Pre-Season Friendlies

[chocolate garde]

after 6 weeks of forgetting this  lot its back to reality and another season of Blues

[adrenachrome]

after 6 weeks of forgetting this  lot its back to reality and another season of Blues

Make that another 2 seasons.

[OCD]

The season hasn't even started and people are writing off the next 2 years?

[oswald funkletrumpet]

after 6 weeks of forgetting this  lot its back to reality and another season of Blues

bitter alert

[oldhill_avfc]

My profound disappointment with yesterday was made all the more painful by the hope that the Cambridge game provided.  We beat Cambridge without breaking sweat, but the team contained Lyden, Toner, Green, Bennett, Okore and Hepburn-Murphy.  They were enough to freshen the side and play with pace and enthusiasm.  When we had played an hour yesterday, the team started to look unfit, the tempo of the game dropped and there was only ever going to be another defeat to endure.
What really bothers me is that RDM is going down exactly the same path as Garde and Black and putting his trust in the hands of the likes of Hutton, Sissoko, Bacuna, Westwood and Gestede. As I posted a couple of days ago, they are failures and they do what now comes naturally to them. They fail.  The young players may not be world beaters but at least they want to win.

Yesterday you were saying they needed shouting at (motivating?) to perform to the higher standards they had proven themselves capable of elsewhere.  You thought Pearson should have brought in do the shouting.

Now you're saying they're serial failures and we need to get rid and give the youngsers a chance (agreed).

What made you change your mind?

[brian green]

I have not changed my mind at all.  You took my metaphor of shouting at them to represent strong, forceful management, literally and have used it as a stick to beat me with.  You will probably disagree for the sake of stringing out an argument I do not seek but I will spell it out.
Did Westwood play as badly for Crewe as he plays for Villa? No. Did Hutton play for Spurs as badly as he plays for Villa? Veretout for Nantes? Gueye for Lille? Kozak for Lazio? Traore for Barcelona? Amavi for Nice? Richards for Manchester City?  Lescott for Manchester City? Sinclair for Swansea? The list goes on and the answer is a resounding No.
So what is the common denominator?  It is Aston Villa and it's managers, right through from O'Neill to Garde and straws in the wind that hint at Matteo.  Managers who have allowed players to deteriorate.  Even Garde who I liked very much, bottled it and allowed Agbonlahor back into the nest of vipers just as it appeared to be scattering.
Forceful management might have brought about an end to defeatism.  My opinion is that Pearson could have done it. Based on last last Saturday's capitulation RDM seems not to have done.
If the failed players are clearly unable or unwilling to change their ways so the only alternative is to give fresh players their chance.  I was at Worcester and Cambridge and it looked to be working. I was at the Boro game and the same old losing mentality proved that it is still alive and well.
If you want to highlight any of this highlight the words about the common denominator of failing players is Aston Villa managers.

[pbavfckuwait]

Remember what we are dealing with here, the majority of top professional footballers are children, they have had everything they required provided for them by the club's employing them, on top of that they earn obscene amounts of money and can have anything their little hearts desire.
Yes we may not be Prem anymore, but there will still be a number of Villa players who think they are as they have known nothing else, tough no nonsense management can help and it does not have to be a shouter or a nutter type manager to get that through to them, Ron Saunders never came bawling out on interviews, but you got the impression he was not one to cross, if some of our so called super stars are to fragile to handle this, Brian is quite right, play some youngsters and remove the defeatist attitude that is still to strong a smell around B6.

[mr underhill]

so, I might be getting this wrong but are you saying that already, RDM is another failure?

[sid1964]

I agree with Brian, until we get rid of the players who only know how to lose, then I don't think that we will turn Villa into play off contender for this season

Most of these players, have been given chance after chance to prove themselves, and very few of them have shown that they deserve another go.

I would rather give the young ones ago than watch some of our "superstars" pretend that they care about the club, and playing for it.

[Ron Manager]

so, I might be getting this wrong but are you saying that already, RDM is another failure?

If so that is ridiculous at this very early stage when the season hasn't even begun! For the record I wanted Pearson  but the owner went against the advice  of others and was no doubt impressed by the fact that Di Matteo had won the Champions League. He must be given a chance and be backed by the owner with the funds promised .

[Brend'Watkins]

No assumptions about how our season is going to pan out should really be drawn from a friendly fixture.  Yes, it would have been much better had we won 3 -1 but so what, we lost a friendly game.  If 4 or 5 weeks into the season and we're seeing the same then yes, concerned we should be.

[aj2k77]

I have not changed my mind at all.  You took my metaphor of shouting at them to represent strong, forceful management, literally and have used it as a stick to beat me with.  You will probably disagree for the sake of stringing out an argument I do not seek but I will spell it out.
Did Westwood play as badly for Crewe as he plays for Villa? No. Did Hutton play for Spurs as badly as he plays for Villa? Veretout for Nantes? Gueye for Lille? Kozak for Lazio? Traore for Barcelona? Amavi for Nice? Richards for Manchester City?  Lescott for Manchester City? Sinclair for Swansea? The list goes on and the answer is a resounding No.
So what is the common denominator?  It is Aston Villa and it's managers, right through from O'Neill to Garde and straws in the wind that hint at Matteo.  Managers who have allowed players to deteriorate.  Even Garde who I liked very much, bottled it and allowed Agbonlahor back into the nest of vipers just as it appeared to be scattering.
Forceful management might have brought about an end to defeatism.  My opinion is that Pearson could have done it. Based on last last Saturday's capitulation RDM seems not to have done.
If the failed players are clearly unable or unwilling to change their ways so the only alternative is to give fresh players their chance.  I was at Worcester and Cambridge and it looked to be working. I was at the Boro game and the same old losing mentality proved that it is still alive and well.
If you want to highlight any of this highlight the words about the common denominator of failing players is Aston Villa managers.

Brian, Hutton was terrible for Spurs, Cissokho terrible for Liverpool. Westwood played in the 3rd tier and the french players are completely untested having played in what's generally considered a very average league. Traore didn't play for Barcelona, he played for the B team who were relegated if my memory serves me well. Kozak didn't play much at all for the Lazio first team and was a Europa player and sub. Sinclair's glory season was half a decade ago and Lescott at the age he is was vulnerable to ''falling off the edge of the cliff'', it can happen to players in their 30's, one season too many.

We didn't buy tried and tested players who suddenly became poor. We bought untested or very average players who's sum of their parts, thanks to terrible guidance from 2 crap managers was less than expected. They also gave up.

I don't see the ability in the players you do. Ask a Spurs fan what they think of Hutton, you won't hear to dissimilar to what we do.

[pbavfckuwait]

No mr.underhill I am not saying RDM is a failure, he has not picked one team or had one result in a competitive match, what I am saying is their is a brittle confidence layer at Villa Park and what he must, or else he will fail, is overcome this by his own management methods, or get rid of the dead wood, I would say that numbers at least 8 players.
RDM cannot shift the deadwood if no one else wants them, that should also tell you something about the inside knowledge within football, that what we have identified as being wankers and wasters, are also identified within the game as such, Newcastle have been able to shift quite a few off their wage books, no one wants ours buy one get one free tossers.
So if that is the case and the good Dr has not got billions to spunk on Gabby's inflated contract, Bacuna's champion league wages, Lescott's next new motor John, RDM will have a very difficult task at hand, we will probably know by the end of January if he has failed or not, that gives him two windows to get rid of the dross, not long I know but this is modern day football.

[mr underhill]

thanks for the qualification

[TonyD]

It doesn't look like RDM is doing the necessary shake up and ship out.  We are looking at another painful season.