will still back him...
.. the organ grinder has made our stand very nice but his latest monkey is an old french one who wont bring in the coins...
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The board have got themselves in a bit of a muddle unfortunately. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it looks now like we dawdled and procrastinated for five weeks before appointing the wrong man. Because of this muddle / mistake [whatever you want to call it] we're now in a horrible position, in the bottom three and potentially having to sack a bloke we gave a three year contract to not five months ago.
The upshot is the board may now have to show quick thinking, iniative and the investment that they dallied over in August.
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I was over for the Blackburn game at the end of last season and even then you could sense something was up. I remember feeling unsettled leaving villa park. I never felt as unsettled about villa as I did that day.
Where to now?
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I have had the feeling for a long time that the extended period it took the board to appoint a new manager had a financial influence. MON told to sell players he wasn't using before more money was given him, any new manager with a couple of weeks up his sleeve would demand money to spend. Aston Villa is a business Randys business and he looked at the books and thought it's time to balance them.
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I was over for the Blackburn game at the end of last season and even then you could sense something was up. I remember feeling unsettled leaving villa park. I never felt as unsettled about villa as I did that day.
Where to now?
Well if twitter is to be believed and the board are backing Houllier then the championship....
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Amazing we fans.
The first sign the wheels are coming off and its the Boards fault, what was it Dol said Fickle.
Rightly or not the Board were left high and dry by probably the worst exit of a manager in Premiership history and whilst I see many still try to blame the Board for that, he left on his own terms taking all the viable coaches with him.
Randy I assume did his selection in an atmosphere of no viable alternatives available and its blown up in his face aided by some lacklustre performances from players who can do better and have done better and an amazing list of injuries
All this had to be dealt with by a manager who had just joined, the club.
Now they are expected to give a knee jerk reaction, sack him during the brief transfer window and leave the club with who, McAllister, Cowans, or even KMac in charge, lunacy.
Throwing money at the problem is not going to help much either, we have too many players who don't give a shit and yes, while another manager might improve that, can we be sure.
No.
Whatever the Board, Randy do, is not going to please some, he was in charge when the mighty Mon quit, yes he quit, so he must be wrong. I'm no fan of our position but I remember Boards who managed relegated Villa sides, Boards who took them into the old Div 3 and believe me I'd rather have Randy, his improvements and the 180 mill he's spent, wasted by Mon, than any of them thank you.
When I look at Blackburn, Blues and other clubs alternatives I think we should be thankful for Randy and Co, they may not be perfect, but using them as part of the blame game because we are in the relegation zone is no more than a cheap shot, a cheap shot by very fickle and disingenuous fans.
I know how I'd feel if I read some of the comments on here and I wouldn't be happy.
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The board have been wonderful for us i really like Randy but he has some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks regarding the manager situation.
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The money wasted by MON has a ring to it, as good an owner as he has been there is a time when you can't throw money around anymore.
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Amazing we fans.
The first sign the wheels are coming off and its the Boards fault, what was it Dol said Fickle.
Rightly or not the Board were left high and dry by probably the worst exit of a manager in Premiership history and whilst I see many still try to blame the Board for that, he left on his own terms taking all the viable coaches with him.
Randy I assume did his selection in an atmosphere of no viable alternatives available and its blown up in his face aided by some lacklustre performances from players who can do better and have done better and an amazing list of injuries
All this had to be dealt with by a manager who had just joined, the club.
Now they are expected to give a knee jerk reaction, sack him during the brief transfer window and leave the club with who, McAllister, Cowans, or even KMac in charge, lunacy.
Throwing money at the problem is not going to help much either, we have too many players who don't give a shit and yes, while another manager might improve that, can we be sure.
No.
Whatever the Board, Randy do, is not going to please some, he was in charge when the mighty Mon quit, yes he quit, so he must be wrong. I'm no fan of our position but I remember Boards who managed relegated Villa sides, Boards who took them into the old Div 3 and believe me I'd rather have Randy, his improvements and the 180 mill he's spent, wasted by Mon, than any of them thank you.
When I look at Blackburn, Blues and other clubs alternatives I think we should be thankful for Randy and Co, they may not be perfect, but using them as part of the blame game because we are in the relegation zone is no more than a cheap shot, a cheap shot by very fickle and disingenuous fans.
I know how I'd feel if I read some of the comments on here and I wouldn't be happy.
