Eric Black

[Tony Erdington]

yeah richardsons contracts up, but what about all the other useless tossers and its going to take the greatest sales man in the world to move that lot on!

[villan from luton]

yeah richardsons contracts up, but what about all the other useless tossers and its going to take the greatest sales man in the world to move that lot on!

Del boy is coming out of retirement to sort it out

[steffo]

I think you will find that as we still, until yesterday, had a chance of survival. He will naturally pick his most mature side to basically avoid another belting.

Coaches coach. Managers manage. Why would a coach (Black) throw kids in and take a 6-0 drubbing at Old Trafford.

It makes no logic.

As a supporter from 1968 I have to say these are the biggest bag of shit I have ever seen at Villa Park.

[tomd2103]

I think you will find that as we still, until yesterday, had a chance of survival. He will naturally pick his most mature side to basically avoid another belting.

Coaches coach. Managers manage. Why would a coach (Black) throw kids in and take a 6-0 drubbing at Old Trafford.

It makes no logic.

As a supporter from 1968 I have to say these are the biggest bag of shit I have ever seen at Villa Park.

Only if we actually won games as well.  As for Old Trafford, when is the last time they beat anyone 6-0 there? 

[Des Little]

yeah richardsons contracts up, but what about all the other useless tossers and its going to take the greatest sales man in the world to move that lot on!

Del boy is coming out of retirement to sort it out

Buy Westwood get Guzan, Richardson and Bacuna free. Fill a car in fact.

[sickbeggar]

I just don't get what these people see.  I mean how hard is it to pick the team below:

                     Bunn

Hutton      Okore    Clark     Cissokho

                Gana   Veretout

Traore           Grealish           Ayew

                    Gestede

You could maybe take Gestede out and put Ayew up front or start Sinclair ahead of Traore, but let's at least have a go.

And that team would have got a result? Just seems another shuffle of the chairs on titanic to me. None of those have covered themselves with glory this season or shown anything to suggest they would have got anything at OT. The defence is error prone and lacking confidence, you could walk through that midfield because you have no-one who can win the ball and keep it, and the attack has the grand total of 4 goals in 34 games between them. Apart from that i agree its one of our better line-ups

[brian green]

I agree Tom.  That team might lose but there is at least the hope of being entertained by it.  The teams Black puts out are excruciatingly negative.

The biggest problem facing the club, far bigger than money, or the new manager or new players or old players' contracts is the damage that has been done to the bedrock support of the club.  In seventy plus years on the Holte, I have never seen the fans so angry.  That is not going to go away overnight.  The damage done over the last six years strikes right to the he foundations of the club.  Naming a team not to lose by too much regardless of the effect the selected team has on the morale of the supporters is sheer folly.

Giving younger, less hated players a chance in the team is not rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, it is telling the helmsman not to turn about and ram the iceberg again.

[OzVilla]

You cannot and should not throw academy youngsters in to this shit situation.  We are relegated, we'll have a new manager soon, there is zero point throwing in kids now.  To prove what to who - it's a hiding to nothing, totally unfair on them and let's the senior 'pros' off the hook.

No, let the wankers responsible earn (no laughing at the back) their money and let them take the abuse they so richly (pardon the pun) deserve for the remaining games.

[sickbeggar]

I agree Tom.  That team might lose but there is at least the hope of being entertained by it.  The teams Black puts out are excruciatingly negative.

The biggest problem facing the club, far bigger than money, or the new manager or new players or old players' contracts is the damage that has been done to the bedrock support of the club.  In seventy plus years on the Holte, I have never seen the fans so angry.  That is not going to go away overnight.  The damage done over the last six years strikes right to the he foundations of the club.  Naming a team not to lose by too much regardless of the effect the selected team has on the morale of the supporters is sheer folly.

Giving younger, less hated players a chance in the team is not rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, it is telling the helmsman not to turn about and ram the iceberg again.

I can see the logic of playing the more creative attacking players Brian. The trouble is they're also the ones that go missing and fade totally out of games. Even Garde criticised Traore for thinking he was messi and not working for the team. I think that team above would have lost by more than the one Black put out. Not that it really matters. Above all that line-up shows we went into this season totally missing players in key positions, a dominant midfielder being the most glaring omission. That's what i meant by shuffling the chairs on the Titanic. Any combination of Gana, Vertout, Westwood etc., is going to be found out without the right player or players in the middle with them,

[brian green]

Points taken all round but I still make the point that if the future is to be any better than the past, the set ups for the games have to at least engage with the fans hopes.  They are playing for us, not Sky.

