Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Ivo Stas on August 04, 2014, 02:57:02 PM
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Stuart James' season preview in The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/aug/04/premier-league-preview-aston-villa)
My favourite bit: "will the man sat behind me in the press box ever stop berating Karim El Ahmadi?"
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Have to say this is a pretty spot on article.
I wouldn't have thought that even the most optimistic of us would challenge it but.......................................
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Horrible reading
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Seems a pretty fair assessment all things considered. There are too many ifs to be confident of anything; keep everyone fit and happy and we should be ok, lose a few players or fail to make the required additions and it is more bumbling along hoping that there are three worse teams.
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''turmoil, crisis and rudderless'' perfectly sums up the current state of affairs....
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This is already in the 14/15 season thread, but I've amended the title (hope you don't mind) and I think it's worth keeping a separate thread for previews/press articles/opinion pieces throughout the season.
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Can't argue with that article if you want to look at only the negatives. The absolute key for us is keeping players fit and getting Benteke back into action as soon as we can.
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The problem we have is the we need the new signings (all of them) and the bomb squad to perform from the off to have a chance of avoiding relegation or another near miss.
Bearing in mind the last 2 seasons under Lamber I can't see anything other than another long painful season.
Never as a fan has an impending season had such an abysmal outlook. Not even summer 1986 or even summer 2011.
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The very thought that Hutton, Baker and Clark will be given first team squad berths shows the shocking lack of quality.
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I place greater hope (from a very low base of optimism) on the bomb squad escapees doing more for us than the halt and lame we have signed so far. They will have a point to prove whereas Cole, Senderos and Richardson must feel they have won a cushy extension to their premiership careers. I expect Hutton especially to destroy everything coming near him particularly when he is on Keane's side of the pitch. It won't be pretty next season and those of a nervous disposition might care to look away.
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Of that lot I think Richardson will improve us, surely he must?.
I have just fallen into a moment of despair with the thought that Kieran Richardson will be the player that I'm pinning any improvement on.
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That article has really hit home how dire things are. I know a lot of you have been saying it for ages but I barely listen to any of you.
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That article has really hit home how dire things are. I know a lot of you have been saying it for ages but I barely listen to any of you.
Send the article to Mr Randolph Lerner..........
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Stuart James's relentless negativity is probably justified for once. I am sure he enjoyed writing that one.
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Stuart James's relentless negativity is probably justified for once. I am sure he enjoyed writing that one.
I remember reading the Stuart James article below last December and being suprised by the negativity, but I think the second half of the season proved him right...
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/dec/26/aston-villa-paul-lambert (http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/dec/26/aston-villa-paul-lambert)
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I think Stuart James has been consistently spot on. At Christmas time our overall points tally wasn't too bad but the quality of football was.
I know it's a results business but I think there is a tendency to focus too much on the score. A great example would be Southampton away last year. It was a great result and great winner. But the quality of performance was awful and didn't bode well.
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Stuart James has made it clear since day one he regards covering Villa as some kind of punishment and will be delighted when we get relegated and he doesn't have to any more.
Given he wants us out of his life I expect him to relish savaging the club this season as we struggle.
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The National papers are never too well informed and lots of them bat for the most negative thing possible because it will make for a story.
As a journo, and with us writing the fanzine, we often defend Moxley. He has been poor this summer though in pouring on negativity.
His first pick for relegation. Interestingly, 8 out of 10 cats are predicting the stripy twats will go this year in meedja circles.
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I see watching us as a punishment and I bloody love the club.
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To be fair, James was one of the very few national journos who pointed out that we faithful turned against TSM because the football was dire, rather than the generally pushed idea that he used to manage 'them'.
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To be fair, James was one of the very few national journos who pointed out that we faithful turned against TSM because the football was dire, rather than the generally pushed idea that he used to manage 'them'.
True. I give him that.
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Stuart James has made it clear since day one he regards covering Villa as some kind of punishment and will be delighted when we get relegated and he doesn't have to any more.
I don't really see when things are as poor and as dull as they currently are that a journalist should really be criticised for pointing out how poor and dull things are.
I'm sure we'd be complaining a whole lot more if he were telling the world (well, the small section of the world that read The Guardian, anyway) that things are fine and we should all just stop whinging about it.
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Stuart James has made it clear since day one he regards covering Villa as some kind of punishment and will be delighted when we get relegated and he doesn't have to any more.
I don't really see when things are as poor and as dull as they currently are that a journalist should really be criticised for pointing out how poor and dull things are.
I'm sure we'd be complaining a whole lot more if he were telling the world (well, the small section of the world that read The Guardian, anyway) that things are fine and we should all just stop whinging about it.
My issue is he has always done it, even when things are not as poor as they are now. But every dog has his day. His views now happen to coincide with reality so I am sure he will enjoy himself a lot more. Hopefully the reality changes soon.
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Stuart James has made it clear since day one he regards covering Villa as some kind of punishment and will be delighted when we get relegated and he doesn't have to any more.
Given he wants us out of his life I expect him to relish savaging the club this season as we struggle.
If I was being forced to watch us over recent seasons as part of my job, I'd change jobs.
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Bloody hell, I must have missed the bit where the last four years was anything other than terrible
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Not sure where to post this. Our man dave is on ts now.
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How is it going?
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How is it going?
Fine. Not a bad one.
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How is it going?
Fine. Not a bad one.
Cool!
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How is it going?
Fine. Not a bad one.
Did they pay you in Wickes vouchers?
