I think I am the only poster on here who heard the exerpts from Darius Vassell's Turkish Diary on Radio 3.
It's just human nature really. In the top 6 days under MON we had relentless moaning aswell when we went a few games without a win or fielded an understrength team in the europa (with good reason it turns out).It's been a disappointing season however you spin it. One because we've again failed to build on momentum we generated 12 months ago which seems a speciality of the club in last 20 years. Other reason is we've spent large chunks of season outside the bottom 3. Even in mid January we had a good chance to push on and be where say Brighton are now, as good as safe.It will be disappointing to go straight back down. However I don't believe it will be disastrous as 2016 could've easily been.
Just a small point but one which I'd expect the Manager of a great club like Aston Villa to get right. In his pre-United press conference Dean said that our destiny is still in our own hands at this point because West Ham and Watford have to play each other. That's not the case I'm afraid because even if we win our last 5 and gain 15 points, if Watford beat West Ham, both teams can still beat our total by gaining a remaining 12 points until the end of the season. As I said, not a huge issue as very unlikely to happen in any case but at least get your facts right if you are going to make such claims!
Dean quoted in the Daily Mail as saying we haven't been fit enough this season, I agree, the levels of fitness of nearly all the opposition seemed to have risen hugely in the three years we've been away.
It takes time, though. Look at Liverpool. When Klopp arrived, it was clear what he wanted the players to do, I remember him getting frustrated at them. He's been there 5 years, and he only got them fully firing last season. I know they're the extreme, and it's not necessary to reach their level to merely get by, but if you're starting with a base squad like ours, where we've many players 'made of fog', it's never going to be a quick process. I think players need to take greater personal responsibility to work on it if they expect to play in the top division for any length of time. Look at lockdown. For weeks there was not a lot that players could work on other than fitness and stamina. How many of ours would you say did?
I thought he was head coach.