At home but where is the comfort?

[Navin R Johnson]

This thread seems to underscore the acceptance that we will never be a top club again.   A job of work seems to have been done on all of us to lower our expectations and we have gone along with it.

Even in the darkest days of the Third Division we all believed that Villa would rise again and we did.   When Ellis went and Lerner took over we believed Villa would rise again and until Stoke it looked on the cards that we would.

At some point the owner and the board decided that the books had to be balanced and that brought with it mid table Premiership survival and that is what we were sold.   The amazing thing is that we seem to have bought it without demur.

If I were given the choice of re-living my years of Villa support and instead of having relegation into the third tier as a lowest point and the winning of the European Cup as the highest I could have seventy years of first tier tedious mediocrity, it would be a no brainer.   I would choose the former without a moment's hesitation.

Our collective belief that Aston Villa will always rise again has been replaced with wet dreams of Qatari billionaire buyers.

I have often mused on the exact point at which the club lost its way.   It may have been the instant MON flounced out but I tend to think it was the moment the owner became pissed off with the board getting pelters for not finding a replacement for Houllier and took his private jet to Corsica to sign up TSM effectively to bin all dreams of greatness in favour of controlled income and expenditure.   Just my view of things.

[eastie]

He was a dour pundit too - one of the worst I've seen .

[eastie]

This thread seems to underscore the acceptance that we will never be a top club again.   A job of work seems to have been done on all of us to lower our expectations and we have gone along with it.

Even in the darkest days of the Third Division we all believed that Villa would rise again and we did.   When Ellis went and Lerner took over we believed Villa would rise again and until Stoke it looked on the cards that we would.

At some point the owner and the board decided that the books had to be balanced and that brought with it mid table Premiership survival and that is what we were sold.   The amazing thing is that we seem to have bought it without demur.

If I were given the choice of re-living my years of Villa support and instead of having relegation into the third tier as a lowest point and the winning of the European Cup as the highest I could have seventy years of first tier tedious mediocrity, it would be a no brainer.   I would choose the former without a moment's hesitation.

Our collective belief that Aston Villa will always rise again has been replaced with wet dreams of Qatari billionaire buyers.

I have often mused on the exact point at which the club lost its way.   It may have been the instant MON flounced out but I tend to think it was the moment the owner became pissed off with the board getting pelters for not finding a replacement for Houllier and took his private jet to Corsica to sign up TSM effectively to bin all dreams of greatness in favour of controlled income and expenditure.   Just my view of things.

Like i said randy doesnt have a bottomless pot of cash , he has spent fortunes since arriving , sadly we got close to the top 4 but not quite there.

I cannot blame him for tightening his belt - we are in the same boat as many clubs , and midtable is where it's at for the foreseeable future.

At least we have our memories of glorious triumphs and trophies , that's more than most have .

Regarding lowering expectations , sadly the game has changed and the rich get richer .

[KevinGage]

This thread seems to underscore the acceptance that we will never be a top club again.   A job of work seems to have been done on all of us to lower our expectations and we have gone along with it.

Even in the darkest days of the Third Division we all believed that Villa would rise again and we did.   When Ellis went and Lerner took over we believed Villa would rise again and until Stoke it looked on the cards that we would.

At some point the owner and the board decided that the books had to be balanced and that brought with it mid table Premiership survival and that is what we were sold.   The amazing thing is that we seem to have bought it without demur.

If I were given the choice of re-living my years of Villa support and instead of having relegation into the third tier as a lowest point and the winning of the European Cup as the highest I could have seventy years of first tier tedious mediocrity, it would be a no brainer.   I would choose the former without a moment's hesitation.

Our collective belief that Aston Villa will always rise again has been replaced with wet dreams of Qatari billionaire buyers.

I have often mused on the exact point at which the club lost its way.   It may have been the instant MON flounced out but I tend to think it was the moment the owner became pissed off with the board getting pelters for not finding a replacement for Houllier and took his private jet to Corsica to sign up TSM effectively to bin all dreams of greatness in favour of controlled income and expenditure.   Just my view of things.

The Marlon F Harewood signing for me. 

Not the owers fault (that particular signing) but the first illustration that the guy making football decisions might not be all he's cracked up to be. 

We went on to have a decent season, of course. 

But looking back, that two year period (2007-09)  was our window of opportunity.  Had we frontloaded the spending then (rather than an average spread of circa £20 million per year over 6 years) or acquired more players that got the rest of the country talking, we might have gained enough of an advantage to stay ahead of the pack. 

[eastie]

Where did it all go wrong ? For me there are 2 key moments of mons  reign that were pivotal-

1- The fiasco in Moscow - to play so many games to reach that stage and then put out a weak side was unforgivable , and the following draw with stoke only added to the distress.

2- The decision by dowd  not to send off vidic - had we won that final it would have been silverware and European qualification and we may well have finished the season with a flourish .

Just to add also - the signing of heskey rather than bent also contributed.

[Navin R Johnson]

When a lad as staunch as you are eastie accepts the status quo, I know my suspicions are well founded.

I do not fault Lerner at all.   I think any normal billionaire would have done the same in his position.   It is not his cash I want Villa to have, it is his heart.

I do not accept that football greatness can be bought with money alone.   Tiny little nations with GDPs less than a US state have forged national sides to hold their own at the highest level, often from scratch.