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I don't think Stuart James is particularly negative. Just accurate.
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Good (clever?) article, touching on the negative fears that I'm sure we all have, but (if you're ever-the-optimist that I am) seem to confirm the worst possible/inevitable for the season ahead.
Agreed Merv (and others) he is pretty accurate, but the squad is just about better than last season and theoretically should do better.
It's gonna be ugly, but, like the rest of us I hang on in hope...
UTV!
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Stuart James' season preview in The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/aug/04/premier-league-preview-aston-villa)
Perfect article.
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The football coverage in the guardian can be pretty hit and miss but their coverage of Villa specifically has been consistently pretty good. At least it has since I started reading their football coverage a few years ago anyway.
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For those that can't be arsed/ have issues clicking on links:
Premier League 2014-15 preview No2: Aston Villa
On the face of it, another survival scrap beckons unless everything spectacularly comes off for Paul Lambert at Villa Park
John Ashdown discusses the issues facing Paul Lambert this season.
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 16th (NB: this is not necessarily Stuart James’s prediction, but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 15th
Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 4,000-1
Where to start? The owner wants out but has been unable to find a buyer, the manager has presided over two abysmal seasons and is on borrowed time with a section of the supporters, the only additions to the playing squad so far are free transfers, and the chief financial officer is running the club on a day-to-day basis after the chief executive made an unexpected exit. It is little wonder that words such as turmoil, crisis and rudderless get banded about at Villa Park.
On the pitch, Aston Villa have flirted with relegation in each of the last four seasons. A league table for the (13) clubs that have featured in all of those Premier League campaigns – based on the total number of points accumulated over that period – shows Villa bottom of the pile. In the last three years Villa have finished 16th, 15th and 15th, averaging a point per game in two of those seasons. It has been a miserable cycle of underachievement.
For now, Randy Lerner remains the owner of a club that has racked up cumulative losses of £217.7m since he took over in 2006 (last season’s figures are not yet available), brought him precious little in the way of success and stretched his patience to breaking point. “The last several seasons have been week-in, week-out battles,” Lerner said in a statement the day after last season ended, when he confirmed Villa had been put up for sale.
At the time, some of those close to Lerner questioned the merits of making his intentions public, even if it had become the worst kept secret in football and the constant speculation – not to mention criticism – was making life uncomfortable for the American.
Eight weeks later Lerner released another statement, saying that he was turning his “full attention back to Villa matters at hand”, having committed to Lambert at the outset that he would “become completely focused on the upcoming season should there be no agreement to sell by the time players and coaches return to training”.
In short, everything remains up in the air, with the rumour mill offering tantalising glimpses of a brighter future without anything close to confirmation. In the meantime Lambert is flying blind, entering the final 12 months of his three-year contract with no knowledge of how long Lerner will be around. According to the bookmakers, the Scot will start the season among the favourites to be the first Premier League manager sacked.
If that feels harsh in the context of what is taking place at the club now, the truth is that Lambert has endured a dreadful two years. He has the worst Premier League record of any Villa manager and that is before we get to the humiliating defeats against lower-league opponents in cup competitions. Financial restrictions have been in place but it is often overlooked that Lambert has spent close to £40m.
The former Norwich manager believed that he could revive Villa through bringing in young and hungry players from the lower leagues and overseas, rather than recruiting, or utilising, Premier League experience. At the outset Lambert made it clear that it was his choice, not Lerner’s, to go down that path – “The football decisions are mine, I’ll take responsibility for that” – and expressed his conviction that it would work. “I have a great belief that the young lads can do it. I have no trepidation that they can’t do it.”
Come the end of last season, Lambert was singing to a different tune. He recognised that Villa needed experience, which (along with Lerner severely tightening the purse strings) has influenced a change in approach in the transfer market this summer. Villa have brought in Joe Cole (aged 32), Philippe Senderos (29) and Kieran Richardson (29) on free transfers. They are not the most inspiring signings but, realistically, were never going to be given Lerner’s position. The balancing act for Lerner is that, while he wants to limit spending quite understandably, he also needs to make sure that Lambert has enough quality at his disposal to keep Villa out of the mire, or what has become a hard sell will turn into an impossible sell.
Of the new recruits, Richardson offers versatility, and assuming he is deployed at left-back or left-wing back, should be an improvement on what has gone before in a problematic position for Lambert – it is bizarre to think the Villa manager has signed a left-back in each of his three seasons and also brought in another, Ryan Bertrand, on loan during that time. Cole, with his craft and guile, is just the sort of player Villa need if – and it is a big if – he stays fit and demonstrates that he is still capable of influencing matches in the twilight of his career. In his second spell with West Ham United, Cole started brightly and showed flashes of real promise but injury curtailed his contribution and he became a bit-part player, completing only one Premier League match last season.
As for Senderos, the much-maligned Switzerland international is, to put it kindly, a strange addition to a defence that has conceded 130 league goals in the last two seasons. To put it unkindly, Senderos’s arrival is a symbol of just how far Villa have fallen. Perhaps we should reserve judgment until he has had a run of games.
Lambert, who is targeting another couple of players including a defensive midfielder (Ki Sung-yueng remains on the radar) and possibly a wide man, has made arguably his most significant signing in the dugout. Roy Keane, Martin O’Neill’s No2 with the Republic of Ireland, has replaced the sacked Ian Culverhouse as Lambert’s assistant at Villa. It is an intriguing appointment and it will be fascinating to see what impact Keane has.
