The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[nechells]

That Mystery Man just enjoys being in the limelight.  He might be mates with Faulkner or whoever, but there's no way they discuss everything in detail with him.

I have to say,my very limited experience of Faulkner has led me to form the opinion that he is a prat.

Yes he can undoubtedly do the job far better than I could but FFS he's just Randys puppet-He may well have served Randy loyaly in other ventures but most will agree that football is a different world & compared to the likes of Kenyon,someone as inexperienced as Faulkner is way,way out of his depth.

That said,I don't think even Faulkner would be stupid enough to go blabbing private matters involving multi-million pound contracts-if he was indeed privy to private thoughts in the first place.

[TheSandman]

If heskey did his job absolutely perfectly as you say , he would have scored when he was through on the keeper rather than shot straight at him !

He played well and showed some good touches but absolutely perfect is stretching it in the extreme!

I think we both know Heskey is not in the team for his goalscoring exploits. He is in the team to win headers and hassle defenders. He did that hence he did his job.

If Heskey scores a goal for England it's a bonus much like John Terry or Glen Johnson getting one.

[Risso]

If heskey did his job absolutely perfectly as you say , he would have scored when he was through on the keeper rather than shot straight at him !

He played well and showed some good touches but absolutely perfect is stretching it in the extreme!

I think we both know Heskey is not in the team for his goalscoring exploits. He is in the team to win headers and hassle defenders. He did that hence he did his job.

If Heskey scores a goal for England it's a bonus much like John Terry or Glen Johnson getting one.

Which is a ridiculous notion for a striker.

[eastie]

Emile heskey is a striker, how can a goal from him be classed as a bonus alonngside a terry or Johnson goal?

He did play well last night but strikers are expected to get goals and emile missed our best chance last night to win the game,therefore your view that  he was "absolutely perfect " last night seems strange!

[VillaZogmariner]

So this is where the "England v USA Post Match Thread" is.

[KevinGage]

"A pretty good track record"?

I used to get txts off the bloke on an almost daily basis-from SWP to Defoe to Santa Cruz-

The only one he ever got right was NRC which was hardly the worlds best kept secret anyway.

Do you really think these private matters are bounced around every gossip & up & comming Nostrademous in Birmingham?

From memory, he said we were in for the Bulgarian fullback long before we  were actually linked in the press. That would be a pretty obscure guess. He called Delph and Downing right long before that hit the papers and said there was no truth in the Tuncay link whatsoever -when it was reported that we'd got as far as talks. All pretty specific and not sounding remotely like guesswork, I'd have thought.

I always retain a healthy degree of scepticism on such matters, but if a guy gets more right than he does wrong (or even just gets quite a bit right) I'm inclined to believe there might be something in what he says.

There is also the simple fact that we as a club can have interest in a player, and that interest might be somewhat reciprocated early on. But then a prospective deal can hit the skids for a myriad of reasons. Said player might use our interest as leverage to get a better deal at his current club, for example. Or a more attractive offer from elsewhere might come in.

I'm pretty certain he doesn't have Faulkner on speed-dial, or has cosy fireside chats with RL. But seeing as he's known to spend a fair whack of cash down there it's not beyond the realms of possibility that if Mysterious Ways asks about what's going on in passing, senior staff (and Faulkner would come into that category) might give him a few harmless tit-bits to keep him sweet and make him feel special.

[dave.woodhall]

That Mystery Man just enjoys being in the limelight.  He might be mates with Faulkner or whoever, but there's no way they discuss everything in detail with him.

I have to say,my very limited experience of Faulkner has led me to form the opinion that he is a prat.

Yes he can undoubtedly do the job far better than I could but FFS he's just Randys puppet-He may well have served Randy loyaly in other ventures but most will agree that football is a different world & compared to the likes of Kenyon,someone as inexperienced as Faulkner is way,way out of his depth.

That said,I don't think even Faulkner would be stupid enough to go blabbing private matters involving multi-million pound contracts-if he was indeed privy to private thoughts in the first place.

Can we please not pass comments about people who, on a personal level and more, have been very good to the H&V empire.

[TheSandman]

If heskey did his job absolutely perfectly as you say , he would have scored when he was through on the keeper rather than shot straight at him !

He played well and showed some good touches but absolutely perfect is stretching it in the extreme!

I think we both know Heskey is not in the team for his goalscoring exploits. He is in the team to win headers and hassle defenders. He did that hence he did his job.

If Heskey scores a goal for England it's a bonus much like John Terry or Glen Johnson getting one.

Which is a ridiculous notion for a striker.

I agree but it does not alter the fact that is what Capello looks at him for. I'm sure if there was a guy who allied Heskey's power to goal scoring ability he'd be picked for England ahead of Heskey unfortunately Didier Drogba isn't English. In the past two little men like Rooney and Defoe (In the case of Owen rather than Defoe admittedly) hasn't worked and for whatever reason Darren Bent doesn't do as well at international level. Now I'd pick Crouch or Gabby myself but that doesn't alter the fact he did the job he was picked to do.

Emile heskey is a striker, how can a goal from him be classed as a bonus alonngside a terry or Johnson goal?

He did play well last night but strikers are expected to get goals and emile missed our best chance last night to win the game,therefore your view that  he was "absolutely perfect " last night seems strange!

