It just goes from bad to worse doesn’t it?
The Telegraph has come out with an article which suggests there is a major split amongst the players.
While it’s not exactly a new story, it does go on to name names and it’s basically the longer term players in Gabby Agbonlahor, Alan Hutton, Leandro Bacuna, Ciaran Clark, Brad Guzan, Mark Bunn as well as Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards versus the rest.
That’s something I find interesting, as most of those are the ones who are oft criticised and at first glance it’s easy to jump to conclusions and choose whose side we’re on as fans.
but if you read into the article, it states that the senior players have been moaning about Remi Garde not turning up in the dressing room after the Wycombe draw and the Liverpool pasting.
It’s a bit vague in this area, in that it doesn’t explain if he didn’t turn up at all or just turned up late, but I certainly recall stories of some manager or other deliberately leaving his team to stew before handing out the rollickings.
It’s certainly the way I’d expect Garde to be and it makes sense that he might want to calm down and gather his thoughts before coming out with any assessment.
If I was one of the players involved in those games, I think I’d have been glad that the manager didn’t come in, so I’m not really sure what there is to complain about.
But I’m also not sure if the players complaining about this, is a good or bad thing either.
There’s also a reference that says the same senior players have openly questioned how some of the things they’re doing in training are relevant to what they’re doing.
If they’re complaining about simple things, like passing a ball to a player in the same colour shirt, the answer is easy; They can’t get the basics right more often than not!
But I’m being facetious and the concerning part of this is that they seemingly don’t have much respect for the manager and his coaching staff. Which can’t be a good thing, however you look at it.
Even more worrying and it’s not something I’d had any inkling of, is the suggestion that Garde might have resigned after the Everton game.
Whatever I think of him as a manager, his resignation now would be an even worse disaster than what we’ve seen unfold already in this dire season. But it seems to demonstrate just how frustrated he is, especially after having been cast adrift in the transfer window.
The point here is that if he’d been offered anything decent in the discussions at the latest meeting, it doesn’t make sense that he’d be considering resigning. Hence logic tells me that he was offered very little in the way of support in the event of us being relegated.
And I suspect it’s only a matter of time before he does actually resign, leaving us odds on that we won’t see an injection of funds aimed at getting us straight back up.
The thing is, if you were in Remi’s position, what would you do?
Resign soon, emphasising how you’ve been put in an impossible position and try to salvage some of your reputation, or leave it until the end of the season so you can add “managed a relegated team” to your CV?
It would seem an easy decision.
And we face Man City next.
“It never rains, but it pours” springs to mind.
Apparently, the club has denied there’s any truth in this story.
The old adage “there’s no smoke without fire” springs to mind there.
The Telegraph aren’t known for making things up are they?
And then we have this article from the Mirror;
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villas-players-believe-remi-7480436
It would now seem someone is freely opening their mouth to the press.
This is a difficult area to comment on when trying to rely on stories in the press to determine the truth of circumstances at Villa. The older, experienced players can hardly blame the players brought in during the summer for the demise of the club but then they’re not going to blame themselves although they should take a close look at their own standards of performance – neither can they hold Garde responsible given he has to work with what he has. Garde however will be held accountable by Hollis by association and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Hollis has persuaded him to see the season through with an amicable parting of the ways in May.
If Hollis is going to shake up the club come May then it probably makes sense to remove everything associated with Villa at management level and look for a new manager alongside a new CEO. A ‘Nigel Pearson’ might well be the answer and we will then, perhaps see, the truth of the problems in the dressing room but I suspect a massive clear out of playing staff in the summer – another loss for Lerner!
Question – is Lord King’s roll to help Hollis organise a refinancing of the club (not a sale per se) which would, in part, restructure the debt and possibly allow Lerner to sell at a lower figure than the quoted £150m or alternatively dispose of part of his equity. (Hollis and King are both banker / financiers)
The scary truth is, I believe, what Hollis / King do this summer will prove critical in determining the long term future of our club
Scary indeed when the owner appoints an asset stripper and a banker.
I can only hope that what gets stripped away is the deadwood in the management structure and team and that Mr. King can get some finance for a re-build.
I can’t believe it that, after everything that’s happened this season, I’m still hoping.
UTV
Lord King ‘s roll is ham and cheese. 😉
Very good Bum Bum – predictive text!
If I were Remi, I’d walk. No manager should be treated with the distain Lerner treats them. Hope the story about the three stooges getting their p45s is true. Wankers.
Lerner Out.
Any good news??
It’s Friday Giddy – any help?
@Giddy
I have loads of good news…
…pity that none of it is about the Villa 🙁
http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/aston-villa-you-have-my-money-not-my-respect
Testing
Remi walked out of his press conference when asked if he had been lied to when he took the job….. Where are the directors to answer these type of questions….
The board really are a bunch of slippery, cowardly cretins !!
After the match tomorrow he’ll be walking out for good.
I fear you might be right Giddy but I also think he is a man of honour and I hope he toughs it through to the end of the season.
It’s about time those who (fail to) run our club stand up and be counted instead of hiding behind the manager.
His walking out of the press conference says more than any words could.
Hitch, how do anyone expect a person to work without tools to do the job? Villa management are a classical example of incompetence of any degree of idiocy. Don’t think our future king much of a supporter, I’d have lock all the idiots up for life.
Bill, in two words ‘I don’t’. The way it’s going we are in a self destruct spiral that it will take a miracle to get out of. This s way worse that the crisis in the 60’s and ………. what else is there to say – we may be witnessing the end of a truly great football club.
Thanks Mr. Lerner.
