At home but where is the comfort?

[VillaAlways]

Where is Schteve managing now?

Derby isn't it ?

[KevinGage]

Almost the same question as why are we so poor at home is why do so many players fail to give their best to the Villa.

I was thinking about this a few evenings back when I was watching Cameroon in the Africa play offs for Rio.   Makoun was excellent, a driving box to box dynamo absolutely unrecognizable as the player who turned out for us.   Maloney is another one.   We were told he wanted to go back to Scotland but plays out of his skin for Wigan.   Southgate, Ugo, Boateng, Craig Gardner, Gary Cahill, Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Platt, Andy Gray, the list  of those who would rather not have their names associated with Villa goes on.   Even club greats like Mortimer and Yorke can only say a few fairly friendly word about us when they are paid to give a bit of Villa balance in a match panel.   Are we an unfriendly club?   Why do so many players turn nasty on us?

There are of course notable exceptions like Sid and Stanley Victor and Martin and Olof but you get the feeling that to many players we are easy to hate.   Even Stylian chose to have his big charity game in green and white hoops not in a Villa shirt.  Perhaps that is why performances at home are so bad.   Perhaps the players do not particularly like us.

I dunno.

Townsend was a popular Chelsea player and captain, yet he still talks about the Villa as we and us.  Rambo played for one of the biggest clubs in Scotland, but to listen to him, Villa seems to be his club.

Yorke (in his defence) does seem fond of the Villa, but players like Ray Houghton, Mark Bosnich, Andy Gray and a few others seem to gloss over their time at the club very quickly. 

Some of it clearly depends on the success they've had elsewhere.   But maybe we're over analysing the thing.  Maybe Bosnich, Houghton, Gray and co are just twats.

My simple minded view is we haven't got very good players.

I'm increasingly inclined to agree with you

We've got some very good players (Benteke, Guzan), we've got a lot of average Premier League players, and we've got some poor players.  We've probably got an average-to-below average Premier League team and squad (although I worry a lot at how we'd fair without Benteke!).  We'll probably finish lower mid-table which is slightly better than last year.  Lambert's record so far suggests that given time he'll improve us again next season.

Short of throwing a billion pounds at the squad I don't really see what some fans expect.  Man City have spent over £500m and didn't win the league last year.  Is chucking lots of money at the problem really the answer (and think really hard about the MON years before you answer that!)?

Adam, I think you've said exactly the same thing except in more detail, we haven't got very good players. I have no expectations any more and that's the killer. I used to expect us to finish top 6 minimum (and I'm not talking about the MON era, that is one small speck in my Villa following history and is not my baseline for reference purposes at all), now it's all about whether we can finish closer to 8th than 12th. And that's what it has come to more or less...

It's sad to think that our status is probably lower now than it was in 2005, and I don't recall that era with particular fondness. 

Martin Samuel - by no means pro Villa- wrote a piece at the end of the 04/05 campaign saying no club in the topflight has more potential to soar up the table than Aston Villla.  This was pre Lerner takeover, remember.  When it wasn't clear how much money (if any) we'd be likely to spend. 

During that same season, the then England manager advised a (fake) Sheikh to buy Aston Villa, and install him as manager.

We have always been capable of gross underachievment, and we've been no strangers to a mid table finish or even an occasional relegation battle post WWII.  But there was a feeling -amongst Villa fans and people in the game at a whole- that we were one of the few sides who could break the monopoly at the top, with a bit of forward momentum.

I don't think that holds anymore. 

I'm reluctant to criticise RL too much, as the sums he has put into the club far outweigh his predecessor.   But has the overall strategy been correct?  If our status is lower now than when he took over then no, whichever way you want to cut it. 

[eastie]

Randy gave it his best shot under mon and came close to the top 4 , however there has been the financial crash during his reign plus a divorce settlement, which will have taken a lot from the coffers.

He realises that now to reach the top 4 would take huge investment with no guarantee of success , I cannot blame him if he is content for the club to around the middle of the premiership in all fairness.

[Dave Clark Five]

Randy gave it his best shit under mon.

Open goal, Eastie!

[eastie]

Randy gave it his best shit under mon.

Open goal, Eastie!

Predictive text dc5

[Ads]

Where is Schteve managing now?