Keane will take the majority of the training and the word is that he has already impressed a number of the players, including Bent, the club-record signing who is back in the picture after being jettisoned from the first-team squad last summer. Alan Hutton, who has never played under Lambert, is another to have been brought in out the cold – further evidence of a significant shift in approach, which Lerner is understood to have supported.
With Charles N’Zogbia fit and seemingly wanted again after a year on the sidelines with a ruptured achilles, and Jores Okore back in action after recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament, the Villa side at the start of the season could have a very different feel to the one that limped over the line in May. Libor Kozak, the Czech Republic international who broke his leg in January, is another due to return in the near future.
While all of that news is positive, it is imperative that Lambert holds on to a couple of key players, starting with Ron Vlaar. The Dutchman was one of the outstanding defenders at the World Cup and there are no shortage of suitors for a player who is in the last year of his contract. Vlaar, by his own admission, endured a difficult first 12 months at Villa but he was much improved last season and held Villa’s brittle defence together at times.
Then there is Christian Benteke, whose hopes of starring at the World Cup were shattered when he ruptured an achilles tendon in April. Benteke is making decent progress with his rehabilitation and could well be fit in September. The Belgian’s second season at Villa may not have lived up to the first but he still plundered 10 Premier League goals in 24 starts, despite going 11 games without scoring at one stage. Villa are desperate to keep the striker but it would not be a surprise if their resolve is tested before the window closes.
All in all, Lambert faces one hell of a challenge to pull everything together, whether that be getting the best from his free transfers, motivating players he had previously discarded, convincing the club’s stellar talents to stay on for another season, extracting every ounce from those whose contracts are running down (Fabian Delph, an industrious midfielder Villa can ill afford to lose, and Gabriel Agbonlahor are both in their final 12 months, along with Vlaar), or coaxing a little extra from some that lost their way last season, such as Andreas Weimann.
As for the rest, are Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark good enough? Is Ashley Westwood able to take his game to the next level? Can Gary Gardner put all his injury problems behind him and make an impression? Is this the season that young Jack Grealish breaks through? And, with or without good cause, will the man sat behind me in the press box ever stop berating Karim El Ahmadi?
Whether there will be any improvement in the style of football, through a change in personnel, tactics or Keane’s influence on the training ground, remains to be seen. Possession might be overrated in football’s new age but it still feels unacceptable that only West Ham and Crystal Palace made fewer passes than Villa last season, and 39 goals from 38 matches hardly qualifies as entertainment.
The proof will be in the pudding when the new season gets under way at Stoke, before home games against Newcastle United and Hull City. Then the computer software that devises the Premier League fixtures decided to have some fun with Villa. The next five matches read: Liverpool (a), Arsenal (h), Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h), Everton (a). A trip to Loftus Road offers some respite of sorts before Tottenham Hotspur visit Villa Park. All of which means that Villa play last season’s top six, and all but two of the teams that finished in the top half, in their first 10 matches.
Villa, in fairness, won at Arsenal on the opening day last season, beat Manchester City and Chelsea at home and drew at Anfield, so we should be careful about condemning them to a bad start before a ball has been kicked. It is hard, however, to be optimistic about the campaign ahead when the club is in such a state of limbo. On the face of it, another survival scrap beckons unless everything spectacularly comes off for Lambert.
The club’s loyal supporters – it is remarkable to think that the average attendance has remained above 35,000 during the last two seasons, when Villa have lost a record number of league games at home (19 in total) and served up some dire football – deserve so much more. Their football club needs re-energising but that will only happen with a change of ownership.
It's spot on, sadly.
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Yeah, its a really interesting, yet depressing article. I too agree with just about every point, but it is a very balanced article too, not sure you can call it a witch hunt from James.
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The article is spot-on. Basically 4 years of decline and getting worse under Lerner. The thing I can't fathom is Lerner trying not to spend, and yet an investment of £15-20M would almost certainly protect his asset - he's prepared to lose upwards of £100M if the club get relegated. He should be doing his utmost to leave the club in the best shape possible, and yet he's doing the opposite. Surely the club would be more attractive to potential buyers with a better quality squad to start off with?
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I think you are right VF. If there is no buyer in the immediate future it is financial folly to let the club decline. It is like not bothering to clean your car or hoover its interior before you advertise it for sale. All you get are silly offers and my guess is that is what the agents are getting. To use another metaphor you never want your house to be on the market too long because the word goes round that it is a "sticker" and you get stuck with it. Take it off the market improve its appeal then put it back on again. It is all such elementary stuff.
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''turmoil, crisis and rudderless'' perfectly sums up the current state of affairs....
Villa is The University of Turmoil
http://www.internettreehouse.co.uk/audio/tur1.mp3
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Horrible reading
But true
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Here's ESPN's season preview for Villa
http://t.co/k60JeQt1oz
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Here's ESPN's season preview for Villa
http://t.co/k60JeQt1oz
That was a bit crap. It was like watching a DVD extra with three slightly tipsy middle age men who have nothing better to do. The best part was when the host had to be reassured than we were in fact up for sale. To be fair though I guess most of us have to be reminded of that once in awhile.
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Didn't watch the video, just read the article.
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The article is spot-on. Basically 4 years of decline and getting worse under Lerner. The thing I can't fathom is Lerner trying not to spend, and yet an investment of £15-20M would almost certainly protect his asset - he's prepared to lose upwards of £100M if the club get relegated. He should be doing his utmost to leave the club in the best shape possible, and yet he's doing the opposite. Surely the club would be more attractive to potential buyers with a better quality squad to start off with?
