50% Villa: Assou-Ekotto on not becoming us

[Risso]

I don't give a shit what this guy says. Anyone who plays for Tottingham automatically becomes persona non grata for me anyway;

Agree. 

The fawning over Spurs for the last few days has been back to it's usual sickening best.  They beat QPR at home, that's QPR , not Barcelona, not Real Madrid, not even anyone half decent.

Well, they've just also beaten Arsenal and Liverpool if that makes it any easier to stand.  They're better than us in pretty well every department, on and off the pitch, sad to say.

[PaulTheVillan]

Spurs are a very good side. They've got the perfect balance to their midfield & Redknapp plays square pegs in square holes.

What we need.

[Mr Diggles]

Walker blossomed with us on his watch too. Shame Spurs seem to be getting the benefit of that. 

I agree with most of the thinking about Houllier and the potential advantages we may have had in terms of incoming talent, but comments like this one above always make me laugh. It seems to conveniently ignore the fact that he is a Spurs player for whom they padi money for. I think it was Villa who got the benefit of being able to play him for a year. Spurs bought the 'benefit' or the priviledge to play him after all. I know we're all fans, but do we have to be such one-eyed and jingoistic fans of Villa?

[Mr Diggles]

I don't give a shit what this guy says. Anyone who plays for Tottingham automatically becomes persona non grata for me anyway;

Agree. 

The fawning over Spurs for the last few days has been back to it's usual sickening best.  They beat QPR at home, that's QPR , not Barcelona, not Real Madrid, not even anyone half decent.

Well, they've just also beaten Arsenal and Liverpool if that makes it any easier to stand.  They're better than us in pretty well every department, on and off the pitch, sad to say.

And they are a bigger club at present if we're honest. They are looking to build a 60k or thereabouts stadium ,and would most likely be able to fill it. Our average crowd this season is just over half that. Sad but true. Randy's policies arereally beginning to bear fruit.

[KevinGage]

Walker blossomed with us on his watch too. Shame Spurs seem to be getting the benefit of that. 

I agree with most of the thinking about Houllier and the potential advantages we may have had in terms of incoming talent, but comments like this one above always make me laugh. It seems to conveniently ignore the fact that he is a Spurs player for whom they padi money for. I think it was Villa who got the benefit of being able to play him for a year. Spurs bought the 'benefit' or the priviledge to play him after all. I know we're all fans, but do we have to be such one-eyed and jingoistic fans of Villa?

I don't see as particularly jingoistic to suggest that Spurs did better out of the loan than we did.   For them -at the time he was shipped out to first QPR and then us-  he was third choice right back.   Behind Corluka and Hutton. Little over 12 months later- and after a spell of good form under GH- he's first choice.

Good form in the Championship is one thing, but it was probably seeing him in a run of PL games back to back (for us) that convinced Tottingham he was ready.  That's all I meant,  so I don't see how it can be misconstrued as a dig at them.  You'll know when I'm mocking them. I do it often enough.

[brian green]

If George Papandreou does not get his P45 from Angela Merkel tonight there is a very good chance the proposed referendum in Greece would result in Greece going back to the drachma.   It would be interesting to know what Jean II Makoun's loan contract says about paying his wages.   He could be coming back sooner than we think.

[KevinGage]

That particular shitstorm will have a profound effect on football across the continent- as you mentioned earlier Brian.   Or will football somehow manage to insulate itself from the real world again?

[Dave]

Most of them went for pretty modest fees (by English standards).   Spahic went for 2 million Euros, Cabaye closer to 4 million et.c

That's assuming that we could afford those players, and that they'd have wanted to play for us.

Well if we assume that we spent the best part of £10m on N'Zogbia and are paying substantial wages for him and for Jenas on loan, I'm pretty certain the total outlay for those two is considerably more than it would have cost us for Cabaye and say, Drenthe on loan.

Two players who play in exactly the same positions for less money, neither of whom eventually went to a team who would be any more attractive than us.

The benefits of having a competent scouting network as opposed to just buying that bloke who played quite well against us last season.

[Toronto Villa]

Houllier severely rocked the boat and pissed off a number of players but his philosophy has seen him succeed as a manager over his career. Players come and go, even the really loyal ones like Gabby. Personally I'd rather be left with the memories of trophies and achievement than anyone player. I liked the way we were starting to play, the players we we were linked with and the fact he was very keen on bringing through the kids. Shame we didn't see the end result.

[KevinGage]

Agreed TV.

And even if GH wasn't the right guy - a point I wouldn't necessarily disagree with, heart scare or not-  that type of approach from someone else (minus the horrific people skills and PR) would have made more sense than back to meat and potatoes with Big Eck.

There was some serious value knocking about last summer, some of the earlier names in this thread and the likes of Capel to Sporting Lisbon for 3 million Euro, Van Wolfswinkel to the same club for 5 million, Witsel to Benfica for near enough the same figure and countless free transfers. Not castigating the club for not getting these exact names - no guarantee that they'd have come even if we wanted them.

But it's an illustration of what value can be found when you broaden the search a little.

[Risso]

Houllier severely rocked the boat and pissed off a number of players but his philosophy has seen him succeed as a manager over his career. Players come and go, even the really loyal ones like Gabby. Personally I'd rather be left with the memories of trophies and achievement than anyone player. I liked the way we were starting to play, the players we we were linked with and the fact he was very keen on bringing through the kids. Shame we didn't see the end result.

The way we played under Houllier was shit, the only foreign player he signed was Makoun who was distinctly underwhelming, and my dead nan could have suggested signing Darren Bent.  The end result would have been another relegation struggle, for sure.

[brian green]

I was and remain critical of Houllier because he was the wrong man at the wrong time but in fairness to him, though he was his own worst enemy, he did inherit a fuck you can't train won't train can't diet won't diet can't move house won't move house hard drinking hard smoking core of troublemakers in the dressing room which Alex McLeish is still trying to bring in line.

[Eigentor]

This has to be taken with a pinch of salt as it comes from a Houllier 'supporter', but apparently the Frenchman was 'shocked' to find that the attitudes and culture at Villa Park in 2010 was largely the same as that at Anfield in 1999.

I agree with Kevin Gage, Houllier was the right idea but not necessarily the right man. And I don't agree that the football we played was shit. It was inconsistent, but in glimpses we played some of the best I've seen Villa play for years. More of that would have been nice. As mentioned by someone else on another thread, if all we can is float along, at least let's play some decent football.

[Dante Lavelli]

It's a small and tenuous thing but as The General said imagine what McLeish could do if backed by the manager.  Well hopefully the appointment of Numan in addition to that bloke who was with him in Birmingham means that his scouting will be that small amount wider.  Meaning that Villa can charm Holland and maybe Belgium in the same way Newcastle have France.

Little things and all that.

[Risso]

This has to be taken with a pinch of salt as it comes from a Houllier 'supporter', but apparently the Frenchman was 'shocked' to find that the attitudes and culture at Villa Park in 2010 was largely the same as that at Anfield in 1999.

I agree with Kevin Gage, Houllier was the right idea but not necessarily the right man. And I don't agree that the football we played was shit. It was inconsistent, but in glimpses we played some of the best I've seen Villa play for years. More of that would have been nice. As mentioned by someone else on another thread, if all we can is float along, at least let's play some decent football.

What games were they then Eigentor?  We were absolute gash for almost the entire year, and the theory about Houllier improving our football is as much of an ideological fantasy as is the idea that he was excellent in the transfer market and would bring us lots of exciting foreign talent.