I wouldn’t blame him
The Chief Communications Officer pulled him out of the press conference when the press coninued to ask him questions he is no position to answer publically.
Hollis should man up, face the press and answer these questions as we, the Villa fans, have a right to know the answers – but I think there’s no chance of that happening – sadly
So that’s who the sweaty was in the background, old Wolfgang Macintosh of the Villa Stasi.
Notice Remi rubbing his ear? Well that could mean in body language terms he wants to say something but he’s holding back.
The plot thickens.
I think the blokes at the last of his tether,he’s probably thinking would me leaving really make much difference.I’m fucked off with all this player power bollox if I started throwing my weight around the gaffer’s? guaranteed I’d be picking up my P45.who the fucked do these players think they are?fucking tossers
Getting the sack from Villa would hardly be a blemish on your CV would it?
lets not have too many bleeding hearts for remi, this was the guy that told fox he could keep villa in the premiership with the existing players,this is the man that plays players and tactics that dont work, probably destroyed grealish, sinclair as top players, puts lescott who takes the piss out of us fans as captain, how long do you want this list to be, i am well aware lerner and his non footballing knowledge and appointments have destroyed an essential part of english football heritage, but remi has to take some responsibility for the debacle of the last three months
BB let’s not get into blaming managers game again cause it’s pointless. No manager ever born, not the chosen one, old big head, Sir Ron, Fergy, Sir Alf Ramsey or some Frankenstein creation from bits from all of them would succeed under the present regime at VP.
Agreed BWS any manager is destined to fail big style the manager should be the last one to point the finger at players yes toss pots
They’re all a waste of space Giddy on the gravy train mate.
not talking succeeding bws he knows there are major problems and he cant do anything about it whether its stubbornness or he doesn’t know what to do, can you see any manager being so out of touch with the players and fans we should of heard alarm bells ringing when there was no new manager bounce so he must of made a huge impression down at bodymoor heath
It’s simply rotten to the core owner, chairman, manager, players the f##king lot of them mate.
Get rid of the fucking lot of them and give Remi at least a full season to go and build his own team and a chance to get us back up should we go down which looks highly likely. No point in just getting rid or putting him a position to walk as whoever comes in will want the same assurances and will want to build his own team. These so called big name charlies will not get game play time with other clubs as they are just not doing themselves any favors. The board should put their cards on the table as the manager is fronting all their shit. It is easy to criticize his decisions but look what he has at his disposal nothing.
The press know we are in turmoil and are just kicking us while we are down for a cheap dig to get a cheap story in order to drag us down even more.
Agree with your post apart from the press bit.
It’s good thing they are portraying us in a negative light and rightly so cause I’m struggling to find a positive mate.
Look at the players supposedly against Remi – Gabby, Hutton, Bacuna, Clark, Guzan, Bunn, Lescott and Richards.
Surely there cannot be a single Villa fan out there who wouldn’t want all of them cleared out immediately. They have all been our worst performers.
This is exactly why Remi should stay on. He should be given the chance to clear these tossers out the club once and for all. But I think he’ll walk as the club haven’t got the balls to back the manager over those jokers.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never disliked a Villa squad as much as this – so many woeful players and awful characters.
You make a good argument Villain – I worry that things are so bad that even the fans start pulling each other apart. I never thought I would see the horrors of the 60’s and 70’s again but take my word for it – this is worse, much worse!
We may yet end up with the best stadium in League 2 – and don’t say it can’t happen
We do look in freefall Hitcy, when this will bottom out is anybody’s guess.
And the reason they’re against him?
My guess he’s bubbled they’re shite either over the hill or not good enough.
more bad press,can’t one of the players rescue a cat stuck up a tree, or help a oap across the road. no at villa its a case of bad apples under miming the manager. i agree totally with the above post from rocky1. remi gardes needs a chance with real players, which arent here just for the money.
p/s all clubs have some bad apples, but they get shut asp. we have had to suffer 5 years of insomnia, would love to hear one positive news come out sooner rather than later. plus we need to hit next season running and that means getting our house in order, well before the kick off. build a team around players wanting to wear our shirts with pride like they used too
We all thought Faulkner going Fox arriving and Lambert going we’re positives, how wrong we were.
It is a right shambles, the normal pattern of disintegration when the players start fighting each other. As for the fan who blogged in the Mail that he could see no signs of preparation for the Championship. Of course, we do not intend to be in it long, but there will be signs of preparing for div 1.
While Villain1 is correct, we would like to see all the old lags slung out, I would get rid of the rest bar Amavi and Traore. Also fire all the coaching staff and the 3 stooges.
I am not sure about Garde, I realise he has had no support to strengthen his squad, but I also believe he is the wrong type of manager for any team lower than mid table in the EPL.
Also when you have completely, utterly and irrevocably lost the dressing room, the players do not openly mock you to the press, they get fined. They say “I question the relevance of some of the things we do in training to our games in the League.” That having been said – it is end of story.
On another note, and not that it’ll concern us for a very long time, anyone reading the interviews given about the ‘top clubs’ meeting up and working out how to make the Champs League a closed shop with guaranteed entry for Utd, Citeh, Pool, Arse and Chelski? All these rich owners wanting to change it so it’s like American Football – no relegation. We saw this coming and now it’s not even an open secret anymore…Truly awful.
And the ironic thing about that is a club that founded the league backed by a visionary that understood the need for competition to keep it vibrant and fresh where instrumental (or rather Ellis was) in the formation of the ‘Closed Shop Premier League’.
Where did everyone think this was going?
All of them are f–in useless! Garde included.
The best news I have heard in a while is the projected clear out from Fox down in the summer.