Stephen Warnock

[Smithy]

Am I the only one here thinking that Warnock must be fragile if he's going to let something like that completely demotivate him?

I take on board the poor man management by O'Neill, but Warnock was saying he was in the form of his life, but then this review took all the wind out of his sails. Footballers tend to be alpha male types by all accounts, so why did this affect him to the point that he couldn't get excited about getting to a cup final? Was there nothing in him that would've made him say "I'll show that moron"?

The whole thing just seems odd to me.

I think it can work both ways, which is why man-management isn't "one size fits all".  Clearly MON thought it would motivate him. It did not. At all. For another player, it might.  The fact the other players were telling him to ignore it ahead of the meeting suggests it was a tactic many of the players didn't respond well to. It sounds very "Brian Clough".

I have some sympathy for Warnock over that incident, because I know if I'd been absolutely killing it at work, and my boss pulled me in for a mid-year review only to tell me that actually, I'd only done "ok" but that he expected more, and here are all the things I was doing wrong, I'd have been looking for a new job pretty sharpish.  No one likes working where they feel unappreciated.

We often hear the phrase "lost the dressing room" when teams don't perform for a manager. I think in this case, he "lost the player".

Now, if Warnock had been playing garbage, then fair enough. Underperformers need to know their level is unacceptable. It's professional sport at the end of the day, and performances matter.  But as others have said, his form in that first half the year was excellent.

[eamonn]

Weird seeing a footballer you're used to being slick and professional (and likeable) on MOTD/Sky etc. who has the platform of a podcast to have carte-blanche to shoot the shit, swear as much as he likes and be totally unguarded and honest about his career.

Horrendous to hear about how half-arsed and unprofessional O'Neill was. Absolute chancer as Rudy said.

Interesting to note as big as he thought Villa are, the reaction of fans at Leeds was even more impressive to him. I guess it'd be the same at Newcastle. Of all the sleeping giants, those two clubs seem to have the obsession that players are wow-ed by. Can't we get prospective signings to log onto H&V for a month to see how mental we are?

[Tayls_7]

Seems Pubehead developed his man-management style from the Clough playbook. Shame he had neither the same charisma or Peter Taylor by his side.

[Clark W Griswold]

Yeah whilst i don't have to have approval all of the time at work as i usually know myself if im doing well or not, to go into a review and basically feel like your being bullshitted to in the name of mind games wouldn't sit well with me either. A better approach would be to praise him (as he was doing well from memory) but add a little bit in the middle of the review about being a perfectionist and coming up with a couple of pointers to improve further and to say that all of the players will be having the same. I liked Warnock, but his form did drop off. I suppose this didn't help.

[Smithy]

Weird seeing a footballer you're used to being slick and professional (and likeable) on MOTD/Sky etc. who has the platform of a podcast to have carte-blanche to shoot the shit, swear as much as he likes and be totally unguarded and honest about his career.

Horrendous to hear about how half-arsed and unprofessional O'Neill was. Absolute chancer as Rudy said.

Interesting to note as big as he thought Villa are, the reaction of fans at Leeds was even more impressive to him. I guess it'd be the same at Newcastle. Of all the sleeping giants, those two clubs seem to have the obsession that players are wow-ed by. Can't we get prospective signings to log onto H&V for a month to see how mental we are?

I think it's the "single club city" thing.  It unites a fan base in a way that I don't think is possible when the city has two, three, or more clubs fighting for the attention and affection of the fans.  We all have colleagues, family, friends even, who support a different local club.  You don't really find that in Leeds and Newcastle.

[villadelph]

It just sounds like MON was a proper c**t, Houllier was a chippy old sod, McLeish was nice but a bit odd and inadequate, Lambert was about as communicative as a potato, and Lerner had absolutely no control over anything.

That's what I made of it at well. MON's training schedule and lack of conditioning is pretty shocking. Giving the players off Sunday thru Wednesday, then train Thursday/Friday is crazy to ever consider. As for Houllier, if what Warnock is saying is true, what a prick.. same with Lambert.

So relieved to have Unai now.

[dave.woodhall]

Weird seeing a footballer you're used to being slick and professional (and likeable) on MOTD/Sky etc. who has the platform of a podcast to have carte-blanche to shoot the shit, swear as much as he likes and be totally unguarded and honest about his career.

Horrendous to hear about how half-arsed and unprofessional O'Neill was. Absolute chancer as Rudy said.

Interesting to note as big as he thought Villa are, the reaction of fans at Leeds was even more impressive to him. I guess it'd be the same at Newcastle. Of all the sleeping giants, those two clubs seem to have the obsession that players are wow-ed by. Can't we get prospective signings to log onto H&V for a month to see how mental we are?

That would certainly make them want to sign.

[nigel]

Seems Pubehead developed his man-management style from the Clough playbook. Shame he had neither the same charisma or Peter Taylor by his side.

You can understand why Milner, Young and Downing wanted out

[Footy-Vill]

Why does Warnock have a thread on the main topic service board but players like Ashley Young, Jack Grealish, and Gabby Agbonlahor don't, despite their greater playing accomplishments at our club , is a mystery to me. Even if Warnock has expressed these dressing room secrets and it's of interest of O'Neil's reign and he is a great pundit who supportive of Villa, it is still wrong that his name is at the top of the main service board when it comes to the rules that seem banishing of former players. What are those rules, by the way? Why are some ex Prem players still allowed on main service board? Yet we can't talk about other ones?

[Monty]

It's his old player thread from over a decade ago, bumped up because he gave the interview. It'll sink back into the peat marshes of H&V soon enough. I wouldn't worry about it, Footy.

[Bad English]

Why are some ex Prem players still allowed on main service board? Yet we can't talk about other ones?

It's on a 'Need to know' basis Donald.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Footy, don't fret. As Monty says there will be a bit of discussion and then it will drift away in it's own time such is the democratic nature of how long a thread lasts on the first page or two.
If there was a hard and fast rule that all ex player threads move to other football or memories, then we have McParland, McGrath, and Cowans in that order on previous pages.

As regards MON, I was certainly a fan pretty well until he dropped us in the shit. After all, we were winning more than before and that's all I cared about. In the very first year of MONs reign I remember doing work at the house of Phil Robinson (started as a youth at Villa and played a couple of 1st team games before carving out a solid professional playing career in the lower divisions) who was manager of Stafford Rangers in the Conference at the time. As I enthused about our upturn in fortunes and how MON was taking us places, I was taken aback. He was rather disparaging and didn't rate his abilities at all. Essentially saying he was all show and no real substance and that it would not end well.

[Footy-Vill]

By all accounts they are fully deserving but yes I must not get so bother about things here and there.
Something I look forward to improving next season

[Risso]

By all accounts they are fully deserving but yes I must not get so bother about things here and there.
Something I look forward to improving next season

You really should give Villatalk a go, they positively frown on topics going off the subject over there, and profanity isn't allowed either. You'd love it.

[Chris Harte]

By all accounts they are fully deserving but yes I must not get so bother about things here and there.
Something I look forward to improving next season

You really should give Villatalk a go, they positively frown on topics going off the subject over there, and profanity isn't allowed either. You'd love it.

No profanity? Fuuuuck, that's shit.