Current media comments towards us

[Brend'Watkins]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

[Chris Smith]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering. As I said above, that might not be fair but it is how it is being perceived by the wider world and the lack of clear commuication has s only given that more credence.

How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

[pauliewalnuts]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering. As I said above, that might not be fair but it is how it is being perceived by the wider world and the lack of clear commuication has s only given that more credence.

How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

I'd agree with you on the dithering point, but if their response is that we were left in a very difficult situation, then you can't really ignore the fact that MON caused it in the first place.

Personally, I think this whole season will be pretty much written off - new manager arriving after start of season (in which time we're out of one competition already), transfer window shut, has to start from scratch with new players, can't strengthen until the (very difficult) January window ...... it's going to be a fair while before we get to the "not MON's fault anymore" stage.

[ktvillan]

Hookeysmith, I don't really see it as people on here slagging off the club, just pointing out that certain representatives of the club might have handled things better, and avoided giving ammunition to those ignorant journos who are blowing it up out of all proportion to embellish their stories. That does not equate to us slagging off the club any more than ciriticising O'Neill meant we were not behind the team.  I think it's been a fairly  balanced and well argued discussion on the whole.

[Mr Diggles]

Mac - great post, on a really good and interesting thread.

[pauliewalnuts]

Hookeysmith, I don't really see it as people on here slagging off the club, just pointing out that certain representatives of the club might have handled things better, and avoided giving ammunition to those ignorant journos who are blowing it up out of all proportion to embellish their stories. That does not equate to us slagging off the club any more than ciriticising O'Neill meant we were not behind the team.  I think it's been a fairly  balanced and well argued discussion on the whole.

... and on a positive note, at least from Monday we can begin to move on. Onwards and upwards, hopefully.

[ktvillan]

Some very good points Mac, but, even ignoring the recent situation, and taking it just as a matter of policy issue, do you think it is sensible to have no-one on the board with a strong background in English or European football?  It's not necessary, but it would seem to make sense - Not necessarilly at CEO, where I'm sure Faulkner has his abilities, but, say, SGT as a non-executive director for example? That said, you may well be right that we had that previously but they were forced out by his ego-ness.

I also have to say I'm never that convinced by the moral high ground argument.  It's admirable, and great for the image of the club, but even better would be winning trophies.  It's a dog eat dog world and there's a lot of truth in the phrase " nice guys finish last".

But  ultimately you are right - O'Neill is the one to blame.

[Simon Ward]

Mac's post on page 8 sums up my feelings very nicely thank you

[Villa'Zawg]

It was SGT and BFR who originally suggested the theories that O'Neill may have left the club due to a change in policy or perhaps a broken agreement that left him in an untenable position. They weren't conspiracy theories, they're just theories.

A lot of people seem intent on insisting that the timing and manner of him leaving was an act of spiteful vindictiveness. Is that not just another theory or have I missed some vital piece of information that adds credence to this particular theory?

Just prior to O'Neill leaving there was a stalwart poster on here saying that Lerner and O'Neill hadn't spoken for four months and he seemed to be believed by many fellow posters. We now have those same posters appearing to insist that O'Neill's resignation came from out of the blue, which is it?

[Brend'Watkins]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering.
How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

From what Pelty is saying the club were happy to appoint GH under the conditions it wasn't to be an immediate appointment.  That was their decision which I don't see as dithering.  If you are going to appoint someone for the most crucial role in the club then I think the decision to do so should be given a lot of thought and time.  That's the way the club have gone about it. 

If there is any fault by the board it is that even having been given assurances by MON that he was staying to finish the job they should have had an inkling that he could at any time throw the towel in and with that in mind have a name or names primed to fill the void.  The week they players reported back to training MON didn't look like a man enthusiastic about the season ahead. That should have been apparent to the board.

[Ian.]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering.
How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

From what Pelty is saying the club were happy to appoint GH under the conditions it wasn't to be an immediate appointment.  That was their decision which I don't see as dithering.  If you are going to appoint someone for the most crucial role in the club then I think the decision to do so should be given a lot of thought and time.  That's the way the club have gone about it. 

If there is any fault by the board it is that even having been given assurances by MON that he was staying to finish the job they should have had an inkling that he could at any time throw the towel in and with that in mind have a name or names primed to fill the void.  The week they players reported back to training MON didn't look like a man enthusiastic about the season ahead. That should have been apparent to the board.

Thats exactly how I see it Bren, we wanted GH, we have had to wait for him to finish his role at his former job. We have done the decent thing and allowed that to happen.
Fair play to Villa and fair play to GH for honoring his contract to the French FA. there is not a lot of respect in football so why knock whats happened here at the Villa.
He'll be in charge soon and hopefully whip us into shape and we can get our season back on track and stop worrying about what other people think, who's at fault and so on.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering.
How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

From what Pelty is saying the club were happy to appoint GH under the conditions it wasn't to be an immediate appointment.  That was their decision which I don't see as dithering.  If you are going to appoint someone for the most crucial role in the club then I think the decision to do so should be given a lot of thought and time.  That's the way the club have gone about it. 

If there is any fault by the board it is that even having been given assurances by MON that he was staying to finish the job they should have had an inkling that he could at any time throw the towel in and with that in mind have a name or names primed to fill the void.  The week they players reported back to training MON didn't look like a man enthusiastic about the season ahead. That should have been apparent to the board.

Absolutely, Bren. Add to that the rumours of MON begging for the Liverpool job, you would have thought we'd have had a contingency plan in place, something we were discussing on here in the weeks before O'Neill's mutiny.

[fredm]

The best thread that has been on here, and thankyou Pelty for your input.

I think the club did have an inkling that MON may have been going, especially with the Liverpool episode, and from the rumours around would appear to have discussed the matter with Mark Hughes/and/or his advisors.  However, MON remained in post and Hughes obviously wasn't prepared to wait for something that might never happen.

It will be interesting to see if, in some time ahead, there are any changes/additions to the boardroom/managerial (not football) positions within the club.  I would think that once some time has passed RL and others will be having a good look at what has happened/how it was handled and what they can learn from it.  I have no doubt that if this happened again things would go a little differently.

[dave.woodhall]

The club did have an idea O'Neill would walk out.  Their mistake was thinking in terms of months when he was thinking weeks, and then days.

They certainly didn't think he would go when  he did. After all, what decent man would leave a job in such circumstances?

[Mac]

Good post Mac.

There's only one person at fault for the situation we find ourselves in and he's no longer with us.

It doesn't really matter who is to blame though, Bren.

It is how the club have dealt with it that is the issue. The way it has been handled has given the appearance of dithering. As I said above, that might not be fair but it is how it is being perceived by the wider world and the lack of clear commuication has s only given that more credence.

How long do we give the club the get out of jail free card of blaming everything that happens on MON walking out?

Glad you read my post with an open mind Chris.