Ten years ago if you had said that Britain would have back to back winners of the Tour de France within the decade you would have been laughed at.   Yes cycling has had a big injection of money but the real sea change in British bike riding has been planning and self belief.

Villa will rise again one day but it will not be done surfing a wave of oil money, it will happen because we believe it will happen.

[eastie]

I hope you are right Brian , as we all want the club to be successful - the game has changed for the worse in recent years and is not the game i once loved - it is now too much about money and players rarely have the passion and loyalty for clubs we used to take for granted.

I share your hopes and wishes for the future but I think it may be a long time before they come to fruition - In some ways I wish the sky 5 would fuck off and form a European league so we can compete for England's finest trophies again .

[olaftab]

If I were given the choice of re-living my years of Villa support and instead of having relegation into the third tier as a lowest point and the winning of the European Cup as the highest I could have seventy years of first tier tedious mediocrity, it would be a no brainer.   I would choose the former without a moment's hesitation.

Yes same here. Started right at the bottom when we were relegated into the third. Had this undeniable belief that we were a great club and and we would rise. Rise we did. Winning 2 league cups and culminating in the Championship 81 and Champion's cup a year later. So why is it that a great football club from a big city with great support is no longer competing with the best?

[eastie]

If I were given the choice of re-living my years of Villa support and instead of having relegation into the third tier as a lowest point and the winning of the European Cup as the highest I could have seventy years of first tier tedious mediocrity, it would be a no brainer.   I would choose the former without a moment's hesitation.

Yes same here. Started right at the bottom when we were relegated into the third. Had this undeniable belief that we were a great club and and we would rise. Rise we did. Winning 2 league cups and culminating in the Championship 81 and Champion's cup a year later. So why is it that a great football club from a big city with great support is no longer competing with the best?

Money is a huge reason - look at the incomes of those sides and owners - the champions league is a cash magnet and the best players want to play there.

[russon]

We need an old school captain who demands respect from team-mates and opponents alike, he needs to be a reducer of the Stuart Pearce ilk.

We also need strikers who have an understanding of the game, not headless chickens like Weimann with all the composure of a stand up comedian on his first night.

We have too many young players staring into the headlights like startled rabbits, adequate players but only that. Lambert is accountable, he should have replaced Petrov with someone of similar experience.

Too many players seem bewildered, unrehearsed, lacking in nouse, enthusiastic but naive. Baker, Weimann, Westwood. It's not beyond hope, they can take heart from Delph who's maturing nicely (apart from his pathetic quest for yellow card record breaking status, most of his bookings are just brainless).

We need blood and snotters, experienced pros and composure.

[olaftab]

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.

I hate him I really do. At every opportunity he has been totally derogatory about the club who made him into a great player. The fact that he achieved fuck all after leaving us  has barely dawned on him. He is a complete wanker who can piss off to the the other end of universe  for all I care.

[Navin R Johnson]

I am right eastie.   We are living through a phase when the belief that money can buy anything is regarded as indisputable.   Money does not generate success, it generates failure ultimately.   Man City are the lab rats in this test.   They have unlimited money.   Has the level of their success been in direct proportion to the money they have spent?  No.   Are their fans any happier?  No.   Can they beat a screwed up bunch of kids from B6?  No.   Will their arab owners grow bored with them and buy Red Bull Racing?   Probably.   What about that pillar of football history and tradition Chelsea?   Well, the Communists got over 25% of the popular vote in a massively rigged election.  Let them get a whiff of a return to power in Russia and the oligarchs will all be living with their bullion under the pavements of Zurich.  Man U?   A  bubble of debt waiting to go pop.

Kids with no shoes on their feet playing with a rag ball in South Africa is the future of football.   Sky and their ilk are fleas on the back of football.   Nothing more.

[eastie]

I am right eastie.   We are living through a phase when the belief that money can buy anything is regarded as indisputable.   Money does not generate success, it generates failure ultimately.   Man City are the lab rats in this test.   They have unlimited money.   Has the level of their success been in direct proportion to the money they have spent?  No.   Are their fans any happier?  No.   Can they beat a screwed up bunch of kids from B6?  No.   Will their arab owners grow bored with them and buy Red Bull Racing?   Probably.   What about that pillar of football history and tradition Chelsea?   Well, the Communists got over 25% of the popular vote in a massively rigged election.  Let them get a whiff of a return to power in Russia and the oligarchs will all be living with their bullion under the pavements of Zurich.  Man U?   A  bubble of debt waiting to go pop.

Kids with no shoes on their feet playing with a rag ball in South Africa is the future of football.   Sky and their ilk are fleas on the back of football.   Nothing more.

Good post indeed , can almost feel your passion and heart as you write - truly excellent.
All reigns come to an end as Man U are finding out now , and Liverpool found after dalglish departed.
The day avramovich leaves Chelsea will be a day for real football fans to rejoice.

[olaftab]

Bravo. NRJ your pst gives me hope.

[danno]

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.

I hate him I really do. At every opportunity he has been totally derogatory about the club who made him into a great player. The fact that he achieved fuck all after leaving us  has barely dawned on him. He is a complete wanker who can piss off to the the other end of universe  for all I care.

Won the league with Arsenal in 98 I think.