Questions for Mr. Lerner Sir

[Clark W Griswold]

Sod the PR. Sort the defence out. I know we had a clean sheet on Saturday but it won't last with what we have. McLeish said he wants a midfield general, i would say its absolutely critical to our season. Surely we have offloaded enough to get 1 more in.

[Chris Smith]

Perhaps another of the obligations was Cuellar. He's clearly surplus to requirements but seeming in no hurry to move, happy to spend another year picking  uphis money and going on the piss in the Mailbox. Then again he's a fans favourite and no criticism s allowed while Heskey, who every manager and caretaker has used, gets the piss ripped out of him.

I'm surprised by this comment off you Chris if i'm honest. I'm pretty sure you used to stand up for MON's team selections, when many on here complained about 'square pegs in round holes'. Cuellar was one of those 'square pegs' when he played out of position in a very good defence that did'nt concede many.

Don't lambast him because he dose'nt want to take a pay cut and join Rangers. He's not pissing us about, Downing pissed us about.

Clampy, I've explained myself a bit more fully further on in the thread. It's not that I think he's rubbish, far from it, but I was just using him as a contrast to the crap Heskey gets despite every manager he's worked under finding room for him in their sides.

Cuellar is in the last year of his contract, it's in our interests to sell him and his to move to get a game yet he's still here. That does piss me off a bit.

[cheltenhamlion]

To be fair to Cuellar, his injury may not help. Unlike, Coin It In, Beye.

Cheers for the insight Pelty. I don't have an issue with Randy pulling back on expenditure, its the apparent indecent haste that rankles with me.

It is one thing to appoint an unpopular choice like McLeish but to hang him out to dry with how little we have reinforced the squad seems very unfair to me.

We have a saying over here that you, don't throw the baby out with the bath water, and I have a horrible feeling that this is where things are going with how quick we are cutting.

If we get half the injuries we had last year with the current squad we are in the cart for another long and less than enjoyable season.

[Tezmond]

Despite my scepticism of Randy's financing of the investments in Villa (loan notes at LIBOR + 2%, management fees), I feel sorry for him after reading the flak on this and many other threads. We should remember those who have failed him:

a) footballing side of things - MoN (well documented failings on other threads)
b) revenue growth - IMG sports (whatever happened to them?)
c) Fitzgerald (what did he do?)

in addition he enlisted Populous to advise on the stadium development. Even with hindsight, none of us could claim that we would have made better choices in recruitment.

[villan1975]

Perhaps another of the obligations was Cuellar. He's clearly surplus to requirements but seeming in no hurry to move, happy to spend another year picking  uphis money and going on the piss in the Mailbox. Then again he's a fans favourite and no criticism s allowed while Heskey, who every manager and caretaker has used, gets the piss ripped out of him.

I'm surprised by this comment off you Chris if i'm honest. I'm pretty sure you used to stand up for MON's team selections, when many on here complained about 'square pegs in round holes'. Cuellar was one of those 'square pegs' when he played out of position in a very good defence that did'nt concede many.

Don't lambast him because he dose'nt want to take a pay cut and join Rangers. He's not pissing us about, Downing pissed us about.

Clampy, I've explained myself a bit more fully further on in the thread. It's not that I think he's rubbish, far from it, but I was just using him as a contrast to the crap Heskey gets despite every manager he's worked under finding room for him in their sides.

Cuellar is in the last year of his contract, it's in our interests to sell him and his to move to get a game yet he's still here. That does piss me off a bit.

Heskey had more than enough chances to prove himself and how many good games and goals did he have?
It may be conceited but I have this crazy notion that strikers should score goals or at the very least contribute through assists.
Cuellar on the other hand was limited in his chances and always defended stoically.He may well have been a limited player distributing the ball but no more so than Collins.

[ozzjim]

If we are still going to make a loss, despite getting a significant sum off the wage bill over the last 18 months, (Carew, Sidwell, NRC, YOung, Milner, Downing, Friedel, Ireland for 6 months of the season, Salifou, others I am sure) with less players coming in on possibly less money in some instances, then we are in big, big trouble. Assuming we pull in around 80 million or so, plus 25 million plus PROFIT in transfer fees on top, then what the hell is the money going on! What the hell are we paying people, and who on earth are we employing behind the scenes, and finally how much is Randy taking out of it all? Just all a bit mad.

[pelty]

Cheers for the insight Pelty. I don't have an issue with Randy pulling back on expenditure, its the apparent indecent haste that rankles with me.

It is one thing to appoint an unpopular choice like McLeish but to hang him out to dry with how little we have reinforced the squad seems very unfair to me.

We have a saying over here that you, don't throw the baby out with the bath water, and I have a horrible feeling that this is where things are going with how quick we are cutting.

If we get half the injuries we had last year with the current squad we are in the cart for another long and less than enjoyable season.

I find nothing to disagree with here. I am very concerned about this, too...

[saunders_heroes]

Cheers for the insight Pelty. I don't have an issue with Randy pulling back on expenditure, its the apparent indecent haste that rankles with me.

It is one thing to appoint an unpopular choice like McLeish but to hang him out to dry with how little we have reinforced the squad seems very unfair to me.

We have a saying over here that you, don't throw the baby out with the bath water, and I have a horrible feeling that this is where things are going with how quick we are cutting.

If we get half the injuries we had last year with the current squad we are in the cart for another long and less than enjoyable season.

I find nothing to disagree with here. I am very concerned about this, too...

Well thanks for cheering us all up, Pelty! :-(

[VillaZogmariner]

If there is money available for transfer fees, why can't part of this be used to fund players wages?

For example (and I really am plucking these figures from thin air).

104 weeks @ £20k/week = £2,080,000

Add in a signing on fee and bonuses then you're probably looking at £3.5m

I'm pretty sure there will be more than that available as a transfer fee.

[pelty]

Well thanks for cheering us all up, Pelty! :-(

Sorry! Not trying to be a downer, but it is a dangerous game being played, I think (I am not alone in this, obviously). Again, it is easy to say when it is not my money and I have not already sunk a bunch of capital into the club...

[Risso]

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.

[cheltenhamlion]

As you may have noticed with my articles in the fanzine, and we have some mutual friends I might add, I have always defended the board and in particular what your old fella says. I get the feeling he has been sold a pup of late.

I have met him a few times and know he is an honourable guy. Let's see how it plays out but it might be worth a word with Randy at the next family BBQ about having a few bob up his sleeve come January wherever we sit in the table!

Particularly looking at the horrific run of games in December we have that leads into it.

[Lizz]

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.

Tribunals don't work like that though. It only needs one process not complied with, and the complainant's dismissal will automatically be judged to be unfair.

[ozzjim]

It is an incredible world. Teh obligations must be managerial and staff pay outs at various levels, but the amount has never been disclosed, but for them to have such a large sway on the competitive nature of the team on the pitch (2-3 players from being a very decent side still) then it would appear the process being deemed unfair has resulted in a larger pay off than we thought or feared. Only in football.

[cheltenhamlion]

To be fair I have been chief prosecution witness for us when you would like nothing more than to manfully beat your cock round the head of an opposition briefs head to try and knock some sense into them. Tribunals don't work like that.