Very harsh words to accuse someone who profers genuine opinion based on reasoned questions and facts as fickle.
Two simple questions - 1. Is our club in a healthy position at the moment? 2. Who is ultimately responsible for the club - i.e. where does the buck stop?
We are not in a healthy position in my eyes, and the buck ultimately stops at the top. Therefore to criticise the board is perfectly justified and not fickle, even if they have been praised in the past for actions they took.
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The money wasted by MON has a ring to it, as good an owner as he has been there is a time when you can't throw money around anymore.
Our spending has been modest for a top 6 side, it has been horrendously profligate for a relegated side.
Very little has gone right at Villa since Faulkner was appointed CEO.
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I don't think you can blame PF for our current situation. It is a great combination of things that leave us wher we are now.
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Ok, so they've done a lot of good since arrival, revamped the Holte pub, invested in the playing staff to a level, stopped child seat prices in the middle Trinity (OK maybe not that one) but I think the following are important negative factors in what is going on here:
The mysterious departure of Richard Fitzgerald and Michael Cunnah.
The replacement appointment of a relatively inexperienced (in football and quite possibly business terms) CEO in Paul Faulkner, who’s main skills for the job seem to be that he’s been part of the inner cycle – one wonders if going out to recruit would have been better..
The failure to manage MON effectively leading to his untimely departure.
The dithering over the appointment of a manager after mismanaging MON’s departure.
The appointment of a manager who is performing poorly.
The cessation of squad investment for the last 18 months.
They are responsible for the relationship between the wage bill and revenue, not the manager.
The retreat from communicating with fans when the going gets tough other than to put out an ill timed backing of a disliked manager after a mediocre result (granted an exciting game) against a failing top 4 side.
The failure to drive up attendances to increase revenue.
I’m not one to start screaming for the Randy Out or Faulkner Out or any such knee jerking, I’m just pointing out that there have been significant failings at a high level and its time they started to correct matters.
Harsh, Adam.
On Fitzgerald, Cunnah, Faulkner , you may be right, but you may be wrong the exact trade off in skill sets is unknown. And what is this “inner cycle” of which you speak?
MON delivered the best consecutive league finish record post WW2 at VP- that’s hardly mismanaging him.
We don’t know what the exact circumstances of MON’s departure were. Blaming the Board is a guess. MON leaving on the eve of the new season was not their fault – it was unprofessional on MON’s part.
What obvious alternative was there to the process which culminated in Houlliers appointment? Who should have been brought in sooner?
Any Managerial appointment is a gamble – some you win, some you lose, and we are only half way through the season.
Lerner has invested heavily in fees and wages since his arrival. It is understood that is not an open-ended commitment.
They backed the manager on fees and wages, and then felt they were not getting a return, or that some of the calls were not vindicated - it is the Boards prerogative to hold the manager to account.
The post MON departure PR retreat has been disappointing, I agree.
Although I hate it, I suspect that in cash terms, the increase in prices has significantly compensated for the drop in attendances so far. If performances continue to dip – so will attendances, that’s the way it is.
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Amazing we fans.
The first sign the wheels are coming off and its the Boards fault, what was it Dol said Fickle.
Rightly or not the Board were left high and dry by probably the worst exit of a manager in Premiership history and whilst I see many still try to blame the Board for that, he left on his own terms taking all the viable coaches with him.
Randy I assume did his selection in an atmosphere of no viable alternatives available and its blown up in his face aided by some lacklustre performances from players who can do better and have done better and an amazing list of injuries
All this had to be dealt with by a manager who had just joined, the club.
Now they are expected to give a knee jerk reaction, sack him during the brief transfer window and leave the club with who, McAllister, Cowans, or even KMac in charge, lunacy.
Throwing money at the problem is not going to help much either, we have too many players who don't give a shit and yes, while another manager might improve that, can we be sure.
No.
Whatever the Board, Randy do, is not going to please some, he was in charge when the mighty Mon quit, yes he quit, so he must be wrong. I'm no fan of our position but I remember Boards who managed relegated Villa sides, Boards who took them into the old Div 3 and believe me I'd rather have Randy, his improvements and the 180 mill he's spent, wasted by Mon, than any of them thank you.
When I look at Blackburn, Blues and other clubs alternatives I think we should be thankful for Randy and Co, they may not be perfect, but using them as part of the blame game because we are in the relegation zone is no more than a cheap shot, a cheap shot by very fickle and disingenuous fans.