Derby isn't it ?

Exactly.

[dave.woodhall]

Almost the same question as why are we so poor at home is why do so many players fail to give their best to the Villa.

I was thinking about this a few evenings back when I was watching Cameroon in the Africa play offs for Rio.   Makoun was excellent, a driving box to box dynamo absolutely unrecognizable as the player who turned out for us.   Maloney is another one.   We were told he wanted to go back to Scotland but plays out of his skin for Wigan.   Southgate, Ugo, Boateng, Craig Gardner, Gary Cahill, Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Platt, Andy Gray, the list  of those who would rather not have their names associated with Villa goes on.   Even club greats like Mortimer and Yorke can only say a few fairly friendly word about us when they are paid to give a bit of Villa balance in a match panel.   Are we an unfriendly club?   Why do so many players turn nasty on us?

There are of course notable exceptions like Sid and Stanley Victor and Martin and Olof but you get the feeling that to many players we are easy to hate.   Even Stylian chose to have his big charity game in green and white hoops not in a Villa shirt.  Perhaps that is why performances at home are so bad.   Perhaps the players do not particularly like us.

That's totally wrong. Most of those players left for one reason or another but none of them, with the possible exception of Platt, have been anything other than complimentary to the club and he's always been like that. Stiliyan had his game at Celtic because they organised it; he'd have one at Villa if we did the same. Others will talk endlessly about the Villa, they play for the ex-players teams and the number of our former players who either remained or moved back to the region once they retired says everything about their feelings. 

[edgysatsuma89]

Almost the same question as why are we so poor at home is why do so many players fail to give their best to the Villa.

I was thinking about this a few evenings back when I was watching Cameroon in the Africa play offs for Rio.   Makoun was excellent, a driving box to box dynamo absolutely unrecognizable as the player who turned out for us.   Maloney is another one.   We were told he wanted to go back to Scotland but plays out of his skin for Wigan.   Southgate, Ugo, Boateng, Craig Gardner, Gary Cahill, Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Platt, Andy Gray, the list  of those who would rather not have their names associated with Villa goes on.   Even club greats like Mortimer and Yorke can only say a few fairly friendly word about us when they are paid to give a bit of Villa balance in a match panel.   Are we an unfriendly club?   Why do so many players turn nasty on us?

There are of course notable exceptions like Sid and Stanley Victor and Martin and Olof but you get the feeling that to many players we are easy to hate.   Even Stylian chose to have his big charity game in green and white hoops not in a Villa shirt.  Perhaps that is why performances at home are so bad.   Perhaps the players do not particularly like us.

That's totally wrong. Most of those players left for one reason or another but none of them, with the possible exception of Platt, have been anything other than complimentary to the club and he's always been like that. Stiliyan had his game at Celtic because they organised it; he'd have one at Villa if we did the same. Others will talk endlessly about the Villa, they play for the ex-players teams and the number of our former players who either remained or moved back to the region once they retired says everything about their feelings.

I'm too young to know anything about Platt playing for us, but has he 'bad mouthed' us since leaving? Just curious, I simply don't like his face, but any other reason to think he is a bell end I will accept with open arms.

[dave.woodhall]

Almost the same question as why are we so poor at home is why do so many players fail to give their best to the Villa.

I was thinking about this a few evenings back when I was watching Cameroon in the Africa play offs for Rio.   Makoun was excellent, a driving box to box dynamo absolutely unrecognizable as the player who turned out for us.   Maloney is another one.   We were told he wanted to go back to Scotland but plays out of his skin for Wigan.   Southgate, Ugo, Boateng, Craig Gardner, Gary Cahill, Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Platt, Andy Gray, the list  of those who would rather not have their names associated with Villa goes on.   Even club greats like Mortimer and Yorke can only say a few fairly friendly word about us when they are paid to give a bit of Villa balance in a match panel.   Are we an unfriendly club?   Why do so many players turn nasty on us?

There are of course notable exceptions like Sid and Stanley Victor and Martin and Olof but you get the feeling that to many players we are easy to hate.   Even Stylian chose to have his big charity game in green and white hoops not in a Villa shirt.  Perhaps that is why performances at home are so bad.   Perhaps the players do not particularly like us.

