PS Mr Lerner

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Maybe if the General's questions was still here I could ask him to pursue the local fans more vigorously as they may be the new generation of fans that the club need. Only understand the Premier league and nothing else as the long-sdtanding fans will start to disappear again.

It is. We have a whole section dedicated to it.

Really?
Where?

[The Man With A Stick]

Just a theory, maybe Randy has been leaning on the managers, encouraging them to pick a weakened team because the league is his priority.  This is the third manager it's happened under (incl. MacDonald) after all.

[Chris Smith]

They held in enough regard to put a decent team out though.

When you've spent around a quarter of a million pounds in a couple of years you tend to have a squad where you can make 5 or 6 changes without anyone noticing.

[WikiVilla]

With the millions we've spent, we should be able to also

[Brend'Watkins]

I can only echo original posters concerns and add that if I was part of the Villa marketing team last night would have given me the perfect excuse for not achieving targets set for enticing new fans through the door.

And for anybody within the club who has a brief to look at  stadium development with a view to increasing capacity I would suggest they need to start looking for a new job.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

They held in enough regard to put a decent team out though.

When you've spent around a quarter of a million pounds in a couple of years you tend to have a squad where you can make 5 or 6 changes without anyone noticing.

Have to say, Mancini certainly gets value for money.
I thought their team cost far more than that.

[Chris Smith]

With the millions we've spent, we should be able to also

We did, just not as good as theirs. The only players we've spent money on in the last 18 months were unavailable last night.

[Chris Smith]

They held in enough regard to put a decent team out though.

When you've spent around a quarter of a million pounds in a couple of years you tend to have a squad where you can make 5 or 6 changes without anyone noticing.

Have to say, Mancini certainly gets value for money.
I thought their team cost far more than that.

Woops, I think I can forget retraining as an accountant when I get the chop.

[nick harper]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/mar/03/football-should-be-about-glory

Pretty damning comment in The Guardian. Apologies if already posted.

[Monty]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/mar/03/football-should-be-about-glory

Pretty damning comment in The Guardian. Apologies if already posted.

Now that's just a rant.

[KevinGage]

Nobody can really question RL's commitment, the accounts and the hit he has taken finacially should be proof positive of that.

What I will say though is I'm not sure it will be wise for the General to have a pop about our gates anymore. If it's Bolton-like accomplishments we're looking for, namely happy to just stay in the league, then an average of 35k is actually quite good. Excellent in fact, for a club so clearly lacking ambition and not really providing any sort of entertainment for more than a handful of home games each season.

[Merv]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/mar/03/football-should-be-about-glory

Pretty damning comment in The Guardian. Apologies if already posted.

Now that's just a rant.

And a rather predictable one, at that. The practice of picking under-strength teams in cup competitions has been going on for at least a decade; managers did it before Houllier, they'll do it afterwards. Some even do it in the Premier League now.

[Chris Smith]

Nobody can really question RL's commitment, the accounts and the hit he has taken finacially should be proof positive of that.

What I will say though is I'm not sure it will be wise for the General to have a pop about our gates anymore. If it's Bolton-like accomplishments we're looking for, namely happy to just stay in the league, then an average of 35k is actually quite good. Excellent in fact, for a club so clearly lacking ambition and not really providing any sort of entertainment for more than a handful of home games each season.

I don't think you can extrapolate prioritising not getting relegated this season into "just happy to stay in the league". We had got ourselves into a potion this season where relegation became a real possibility. We did something about it by smashing our transfer record and then last night picked a side where we showed that it is still a major concern and that it is put before anything else.

[cdbearsfan]

So if we rest players when we're below half way in the table... and we rest players when we're competing near the top... when do we play a full team?

[Dave Cooper please]

We wont get relegated .............

That's what you keep saying, the reality is.....we might.

We won't though.

Why not?

Because we won't. Want money on it?