We spent close to 20M last summer, and if anything we went backwards on the year before. Would need closer to 50M to move us away from similar problems imo
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The F365 season preview. Again, not much to disagree with, even if it's a bit more obssessed with comparing us to our various neighbours than I'd like:
LAST SEASON
Premier League 15th, 38pts, -22 GD FA Cup Third round League Cup Third round Top league scorer Christian Benteke 10 Bookings 77 (second highest) with no red cards
Manager Paul Lambert (since June 2012; age 45 on 7 Aug) Odds on being first out of his job 10-1 (5th favourite)
Players in Joe Cole (West Ham, free), Kieran Richardson (Fulham, free), Philippe Senderos (Valencia, free, after loan from Fulham), Tom Leggett, Isaac Nehemie (both Southampton, undisc).
Players out Marc Albrighton (Leicester, free), Jordan Bowery (Rotherham United, £250,000), Nicklas Helenius (Aalborg, loan), Yacouba Sylla (Erciyesspor, loan), Nathan Delfouneso (Blackpool, free), Aidan Grant, Andras Stieber (all released)
Club turnover in 2012-13 £84m, 10th
Wage bill in 2012-13 £72m, 8th
Typing Paul Lambert's name into a popular search engine to check his age, the first three suggestions were: 'Paul Lambert'; 'Paul Lambert sacked'; and 'Paul Lambert out'. Still, amid the Aston Villa meltdown, the Scot remains one constant at the club.
As rumours of Randy Lerner's intention to sell spread last season, four points were picked up in the final nine matches. The owner wants to go, the chief executive has gone, two prominent backroom staff left after a disciplinary procedure. Lambert is understandably unpopular after two miserable seasons and he would be shorter odds for the sack if there were anyone in charge long enough to dismiss him and find a successor. But attracting a manager of the right calibre to a struggling, underachieving club is difficult, and that much harder when anyone coming in would know that they would be vulnerable to a new owner's desire to make his mark.
The Scot is clearly feeling touchy, objecting to a column Ian Taylor wrote for the Birmingham Mail, leading to the former player being warned off the US tour. At the same time, supporters' clubs have reacted angrily to a clause branch chairpersons must agree to: 'You will not partake in any abusive conversations towards anyone associated with the Club in any public forum, whether this is on a page that is personal to you and bears your name, OR on a page that bears the name of your Lions Club (including social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc).' The possible interpretations of the vague 'abusive conversations towards' led one branch chairman to call it 'like the kind of customer practice you would expect in North Korea or Russia'. It is no way to treat fans helping to pay for the division's eighth highest wage bill, on 2012-13's figures, while watching a side pick up more bookings than anyone but Stoke for the second season running.
Lambert was not a bad choice for Villa originally: in his early 40s, an achiever at Norwich, with a distinguished playing career. But a lingering smell of mediocrity going back decades became a stench under Alex McLeish and he has been unable to dispel it. No manager seems to go on to better things, or even half-decent ones, after taking on this job.
The peaks for Lambert have been illusory: last season's opening day win at Arsenal was followed by three straight defeats, setting the tone. September's win over Manchester City preceded four winless games; March's victory against Chelsea gave way to four straight defeats, the first a 4-1 home humbling to Stoke - in which Villa led for 15 early minutes.
The topsy-turvy nature of Villa's season is easy to see from their month-by-month rankings on our stats pages. While 13th in three games in August was followed by ninth over three games in September, hardly a seismic difference, the subsequent oscillations were far more marked: 18th in October then sixth in November, 18th in December then seventh in January, 20th in February then eighth in March.
At the end of that month they were 12th in the table, but then came Christian Benteke's Achilles injury. Finally Villa achieved some consistency, but of an undesirable nature, with the 17th-best record for April and 14th for May. The best that could be said was that Villa were the Midlands' top club, but that was by default rather than on merit as West Brom surrendered their 2013 prominence.
Those three wins against top-four sides, especially the ones against Arsenal and City, gave a glimpse of what Lambert wants. Perhaps there would have been more such moments if Benteke had not suffered his season-ending injury. But that may yet prove a short-term blessing because the Belgian at his best looks too good for this side and is less likely to move on when crocked. Ron Vlaar was fit for neighbouring Holland and with a touch more collective nerve could have been playing in the World Cup final; naturally he earned admirers and he has only another year on his contract. His international form was more noteworthy than that for his club but he would be hard to replace.
Such is the dire state of affairs that Darren Bent and Alan Hutton are back, along with Charles N'Zogbia after injury. Of the new arrivals, that of Roy Keane as Lambert's assistant is plainly the most attention-grabbing. In theory it could prove galvanising - that is certainly the intention - but the Republic of Ireland assistant manager is a gamble in a crisis. Shay Given was trying to be complimentary when he said: "He always gets talked about for his dark side and shouting at people but he's been very helpful for all the players," but not too many clubs benefit from having a Sith Lord on their books. At least he will be well-informed about the club from Martin O'Neill but he is on the one hand semi-detached, given his international role, and on the other an on-the-spot successor who could easily be tried out as a caretaker should Lambert go.
A trio of new players would have excited different emotions earlier in their careers. Joe Cole's injuries have given his career a twilight feel for far too long given that he is still only 32. Kieran Richardson, nine years ago a double scorer on his England debut, has just gone through relegation with Fulham, who deemed Philippe Senderos not up to the challenge and loaned him out to Valencia. Victor Moses, despite or perhaps because of his difficult season at Liverpool, could make more of an impact with supporters if a deal materialises.
