Where Did It All Go Wrong....

[aj2k77]

Billionaire owners, Brentford manager. Bit underwhelming really.

[SoccerHQ]

Getting hammered by Leicester early Dec gave us the jitters and we never truly recovered.

I was still optimistic we could do when we were sitting on seven wins at the end of Jan.  But a lack of nous alongside Mings at centre half and minimal goal threat have done for us.

Our outlay in the summer was largely an advance on the TV deal. If the owners were determined to avoid relegation we needed more: a Premier League ready centre half alongside Tyrone, a competent defensive midfielder to allow Grealish and McGinn to do their thing and goals up top. Not the half baked experimentation they ultimately went with.   Cahill or Shane Duffy from Brighton were available, and after Leicester struggled last season, I wonde if Rodgers had received a £30 million plus offer for Vardy in the summer whether he would have cashed in.   They're not short of money, but it would have been more in the pot to reshape a young side the way he wants it.  Vardy isn't one for the future but him (or a player of that ilk) could have been ideal for us for a year or two as we attempted to reestablish ourselves. Oh well.

Yes Leicester was the start really. Before that game we were hovering above bottom 3 but we'd been competitive in majority of games and no one was hammering us. We'd beaten Newcastle comfortably, more than held our own at Old Trafford and were outplayed at Chelsea but only lost 2-1 so plenty of hope.

Lost Sir Ron the night before. Everyone expected a performance to remember as a tribute but it was the total opposite. That was certainly the day we were found out defensively in the premier league and we've never really recovered it. Things like Mings getting injured but staying on long enough to see Vardy run away and score.

Leicester game started the decline this season. Spurs at home mentally relegated us.

[dave.woodhall]

Getting hammered by Leicester early Dec gave us the jitters and we never truly recovered.

I was still optimistic we could do when we were sitting on seven wins at the end of Jan.  But a lack of nous alongside Mings at centre half and minimal goal threat have done for us.

Our outlay in the summer was largely an advance on the TV deal. If the owners were determined to avoid relegation we needed more: a Premier League ready centre half alongside Tyrone, a competent defensive midfielder to allow Grealish and McGinn to do their thing and goals up top. Not the half baked experimentation they ultimately went with.   Cahill or Shane Duffy from Brighton were available, and after Leicester struggled last season, I wonde if Rodgers had received a £30 million plus offer for Vardy in the summer whether he would have cashed in.   They're not short of money, but it would have been more in the pot to reshape a young side the way he wants it.  Vardy isn't one for the future but him (or a player of that ilk) could have been ideal for us for a year or two as we attempted to reestablish ourselves. Oh well.

Yes Leicester was the start really. Before that game we were hovering above bottom 3 but we'd been competitive in majority of games and no one was hammering us. We'd beaten Newcastle comfortably, more than held our own at Old Trafford and were outplayed at Chelsea but only lost 2-1 so plenty of hope.

Lost Sir Ron the night before. Everyone expected a performance to remember as a tribute but it was the total opposite. That was certainly the day we were found out defensively in the premier league and we've never really recovered it. Things like Mings getting injured but staying on long enough to see Vardy run away and score.

Leicester game started the decline this season. Spurs at home mentally relegated us.

The best run we had all season was after Leicester.

[SoccerHQ]

Treading into contentious territory here, but the owners have been marvellous in pouring money into the club, you can't doubt their commitment.

But their judgement on this?

Questionable?

They've done o.k so far. Good they rescued the club when we really were deep in the s*** but I can't believe they were the only ones in the frame who offered credible ownership.

Anyway as we saw in first four years of Lerner ownership (and even first 12 months of Xia) any new owners can come in and spend loads of money. Team starts winning a few games after year of defeats and fans lap it up as things are fun again.

The true test is the decisions the owner takes when things start to go wrong as this season has. Lerner was clueless from the minute MON walked out and his heart wasn't in it anymore either.

