The underlying problem...

[aj2k77]

Top deck I hear what you say about under achieving mate but at least in the 22 seasons from 1990 to 2011 we finished in the top half 17 times, we were at least consistently decent. Right now we are consistently appalling. I think we are all hurting and frustrated and eventually someone is going to bare the brunt of it, could well be Tim.

[dave.woodhall]

There is a thesis to be written entitled The underlying problem at Aston Villa Football Club.

The truth is that, aside from a glorious trajectory from the mid 70s to the early 80s (and that had its blips along the way) and the odd season here or there, the club has underperformed when measured against its potential since the 1930s.  Yes, for the first time in my supporting life the club has consistently underperformed for a number of seasons on the trot, but that also happened in the late 50s and even more spectacularly in the mid/late 60s. 

I don't know what that history tells us, other than perhaps there is a something deeper in the collective psyche of those that own, run, play for or support the club. A lack of ruthlessness perhaps.  A contentment with just being top dog in the city or wider region.  An acceptance that, like it or not,  just as the city is something of a national joke, then the club has to play its part in the ridicule.   Possibly it is none of those things.  But to lay all the blame for the current malaise at the door of Lerner or Fox or Sherwood or Agbonlahor I think misses the bigger picture.

Newcastle have underachieved even more than we have, ditto pre-sheikh Manchester City and arguably Everton, yet they're all from highly-regarded cities.

[silhillvilla]

At least we will have larger parachute payments if we go down this year and if spent correctly we should come straight back up .

[four fornicholl]

as villa fans(to a tee)
we are in a no win no win
we know whats wrong from top to bottom
the glory days will never be forgotten


keep heads held high and don't forget
we will stay up because we are VILLA


UTV

[Louzie0]

I don't think it's time to throw in the towel just yet.
September?

[silhillvilla]

I don't think it's time to throw in the towel just yet.
September?

Agree, but we need a ray of hope from somewhere fast.

[TopDeck113]

Can't really argue with any of those, Dave.  There are also clubs in London that will fall into that category,  too.   Perhaps the answer is that some clubs have their moments and when it's gone, it's gone, and a few have perpetual success. A success that has become entrenched through the current financial rewards that comes with that success. 

[dave.woodhall]

Can't really argue with any of those, Dave.  There are also clubs in London that will fall into that category,  too.   Perhaps the answer is that some clubs have their moments and when it's gone, it's gone, and a few have perpetual success. A success that has become entrenched through the current financial rewards that comes with that success. 

I can't think of any club that has perpetual success except possibly Arsenal and even they've had periods of mediocrity. The two most widely-known English clubs are Liverpool and Manchester United. Neither of them had massive success until the fifties in the former case and sixties in the latter, and even then they both went 26/26 and counting seasons without winning the league, which given their supporter bases is massive underachievement. League-wise there can't be many club who've outperformed us since we came up in 1975 but the big problem where perception is concerned is that we've only won three domestic trophies in that time. I forget who it was that said it, but clubs such as those two and to a lesser extent Surs can always seem to spawn a trophy when they aren't doing well to keep their profile high.

[martin o`who??]

I can't blame Lerner. Is he disinterested because of personal problems, sure okay. Has he always fronted up cash and given each manager a more than healthy chunk to spend, yes I think he has. He's written off and swallowed the loans the club owes him to help it out. That's really all I can ask of a billionaire owner. He's an easy target because we all know about him and he never speaks. That's his crime apparently.

For me, our CEO's should have done more. Yes perhaps they should not have been appointed but they are the ones with the day to day running of Aston Villa FC. They, either through inaction or inability have allowed Villa to be in this inescapable rut. We've also had a lot of CEOs and that can't be good for stability or for continuity. More nous on the board at Villa and we'd do better I think. We wouldn't just blindly stand by while everything seemingly goes to shit.

i posted during the close season that I felt ultimately Faulkener as CEO should shoulder a lot of the blame for not reigning in Oneills spending spree which effectively broke the club for the foreseeable future, which is where our current problems really began.