Lambert has to capitalise on August's fixtures or face a September under pressure against some of the best. After travelling to Stoke on the opening Saturday, Villa host Newcastle and Hull. But after the international break they travel to Liverpool and Chelsea, either side of the visit of Arsenal.
After that trio comes the home game with Manchester City, then 14 days off for the second international break. Lambert will do well to survive an interval that would allow a new manager the maximum available time in which to bed in.
A wantaway owner, a wanted-out manager: it's difficult to know where former European Cup winners from the country's second largest city should go from here. As long as it doesn't involve derbies against Blues.
Philip Cornwall
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I'm feeling very pessimistic and really think this could be the year we drop. Oddly,
I'm very worried about our goal scoring great, especially in the first couple of
Months. Not what I felt a year ago
There are some reasons not to slash the wrists just yet though.
1. It's likely that half the sides in the league will go into the last six games at risk of going down. There's a lot of teams that are much of a muchness. Burnley, WBA, Leicester, Sunderland, and perhaps QPR have squads that don't look better than ours. So we shouldn't be completely cast adrift.
2. It sounds very weak, but once kozak and benteke are back I think our squad will be unquestionably stronger than last season:
- Hutton certainly looks a more robust option at right back than we had last season
- okore and senderos added to the ranks at CB.
- Richardson must be a better bet than luna - though whether he's better than Bertrand is less obvious
- n'zogbia must be a better bet than Tonev
- not sure what cole will contribute but he's the type we didn't have
- albrighton going is a shame. We should try to replace him with proven quality
Even if we didn't add any more players I think we're better off from a purely player perspective.
The big issue for me is momentum and lack of confidence spilling over. And the real problems I think we'll have scoring in the first 7 or so games. We could be bottom by the time kozak and benteke come back and the rot may have set in
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On the positive side we must be the only club in the Premier League who will be boosted by a forty million quid forward pairing being available for selection in the coming months.
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On the positive side we must be the only club in the Premier League who will be boosted by a forty million quid forward pairing being available for selection in the coming months.
Exactly, all the other sides who will be in th ebottom half will struggle for goals all season, we'll struggle for a month or 2 then have 2 very good goalscorers to call on. If Bent can grab a couple before then and we can get a few elsewhere I can't see us being adrift by the end of september and at some point we'll have more than enough firepower to put on a bit of a run.
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4,000-1? I remember the glory days of being around 33s to win the league.
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I know we are probably about as interesting to the media as a woman to a gay man, but I am quite surprised that the media haven't really picked up on the malaise of the club and picked it to bits. Might help Randy to focus the mind a little.
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They are scenting blood, don't worry about that. If we start badly we will be the only story around.
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I know we are probably about as interesting to the media as a woman to a gay man, but I am quite surprised that the media haven't really picked up on the malaise of the club and picked it to bits. Might help Randy to focus the mind a little.
I don't think we matter much to the press any more to be honest. Our impending relegation scrap is about as interesting as Fulhams was but without the Michael Jackson statue and lovely ground to make it interesting.
We are now part of that bottom half mush that is written about only when they impact the main storyline of important clubs who are trying to win things.
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We are now seen in the same light as Stoke and Southampton and West Brom. Mediocre and easily beatable.
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I know we are probably about as interesting to the media as a woman to a gay man, but I am quite surprised that the media haven't really picked up on the malaise of the club and picked it to bits. Might help Randy to focus the mind a little.
I don't think we matter much to the press any more to be honest. Our impending relegation scrap is about as interesting as Fulhams was but without the Michael Jackson statue and lovely ground to make it interesting.
We are now part of that bottom half mush that is written about only when they impact the main storyline of important clubs who are trying to win things.
Can see where you are coming from, but if do go down next season or are at least in danger of dropping then I see them getting interested again. Along with Leeds we would be the biggest club to even drop down to the Championship (in the Prem era that is), in fact arn't we like one of only seven clubs to appear in every PL season? Its not the sort of headlines we are often, but it would be big news none the less.
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I know we are probably about as interesting to the media as a woman to a gay man, but I am quite surprised that the media haven't really picked up on the malaise of the club and picked it to bits. Might help Randy to focus the mind a little.
I don't think we matter much to the press any more to be honest. Our impending relegation scrap is about as interesting as Fulhams was but without the Michael Jackson statue and lovely ground to make it interesting.
We are now part of that bottom half mush that is written about only when they impact the main storyline of important clubs who are trying to win things.
Can see where you are coming from, but if do go down next season or are at least in danger of dropping then I see them getting interested again. Along with Leeds we would be the biggest club to even drop down to the Championship (in the Prem era that is), in fact arn't we like one of only seven clubs to appear in every PL season? Its not the sort of headlines we are often, but it would be big news none the less.
We'd be bigger than bloody Leeds!
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I know we are probably about as interesting to the media as a woman to a gay man, but I am quite surprised that the media haven't really picked up on the malaise of the club and picked it to bits. Might help Randy to focus the mind a little.
I don't think we matter much to the press any more to be honest. Our impending relegation scrap is about as interesting as Fulhams was but without the Michael Jackson statue and lovely ground to make it interesting.
We are now part of that bottom half mush that is written about only when they impact the main storyline of important clubs who are trying to win things.