Leicester last season had the tragedy of their owner dying but his son has stepped up magnificently. They could've continued treading water in premier league with Claude Puel but sacked him mid season to get in Brendan Rodgers who was in another job at the time. That's simply something I could never see us doing until we actually do it.

Wolves finished 16/17 just above us in mid table championship with Paul Lambert as manager and Weimann upfront. They've done o.k since.

Next 12 months ownership can still make decisions that make us a premier league force in 3-4 years time. Or they get things wrong that mean we'll be stuck in championship for another three seasons.

Over to them.

[SoccerHQ]

Billionaire owners, Brentford manager. Bit underwhelming really.

Have to remember they wanted Henry initally who went and flopped at Monaco and is now in MLS (actually replaced Remi Garde) and was also talk of a former Mourinho assistant being high up in the list. Not sure who advised them about Dean Smith (I doubt either had heard of him) but guess once they looked at his background his style of management probably suited what they wanted.

Does feel like a major point for us now in shaping the mentality for next decade and what to expect. Do we got for a steady eddie type like a Howe, Dyche or Hughton who you could hang your hat on getting us up in two years and then being more capable than DS of then keeping us up but not really progressing much further and playing conservative football in process. Or will we really stretch out and appoint a capable and modern coach from europe.

Someone who can rip up the championship and then use contacts to sign decent players from abroad who could get us top half in premier league in reasonably quick time.

Think I know which option I'd do given the last decade.

[SoccerHQ]

Getting hammered by Leicester early Dec gave us the jitters and we never truly recovered.

I was still optimistic we could do when we were sitting on seven wins at the end of Jan.  But a lack of nous alongside Mings at centre half and minimal goal threat have done for us.

Our outlay in the summer was largely an advance on the TV deal. If the owners were determined to avoid relegation we needed more: a Premier League ready centre half alongside Tyrone, a competent defensive midfielder to allow Grealish and McGinn to do their thing and goals up top. Not the half baked experimentation they ultimately went with.   Cahill or Shane Duffy from Brighton were available, and after Leicester struggled last season, I wonde if Rodgers had received a £30 million plus offer for Vardy in the summer whether he would have cashed in.   They're not short of money, but it would have been more in the pot to reshape a young side the way he wants it.  Vardy isn't one for the future but him (or a player of that ilk) could have been ideal for us for a year or two as we attempted to reestablish ourselves. Oh well.

Yes Leicester was the start really. Before that game we were hovering above bottom 3 but we'd been competitive in majority of games and no one was hammering us. We'd beaten Newcastle comfortably, more than held our own at Old Trafford and were outplayed at Chelsea but only lost 2-1 so plenty of hope.

Lost Sir Ron the night before. Everyone expected a performance to remember as a tribute but it was the total opposite. That was certainly the day we were found out defensively in the premier league and we've never really recovered it. Things like Mings getting injured but staying on long enough to see Vardy run away and score.

Leicester game started the decline this season. Spurs at home mentally relegated us.

The best run we had all season was after Leicester.

League game. After that we lost to Sheffield United, Southampton and Watford in next 4 games and were terrible in all of them particularly at the back. Southampton and Watford were also still below us in the league at the time so did us mentally aswell seeing these adrift teams going above us and more than likely finish above us now.

[dave.woodhall]

Getting hammered by Leicester early Dec gave us the jitters and we never truly recovered.

I was still optimistic we could do when we were sitting on seven wins at the end of Jan.  But a lack of nous alongside Mings at centre half and minimal goal threat have done for us.

Our outlay in the summer was largely an advance on the TV deal. If the owners were determined to avoid relegation we needed more: a Premier League ready centre half alongside Tyrone, a competent defensive midfielder to allow Grealish and McGinn to do their thing and goals up top. Not the half baked experimentation they ultimately went with.   Cahill or Shane Duffy from Brighton were available, and after Leicester struggled last season, I wonde if Rodgers had received a £30 million plus offer for Vardy in the summer whether he would have cashed in.   They're not short of money, but it would have been more in the pot to reshape a young side the way he wants it.  Vardy isn't one for the future but him (or a player of that ilk) could have been ideal for us for a year or two as we attempted to reestablish ourselves. Oh well.

