Eric Black

[brian green]

Another sideswipe for Mr Green from Peter W.

I suggest you read Villa in Denmark's assessment of the Danish player Okore's version of events in the Danish press before rubber stamping Black's binning of a potentially valuable Villa squad member.

[peter w]

The punishment of Okore may well have cost us a valuable player in the fight to escape the Championship.  Pure Paul Lambert clunk handedness in my opinion.  I don't expect Black to win games but I do expect him not to fuck up the squad any more than it is fucked up already.

Nonsense.  You want a player to be able to call the shots? You want a potential gabby situation whereby the manager is rendered lame by a player who can say and do what he likes with impunity? Black hasn't fucked it up at all. It's players like Okore that have.

That depends on what happened before Okore refused to go on the bench.  We do not what was said between player and manager and over how long.

Without doubt. But the PFA would be all over this if it was a case of a manager acting badly towards the player and saying publicly that he has refused to play. He even went as far as mentioning that there was a letter and then a two week cooling off period which is the manager asking the player to reconsider. He didn't and Black took action. Despite the player saying differently it would have come out by now if Black had been bullying or lying about it.

[ChicagoLion]

The punishment of Okore may well have cost us a valuable player in the fight to escape the Championship.  Pure Paul Lambert clunk handedness in my opinion.  I don't expect Black to win games but I do expect him not to fuck up the squad any more than it is fucked up already.

Nonsense.  You want a player to be able to call the shots? You want a potential gabby situation whereby the manager is rendered lame by a player who can say and do what he likes with impunity? Black hasn't fucked it up at all. It's players like Okore that have.

That depends on what happened before Okore refused to go on the bench.  We do not what was said between player and manager and over how long.

Without doubt. But the PFA would be all over this if it was a case of a manager acting badly towards the player and saying publicly that he has refused to play. He even went as far as mentioning that there was a letter and then a two week cooling off period which is the manager asking the player to reconsider. He didn't and Black took action. Despite the player saying differently it would have come out by now if Black had been bullying or lying about it.

i have no idea why you think it would have come out by now, the previous bullying went on for months, and then there is the possibility of the player being told not to speak to the press by the club.
Having seen the way that Black, has managed the team and the decisions he has made, I am quite happy to believe that Okore has been treated poorly by Black.

[supertom]

The punishment of Okore may well have cost us a valuable player in the fight to escape the Championship.  Pure Paul Lambert clunk handedness in my opinion.  I don't expect Black to win games but I do expect him not to fuck up the squad any more than it is fucked up already.

Nonsense.  You want a player to be able to call the shots? You want a potential gabby situation whereby the manager is rendered lame by a player who can say and do what he likes with impunity? Black hasn't fucked it up at all. It's players like Okore that have.

That depends on what happened before Okore refused to go on the bench.  We do not what was said between player and manager and over how long.

Without doubt. But the PFA would be all over this if it was a case of a manager acting badly towards the player and saying publicly that he has refused to play. He even went as far as mentioning that there was a letter and then a two week cooling off period which is the manager asking the player to reconsider. He didn't and Black took action. Despite the player saying differently it would have come out by now if Black had been bullying or lying about it.

i have no idea why you think it would have come out by now, the previous bullying went on for months, and then there is the possibility of the player being told not to speak to the press by the club.
Having seen the way that Black, has managed the team and the decisions he has made, I am quite happy to believe that Okore has been treated poorly by Black.

Black hasn't been shy with being honest (a little too honest) about the state of the squad. Why would he lie about Okore? I want Black out as he's not up to the task but Premiership footballers talk out of their arse 99% of the time, with no little help from their agents in spewing bullshit. I buy Blacks version of events to be honest.

There was also the fact that Okore's agent claimed they'd asked several times for clarity from the club about next season and the club ignored them. The club then claimed they had answered his agents queries within a day or so. It is of course all absolutely fucking ludicrous and indeed someone, somewhere is talking bollocks, if not all of them. But it strikes me that if Okore hadn't gone on strike, Black has just cut off his nose to spite his face. I don't know why he'd make his difficult job even harder by refusing to play Okore and then claiming Jores refused to play.

[paul_e]

The punishment of Okore may well have cost us a valuable player in the fight to escape the Championship.  Pure Paul Lambert clunk handedness in my opinion.  I don't expect Black to win games but I do expect him not to fuck up the squad any more than it is fucked up already.

Nonsense.  You want a player to be able to call the shots? You want a potential gabby situation whereby the manager is rendered lame by a player who can say and do what he likes with impunity? Black hasn't fucked it up at all. It's players like Okore that have.

That depends on what happened before Okore refused to go on the bench.  We do not what was said between player and manager and over how long.

Without doubt. But the PFA would be all over this if it was a case of a manager acting badly towards the player and saying publicly that he has refused to play. He even went as far as mentioning that there was a letter and then a two week cooling off period which is the manager asking the player to reconsider. He didn't and Black took action. Despite the player saying differently it would have come out by now if Black had been bullying or lying about it.

i have no idea why you think it would have come out by now, the previous bullying went on for months, and then there is the possibility of the player being told not to speak to the press by the club.
Having seen the way that Black, has managed the team and the decisions he has made, I am quite happy to believe that Okore has been treated poorly by Black.

Black hasn't been shy with being honest (a little too honest) about the state of the squad. Why would he lie about Okore? I want Black out as he's not up to the task but Premiership footballers talk out of their arse 99% of the time, with no little help from their agents in spewing bullshit. I buy Blacks version of events to be honest.