Can see where you are coming from, but if do go down next season or are at least in danger of dropping then I see them getting interested again. Along with Leeds we would be the biggest club to even drop down to the Championship (in the Prem era that is), in fact arn't we like one of only seven clubs to appear in every PL season? Its not the sort of headlines we are often, but it would be big news none the less.
We'd be bigger than bloody Leeds!
Only slightly, but its actually a decent compersion. They over spent on players to get glory (a bit like us under MON), there was no sign of them not being in the Prem for the long term (slight difference here as the warning signs have been with us a few years now), and like us they have a very strong fan base, and a top ground. Their case should be the real warning to us of what can happen.
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If we went down I'm not sure we'd do a Newcastle and come straight back up. There's also the worry that we'd get taken over by asset-strippers.
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If we went down I'm not sure we'd do a Newcastle and come straight back up. There's also the worry that we'd get taken over by asset-strippers.
History shows than it is sometimes the bigger clubs who struggle to come back up, and don't really adapt to life in the Football league. As you suggested it does depend partly on how much of the squad you retain too.
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The Championship, would be horrendous for us, lots of half decent clubs, Villa park would be the biggest ground a lot of them would ever have played at,(their cup final syndrome) we as a whole would be on a downer, and there for the picking, thanks randy.
this is now our fourth season of scrapping and the odds are shortening.
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If we went down I'm not sure we'd do a Newcastle and come straight back up.
Newcastle managed to keep hold of almost all their "best" players and shed some of the dross they'd picked up. I'm not so sure we'd manage to do that, either.
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Relegation would be an unmitigated disaster. A long way back.
This as opposed to the inpet decision making and dirge and directionless dross served up most of the last 4 seasons.
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The Championship, would be horrendous for us, lots of half decent clubs, Villa park would be the biggest ground a lot of them would ever have played at,(their cup final syndrome) we as a whole would be on a downer, and there for the picking, thanks randy.
this is now our fourth season of scrapping and the odds are shortening.
We only came straight back up under SGT because of our away record. We only won 11 out of 26 home games and dropped a lot of points at home to teams who ended up near the bottom.
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but last night I posted a question to our Lord McGrath on Titter, and he responded with two tweets to me today, the guy is pure class. He said he thinks we will just be ok this season .
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but last night I posted a question to our Lord McGrath on Titter, and he responded with two tweets to me today, the guy is pure class. He said he thinks we will just be ok this season .
(http://i.ebayimg.com/06/!CDjev7wB2k~$(KGrHqQOKpUE0Usc4FkrBNPC,4NLFQ~~0_35.JPG)
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The Telegraph's take on it. Predicted a 10th place finish!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11005153/All-20-Premier-League-teams-reviewed-and-ranked-By-Jonathan-Liew.html?frame=2993690
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Nursey in the Mirror this morning is churning out the same old lie that "Villa fans targeted McLeish for abuse the moment he took charge at Villa having quit from arch rivals Small Heath". The truth which Nursey never allows to get in the way of his anti Villa bile, is, as we all know, the vast majority of the fans gave McLeish every Chance to prove himself.
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Nursey in the Mirror this morning is churning out the same old lie that "Villa fans targeted McLeish for abuse the moment he took charge at Villa having quit from arch rivals Small Heath". The truth which Nursey never allows to get in the way of his anti Villa bile, is, as we all know, the vast majority of the fans gave McLeish every Chance to prove himself.
Indeed we did.
Most of us didn't give two shits where he came from, rather his recent record in relegating a club twice in 3 attempts.
Unlike Lerner most of us wouldn't give a second's thought of credence to old Purple Noses retro recomendation based on the record of his accolytes in Management. Just an easy 6 points guaranteed.
Many thought he would be hopelessly out of his depth taking over Villa at a difficult time.
Many of us feared turgid dire defensive minded football with unimaginative tactics.
Some of us thought it was a small time appointment and signalled the end of the club with any thoughts of Top 6 finishes.
Unlike the Gobshite Nursery we were mostly right.
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The Telegraph's take on it. Predicted a 10th place finish!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11005153/All-20-Premier-League-teams-reviewed-and-ranked-By-Jonathan-Liew.html?frame=2993690
I don't think that's wholly serious. They have included the kit as one of the measures.
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Yes, I know, but I'll still take any brumb of comfort right now.
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or crumb...
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The Sun's Fantasy Football advert has dejected Villa fans walking away after a defeat but one is slightly happier as he has just won 7 points for his team.
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I'd like to make reading the Sun an automatic ban.
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I'd like to make reading the Sun an automatic ban.
/raises hand to vote in favour
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Nursey in the Mirror this morning is churning out the same old lie that "Villa fans targeted McLeish for abuse the moment he took charge at Villa having quit from arch rivals Small Heath". The truth which Nursey never allows to get in the way of his anti Villa bile, is, as we all know, the vast majority of the fans gave McLeish every Chance to prove himself.
Yes we did but those protesting at Villa Park just ahead of the appointment were plastered all over the press and TV and the seed was planted as far as the narrative for the season went.
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I'd like to make reading the Sun an automatic ban.
Yep.
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I'd like to make reading the Sun an automatic ban.
Does that count for links to sports stories on this site? I expect most people posting in transfer spec would be affected.
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I'd like to make reading the Sun an automatic ban.
Agreed
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or crumb...
"brumb" sounds pretty good as far as comfort for us goes...
brumb of comfort....sounds like it should be a Spoonerism but isn't....
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The Sun's Fantasy Football advert has dejected Villa fans walking away after a defeat but one is slightly happier as he has just won 7 points for his team.