Because he is picked to do a specific role as a targetman who helps other players to score. If Emile Heskey was picked for his goalscoring exploits he would surely have fallen by the wayside in terms of international football a long time ago. He is not picked to score goals. He is picked to help others to do so. An outstanding example of this was his pass to Gerrard for England's goal. If a strike partner was wanted for Rooney based on scoring ability then surely Darren Bent would not only have got into the England squad but would have played last night.

Now can we please get back to speculating about newspaper articles saying Milner is off to City for £15million plus Javan Vidal or whatever.

[nechells]

"A pretty good track record"?

I used to get txts off the bloke on an almost daily basis-from SWP to Defoe to Santa Cruz-

The only one he ever got right was NRC which was hardly the worlds best kept secret anyway.

Do you really think these private matters are bounced around every gossip & up & comming Nostrademous in Birmingham?

From memory, he said we were in for the Bulgarian fullback long before we  were actually linked in the press. That would be a pretty obscure guess. He called Delph and Downing right long before that hit the papers and said there was no truth in the Tuncay link whatsoever -when it was reported that we'd got as far as talks. All pretty specific and not sounding remotely like guesswork, I'd have thought.

I always retain a healthy degree of scepticism on such matters, but if a guy gets more right than he does wrong (or even just gets quite a bit right) I'm inclined to believe there might be something in what he says.

There is also the simple fact that we as a club can have interest in a player, and that interest might be somewhat reciprocated early on. But then a prospective deal can hit the skids for a myriad of reasons. Said player might use our interest as leverage to get a better deal at his current club, for example. Or a more attractive offer from elsewhere might come in.

I'm pretty certain he doesn't have Faulkner on speed-dial, or has cosy fireside chats with RL. But seeing as he's known to spend a fair whack of cash down there it's not beyond the realms of possibility that if Mysterious Ways asks about what's going on in passing, senior staff (and Faulkner would come into that category) might give him a few harmless tit-bits to keep him sweet and make him feel special.

Therein lies the problem-you are asuming his info comes from within AVFC

[villajk]

I have to say,my very limited experience of Faulkner has led me to form the opinion that he is a prat.

Yes he can undoubtedly do the job far better than I could but FFS he's just Randys puppet-He may well have served Randy loyaly in other ventures but most will agree that football is a different world & compared to the likes of Kenyon,someone as inexperienced as Faulkner is way,way out of his depth.

That said,I don't think even Faulkner would be stupid enough to go blabbing private matters involving multi-million pound contracts-if he was indeed privy to private thoughts in the first place.

Paul Faulkner is anything but a prat.

He's not Randy's puppet.  He's a very intelligent man who has worked hard and achieved well.

He is also very personable and an excellent listener to the needs of the fans.

[nechells]

That Mystery Man just enjoys being in the limelight.  He might be mates with Faulkner or whoever, but there's no way they discuss everything in detail with him.

I have to say,my very limited experience of Faulkner has led me to form the opinion that he is a prat.

Yes he can undoubtedly do the job far better than I could but FFS he's just Randys puppet-He may well have served Randy loyaly in other ventures but most will agree that football is a different world & compared to the likes of Kenyon,someone as inexperienced as Faulkner is way,way out of his depth.

That said,I don't think even Faulkner would be stupid enough to go blabbing private matters involving multi-million pound contracts-if he was indeed privy to private thoughts in the first place.

Can we please not pass comments about people who, on a personal level and more, have been very good to the H&V empire.

No probs.

Perhaps you could furnish us a list of everyone who has been "very good to the H & V empire" - Just so as we know who we can pass comments on & who we can't.

Thanks in advance

[VillaZogmariner]

That Mystery Man just enjoys being in the limelight.  He might be mates with Faulkner or whoever, but there's no way they discuss everything in detail with him.

I have to say,my very limited experience of Faulkner has led me to form the opinion that he is a prat.

Yes he can undoubtedly do the job far better than I could but FFS he's just Randys puppet-He may well have served Randy loyaly in other ventures but most will agree that football is a different world & compared to the likes of Kenyon,someone as inexperienced as Faulkner is way,way out of his depth.

That said,I don't think even Faulkner would be stupid enough to go blabbing private matters involving multi-million pound contracts-if he was indeed privy to private thoughts in the first place.

Can we please not pass comments about people who, on a personal level and more, have been very good to the H&V empire.

No probs.

Perhaps you could furnish us a list of everyone who has been "very good to the H & V empire" - Just so as we know who we can pass comments on & who we can't.

Thanks in advance

I have to say,my very limited experience of you has led me to... Well you know the rest.

[Ads]

Nechells isn’t very nice is he?

[Stu]

Perhaps you could furnish us a list of everyone who has been "very good to the H & V empire" - Just so as we know who we can pass comments on & who we can't.

Why would you pass comment on someone you don't know?

[KevinGage]

I'm assuming nowt.

He might have a tardis in his back garden for all I know.

It's been alluded to in the past that he is on first name terms with Faulkner and a few other senior bods due to his corporate ties with the club.

To my knowledge, MM has neither confirmed or denied that.

All I do know is that he's called plenty right in the last three years. You often get desperados at this time of year coming out of the woodwork and claiming they have the inside track on what's going on. Friend of a friend, estate agent working on behalf of Jean Pierre Papin, Bergkamp, Ulises de la Cruz et.c. They usually disappear pretty sharpish when their 'inside info' turns out to be bollocks.

But as MM is still doing the rounds after all this time and isn't getting laughed off every site he ventures onto, maybe he's just a tad more credible than you'd like to believe?