I know how I'd feel if I read some of the comments on here and I wouldn't be happy.
Very harsh words to accuse someone who profers genuine opinion based on reasoned questions and facts as fickle.
Two simple questions - 1. Is our club in a healthy position at the moment? 2. Who is ultimately responsible for the club - i.e. where does the buck stop?
We are not in a healthy position in my eyes, and the buck ultimately stops at the top. Therefore to criticise the board is perfectly justified and not fickle, even if they have been praised in the past for actions they took.
We are not in a healthy position on the pitch true but everywhere else we are doing fine, especially if funds are provided in January and the summer.
There is a whole gamut of problems that have led to the league position, Mons departure the epicentre, Mon's spending to create a team that collapses as soon as a few injuries hit major players, that injury list, and tiredness of not fully match fit returning players.
Perhaps ultimately the buck does stop at the Top, but after just one season when we have not had a nice easy time of it, I don't think so, but perhaps in your wisdom you see other problems in the past with the Board, problems us mere mortals have missed.
That's the trouble with Glory hunters as supporters, when things go wrong all they can do is apportion blame at all and sundry.
Thankfully the majority, perhaps the quiet majority, tend to see a more pragmatic view.
Things are not good, but there are plenty to blame before posting cheap shots at the Board in my view.
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We are not in a healthy position on the pitch true but everywhere else we are doing fine,
That's alright then.
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Thankfully the majority, perhaps the quiet majority, tend to see a more pragmatic view.
Things are not good, but there are plenty to blame before posting cheap shots at the Board in my view.
Quite so.
Randy, I am sure, would tackle some things differently in hindsight. But to blame our misfortune on bad Board judgement is an overstatement.
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I can guarantee that if Doug was in charge Houllier would have been invited to take a walk in Doug's garden morning and take at look at Dougs Roses!!
We need to employ a proper CEO, with experience and who knows how to run a football club, my choice would be David Dein (but he would probably cost too much!!)
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You were doing quite well in your response until you started with the sarcastic tone of "but perhaps in your wisdom you see other problems in the past with the Board, problems us mere mortals have missed.
That's the trouble with Glory hunters as supporters, when things go wrong all they can do is apportion blame at all and sundry."
Not sure why you feel the need to start hurling insult around, but it really devalues your viewpoint and ability to maintain a stance in a discussion (this is a discussion forum isn't it? not a slanging match forum?).
garyfouroaks - Inner Cycle was supposed to read Inner Circle. I still cannot hold MON exclusively responsible for the manner of his departure, I agree his departure looks petulant on his part but in any relationship it "takes two to tango" and therefore there has to be a degree of responsibility on the board for the failing of the "relationship". It cannot be they have no responsibility.
Personally I'd have identified a better manager and gone all out to get him, but this would cost money and I think ultimately that has been the undoing here - indicators are there that there has been a seismic shift in the way the club is run on a financial footing and we are back to the Ellis way of doing things. Evidenced by a net gain in transfer fees, the lack of seeking of employed manager who would need to be bought out, the rigid wage structure preventing the transfer of a 19yr old from Le Havre, the signing of a loan player from Spurs and the general rumours coming out from the media in the last 12 months.
It all to me points to a business plan of lets buy this club, splash loads of cash and we'll be successful, followed by not quite achieving that, not wanting to just splash any more cash and so the party's over, no more big money and time to pay the credit card off. It doesn't smack of good business development from the outset, just someone who wanted a football club plaything, who's realised its costing a bit too much and he's maxed out his credit card. It definitely feels like the party's over. In fact it felt like a really good house party that'd got to about 11pm, and just as you were expecting it to kick on into a great night, someone forget to feed the electric meter and has ran out of 50p pieces....
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I think that our current league position is largely attributable to the boards appalling decision to sell Milner to Man City when they could quite justifiably have delayed the deal until January following MON's departure.
If Milner had been available to play central midfield I am convinced that even with the clueless GH as manager we would currently be no worse off than mid table.
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The blame can be shouldered between the board , manager , coaches and players- all have made mistakes and bear some responsibilty for this mess - we can only hope that decent signings are made this month to improve things.
Regarding milner , he wanted to move and his contract was running down- cannot see how the board can be blamed for seiing him, we got a very good price but that money should have been reinvested on new players - hopefully it will be spent this month.
The boards major error was taking so long to appoint a manager and missing the transfer window as a result.
