Lerner reasoning re the Financial Fair Play rules .

[Toronto Villa]

if with nothing else, at least when it comes to negotiations related to transfer spending it's always better giving others the impression you're skint. No point adding a 0 to the end of anything if you can avoid it.

[Concrete John]

This summer's transfer dealings, in terms of net spend, will give us more of a clue but as I said, the early signs are not good.

Fully agree with the 'wait and see' approach, but out of interest what signs have we seen thus far that indicate anything? 

There have been quotes from McLeish which hint at limited money. Not to mention the ones from our recruitment consultant, Ferguson.

From our part it might all be a bit of a smokescreen for summer spending, but making what looks like a cheap managerial appointment in itself hints at something

Can't really see it.

Firstly, Ferguson's comments can be read as 'look what he did with no money' in terms of highlighting his ability, and not just saying 'we have no money so McLeish is the man for us'.  And all he said himself is there is 'no huge pot of gold', which in the context of a post Chelsea/Man City arena could mean £40m+.

I guess anything can be read into any comment as they actually say very little of substance, but I'm sticking to the 'wait and see' philosophy and expecting £20m + sales to be available. 

[mazrimsbruv]

This summer's transfer dealings, in terms of net spend, will give us more of a clue but as I said, the early signs are not good.

Fully agree with the 'wait and see' approach, but out of interest what signs have we seen thus far that indicate anything? 

There have been quotes from McLeish which hint at limited money. Not to mention the ones from our recruitment consultant, Ferguson.

From our part it might all be a bit of a smokescreen for summer spending, but making what looks like a cheap managerial appointment in itself hints at something

Can't really see it.

Firstly, Ferguson's comments can be read as 'look what he did with no money' in terms of highlighting his ability, and not just saying 'we have no money so McLeish is the man for us'.  And all he said himself is there is 'no huge pot of gold', which in the context of a post Chelsea/Man City arena could mean £40m+.

I guess anything can be read into any comment as they actually say very little of substance, but I'm sticking to the 'wait and see' philosophy and expecting £20m + sales to be available. 

The quote from Ferguson:

"At Rangers, for instance, by the time Alex took over, they weren't spending the kind of money which they had done previously, so Alex did a great job there. He managed to unite a unit there and do very well. In all his jobs he's had to deal with that kind of situation of making do with what you have and making the best of it and that's a quality that. He's got the experience now of doing all of these things and Aston Villa will represent the same type of challenge."

Seems pretty clear to me. You might say: "Yeah, but wtf does he know about our finances and future aspirations etc" To which I would reply: "Probably more than most, seeing as we sought his advice on whether or not to appoint him." 

[Concrete John]

This summer's transfer dealings, in terms of net spend, will give us more of a clue but as I said, the early signs are not good.

Fully agree with the 'wait and see' approach, but out of interest what signs have we seen thus far that indicate anything? 

There have been quotes from McLeish which hint at limited money. Not to mention the ones from our recruitment consultant, Ferguson.

From our part it might all be a bit of a smokescreen for summer spending, but making what looks like a cheap managerial appointment in itself hints at something

Can't really see it.

Firstly, Ferguson's comments can be read as 'look what he did with no money' in terms of highlighting his ability, and not just saying 'we have no money so McLeish is the man for us'.  And all he said himself is there is 'no huge pot of gold', which in the context of a post Chelsea/Man City arena could mean £40m+.

I guess anything can be read into any comment as they actually say very little of substance, but I'm sticking to the 'wait and see' philosophy and expecting £20m + sales to be available. 

The quote from Ferguson:

"At Rangers, for instance, by the time Alex took over, they weren't spending the kind of money which they had done previously, so Alex did a great job there. He managed to unite a unit there and do very well. In all his jobs he's had to deal with that kind of situation of making do with what you have and making the best of it and that's a quality that. He's got the experience now of doing all of these things and Aston Villa will represent the same type of challenge."

Seems pretty clear to me. You might say: "Yeah, but wtf does he know about our finances and future aspirations etc" To which I would reply: "Probably more than most, seeing as we sought his advice on whether or not to appoint him." 

Do you honestly think we'd tell the manager we are heavily expecting to bid for our best player this summer what our budget was?  Don't see it myself!

As I've said before, it's a matter of 'wait and see', but actuions speak louder than words and form that I'd look more to use breaking our transfer record 6 months ago than I would anything SAF says about us.

[eamonn]

Did we seek Whisky Nose's advice or was he just asked his opinion on McLeish by the press?

[mazrimsbruv]

Did we seek Whisky Nose's advice or was he just asked his opinion on McLeish by the press?

The General, in his Facebook Rant, stated that they had consulted people in the Game who were better qualified than Villa fans to know whether or not McLeish was decent manager. He then challenged the guy whose 'wall' he was posting on, to"ask Alex Ferguson what he thinks of McLeish and you'd get a different answer.'

Ferguson's subsequent comments in the press have left many people on here in little doubt that the Board consulted him in some capacity.