Is that a television advert? I don't read the Sun, but have seen an advert on television for them featuring Villa fans - or actors pretending to be Villa fans.
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The Sun's Fantasy Football advert has dejected Villa fans walking away after a defeat but one is slightly happier as he has just won 7 points for his team.
Is that a television advert? I don't read the Sun, but have seen an advert on television for them featuring Villa fans - or actors pretending to be Villa fans.
I'm glad I watch so little TV so manage to avoid such plugs for the dirty, vile, rabid, right wing rag for Simpletons.
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Football Weekly podcast has us as the first choice to go down. Not that it matters too much as the podsters have no idea about teams outside of London, but they did appear completely unaware of our injuries which did impact our last season, didn't stop them whining on about Arsenals injuries though naturally.
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Football Weekly podcast has us as the first choice to go down. Not that it matters too much as the podsters have no idea about teams outside of London, but they did appear completely unaware of our injuries which did impact our last season, didn't stop them whining on about Arsenals injuries though naturally.
Football weekly, is that a spin off of womans weekly???
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Deadspin's 2014/15 Premier League preview
http://screamer.deadspin.com/this-isnt-your-clubs-year-the-2014-2015-premier-league-1622068080/+GregHoward1
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The Sun, Star or Mirror. Fancy working your tit's off at Uni for three years only to end up as a journal for one of those rags! Seems a real waste!
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F365's take on Paul Lambert's media style.
In the second of a new series, John Nicholson and Alan Tyers look at the Premier League's gaffers and how they come across on the telly. This week, it's Aston Villa's Scotsman-in-Chief, Paul Lambert...
Philosophy
Like all good Scots football types, conducts himself in a soft-spoken, eminently reasonable manner while permanently transmitting the warning signs that he could go full mental at the slightest perceived insult. Has become increasingly defensive as time has gone on, which, given the results of his team, is entirely understandable. Toiling grimly, never more than half a sentence away from the word 'beleaguered'. Gives impression that managing Aston Villa is a brutal, horrific labour, which it indeed may well be.
Interview style
Do not disclose anything to the media unless they have drugged you, locked you in a dank cellar and put electrodes on your nipples. Got that, pal? Seems to think that interviewers are only there to make you look foolish or stitch you up. Has perfected the faux-shocked look when interviewers suggest the game just played was so poor it was a crime against sport. Very much of the old school, projecting a sense of how things ought to be done. Not afraid to take his players on, a bloody-minded streak meaning that he has been happy to dump them out in the reserves for long periods. You get the sense he wishes he could do the same with the TV and the press.
Suit, tracksuit or other
Suit and club tie, often worn under a rather endearingly unfashionable jacket that looks cosy, humble and like it might have come from Man at C&A. Lambert's wearing of a dark V-neck sweater under a jacket is a style which evokes a fondness for the anonymity of the school uniform. When in the Adidas anorak, has the air of a man who works at a municipal pool. Tucks trackie bottoms into socks, and nothing says business-like gaffer with no time for idle chat than that. It all seems designed to give away as little about himself as humanly possible, a suit of polyester-blend armour.
Can he talk the English?
Oh aye. Squeezes it out of his mouth like it's an elastic band he's found in his lamb bhuna, but not a thicko. South-west Glasgow accent as thick as the layer of grease on a deep-fried pizza. Like many Scotsmen, would sound the same whether sober or 25 drinks in.
Cliché counter
Quite high. Players exist on a level playing field with Paul, there are no easy games because this is a results business. At the end of the day, Geoff.
Proper football man?
The Scottish managers' club in the top flight has dwindled alarmingly in recent years, but they will surely rise again. The Scot always gets an extra point on the Proper Football Man stakes, although Lambert did blot his copybook early in his career by going off to play in Foreign. Frustrates the in-studio PFM because he doesn't really do #bantz. Seems like an adult, albeit a grumpy one, when placed next to the man-boys of the chattier TV studios.
Sacking ahoy?
Oh yes. Expect Lambert and his sensible sweaters to be coming to a pundit's chair near you soon (looking at the football betting, only Sam Allardyce and Alan Irvine are more likely to lose their jobs), where he will be uncompromising and a bit dour. Feels unlikely that he will be out of football management for long enough, or have enough respect for media work, to become much of a pundit.
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Excellent!
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I notice that the Birmingham Mail is talking up a Vlaar to ManUre rumour which I haven't noticed anywhere else. I still don't understand how a local newspaper with an ever decreasing circulation can treat the biggest football club in it's area with such disdain.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-rumour-mill-man-7647560
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I notice that the Birmingham Mail is talking up a Vlaar to ManUre rumour which I haven't noticed anywhere else. I still don't understand how a local newspaper with an ever decreasing circulation can treat the biggest football club in it's area with such disdain.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-rumour-mill-man-7647560
that spot just carries rumours, most of which are utter bollocks but the Mail doesn't take any credit for them. They just stick stuff in there. The Vlaar to man U was preceded by Vlaar to Southampton. It will be the same until the window closes if he is still at the club by that date.
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The Sun, Star or Mirror. Fancy working your tit's off at Uni for three years only to end up as a journal for one of those rags! Seems a real waste!
I will need to be deliberately vague here but I know a sports reporter at one the above papers who is as much a walking cliche as you could hope to imagine. Reminds me a lot of the pig press pack that used to be on Spitting Image. His missus is vile and nasty and they enjoy nothing more than sticking half of Peru up there noses each weekend.
