Just when you think that things couldn't get any worse....

[not3bad]

If there was no money to spend why did lambert admit trying and failing to sign the likes of sissoko? What was he hoping to sign  him with - a dozen boxes of haggis?

The actual fee for Sissoko wasn't all that much more than we ended up paying for Sylla.

The wages and the contract were vastly different though.

[Drummond]

Growing organically is important, for sure. And I think our carbon neutral status will allow us to tap into the key vegan lesbian demographic.

I'm not sure if that would help or hinder attendances.

[Chris Smith]

What i want in the main is to see my side win games, if we win with style all the better but the result means more than the performance .

The days of george grahams boring arsenal grinding out 1-0 wins would suit me as long as we win - we all want to win and score loads of goals with free flowing football but give me a scrappy 1-0 win over a 3-3 draw anyday.

Funny how Allardyce is suddenly flavour of the month when O'Neill was regularly slagged off for his own pragmatic approach.

I suppose options begin to run out after a while for those who serially want the manager sacked. It won't be long before the Pulis bandwagon gets going.

[Dave]

I've not just arrived at this conclusion re Allardyce's style. It's not like he's a fresh faced manager, he's had his teams playing like that for years now, regardless of how much Risso tries to make us believe that Bolton side of his was actually a latter day Brazil 1970.

Bolton played decent football and he assembled a very good collection of footballers there.  Not many teams finish 6th by playing an exclusive brand of Pulis-style hoofball.

You seemed pretty keen to see the back of O'Neill for that reason though and sixth was pretty much where we finished exclusively.

[Risso]

What i want in the main is to see my side win games, if we win with style all the better but the result means more than the performance .

The days of george grahams boring arsenal grinding out 1-0 wins would suit me as long as we win - we all want to win and score loads of goals with free flowing football but give me a scrappy 1-0 win over a 3-3 draw anyday.

Funny how Allardyce is suddenly flavour of the month when O'Neill was regularly slagged off for his own pragmatic approach.

I suppose options begin to run out after a while for those who serially want the manager sacked. It won't be long before the Pulis bandwagon gets going.

The main objection with O'Neill, as you well know, was that he was spending money hand over fist on players who weren't worth the money, and that he appeared to have reached his glass ceiling.  As we were constantly being reassured by the likes of Krulak that money spent and losses weren't a problem, it wasn't unreasonable for Villa fans to hope for a manager that looked capable of taking us the extra step into the top 4.  The fact that we were lied to by the likes of Krulak and the club has since imploded doesn't make that view unreasonable.

[Concrete John]

If there was no money to spend why did lambert admit trying and failing to sign the likes of sissoko? What was he hoping to sign  him with - a dozen boxes of haggis?

The actual fee for Sissoko wasn't all that much more than we ended up paying for Sylla.

The wages and the contract were vastly different though.

That was pretty much what I was getting at.

[LeeB]

Grinding out dull 1-0 wins beats losing 8-0 at the west London rent boys any day of the week. As much as the football is dire at times, I have no doubts at all that Allardyce will keep us up.

Hmm, not too sure about that Sendo, it's not a fair comparison.

For starters, the 8 goal pasting at Chelsea isn't something that's going to happen every week, whereas the dull, grinding, rugby style of Allardyce's management does happen pretty much every week.

The 8-0 doesn't happen every week, but playing badly and losing has happened more weeks than not.  You must watch a lot of West Ham games to know that West Ham play the same style every week. The fact that a decent player like Mark Noble has thrived there suggests that you're doing nothing more than repeating media sterotypes.

Ha, Mark Noble's wank.

By that you mean he didn't have that good a game against us.  I saw a bit of the Spammers game against Norwich, and he was superb, far better than any midfield performance any of our rabble have managed this season.  He's certainly a far better player than the likes of Delph, KEA, Bannan et al.

No, by that I mean Mark Noble's wank, and I wouldn't swap his sub-Sidwell huffing and puffing for any of our lot.

[Risso]

I've not just arrived at this conclusion re Allardyce's style. It's not like he's a fresh faced manager, he's had his teams playing like that for years now, regardless of how much Risso tries to make us believe that Bolton side of his was actually a latter day Brazil 1970.

Bolton played decent football and he assembled a very good collection of footballers there.  Not many teams finish 6th by playing an exclusive brand of Pulis-style hoofball.

You seemed pretty keen to see the back of O'Neill for that reason though and sixth was pretty much where we finished exclusively.

See my reply to Chris for a rebuttal of similar nonsense.

[eastie]

we all want to win and score loads of goals with free flowing football but give me a scrappy 1-0 win over a 3-3 draw anyday.

Strange - MON gave you plenty of those yet you celebrated when he went.

Mon under achieved given the amount of money he spent - there were many good times under him but he had to go .

The mistake was not appointing a suitable replacement at the time.

[Risso]

No, by that I mean Mark Noble's wank, and I wouldn't swap his sub-Sidwell huffing and puffing for any of our lot.

Good lord, I mean fair play to you for sticking to your guns and all, but really, you wouldn't swap him for the likes of KEA, Delph or Bannan?  Honestly? 

[LeeB]

No, by that I mean Mark Noble's wank, and I wouldn't swap his sub-Sidwell huffing and puffing for any of our lot.

Good lord, I mean fair play to you for sticking to your guns and all, but really, you wouldn't swap him for the likes of KEA, Delph or Bannan?  Honestly? 

Yes, with big silver bastard bells on.

I really don't rate him at all.

[Risso]

But you've seen KEA play.  And Bannan.  Anybody worse than those two isn't going to be playing for a Premier League Club in all honesty.

[glasses]

No, by that I mean Mark Noble's wank, and I wouldn't swap his sub-Sidwell huffing and puffing for any of our lot.

Good lord, I mean fair play to you for sticking to your guns and all, but really, you wouldn't swap him for the likes of KEA, Delph or Bannan?  Honestly? 

I wouldn't swap him for Delph at the moment, personally. He has improved a lot and hopefully will continue to.

The other two though. I do like Noble. Collison isn't too shabby either

[LeeB]

But you've seen KEA play.  And Bannan.  Anybody worse than those two isn't going to be playing for a Premier League Club in all honesty.

This the same Mark Noble who was part of their last relegated side, yes? And who now plays in one of two most redundant midfields in the country?

[eastie]

Personally id swap bannan for a pukka pie - would at least get more enjoyment from that.