Yes Leicester was the start really. Before that game we were hovering above bottom 3 but we'd been competitive in majority of games and no one was hammering us. We'd beaten Newcastle comfortably, more than held our own at Old Trafford and were outplayed at Chelsea but only lost 2-1 so plenty of hope.

Lost Sir Ron the night before. Everyone expected a performance to remember as a tribute but it was the total opposite. That was certainly the day we were found out defensively in the premier league and we've never really recovered it. Things like Mings getting injured but staying on long enough to see Vardy run away and score.

Leicester game started the decline this season. Spurs at home mentally relegated us.

The best run we had all season was after Leicester.

League game. After that we lost to Sheffield United, Southampton and Watford in next 4 games and were terrible in all of them particularly at the back. Southampton and Watford were also still below us in the league at the time so did us mentally aswell seeing these adrift teams going above us and more than likely finish above us now.

That was what I mean. For all that we played badly against Leicester and afterwards, our best run of the season was in January. Losing that game wasn't the defining moment. 

[Cliftonville Villlain]

O'Neill is to blame. He squandered millions, walked, and we've never recovered because we've been paying the price ever since. We spent three years in a division we should never have been in, and have picked up an Inferiority complex along the way. We're a frightened team who have just got used to losing. I was in New York at the end of November and watched us play Utd off the park at Old Trafford and easily beat Newcastle a few days later which left me thinking that maybe we've turned the corner. But that's the thing with the modern day Villa...they always disappoint. Always.

[robbo1874]

Randy letting O’Neill do what he wanted with no proper checks and balances in place was where it all went wrong, for me. Hindsight is great eh?

[mr underhill]

the events of ten years ago - and longer - have no relevance whatsoever in my opinion. We have spent money profligately both in the PL and out of it. Money can be a curse and is to most top division teams, very few get it right and most are technically bankrupt, which the pandemic has  brought into very sharp focus.The most important signing any club can make is the management team. Leeds haven't had a pot to piss in for years but took a leaf out of Wolves' book and made an inspired managerial appointment, the same is true of Sheffield United. It's not money it's management, and that's what we simply have to get right next time.

[OzVilla]

This season? We’ve not really recovered from the 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool. Had we hung on things probably would’ve been very different.

[ChicagoLion]

Agree Mr Underhill, we walk out if Wembley with promotion, togetherness and enthusiasm, what happens next?
The pre season and season has seen a series of piss poor decisions on and off the field.
The owners must be thinking, what the fuck do we do now.

[Des Little]

Personally, I think the whole recruitment/coaching set up has been the downfall. It’s always seemed to me that this group of people has been forced upon each other, possibly against individuals wishes, however they shut up and got on with it because in pretty much every case it was the best opportunity they’d ever get.

Now, as it is clear that is isn’t working it’s unravelling and it won’t be long before fingers are being pointed and we may start to hear stories that we probably rather wouldn’t, which will sour what was a brilliant (albeit very short) chapter for the club.

The big question now is, what do the owners do to put things right, and quite frankly, who do they trust to make these calls? By this I mean our CEO.  This next decision is a very big one.

[ChicagoLion]

Our CEO was given a pretty simple objective, stay up.
So right now and until the end of the season it’s his call.
I can not see him surviving relegation.

[Villafirst]

From the moment Lerner turned the taps off too far and too fast, the decision making at this club has been atrocious.  Owner after owner, CEO after CEO, manager after manager, transfer after transfer, it never seems to get any better.  One of the worst, in terms of how it will affect the club for the future, was not sacking Dean in December.

Well summed up. Just no longterm stability with player recruitment. Supposedly decent players come here on crazy wages and sit on easy street (McCormack, Lansbury). Go all out for Sean Dyche to replace DS.