Ian Taylor left out of tour...

[TheEgo]

Lee Hendrie enjoying his ambassadorial role:

http://bit.ly/1mtnq8P

and he is still orange!

Was that Benteke in the cap?

Good to see Kozak over there aswell, keep the injured lads involved and part of stuff.

I think Kozak isn't that far away from being fit. I know he's training, just too early for actual matches. As you say, good to keep them involved.

[TheEgo]

I said I can SEE it from Lambert's perspective, but it's not black and white and I don't need to make my mind up, I can think and see both sides. He may be right, but for me it makes him look sensitive to any sort of criticism, that's what fans and journos are now saying on twitter. Taylor only said what lambert himself said at the end of the season. Not good enough, must improve etc etc

Rather than talking about a positive tour and how that will help preparations, people are now taking about this. IMO could of been handled better. It's all about opinions though...

Where do you draw the line at what should and shouldn't be discussed - every bit of gossip? Every unverified transfer story? As Damo said, what kind of story is "Minor club official can't meet fans?" Lee Hendrie has said that Taylor can't make the trip and unless he himself says otherwise then that's fair enough.

You could add that the club cannot be expected to cover every social media network and fans website 24/7 ........ or do we?  I am getting tired of 'non news' being magnified, dissected and twisted to suit any given 'opinion', just because the club do not communicate on everything. 

I think that's a fair point, however I know they monitor twitter at the very least, so if you've got national journos making comments then it may be worth a quick tweet to clarify the situation and put to bed any unsubstantiated gossip.

[Ron Manager]

At some stage of the tour Hendrie will stagger up to Mr Keane, at the bar, and slur 'I woz as good as yeuw y'know'

Mr Keane will give him a very long stare and then turn his back on the orange tanned one.

[dave.woodhall]

I said I can SEE it from Lambert's perspective, but it's not black and white and I don't need to make my mind up, I can think and see both sides. He may be right, but for me it makes him look sensitive to any sort of criticism, that's what fans and journos are now saying on twitter. Taylor only said what lambert himself said at the end of the season. Not good enough, must improve etc etc

Rather than talking about a positive tour and how that will help preparations, people are now taking about this. IMO could of been handled better. It's all about opinions though...

Where do you draw the line at what should and shouldn't be discussed - every bit of gossip? Every unverified transfer story? As Damo said, what kind of story is "Minor club official can't meet fans?" Lee Hendrie has said that Taylor can't make the trip and unless he himself says otherwise then that's fair enough.

In your opinion. We have differing ones. I've read 4 tweets from national journos now, all slating Lambert, so whilst you consider it a non story (and maybe it is) it's making waves on twitter and therefore again IMO it would be Brian Doogan's role to say something and not Lee Hendries. You're a clever guy. Do you not think Taylor would of tweeted something if it wasn't true? So for me it's not about discussing things, that's for us lot to do as fans in places like this and on twitter. The club have a responsibilty to handle these matters media matters promptly and have a damage limitation approach. As it is they once again leave themselves wide open to criticism when the focus should be on the positive.

If we're going to say nothing, or leave it to ex players,  I fail to see the point of Doogan.

You could equally say would Taylor have tweeted something if it was true? It strikes me as a story being made out of nothing and exaggerated by a few people who don't like Lambert.

[old man villa fan]

I said I can SEE it from Lambert's perspective, but it's not black and white and I don't need to make my mind up, I can think and see both sides. He may be right, but for me it makes him look sensitive to any sort of criticism, that's what fans and journos are now saying on twitter. Taylor only said what lambert himself said at the end of the season. Not good enough, must improve etc etc

Rather than talking about a positive tour and how that will help preparations, people are now taking about this. IMO could of been handled better. It's all about opinions though...

Where do you draw the line at what should and shouldn't be discussed - every bit of gossip? Every unverified transfer story? As Damo said, what kind of story is "Minor club official can't meet fans?" Lee Hendrie has said that Taylor can't make the trip and unless he himself says otherwise then that's fair enough.

You could add that the club cannot be expected to cover every social media network and fans website 24/7 ........ or do we?  I am getting tired of 'non news' being magnified, dissected and twisted to suit any given 'opinion', just because the club do not communicate on everything. 

I think that's a fair point, however I know they monitor twitter at the very least, so if you've got national journos making comments then it may be worth a quick tweet to clarify the situation and put to bed any unsubstantiated gossip.

The media are out there to make comments to get reactions from clubs so that they get drawn in to create bigger stories.  So much in the media is just guesswork these days, or outright lies, that the club cannot comment on every bit of 'news' related to the club.

[Dante Lavelli]

It's not actually a story is it?  Exclude people chatting on the internet and I doubt anyone is aware of it, so there is no really need for clarifications or statements from the club in my opinion.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Considering Mat "I hate Lambert" Kendrick is going on the tour this week (I assume at the clubs expense as usual) then I think we can infer the story about Tayls is bollocks.

[dave.woodhall]

Exclude people chatting on the internet and I doubt anyone is aware of it

I wonder what percentage of football stories that applies to.

[pauliewalnuts]

Considering Mat "I hate Lambert" Kendrick is going on the tour this week (I assume at the clubs expense as usual) then I think we can infer the story about Tayls is bollocks.