[Louzie0]

Perhaps the legend of MON fell apart at Aston Villa and made subsequent employers more aware. It was well and truly alive at the time, though.

I think our current malaise is about not being able to break out of mediocrity and Tim has identified that. He is doing what he thinks is right to break out. I will give him a bit more time to get his vision working.

[Villa in Denmark]

I can't blame Lerner. Is he disinterested because of personal problems, sure okay. Has he always fronted up cash and given each manager a more than healthy chunk to spend, yes I think he has. He's written off and swallowed the loans the club owes him to help it out. That's really all I can ask of a billionaire owner. He's an easy target because we all know about him and he never speaks. That's his crime apparently.

For me, our CEO's should have done more. Yes perhaps they should not have been appointed but they are the ones with the day to day running of Aston Villa FC. They, either through inaction or inability have allowed Villa to be in this inescapable rut. We've also had a lot of CEOs and that can't be good for stability or for continuity. More nous on the board at Villa and we'd do better I think. We wouldn't just blindly stand by while everything seemingly goes to shit.

i posted during the close season that I felt ultimately Faulkener as CEO should shoulder a lot of the blame for not reigning in Oneills spending spree which effectively broke the club for the foreseeable future, which is where our current problems really began.

Problem there was Faulkner was parachuted in with no football experience into a world where MON was king, judge, jury and executioner.  How many other CEO's / attempted DoF's had he already seen off by that point.

I think it was Faulkner finally twigging how fubar the finances were that precipitated the great flounce off.

The overarching theme through all of Lerner's time in charge has been the lack of people who understand football both on and off the pitch other than the first team manager.

The only time we'd got a chance of doing something about it was when Fitzgerald? resigned.  Randy allowed the wrong man to walk away, but there'd have been hell to pay if MON had walked at that point.

[McGraths Dry Cleaning]

No leadership, no vision, no plan.

[Risso]

Can't really argue with any of those, Dave.  There are also clubs in London that will fall into that category,  too.   Perhaps the answer is that some clubs have their moments and when it's gone, it's gone, and a few have perpetual success. A success that has become entrenched through the current financial rewards that comes with that success. 

I can't think of any club that has perpetual success except possibly Arsenal and even they've had periods of mediocrity. The two most widely-known English clubs are Liverpool and Manchester United. Neither of them had massive success until the fifties in the former case and sixties in the latter, and even then they both went 26/26 and counting seasons without winning the league, which given their supporter bases is massive underachievement. League-wise there can't be many club who've outperformed us since we came up in 1975 but the big problem where perception is concerned is that we've only won three domestic trophies in that time. I forget who it was that said it, but clubs such as those two and to a lesser extent Surs can always seem to spawn a trophy when they aren't doing well to keep their profile high.

4 trophies surely.  League cups in 77, 94 and 96, League in 81?

[dave.woodhall]

Can't really argue with any of those, Dave.  There are also clubs in London that will fall into that category,  too.   Perhaps the answer is that some clubs have their moments and when it's gone, it's gone, and a few have perpetual success. A success that has become entrenched through the current financial rewards that comes with that success. 

I can't think of any club that has perpetual success except possibly Arsenal and even they've had periods of mediocrity. The two most widely-known English clubs are Liverpool and Manchester United. Neither of them had massive success until the fifties in the former case and sixties in the latter, and even then they both went 26/26 and counting seasons without winning the league, which given their supporter bases is massive underachievement. League-wise there can't be many club who've outperformed us since we came up in 1975 but the big problem where perception is concerned is that we've only won three domestic trophies in that time. I forget who it was that said it, but clubs such as those two and to a lesser extent Spurs can always seem to spawn a trophy when they aren't doing well to keep their profile high.

4 trophies surely.  League cups in 77, 94 and 96, League in 81?

Sorry, I meant to say cups. It was a way of saying that some clubs can collect shiny things even when their team isn't up to much but we've never managed it.

[Salsa Party Animal]

From the mess now, it is a shame we didn't appoint Jurgen Klinnsmann instead of MON.