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Deadspin's 2014/15 Premier League preview
http://screamer.deadspin.com/this-isnt-your-clubs-year-the-2014-2015-premier-league-1622068080/+GregHoward1
How many things are wrong with this sentence?
Liverpool sucked for a long time, and it was awesome.
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Deadspin's 2014/15 Premier League preview
http://screamer.deadspin.com/this-isnt-your-clubs-year-the-2014-2015-premier-league-1622068080/+GregHoward1
How many things are wrong with this sentence?
Liverpool sucked for a long time, and it was awesome.
Linguistically, lots.
As a sentiment, only that it's in the past tense.
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Had the misfortune to tune in to the new show on BT Sport this morning live from Villa Park.
An absolute mess of a programme with content stretched so thin you can hear it squeaking, chock full of iliterate ex players exchanging toe curling "banter".
Darren Fletcher is so much better than this.
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Had the misfortune to tune in to the new show on BT Sport this morning live from Villa Park.
An absolute mess of a programme with content stretched so thin you can hear it squeaking, chock full of iliterate ex players exchanging toe curling "banter".
Darren Fletcher is so much better than this.
Yeah is the problem with modern Football coverage they just choose any old ex-players to appear in the hope that they will stir some interest from the viewers, without thinking before hand weather they might actually be engaging to listen too.
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Obviously you sometimes get biased commentators but today NBC in the USA decided to have Chris Waddle as the co pundit.
Now Waddle is always going to be pro Newcastle, but it was taken to new levels today.
Obviously every Villa foul was deserved and a good call from the ref, every Newcastle foul was a mistake by the ref.
Some pearls
On Roy Hodgson being at Villa Park "there is nobody here to see, does he have the right ground?"
On Williamsons yellow "not a yellow card offense"
On Villa "very poor, they can only play one way" "for Villa it is going to be a long season"
Lovely.
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Well unless he's thinking of picking Westwood or Delph for the next squad it really is surprising to see him there. Obviously he wasn't watching any Newcastle players.
Both yellows.
Agree with his last point. Taking the game to Newcastle with Delph freed from his defensive shackles and we looked better. But that let gaps which made us look vulnerable.
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
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The Soccer AM brigade will love it as it is full of witty bantz.
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Seeing his picture that reminds me. How in gods name is Roy Hodgson not sacked????
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
Don't see anything wrong with that report. It was a terrible game. Don't think any of us are questioning that. Its just that based on our lowered expectations we are taking the positives from the result and another clear sheet. Quite often a neutral will view the game differently because they are more concerned with the entertainment value than if the result or small things such as a clear sheet.
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
Don't see anything wrong with that report. It was a terrible game. Don't think any of us are questioning that. Its just that based on our lowered expectations we are taking the positives from the result and another clear sheet. Quite often a neutral will view the game differently because they are more concerned with the entertainment value than if the result or small things such as a clear sheet.
Do you really not see anything wrong with ninety minutes of supposedly witty comments about easy targets?
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
Don't see anything wrong with that report. It was a terrible game. Don't think any of us are questioning that. Its just that based on our lowered expectations we are taking the positives from the result and another clear sheet. Quite often a neutral will view the game differently because they are more concerned with the entertainment value than if the result or small things such as a clear sheet.
Do you really not see anything wrong with ninety minutes of supposedly witty comments about easy targets?
Its all a bit 2002 ish. trying to hard to be funny and was just dull and tired.
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
Don't see anything wrong with that report. It was a terrible game. Don't think any of us are questioning that. Its just that based on our lowered expectations we are taking the positives from the result and another clear sheet. Quite often a neutral will view the game differently because they are more concerned with the entertainment value than if the result or small things such as a clear sheet.
Do you really not see anything wrong with ninety minutes of supposedly witty comments about easy targets?
Its all a bit 2002 ish. trying to hard to be funny and was just dull and tired.
The worst thing about When Saturday Comes was that it was responsible for this sort of football intelligensia let's laugh at the proles-type commentary.
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Again, as a joke it was funny when in isolation as it was different. Now? it's trying to be football 365 and they've 'niched' that market. Even they wouldn't be so lame as this though.
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What a smug, smarmy bag of shit this is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11052664/Aston-Villa-vs-Newcastle-United-Premier-League-as-it-happened.html
No one likes us. We don't care.
Don't see anything wrong with that report. It was a terrible game. Don't think any of us are questioning that. Its just that based on our lowered expectations we are taking the positives from the result and another clear sheet. Quite often a neutral will view the game differently because they are more concerned with the entertainment value than if the result or small things such as a clear sheet.
Do you really not see anything wrong with ninety minutes of supposedly witty comments about easy targets?
Not really. Who's going to be reading it? Anybody who really gives a toss is going to be at Villa Park or watching it on TV or a dodgy stream. Anyone who cares about the match so little that they are following it via a bloke transcribing events on The Telegraph website is going to be more interested in supposedly witty comments about easy targets.
Incidentally, if I had no way of following the match but a minute-by-minute report online, I'd take:
87 min The chance for a late winner falls to De Jong on his Newcastle debut but a fierce shot is saved at point blank range in fine style by Brad Guzan who is alert enough to gather the rebound as well. Fabulous save.
Over the BBC's:
87:39 Attempt saved. Siem de Jong (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez with a through ball.
For explaining what is happening any day.
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They are not the same animal. The former is written by a journalist, the latter is purely factual information relayed from the ground with no opinion given.
There is a more opinion based option on the BBC site via the general thread for that days games.