[TheSandman]

The Facebook rant that was as real as my chances as taking Megan Fox up the arse?

[mazrimsbruv]

This summer's transfer dealings, in terms of net spend, will give us more of a clue but as I said, the early signs are not good.

Fully agree with the 'wait and see' approach, but out of interest what signs have we seen thus far that indicate anything? 

There have been quotes from McLeish which hint at limited money. Not to mention the ones from our recruitment consultant, Ferguson.

From our part it might all be a bit of a smokescreen for summer spending, but making what looks like a cheap managerial appointment in itself hints at something

Can't really see it.

Firstly, Ferguson's comments can be read as 'look what he did with no money' in terms of highlighting his ability, and not just saying 'we have no money so McLeish is the man for us'.  And all he said himself is there is 'no huge pot of gold', which in the context of a post Chelsea/Man City arena could mean £40m+.

I guess anything can be read into any comment as they actually say very little of substance, but I'm sticking to the 'wait and see' philosophy and expecting £20m + sales to be available. 

The quote from Ferguson:

"At Rangers, for instance, by the time Alex took over, they weren't spending the kind of money which they had done previously, so Alex did a great job there. He managed to unite a unit there and do very well. In all his jobs he's had to deal with that kind of situation of making do with what you have and making the best of it and that's a quality that. He's got the experience now of doing all of these things and Aston Villa will represent the same type of challenge."

Seems pretty clear to me. You might say: "Yeah, but wtf does he know about our finances and future aspirations etc" To which I would reply: "Probably more than most, seeing as we sought his advice on whether or not to appoint him." 

Do you honestly think we'd tell the manager we are heavily expecting to bid for our best player this summer what our budget was?  Don't see it myself!

As I've said before, it's a matter of 'wait and see', but actuions speak louder than words and form that I'd look more to use breaking our transfer record 6 months ago than I would anything SAF says about us.

Did you honestly think 4 weeks ago that our Board would so clueless and lacking in self-respect as to ask a rival manager for advice on appointing a manager? Nothing this board does now would surprise me.

And I'm not suggesting we told him exactly what our budget was, but if there's no truth in it, why did he say it? If he's so cosy with our board as to be asked for advice, why didn't he just say nothing about it?

Maybe it's because we told him what our search criteria were and one of them was 'managing on a tight budget'.

You're argument seems to be: The Board are clueless enough to ask a rival manager who to appoint but not clueless enough to tell him he'll be on a tight budget.

[nigel]

All you doubters get ready to eat some humble pie. It might not happen net season, but come the following one I think we'll be ready to push on.
I was looking forward to Houliers 2nd season, as coming to the end of last we were begining to get things right.
You're not giving AMcL a fair crack chaps. Forget that he came from 'Them' He was the manager of a poor team with no board backing, even Morinho would have struggled given that. If he'd come from elsewhere it wouldn't be a problem.

[garyfouroaks]

The Facebook rant that was as real as my chances as taking Megan Fox up the arse?

Apparently Megan is quite partial to some backdoor action..........................

[mazrimsbruv]

The Facebook rant that was as real as my chances as taking Megan Fox up the arse?

To my knowledge the General has never denied that it was him and posters from Vital Villa were convinced it was genuine.

Do you have any evidence to suggest it was a fake?

If not, any chance of a Spit Roast with Megan?

[mazrimsbruv]

If he'd come from elsewhere it wouldn't be a problem.

Yes it would.

His record is poor and, precisely because he came from Them, the poor bloke won't even get a chance to get it right.

For the umpteenth time: Poor decision.

[mazrimsbruv]

He was the manager of a poor team with no board backing, even Morinho would have struggled given that.

No he wouldn't.

[nigel]

He was the manager of a poor team with no board backing, even Morinho would have struggled given that.

No he wouldn't.

Of course he would, Morinho has always been able to spend, spend, spend at whatever club he's been at.
There's no point in getting into arguments as 'tunnel vision' syndrome has alraedy set in.
McLeish will never get a chance with some of you.

[mazrimsbruv]

He was the manager of a poor team with no board backing, even Morinho would have struggled given that.

No he wouldn't.

Of course he would, Morinho has always been able to spend, spend, spend at whatever club he's been at.
There's no point in getting into arguments as 'tunnel vision' syndrome has alraedy set in.
McLeish will never get a chance with some of you.

I honestly can't believe what you're saying. To suggest that Jose Mourinho could have taken charge of the same Blose team and still got relegated is effectively stating that Alex McLeish is as good a manager as Jose Mourinho. Utter nonsense!

As to your other argument, it's not me who won't be giving him a chance. As Gregnash alluded to on the 'fans meeting' thread, the people he has to win over are aged between 15 and 25, sit at the back of the Holte and, barring an outrageously good seaon, will never, ever accept him. More to the point, one slip up and they'll be trying to hound him out of B6 on the end of a pitchfork.

Tunnel vision? No.

Realism? Yes.