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That's the trouble with Glory hunters as supporters, when things go wrong all they can do is apportion blame at all and sundry.
My eyes accidentally read something you posted and i've got to say that if it's 'glory' you're after you'd be a piss poor hunter to settle on Aston Villa.
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The board invested/gambled on qualification to the CL, and we missed out.
Now as some have said the balance sheet doesn't look as healthy, and with the likes of Man City throwing the money around Randy doesn't seem quite as rich, and maybe he realised the gamble didn't work.
However to criticise the board does seem harsh, as the decisions that have been made have been made with the right intentions, to bring success back to Aston Villa. There may have been mistakes, but they will really be learning the lessons of running a football club the hard way. As long as they have the heart for the long fight i believe in Randy and the board and as long as they are doing it for the right reasons i.e to make us a successful club again as opposed to lining their own pockets and inflating their own egos, then i will back them all the way.
It will be interesting to see what players we attract now. MON has been roundly criticised for getting players on high wages, but he always got them. You didn't hear of us missing out on many players.
I fear we will see us going back to days of old where we are linked with everybody and end up signing nobody or worse another Djemba Djemba as a last resort, if the board bottle it now.
We must be the only PL club ever to have not spent money on a player in a whole year, that is what is worrying me most, if the money has really dried up we will definitely go down.
The board must hold their nerve by making funds available, surely there must be at least £20m to spend.
I am no fan of Houllier, but the board need to prove they back him by making funds available and helping him build his own team.
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It'd be interesting to see the comparison between the likely current club value (assuming premiership survival and bouncing back to a top ten club) and the amount of money RAL has invested from his own pocket. I bet the sums are very similar.
I'm not knocking the board for the sake of knocking them, I just read so many posts where the board can do no wrong and are clearly altruists at heart with only the intention of doing whats good for villa that it narks me people are falling for such spin. They are business people who picked this club up for a very good price, and I'm unconvinced they have demonstrated effective business management of our football club.
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When the loans to the trust become repayable, and the club isn't worth enough on the open market to repay them, maybe Lerner will think back to this season and wish he'd acted differently.
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It'd be interesting to see the comparison between the likely current club value (assuming premiership survival and bouncing back to a top ten club) and the amount of money RAL has invested from his own pocket. I bet the sums are very similar.
I'm not knocking the board for the sake of knocking them, I just read so many posts where the board can do no wrong and are clearly altruists at heart with only the intention of doing whats good for villa that it narks me people are falling for such spin. They are business people who picked this club up for a very good price, and I'm unconvinced they have demonstrated effective business management of our football club.
We all know they are interested in making money, and if they do that by building Villa into a successful club then everyone is happy.
You can't just brush over the fact there have been gains for us fans as well as the club, BMH improvements, Holte Hotel, improved facilities, better customer service, Acorns deal, etc'
They are doing it for the right reasons, and for that i will allow them their mistakes.
If Houllier is backed in this window and we go down, so be it, it would be hard to blame the board for that if he is given the money.
The cynic in me would say if i was Houllier i would be making big demands to sign expensive players knowing that if the board say no, i would have my ready made excuse. Just a thought .
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I'm not brushing over those facts.
My car's got nice paintwork, tinted windows and new windscreen wipers, but unfortunately its about to pack up because I've chosen to do all the servicing myself, well intentioned, but I just don't know alot about it.
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I really like Randy, his approach to running the football club, and the way he respects our views. I acknowledge and respect General Krulak, and his communication links with the club. As for Faulkner, he says all the right things but i'm not sure he really is as clued up as someone should be in that position - I may be being harsh on that one.
When Randy came in there was a lot of investment with new players, salaries, and investment in the ground, training ground. There was good PR links with the coaches to Chelsea, Scarves for Sheff Utd, and of course the investment in the fabulous Holte Pub. There are still things going on around the club that Randy and his management team can be proud of, it's certainly not perfect, but look back five years where we were and it was very different - you could barely get a grunt out of the ticket office staff, but now they are superb.
That said, they have made mistakes, the biggest I feel is Randy giving Martin O'Neill a free run in the running the club how he wished. It is clear that Randy trusted MON to pay the likes of Beye, Harewood, Sutton, Agathe, and so on the money he did. There in lies part of the problem. When Randy realised that paying players stupid amounts of money to do nothing more than sit on their arse it was clearly not acceptable. Randy wasn't prepared to back the manager in that sense (can't say I blame him) until the deadwood was gone. We all know what happened then.
