Mons tribunal hearing?

[Brend'Watkins]

Aye. perfect for each other.Embarassment we ever employed him.

I wouldn't go that far, or anywhere near. At the time he was the perfect appointment, but his limitations were found out.

My take on it as well. Can't stand the bloke now, but wouldn't let my dislike of him cloud the fact that he did a decent job, up to a point.

And mine. He was good at getting us to base camp and a bit beyond but no further. I don't really count cups as they are a bit of a lottery really and you can be in the FA Cup final or semis by winning a couple of matches. There is no shame in having his limitations as his ability was about the same as many other managers in the Prem who can get you so far, but not quite far enough. Although, having said that, money is now the one big deciding factor. The days of a really good manager bringing a Norwich, Southampton, Derby, Ipswich etc through into the top four are, I fear, gone for ever...

There is hope of sorts.  If we can build our youth set up to a level where we can replace or improve upon what's there already then there is a chance.  The emphasis has to be on doing it this way as we can never compete with  the Sheiks and Oligarchs.  Far more rewarding too. 

[pauliewalnuts]

Aye. perfect for each other.Embarassment we ever employed him.

I wouldn't go that far, or anywhere near. At the time he was the perfect appointment, but his limitations were found out.

My take on it as well. Can't stand the bloke now, but wouldn't let my dislike of him cloud the fact that he did a decent job, up to a point.

And mine. He was good at getting us to base camp and a bit beyond but no further. I don't really count cups as they are a bit of a lottery really and you can be in the FA Cup final or semis by winning a couple of matches. There is no shame in having his limitations as his ability was about the same as many other managers in the Prem who can get you so far, but not quite far enough. Although, having said that, money is now the one big deciding factor. The days of a really good manager bringing a Norwich, Southampton, Derby, Ipswich etc through into the top four are, I fear, gone for ever...

There is hope of sorts.  If we can build our youth set up to a level where we can replace or improve upon what's there already then there is a chance.  The emphasis has to be on doing it this way as we can never compete with  the Sheiks and Oligarchs.  Far more rewarding too. 

I also expect there will be lots of other clubs who have previously spent big, who will be looking at that route, too.

[Edvard Remberg]

He was to Villa, as many "turn-around-management" is in normal business. Get a profile to turn the tide. When that is done, you change it with another profile to accelerate.

[Concrete John]

The key for clubs like us is the youth set up being successfully used alongside buying good players.  We're not going to get a whole 1st 11 from the academy to challenge the top 4, but we might get one or two and that allows the funds we do have to be used better.

As a very simple example, you're building a team from scratch and need to buy 11 £10m players.  If two of those can be youth products that's an extra £20m to spend, so you could then buy two £20m players, instead of £10m ones, and that might give you an edge.   

[Ger Regan]

As others have said, it was down to MON that we achieved 6th three times in a row. But it's also down to MON that we never could manage a full on attack on 4th place. The (comparably) poor conditioning of the squad plus his insistence on playing the same team whenever possible meant that we would always run out of steam come the business end of the season.

[Richard E]

Contested hearings don't normally settle that far into them unless either:-

a) One side's witness(es) have been a disaster and they have been advised they are going to lose so they cave in; or

b) The Judge/Panel Chairman gives one side or another a strong hint that they should "reconsider their position" and they take the hint and settle.

I will leave people to decide what conclusions they may/may not draw from that.

[Chris Jameson]

Hope he got custody of Heskey.

[Ads]

Aye. perfect for each other.Embarassment we ever employed him.

What a ridiculous comment. I have been far more embarrassed this season than I ever was when MON was in charge.

I don't know. I was fairly red in the face at Stamford Bridge. That was as low since the Sty back in '02.

[Michel Sibble]

"It was terrific, just terrific. It was a difficult period, but we've overcome that now and I'm absolutely delighted with the outcome."

[Meanwood Villa]

Aye. perfect for each other.Embarassment we ever employed him.

What a ridiculous comment. I have been far more embarrassed this season than I ever was when MON was in charge.

I don't know. I was fairly red in the face at Stamford Bridge. That was as low since the Sty back in '02.

Fair comment, I did think of that shambles just as I clicked post! The point I was trying to make though was how utterly ludicrous it is to say it's an embarrassment to have employed a manager who did so well for us. Yes I know there was no trophy but I will always remember MON's time very fondly and with great pride. In fact anything but embarrasment.

[TheSandman]

He would never have considered joining us. Until it became apparent to everyone that we would have shitloads of money as Randy Lerner was on the way. He buggered off as soon as it became apparent that Villa Park wasn't built on a bottomless pit of cash and he would have to start getting involved with boring things like 'scouting' and 'coaching'.

I suspect it's true that the promise of Doug selling the club and him having enough investment to compete at the top of the PL was the big attraction. I don't think he would have thought for one minute that the investment in the squad was going to be withheld at the point we were competing for CL qualification and trophies with teams that have invested AT LEAST double the amount of money in their squads. Then again, neither did I.

Surely in that case O'Neill would have tried to argue constructive dismissal at a tribunal?

And since when were Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal our competitors and Everton not? We were never any competition to them at any point in the last 10 years and of the chasing pack of clubs we were amongst only Man City have outspent us and whilst that has worked for them it would not have been sustainable for us or our owners.

[Concrete John]

Surely in that case O'Neill would have tried to argue constructive dismissal at a tribunal?

And since when were Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal our competitors and Everton not? We were never any competition to them at any point in the last 10 years and of the chasing pack of clubs we were amongst only Man City have outspent us and whilst that has worked for them it would not have been sustainable for us or our owners.

Two points:-
1.  How do we know he didn't?
2.  We were competing against Arsenal for 4th in 08/09, Man Utd for the Carling Cup in 2010 and Man City, plus Spurs, for 4th in 09/10. 

[pauliewalnuts]

"Competing against Man United" to me implies more than "playing them in the Carling Cup final"

By that definition, Blues not only were competing with Arsenal this season, they actually overtook them

[Concrete John]

The original point Villadawg made was:-

we were competing for CL qualification and trophies with teams that have invested AT LEAST double the amount of money in their squads

I wouldn't say that we were close to Man Utd because we played them in a final, or anything similar in relation to Blues/Arsenal, just that these sides were still impediments to us winnig trophies, which is what I think the 'dawg was getting at. 
 

[eastie]

Mon did a decent job here, not great and not shit- he established us in the top 6 but couldn't take it to the next step.

The time was right for the club and him to part company but he should have gone last may-he had taken us as far as he could in my opinion, but I certainly will not forget some great times while he was in the hotseat as well as some dire ones.