There was also the fact that Okore's agent claimed they'd asked several times for clarity from the club about next season and the club ignored them. The club then claimed they had answered his agents queries within a day or so. It is of course all absolutely fucking ludicrous and indeed someone, somewhere is talking bollocks, if not all of them. But it strikes me that if Okore hadn't gone on strike, Black has just cut off his nose to spite his face. I don't know why he'd make his difficult job even harder by refusing to play Okore and then claiming Jores refused to play.

But if the best defence you can give is 'why would Black lie' then why isn't 'why would Okore lie' an equally valid reply?

One of them is almost certainly leaving the club this summer, the other might leave but might have to stay regardless of what he wants. Add to that the fact that no one has ever had a bad word to say about Okore's attitude and you start to see that it might not be so wise to just believe Black.

On top of that, in counter to the 'why would he lie' defence, why wouldn't he?  He's going to leave us having done nothing of value to us in terms of performance so he's going to be looking for things to use as excuses for that and to explain why he had an impossible task.  Having a player too unfit to play, another refusing to be in the squad and the fans booing at the team before the game has kicked off are all things that give him excuses, if he wants another job it makes sense to get those all lined up.

I'm with Brian, calling out players that the fans won't accept getting a second chance (like Gabby) is one thing but pissing off the few players that the fans like is just making our summer so much more difficult, especially by doing it in a way that turns fans against a player.  He never needed to make Okore's absence public, all that does is drive the wedge in deeper and who benefits?

You carry on defending him if you like but you're defending a guy who clearly doesn't give the merest hint of a fuck about the club or the fans.

[adrenachrome]

I'm with Brian on this, as well, although I reckon a breakdown in communication is at the root of the problem. Black seems to have had zero media training,  and has been dropped right in it.

I put it to you that Eric Black is a loose cannon on the sinking vessel which has been holed amidships, and damned if the bugger isn't firing at the lifeboats.

Anyway, here is a video interlude to raise our spirits as we sink to the bottom of the dark and the rolling sea.

[Edvard Remberg]

Okore is known in Denmark for no-nonsense, hard-working non-complaining player. I find it hard to believe that he suddenly changed character. This sounds like a way of getting rid of a paycheck next season.

[Clampy]

I don't suppose no-one really know's what has happened with Okore. I think Black dealt with the Gabby situation very well. His team selections have been baffling though and that's my only gripe with him really.

[mr underhill]

As baffling as the previous three incumbents at least.

[Ian.]

Okore is known in Denmark for no-nonsense, hard-working non-complaining player. I find it hard to believe that he suddenly changed character. This sounds like a way of getting rid of a paycheck next season.

I thought he went on strike to get his move here? Or am I thinking of someone else?

[Villa in Denmark]

Okore is known in Denmark for no-nonsense, hard-working non-complaining player. I find it hard to believe that he suddenly changed character. This sounds like a way of getting rid of a paycheck next season.

I thought he went on strike to get his move here? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Your thinking of Benteke.

Okore's move came out of the blue at the start of the summer. If'd he'd been striking, it would have involved refusing to go to the beach or getting on the plane.

[supertom]

Okore is known in Denmark for no-nonsense, hard-working non-complaining player. I find it hard to believe that he suddenly changed character. This sounds like a way of getting rid of a paycheck next season.

As with many players, perhaps he's being badly advised by his agent. And as we all know, almost every Agent is probably pond scum.

[peter w]

So using Paul e's line of argument : fans think Gabby is bad = Gabby is bad
Fans like Okore= Black's an idiot

What seems to be indisputable is that Okore has spoken to Black about not playing which is fair enough. There also seems to be no dispute that Black then gave a two week cooling off period from whatever it was that Okore said. That also hasn't been disputed. So the question is what happened next. Any player that has questioned the manager's authority regarding picking the team so he was always going to have to sit on the bench at best following talks and/or the "cooling off " period.

It's likely that Olore has indicated that his position hasn't changed and Black will have taken the line that if you don't like it (being on the bench) then you're dropped. He may or may not have specifically said "I'll never play again", but if he's refused to sit on the bench because he thinks he should be playing that's tantamount to refusing to play.

In this fuck up of a season the last thing we should be supporting is any situation where a player believes he has the power, however warranted he may be in wanting to start, so Black was 100% right.

[Edvard Remberg]

So using Paul e's line of argument : fans think Gabby is bad = Gabby is bad
Fans like Okore= Black's an idiot

What seems to be indisputable is that Okore has spoken to Black about not playing which is fair enough. There also seems to be no dispute that Black then gave a two week cooling off period from whatever it was that Okore said. That also hasn't been disputed. So the question is what happened next. Any player that has questioned the manager's authority regarding picking the team so he was always going to have to sit on the bench at best following talks and/or the "cooling off " period.

It's likely that Olore has indicated that his position hasn't changed and Black will have taken the line that if you don't like it (being on the bench) then you're dropped. He may or may not have specifically said "I'll never play again", but if he's refused to sit on the bench because he thinks he should be playing that's tantamount to refusing to play.

In this fuck up of a season the last thing we should be supporting is any situation where a player believes he has the power, however warranted he may be in wanting to start, so Black was 100% right.

That was an interesting way of concluding he was 100% right. That sounds like "Black is always right"

[mr underhill]

all a tad irrelevant surely as Black's going to be history in a few weeks time?