I am a great believer in judging the big picture by studying the facts you have, not the pundits, not the media, not the big gob in the bar or the BBC pisstaker.  When this season started there were most times four Greens in a row in the Holte Lower.  Damon Green, Lucas Green, Toby Green and Brian Green.  Since January there has only been me.  Lucas and Damon were with me at Old Trafford in 87 when we sang We want Ellis Out, Down With The Villa, and We'll Be Back In 88.  They don't come any more.  Lads who sat on my shoulders and on the crush barriers from the age of 5.  Why don't they come?  Not because we lose all the time.  Because it is all so horrible to watch, so negative and so boring.  I truly do not care what others say about him, we all loved Adama Traore in our family.  He is an exciting, thrilling player to watch who lifts the crowd.  Oh, we can't have that sort of thing.  He is selfish, just wants to run towards the goal,  doesn't make any goal line clearances.  They said the same about Peter McParland.  Better play Richardson.  Sends out the right message.

Turning to young players nobody is suggesting "throwing them in".  They deserve their chance.  If they do well it will do them good.  If they struggle limit their game time.  What you most certainly don't do is what Sherwood did to Traore against Notts County.  Leave him on to get systematically hacked down until he was seriously injured.

When Joe Mercer took over we were bottom of the table and he brought in young players and they did not let him, the club, us or themselves down.  I clearly recall John Sleuwenhoek's first appearance.  Skinny, gangly, spotty faced youth with a mop of hair that looked like it had never been combed.  What a tough, rugged and effective centre half he became.  The supporters need to have heroes on the pitch.  There is nothing more heroic than a boy growing into a man before your eyes.

[Rudy65]

I just don't get what these people see.  I mean how hard is it to pick the team below:

                     Bunn

Hutton      Okore    Clark     Cissokho

                Gana   Veretout

Traore           Grealish           Ayew

                    Gestede

You could maybe take Gestede out and put Ayew up front or start Sinclair ahead of Traore, but let's at least have a go.

That is unbalanced. You expect Gana to hold the midfield together and protect the back four? No chance. Sanchez in for Veretout would help

[chrisw1]

You cannot and should not throw academy youngsters in to this shit situation.  We are relegated, we'll have a new manager soon, there is zero point throwing in kids now.  To prove what to who - it's a hiding to nothing, totally unfair on them and let's the senior 'pros' off the hook.

No, let the wankers responsible earn (no laughing at the back) their money and let them take the abuse they so richly (pardon the pun) deserve for the remaining games.

I agree.  Throw kids in to suffer the humiliation of relegation?  Let the fuckers who got us here take that honour.  Now it's allover maybe filter a few kids in over the next few weeks now the pressure is off.

[NeilH]

A few weeks ago I posted on here that I wanted our ‘senior’ players dropped, but having had time to consider this view I now take it all back. I want Flabby brought back from fat camp, N’Zog brought back from whatever beach he’s been planted his tasteless designer shorts on and Lescott, Richards, Bacuna and Richarson and the aforementioned wasters to play every single minute until the rest of this season.

I want them to listen to the crowd and perhaps somewhere during the last few games, something will trigger in their egotistical narcissistic minds, that contrary to what their agent is telling them, they are not the bees-knees and indeed their attitude has contributed to the relegation of a great institution. Perhaps, perhaps if they have an epiphany we may get a heartfelt apology from them and some degree of humility, instead of platitudes and more Instagram photos of them guzzling Cristal.

[Duncan Shaw]

I just don't get what these people see.  I mean how hard is it to pick the team below:

                     Bunn

Hutton      Okore    Clark     Cissokho

                Gana   Veretout

Traore           Grealish           Ayew

                    Gestede

You could maybe take Gestede out and put Ayew up front or start Sinclair ahead of Traore, but let's at least have a go.

That is unbalanced. You expect Gana to hold the midfield together and protect the back four? No chance. Sanchez in for Veretout would help

F*ck me Sanchez - I'd forgotten he was even here!!  How an international destroyer capable of marking Messi out of the game can't get a game in this pile of shite is mind boggling.

[Pete]

Quotes from Black (in the Guardian) are beyond belief.

There is no point standing here and criticising. That’s done, it’s over; we should be looking to rebuild and if that can start on Monday morning then great, because this is a fantastic football club. There is nobody who would deny that.

Yes, there is a point criticising. Those wasters on the pitch need telling that they need to take responsibility for their not-even-half-arsed couldn't be bothered displays.

I am sure whoever takes over will ensure that work ethic carries on and if we can get the right squad together then we can bounce straight back.

What!!?? What 'work ethic'? What planet is this bloke on?