That's totally wrong. Most of those players left for one reason or another but none of them, with the possible exception of Platt, have been anything other than complimentary to the club and he's always been like that. Stiliyan had his game at Celtic because they organised it; he'd have one at Villa if we did the same. Others will talk endlessly about the Villa, they play for the ex-players teams and the number of our former players who either remained or moved back to the region once they retired says everything about their feelings.

I'm too young to know anything about Platt playing for us, but has he 'bad mouthed' us since leaving? Just curious, I simply don't like his face, but any other reason to think he is a bell end I will accept with open arms.

He hasn't said anything, he just, well, hasn't said anything.

[saunders_heroes]

I don't remember Platt ever bad mouthing us, he just doesn't sing our praises at every opportunity like other ex players do.
Still one of my favourite Villa players ever though.

[edgysatsuma89]

Almost the same question as why are we so poor at home is why do so many players fail to give their best to the Villa.

I was thinking about this a few evenings back when I was watching Cameroon in the Africa play offs for Rio.   Makoun was excellent, a driving box to box dynamo absolutely unrecognizable as the player who turned out for us.   Maloney is another one.   We were told he wanted to go back to Scotland but plays out of his skin for Wigan.   Southgate, Ugo, Boateng, Craig Gardner, Gary Cahill, Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Platt, Andy Gray, the list  of those who would rather not have their names associated with Villa goes on.   Even club greats like Mortimer and Yorke can only say a few fairly friendly word about us when they are paid to give a bit of Villa balance in a match panel.   Are we an unfriendly club?   Why do so many players turn nasty on us?

There are of course notable exceptions like Sid and Stanley Victor and Martin and Olof but you get the feeling that to many players we are easy to hate.   Even Stylian chose to have his big charity game in green and white hoops not in a Villa shirt.  Perhaps that is why performances at home are so bad.   Perhaps the players do not particularly like us.

That's totally wrong. Most of those players left for one reason or another but none of them, with the possible exception of Platt, have been anything other than complimentary to the club and he's always been like that. Stiliyan had his game at Celtic because they organised it; he'd have one at Villa if we did the same. Others will talk endlessly about the Villa, they play for the ex-players teams and the number of our former players who either remained or moved back to the region once they retired says everything about their feelings.

I'm too young to know anything about Platt playing for us, but has he 'bad mouthed' us since leaving? Just curious, I simply don't like his face, but any other reason to think he is a bell end I will accept with open arms.

He hasn't said anything, he just, well, hasn't said anything.

Ooooh right. Like an ex you never talk about. Bell end. I can't stand Mancini, so he is guilty by association to me.

[eastie]

Platt is a strange one , we took him from lowly Crewe and graham Taylor played a huge part in helping him become the player he was - he left us as a World Cup star and has barely mentioned his time here ever since - ungrateful sod.

[SoccerHQ]

Platt never had a good word to say about us when he used to do Sky punditry years ago. What I found amusing was he couldn't stop going on about how wonderful Man. United were despite them releasing him at 16. I wonder if he changed that viewpoint when Man. City got him to work with Mancini?

[KevinGage]

Spoonface hasn't come out and said we're all a bunch of cxnts, if that's what you mean. And that he hated every moment of his time at VP. But whenever he did co-commentary work in the past, it sounded like a chore to him just to discuss us.  Getting players names wrong and sounding years behind the times.

He'd come out with the kind of lazy, half arsed comments that you'd expect from Lawro, who clearly doesn't watch us (or any other team apart from the Redscouse) for more than 10 minutes.  It's not compulsory, but as an ex player who enjoyed a relatively successful period at the club, it might be hoped he'd have a bit of affinity for the place.  And might have a vague idea about how we play and who our current players are, if we're really pushing the boat out. 

Publicly encouraging Yorke and Barry to move probably hasn't done him too many favours either.

[dave.woodhall]

Platt never had a good word to say about us when he used to do Sky punditry years ago. What I found amusing was he couldn't stop going on about how wonderful Man. United were despite them releasing him at 16. I wonder if he changed that viewpoint when Man. City got him to work with Mancini?

I met a Crewe steward once who said he was like that when he left them - as soon as he signed for Villa he forgot all about where he'd left.