There is a very fine line I feel, between being allowed to manage the team and having to answer to your boss who could be argued was 'interfering'. I personally don't see Randy as the type to get involved in the football matters, but I feel he will ask the questions he did (and quite rightly) about the salaries of people who do nothing.
The appointment of Houllier (and how long it took) was a dreadful situation, we all know that O'Neill left us in the brown stuff by going when he did, but the appointment of Houllier (and the time it took) made this season a transitional season after only a few games. The lack of investment in the team of course meant we have regressed behind some of our rivals. We also lost our best player for the second successive season.
We now come to January; we look tired, predictable, dour, lacking confidence - is it much different off the pitch? Houllier tried hard to change the way that we play and his injury list has been dreadful - at times the side picked itself. The young kids coming in have done the club proud, and many feel (myself included) it is the more senior players like Carew, Dunne, Warnock, Beye, and Sidwell that have been the real disappointment. The relationships between manager and players looks at best poor, but is Houllier simply upsetting the players at the club who don't really have their heart in the club, therefore encouraging them out of the door? It could well be based on performances of those players this season!
Personally speaking I don't like Houllier, i didn't like his opening lines about us being a 7th-12th club, I didn't like his antics at Liverpool when he completely ignored the Villa fans. (I have no problem with his courteous of acknowledment of the Kop). I didn't like his 'joke' comment afterwards too. The peformance at Man City and Liverpool and his completely baffling lack of tactics last night have thoroughly pissed me off.
Problem is, what do we do? Do we sack him, take another 3 weeks to find a manager, therefore meaning we buy no new players (when we desperately need them) and then hopefully do enough to stay up? Buying players in the last week of the season of course is usually when business is done, but it gives any potential new manager very little time to assess the squad and bring in players as they see fit. If we keep him, do we trust him with a shed full of cash to spend in January? I'm not convinced that young kids on loan from Spurs is enough to save our season. We're Aston Villa, we should be better than scrounging kids off clubs from the sky4.
After last nights game, I wanted Houllier out, I wanted Randy to act quickly. I guess he has by backing him so publically. I don't think for a minute this is one of those 'vote of confidence - then sacked after the next game scenarios'. Randy & Co have made their decision, and I think they have enough credit in the bank to trust them on this, if we do go down with Houllier in charge then Randy will have to deal with that. I feel as fans though we all need to get out of our seats and scream the Villa Boys home at Villa Park (Yes, I know the players need to do more) An intimidating, loud vocal 'Inter Milan type Villa Park crowd' is what we need for the rest of the season to show the players in the famous shirts of Aston Villa they have to play with more pride. They may not give a shit about Aston Villa, but us lot do...right??
Randy has made his decision, I don't like it, as I'm sure many don't - but if we do get relegated then Randy and his board will need to deal with the consequence. The one thing though that we all need to consider, we were all Villa fans before Randy, we are all Villa fans irrespective of which manager is charge or what players are on the pitch. We'll all still be Villa fans long after Ashley Young has gone to a Sky4 team. Let's get behind everyone on the pitch for the rest of the season, lets chant the managers and players names before and during the game, let's fill Villa Park for every game this season because the players need all the help they can get. If it does all go tits up, then we can all turn into whinging Brummies at the end of the season. At least we can say we done our bit to turn it round...wearing a new free badge or not.
Sorry rant over
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Relegation so what.
Ellis dealt with it and didn't go away so have many a Villa owner and Director, many were still in charge as we climbed back to the top.
Its football its happens and I'm happy RL is in charge than some of the stars like those Muppets at West Ham, or the clowns at Blackburn, or even, whoever is in charge at Blues.
RL has not got it perfectly right on every occasion but what owner does, is there a perfect owner or Board in any of the Prem clubs.
No, they all make mistakes, they all take stick and they all own the right, to make the decisions the way they do.
I can't see Randy running away from the shit we are in, I can't see him leaving us on the day we lose a game leaving the club to some unknown who hasn't a clue.
I have never been happy with the Houllier choice but I'm happy Randy took the right precautions and made the right investigations before choosing him.
If that's an excuse to blame him, then you are sad, when the likes of highly paid players can't stream two home wins together, when 'Legends' don't even turn up for training when we are short of players, and when prima donna players literally go on strike because they don't like travelling from Manchester