Questions for Mr. Lerner Sir

[Concrete John]

Robbo you really think we are a big club?

You don't?

Ah not this load of semantic bollocks again!

We've got a big ground and a great history.  At the moment though, our ambitions look distinctly mid-table.

I think too often the word 'ambition' really means 'resources'.

[Simon Ward]

[/quote]



We've got a big ground and a great history.  At the moment though, our ambitions look distinctly mid-table.
[/quote]

We're consolidating our position!

[Villafirst]

AVFC is a big club, but the owners are not backing it with 'big club' finance. I'm sure the General once said that if MON wanted a £25-30M player that the club could support that level of transfer - how times have changed when we can't even afford wages for Hitz unless we 'trade' first.

[TheSandman]

Robbo you really think we are a big club?

You don't?

Ah not this load of semantic bollocks again!

We've got a big ground and a great history.  At the moment though, our ambitions look distinctly mid-table.

I think too often the word 'ambition' really means 'resources'.

I have the ambition to go balls deep into Mila Kunis but without hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of plastic surgery I'm not liable to achieve it.

[Irreverent ad]

Robbo you really think we are a big club?

You don't?

Ah not this load of semantic bollocks again!

We've got a big ground and a great history.  At the moment though, our ambitions look distinctly mid-table.

I think too often the word 'ambition' really means 'resources'.

I have the ambition to go balls deep into Mila Kunis but without hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of plastic surgery I'm not liable to achieve it.

Chloroform would be cheaper!

[Mazrim]

Do you ever wish that you could go back to being a youngster again, only knowing what you know now?  Well I wish we could rewind five years with Randy knowing what he knows now.  Imagine not buying Curtis Davies, Marlon Harewood, Emile Heskey and all the other players that have taken a fortune out of the club for little return.  I know that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you have to wonder at the combination of circumstances that led to Lerner agreeing to the Beye deal.  The biggest puzzle for me though is how on earth O'Neill managed to win any sort of tribunal.  All Randy needed to do surely was slap the Beye contract down on the table, and turn on his heels and walk out.

Yep, I'm affraid so.
I was sick of a lot of the moaning during the MON years because, well, maoning gets on my tits, but in hindsight I regret that bell end ever being appointed manager and can only apologise for ever defending him to anybody about anything, even if I was right about certain things.
He got some things right but they were pretty obvious things. His best transfers were fairly obvious ones and even some of them lacked imagination.

But having read this thread and knowing that he knew the money was limited I am even more angry that he pissed it away so frivolously. When Randy came in I wished for Guus Hiddink or a man of that calibre, who would most certainly have delivered the poxy land of milk and honey that is the champions league with the funds O'Neill had. And to think he fucked off without attempting to clean up his own mess at the worst possible moment. It really makes my piss boil.

Still, Villa fans are resilient (well some are) and we'll get through this and recover.
As long as we are informed we can cope with most things. The club really needs to get its act together in this regard. You have told us more in a few pages than our CEO has in his entire tenure at Villa, pelty. That's shocking.

I hope these "obligations" were about securing extra investment from somewhere but to be frank, the sooner that money in football becomes less of a determinate factor the sooner we can all fall back in love with it again.
Because I'm really struggling to care about the game in general any more. I'll always love Villa but unless something is done soon football can go an fuck itself. I hardly watch neutral games any more, which would be unthinkable a couple of years ago.
I'm sick of SKY and their vulgar transfer totals. My mates lads talk about how much somebody costs more than how they play. The games in a terrible place.

I feel sorry for Randy as he tried his best, but he backed the wrong horse to begin with and this summer has been handled with all the subtlety and cunning of Frank Spencer.
The club needs a massive kick up the arse. What the hell does Paul Faulkner get paid for?
Maybe if we fucked him off we could get the midfielder we need, which isnt Hitzlsperger by the way.

Shit, I'm getting sucked into the gravitational pull of Terra Miserablis.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Shit, I'm getting sucked into the gravitational pull of Terra Miserablis.

