PS Mr Lerner

[hawkeye]

The people on here that are trying to justify our managers decision just dont get it, he killed a lot of supporters rationale for supporting the club, there is absoloutely no justification for Aston Villa to act in this cowardly and disrespectful way. You should read again what VCTM said, why on earth should any one comit to a club that is not commited to the majority of it supporters. Yesterday was one of the darkest days in our history and what is so sad about it was the fact that it was self inflicted.

No, no over-reaction here either.

its the way i feel, sorry that you cant see it, i never thought that we would surrender a chance to win the FA Cup, a lot of fans have made it clear that the decision to give up on the FA cup in such a cowardly fashion was the last straw for them, I am one of them, so sugesting that its an over reaction is a bit futile, the existing and future fan base has been dininished by this.

[Toronto Villa]

I know people are upet about yesterday. But calling for the manager's head. Really? I was hoping for much better last night, and while I'd liked for him to have played a stronger team, he decided against it. I understand why even if I don't entirely agree. A manager needs to be able make those decisions and not be subject to having people called for him to be fired just because we don't see it that way. You'd honestly think by the reaction of some that we'd been relegated last night. Be upset, but let's not go so overboard as to make ourselves out to be so emotional as to lose all sense of rationality.

I know our hated rivals won a cup on Sunday, and on the back of that the circumstances of this game couldn't have come at a worse time. But we're still a great club with great traditions, fans and history. And contrary to current feelings we also still have a very good manager, coaching staff and players. We need to see this season out now, get rid of the some of the crap that cannot fill in when needed, and get in hungrier and more talented players.

[dave.woodhall]

The previous manager 'surrendered' every other cup, so what's different about this?

"One of the darkest days in our history" "I don't trust the club anymore"  "the first generation of my family that will not be brought up to support Aston Villa". If that's not over-reaction, I've never seen it.

[Pat McMahon]

I really can’t see how MON surrendered every other cup, Dave. We got to the final of the League Cup and had a decent pop at Man U who, notwithstanding a ludicrous bottling decision by the ref, were just too good for us, especially once Wazza came on, and we were Chelsea’s equals too until that poor header by Dunne gave Drogba a goal. Chelsea fans I know told me they were really worried until that goal as our team and fans were growing in confidence – our 5-6 minute version of “My Old Man” had them pleading with each other to make some noise. We lost both games but we certainly didn’t surrender them. Europe was a different matter, mind.

A day of venting our spleens is fine but now we need to focus on supporting the team tomorrow.  I fear some venom if we go a goal down, though.

[OzVilla]

My two penneth - The FA Cup is the one trophy I want us to win more than any other - don't give a stuff about the prize money, it's the prestige and experience that i'd love and how it would make me feel that makes it the No 1 in my eyes.  It's the one game i'd happily fly 12,000 miles to watch us play in.

Randy's been here for long enough now and should understand how we feel about the FA Cup.  I can't believe he'd need telling.

However, Randy doesn't pick the team and if the instruction to GH on his appointment was ''Gerard, whatever you do keep us in the Premier league'' then resting players is a no brainer for him.

So was Gerards instruction on appointment ''Please keep us in the Premier League'' or ''Please win us some silverware''.

Depressingly, I think we now all know the answer to that question. 
 


 

[eastie]

To be honest ozvilla if geds instruction on arrival was to keep us in the premier league after 3 top 6 finishes then I'd find that hugely disturbing- I'd hope the intstruction would be keep us at the right end of the table and try to win a cup.

Like I say  , we need 2 wins from 10 games , if the manager isn't confident that we can achieve those and still play a strong side in the cup then it's a sad state of affairs. Of course he shouldn't be sacked but he should be strongly  reminded that we are a club that expect to compete to win trophies and not roll over.

[Chris Harte]

The FA Cup is the one trophy I want us to win more than any other - don't give a stuff about the prize money, it's the prestige and experience that i'd love and how it would make me feel that makes it the No 1 in my eyes.

This. Please.

Preferably in my lifetime, and I'd like to think I've got another 30 - 40 years left.

[Risso]

I know people are upet about yesterday. But calling for the manager's head. Really? I was hoping for much better last night, and while I'd liked for him to have played a stronger team, he decided against it. I understand why even if I don't entirely agree. A manager needs to be able make those decisions and not be subject to having people called for him to be fired just because we don't see it that way. You'd honestly think by the reaction of some that we'd been relegated last night. Be upset, but let's not go so overboard as to make ourselves out to be so emotional as to lose all sense of rationality.

I know our hated rivals won a cup on Sunday, and on the back of that the circumstances of this game couldn't have come at a worse time. But we're still a great club with great traditions, fans and history. And contrary to current feelings we also still have a very good manager, coaching staff and players. We need to see this season out now, get rid of the some of the crap that cannot fill in when needed, and get in hungrier and more talented players.

He should never have been given the job, should then have been sacked ages ago, and should definitely not be in charge for next season.  Houllier is a walking disaster. There's a reason he was in semi- retirement doing a desk job for the French FA and that's because he's past it.  A truly hopeless excuse for a manager.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Yesterday was one of the darkest days in our history

You clearly haven't been supporting us for long if you think that.

[Clampy]

The previous manager 'surrendered' every other cup, so what's different about this?

 

Well, we got to the Semi Final and Final of two Cups last year. Not really what i'd call 'surrending'.

[eastie]

But risso how do you really think about  him, rather than sitting on the fence?

[WikiVilla]

I'm glad we have a really tough fixture tomorrow and not a cushy Blackburn at home type game where GH & the players can easily redeem themselves.

Bolton away is a tough game and we won't get anything other than a bashing unless we are set up correctly, committed, organised and with a game plan.

I want a performance tomorrow and will be there watching closely. I want them all to dispell from my small cynical brain the myth that they're all done for the year and can't wait for their summer hols.

[eastie]

 I doubt anyone thinks that wiki, I'd expect the likes of ash and downing to have been as pissed off at not playing as the fans were at not seeing them start, good players want to play in big games and win things and I expect a lot were shocked to see the line up.

[WikiVilla]

Ash has got what 9 games tops with us left (assuming he doesn't get suspended / injured)
How committed will he be between now and his big money move ??

[pauliewalnuts]

I want a performance tomorrow and will be there watching closely. I want them all to dispell from my small cynical brain the myth that they're all done for the year and can't wait for their summer hols.

That's the irony of all this.

He played that weakened sign hoping to make it "easier" to get something tomorrow. However, now everyone is going to be watching far more closely than they might have done, and the pressure is higher than it might have been.