Quote from: Troy Eccles on December 15, 2010, 10:21:21 PMHaving someone of MoN's vast footballing experience convincing a group of people with next to no footballing experience would have been, for him, like shooting fish in a barrel. How easy would it have been to wax lyrical about a potential signings technical abilities and how he can be moulded into something worth much to the club and many times it's value in the future. Piece of piss. But when he turned his first major signing in Ashley Young into a player who did exactly as you outline above, why would they have any reason to doubt him? At least for the next few times, anyway. Considering the impact he and Carew had the season after they signed, I would probably have trusted him as well.If I gave my financial advisor £1,000 which he turned into £3,000 inside a year I'd probably keep giving him a bit more on the assumption he'd do it again. I'd probably need to get burned a few times before I then thought it was a fluke.
Having someone of MoN's vast footballing experience convincing a group of people with next to no footballing experience would have been, for him, like shooting fish in a barrel. How easy would it have been to wax lyrical about a potential signings technical abilities and how he can be moulded into something worth much to the club and many times it's value in the future. Piece of piss.
Young wasn't his first major signing. Petrov was.
Quote from: dave.woodhall on December 16, 2010, 01:01:29 AMYoung wasn't his first major signing. Petrov was.The point still stands. If you're trying to decide whether it's worth giving the manager more money based on the collective signings of Carew, Petrov and Young then do you give him more to try and do the same with other players?I would.
Quote from: Dave on December 16, 2010, 01:10:25 AMQuote from: dave.woodhall on December 16, 2010, 01:01:29 AMYoung wasn't his first major signing. Petrov was.The point still stands. If you're trying to decide whether it's worth giving the manager more money based on the collective signings of Carew, Petrov and Young then do you give him more to try and do the same with other players?I would.I don't think it was a matter of how good the players were. Randy would have given the manger money to spend regardless, just as he always did. What happened last summer, and more importantly why it happened, none of us know.
If working for the good of Aston Villa is the minimum requirement why do you continue to blindly defend a man who did more damage to the club in one act than anyone else ever has?I gave up after the start of your second pararaph. Not even you could possibly believe that.
It isn't pretence, it's fact. And you can think all you like, but you still won't alter the other facts that he's gone, he caused us a lot of damage and whatever good he may have done has been wiped out by the manner of his going.
A quick scan of MON's first choice XI last year will surely back up VD's claims eh?Friedel - 39Cuellar- 29Dunne- 31Collins - 27Warnock- 29Downing- 26Petrov- 31Milner- 24Ashley Young- 25Carew - 31Gabby- 24Plus the likes of Beye (33) Heskey (32) and Luke Young (31) in and around the squad.9 players either close to or over 30 featuring regularly in the side might be at odds with any suggestion that MON left us with a balanced, young squad I'd have thought.Or are we saying he'd have gone against his instincts and given Bannan, Delfouneso, Hogg and co more game time this year, when he previously had no inclination to do so? With a similar spate of injuries (which he may or may not have encountered had he not bailed when he did) his hand may have been forced. But under normal circumstances I doubt the above trio would have been anywhere near the starting XI on his watch.So whilst they would have *officially* been included as squad members, to include players who have barely featured in first team football before as proof positive that the overall average of the side that MON left was healthy might, just might be viewed as a tad slanted.
bottom line is in real terms and in relation to rivals he had much more to spend than any other villa manager. Claiming its just inflation is plain daft. Even the anomalies of chelsea and latterly Citeh don't alter that fact. when we were spending 2m on heath and cascarino in 90/ 91, Manu were spending 5M. Now i'm pretty sure last season that whatever we spent Man U didn't double it. or Liverpool, or tottenham. there wasn't that sort of gap between the clubs in real terms in spending