No Maz.
What you stated is the reality of the situation and reality isn't always pleasant.

[Hookeysmith]

Do you ever wish that you could go back to being a youngster again, only knowing what you know now?  Well I wish we could rewind five years with Randy knowing what he knows now.  Imagine not buying Curtis Davies, Marlon Harewood, Emile Heskey and all the other players that have taken a fortune out of the club for little return.  I know that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you have to wonder at the combination of circumstances that led to Lerner agreeing to the Beye deal.  The biggest puzzle for me though is how on earth O'Neill managed to win any sort of tribunal.  All Randy needed to do surely was slap the Beye contract down on the table, and turn on his heels and walk out.

Yep, I'm affraid so.
I was sick of a lot of the moaning during the MON years because, well, maoning gets on my tits, but in hindsight I regret that bell end ever being appointed manager and can only apologise for ever defending him to anybody about anything, even if I was right about certain things.
He got some things right but they were pretty obvious things. His best transfers were fairly obvious ones and even some of them lacked imagination.

But having read this thread and knowing that he knew the money was limited I am even more angry that he pissed it away so frivolously. When Randy came in I wished for Guus Hiddink or a man of that calibre, who would most certainly have delivered the poxy land of milk and honey that is the champions league with the funds O'Neill had. And to think he fucked off without attempting to clean up his own mess at the worst possible moment. It really makes my piss boil.

Still, Villa fans are resilient (well some are) and we'll get through this and recover.
As long as we are informed we can cope with most things. The club really needs to get its act together in this regard. You have told us more in a few pages than our CEO has in his entire tenure at Villa, pelty. That's shocking.

I hope these "obligations" were about securing extra investment from somewhere but to be frank, the sooner that money in football becomes less of a determinate factor the sooner we can all fall back in love with it again.
Because I'm really struggling to care about the game in general any more. I'll always love Villa but unless something is done soon football can go an fuck itself. I hardly watch neutral games any more, which would be unthinkable a couple of years ago.
I'm sick of SKY and their vulgar transfer totals. My mates lads talk about how much somebody costs more than how they play. The games in a terrible place.

I feel sorry for Randy as he tried his best, but he backed the wrong horse to begin with and this summer has been handled with all the subtlety and cunning of Frank Spencer.
The club needs a massive kick up the arse. What the hell does Paul Faulkner get paid for?
Maybe if we fucked him off we could get the midfielder we need, which isnt Hitzlsperger by the way.

Shit, I'm getting sucked into the gravitational pull of Terra Miserablis.

Superb summing up - great post

[TheSandman]

Brilliant post Mazrim. Agree wholeheartedly.

[ktvillan]

Shit, I'm getting sucked into the gravitational pull of Terra Miserablis.

No Maz.
What you stated is the reality of the situation and reality isn't always pleasant.

I think that is what at least some of those of us who were accused of being moaners under MON were also doing.  Stating fairly obvious facts such as that the likes of Harewood and Knight were not the kind of signings we were expecting when RL took over, nor were they the kind of signings that would get us into the top 4, resulted in dog's abuse.  Ditto that the "quality" of the football left a lot to be desired.  At the end of the day those saying that were absolutely right.  It wasn't moaning, it was stating the reality of the situation as we saw it - and some of us at least balanced our comments by giving O'Neill credit for the good things he did.  Our away form has rarely been better than it was under MON and he made some good signings in Young, Milner and Delph, for example. 

On another point I find myself in agreement with Mr Smith, Heskey gets way more stick than he deserves, and is unfairly underrated, except it seems by PL and England managers. Whereas other players can seemingly do no wrong.

[hilts_coolerking]

Bit late.

[Merv]

Do what I've done, Maz - don't fight it. In the space of two months I've gone from 'this won't happen...' to 'this can't be happening - they won't do this'... to 'this has happened'. Don't still entertain thoughts of Parker, or Milner, or Adam Johnson, or there being one more trick up the club's sleeve. It's not a smokescreen to convince other clubs we don't have much ££££ and won't pay high prices.... the creeping realisation of where we are now stings a bit to begin with, but you get used to it. We're still better off than a lot of PL clubs, in many ways.