I dunno about that. Kendrick is the Mail's man, not Villa's. It's different.

re Taylor, when he was criticial of the team and manager last season, I was right behind him, glad he'd spoken up and glad he was as pissed off as the rest of us.

However, it can't work both ways, can it? If - if - Lambert has said he doesn't want him on the tour, then that's fair enough, the bloke - whilst working for the club - was pretty critical of him last season.

It's good to hear the likes of Taylor being as angry and disappointed as the rest of us, but really, it can't work both ways. He's either going to speak freely and be as critical publicly as he wants, or he's going to toe the line as a reflection that he's an employee of the club. It can't be both, that's easy to understand.

I like Ian Taylor, he was a decent player, and he was one of us, but I don't think he's a "legend" by any stretch of the imagination, and the whole "you don't treat a legend like that" thing elsewhere is really way, way over the top.

And that's assuming he really was asked to stay at home by Lambert, which is probably not true in the first place.

[Dante Lavelli]

Exclude people chatting on the internet and I doubt anyone is aware of it

I wonder what percentage of football stories that applies to.

huge, I'd have thought.  I have no idea what is occupying spurs fan's minds for example but I bet they're debating something 'important' on their discussion boards too.  It's only when it gets printed or on a few choice websites (bbc/mail/guardian) that it enters the consciousness of other football fans.

[Ron Manager]

Considering Mat "I hate Lambert" Kendrick is going on the tour this week (I assume at the clubs expense as usual) then I think we can infer the story about Tayls is bollocks.

Does the club pay for journalists to go on tour with them?. Isnt that morally wrong as they are not club employees.

[pauliewalnuts]

Exclude people chatting on the internet and I doubt anyone is aware of it

I wonder what percentage of football stories that applies to.

huge, I'd have thought.  I have no idea what is occupying spurs fan's minds for example but I bet they're debating something 'important' on their discussion boards too.  It's only when it gets printed or on a few choice websites (bbc/mail/guardian) that it enters the consciousness of other football fans.

Indeed

Although I can guess precisely what Spurs fans are doing on the internet - being wankers. Which is what they are.

[paul_e]

I said I can SEE it from Lambert's perspective, but it's not black and white and I don't need to make my mind up, I can think and see both sides. He may be right, but for me it makes him look sensitive to any sort of criticism, that's what fans and journos are now saying on twitter. Taylor only said what lambert himself said at the end of the season. Not good enough, must improve etc etc

Rather than talking about a positive tour and how that will help preparations, people are now taking about this. IMO could of been handled better. It's all about opinions though...

Where do you draw the line at what should and shouldn't be discussed - every bit of gossip? Every unverified transfer story? As Damo said, what kind of story is "Minor club official can't meet fans?" Lee Hendrie has said that Taylor can't make the trip and unless he himself says otherwise then that's fair enough.

In your opinion. We have differing ones. I've read 4 tweets from national journos now, all slating Lambert, so whilst you consider it a non story (and maybe it is) it's making waves on twitter and therefore again IMO it would be Brian Doogan's role to say something and not Lee Hendries. You're a clever guy. Do you not think Taylor would of tweeted something if it wasn't true? So for me it's not about discussing things, that's for us lot to do as fans in places like this and on twitter. The club have a responsibilty to handle these matters media matters promptly and have a damage limitation approach. As it is they once again leave themselves wide open to criticism when the focus should be on the positive.

If we're going to say nothing, or leave it to ex players,  I fail to see the point of Doogan.

You could equally say would Taylor have tweeted something if it was true? It strikes me as a story being made out of nothing and exaggerated by a few people who don't like Lambert.

And this is the point, the story, as it's being run, is angled to make Lambert and by extension the club look bad. The Vlaar 'links' and all the references to the bomb squad are to do the same. A lot of the media have had an agenda against the club because Lerner doesn't talk to them which means everything that can be given a negative spin gets jumped on, regardless of how accurate it is.

It's easy to criticise the club for not controlling the media but the reality is we can either take the stance of ignoring almost everything or responding to almost everything.  Villa, like our current owner, have gone for the former, which is a perfectly reasonable stance.

Communications is probably the first area to get slagged when things aren't going well, with the constant "I'm a season ticket holder I deserve to be told about x, y, z" but then if they do announce something it's either wrong or "don't tell me, show me".

For example if the club had said before the flight that Taylor wasn't travelling due to other commitments but a journo already had the story and tweeted it anyway loads of fans would believe the journalist ahead of the club, so why bother?

[pauliewalnuts]

Considering Mat "I hate Lambert" Kendrick is going on the tour this week (I assume at the clubs expense as usual) then I think we can infer the story about Tayls is bollocks.

Does the club pay for journalists to go on tour with them?. Isnt that morally wrong as they are not club employees.

I don't know, but surely it makes more sense to check that something is actually true (Villa paying for Kendrick to go with them) before suggesting it is wrong morally (with the weight that the word 'morally' carries, I mean)?

[dave.woodhall]

Considering Mat "I hate Lambert" Kendrick is going on the tour this week (I assume at the clubs expense as usual) then I think we can infer the story about Tayls is bollocks.

Does the club pay for journalists to go on tour with them?. Isnt that morally wrong as they are not club employees.

Whoever they work for pays.