I've set my sights at a season of consolidation, at looking forward to seeing N'Zogbia and Bent; at hoping Bannan gets some decent game time; at the continued development of Albrighton and Clark; at shouting: 'yes, Seamus!' whenever the magnificent Irishman pulls off a save.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

On another point I find myself in agreement with Mr Smith, Heskey gets way more stick than he deserves, and is unfairly underrated, except it seems by PL and England managers. Whereas other players can seemingly do no wrong.

It's a tall order, but i'd like to see the same Heskey who had a few brilliant games for us under Houllier.
He was holding the ball up superbly and his passing was radar like.

I think it went out of the window after his sending off.

Would still like to see him up front with Bent, but I would guess that's out of the question without a midfield enforcer.

[Concrete John]

Shit, I'm getting sucked into the gravitational pull of Terra Miserablis.

No Maz.
What you stated is the reality of the situation and reality isn't always pleasant.

I think that is what at least some of those of us who were accused of being moaners under MON were also doing.  Stating fairly obvious facts such as that the likes of Harewood and Knight were not the kind of signings we were expecting when RL took over, nor were they the kind of signings that would get us into the top 4, resulted in dog's abuse.  Ditto that the "quality" of the football left a lot to be desired.  At the end of the day those saying that were absolutely right.  It wasn't moaning, it was stating the reality of the situation as we saw it - and some of us at least balanced our comments by giving O'Neill credit for the good things he did.  Our away form has rarely been better than it was under MON and he made some good signings in Young, Milner and Delph, for example. 

On another point I find myself in agreement with Mr Smith, Heskey gets way more stick than he deserves, and is unfairly underrated, except it seems by PL and England managers. Whereas other players can seemingly do no wrong.

As someone who was firmly in the 'happy clapper camp', I think the thing that got me sticking up for him the most was the lack of balance, as you rightly say, but also some expected us to get there far quicker than was realistic, other than with Man City level of cash.  You mention Knight above and he's a prime example as some would say 'crap player and not what we need', but considering when we bought him, the fact we sold him for a profit and we improved while he was here, he proved a useful stepping stone for us.  Harewood was similar, but he stuck around for too long due to his wages.

And that's probably where the realisation is now coming from.  Our on the pitch results were very good and we were making progress, but the finances behind it weren't balancing out and something had to give.  The excessive stockpiling of unused players were holding back the kids, plus holding back our further building with more of the Bents, Young and Milners.  I suppose it was like buying your first house and spending so much doing it up that you'd never get it all back, so you're stopped from buying your next place until you balance your books a bit! 

[andrew08]

Do what I've done, Maz - don't fight it. In the space of two months I've gone from 'this won't happen...' to 'this can't be happening - they won't do this'... to 'this has happened'. Don't still entertain thoughts of Parker, or Milner, or Adam Johnson, or there being one more trick up the club's sleeve. It's not a smokescreen to convince other clubs we don't have much ££££ and won't pay high prices.... the creeping realisation of where we are now stings a bit to begin with, but you get used to it. We're still better off than a lot of PL clubs, in many ways.

I've set my sights at a season of consolidation, at looking forward to seeing N'Zogbia and Bent; at hoping Bannan gets some decent game time; at the continued development of Albrighton and Clark; at shouting: 'yes, Seamus!' whenever the magnificent Irishman pulls off a save.

Thats what I'm doing....Just accepting this season for what it is....maybe sneak a few rows further forward with the season tickets as people drop out....shorter queues for drinks at half time. Bed my kids into a lifetime of misery like my Dad did for me ! That kind of thing.

And then enjoy the odd Bent goal, perhaps a shock win against a top 4 side, maybe the emergence of Gardner. One or two boozy away wins. 10th place kind of thing.

I've no choice, VTID an all that.