Many of you will know that I’ve often slated Mat Kendrick as having been a gutless Evening Mail reporter for never having really reported things as he genuinely believed.
His reasoning was pretty obvious, in that he probably didn’t want to face the wrath of the club, which probably would have resulted in his being barred from press conferences and the players being ordered not to talk to him.
A club that doesn’t believe in any criticism from reporters or even the fans. A gestapo type attitude, in my opinion.
My gripe with Mat was that as a proper Villa fan, even though he hinted at things, he should have been a lot more forthright in his real views, given that he had the biggest mouthpiece of any Villa fan.
Anyway, it seems he’s now corrected things somewhat and made his views quite plain, in a very good piece saying that Paul Lambert should be sacked;
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/comment-should-aston-villa-sack-8444965
The Mail have been quite canny in their efforts to not upset the gestapo, because they simultaneously released an article by Gregg Evans stating why Lambert should stay, just to balance things in the name of fair reporting;
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/comment-should-aston-villa-sack-8443794
We all know that it’s a minority who want Lambert to stay, but fair play to the Mail anyway in the way they’ve played this. After all, you can’t ban someone for presenting a balanced view, can you?
The only disappointment with Mat’s article is that he should have written it when he was the lead reporter. I’d imagine that if he had got banned for telling the truth, it would have made for a fair old story for the sports press in general and demonstrated the sort of thing that many Villa fans feel is generally wrong with the club under the current regime.
Whatever, fair play Mat for finally telling it how it is.
And I apologise for slating you.
Guys, if the Steve Wollaston piece is correct, I think we’re in danger of missing the point. Yes we can call for PL to be sacked but it appears he was the (only?) manager prepared to take up the challenge of keeping us in the Prem with no money. Pillory him all you like (and frankly I feel just the same) but if he walks away then I fear we will be in even deeper sh*t than we now find ourselves. Lerner destroyed the Browns and he’s going to detroy us unless PL or someone like him can find a way or working a miracle of if some cash rich exhibitionist decides to buy (fat chance!). If we sack PL or he resigns who will be our new manager and what would he achieve with the same financial restrictions? The only way to succeed in the Prem is to spend big.
Disagree Hitchens there are managers out there that could do a much better job than lamberk even with that squad of players. Everyone said similar when saints sacked nigel adkins and replaced him with a manager noone had heard of that couldnt speak english! Just look at them now sold all their best players and have an outside chance of top 4. They pkay good football and havnt spent a great deal. Thats what u call good management from top to bottom. They shoukd be lerners blueprint fir the future
True Oohah, but they have also benefitted from a fantastic academy that has generated serious amounts of incoming cash. We haven’t done as well. As for the good management top to bottom they have had significant issues with the owners. They have, however, done way better than us on the manager front.
You could look at Everton, Spurs and even Swansea as decent teams to emulate. They have all done better than us in recent seasons. Spurs fans seem unhappy most of the time. One thing they all have in common is that they sell their best players when the bigger clubs come knocking. That is how they get cash to reinvest and make the squad stronger. Villa have not managed to do that as well. We did pretty well out of Barry, Downing and Milner, but that’s it in quite a few years. The rest we have taken a hit on mostly. Losing those 3 in the space of a couple of seasons ripped the heart out of the team.
Fair point DS but look how much we’ve invested in BMH and other than Clarke who’s only just started to come good the rest of the players have been grim except Cahill. Even though Saints are a selling club they’ve proved that you can reinvest some of that money and actually improve. The last time we had a manager that did this was a certain Ron Saunders who sold Andy Gray for £1.5m despite getting slated for it at the time and shrewdly used the money to take us to the next level and give us the best team in our history. That is what I call great management.
I don’t think you need a sugar daddy H60 more a man with a plan that would run the club well (Swansea, Southampton, Spuds). Come in the real world of the EPL no one can realistically can expect CL football at VP in the foreseeable (although that would do very nicely thank you) but the least we expect to be entertaining and competitive at PL level.
It’s just so obvious he (RL) gives not a jot about our expectations, well anything other than his bank balance, he ain’t a fan and imo any one that buys into this tattoo on his ankle, that he cares is deluded, so any protest should be levelled directly at him because as you correctly point out if Lambert (as shite as he is) goes either by sacking or his own devices and it’ll be just the next patsy (in a long line of patsy’s) in.
This is just for Badger. I am so happy that you have decided to forgive Mat and am sure that he gives a shite either way. YOU forgive him because he is now saying something that you agree with, for the moment anyway, so he is now back on your fair play list.
Stick to 2 line comments stating the effin obvious, its what your best at.
Thanks for that Gerry.
I’m glad you’re happy.
I’m sure you’re right, Mat probably doesn’t care.
But at least I’ve had the bollox to state my opinion and apologise for what I’ve said previously.
Now let’s see if you’ve got the bollox to write in and state your opinion about the Villa and the game in general.
Here’s the link, if you’re up to it (which I’ll bet you’re not);
https://www.astonvillanewsandviews.co.uk/submit-an-article/
I promise I’ll post what you submit, with only bad spelling and grammar corrected, as long as it talks about the subject in hand (and no, I don’t mean your dick) and is not aimed at the site or it’s owners.
Until then, after your (not backed up, given that I’ve moaned about Mat for ages) criticism of me, your opinion matters to me as much as mine does to Mat.
Ardent, I know the fee is a minor part of it.
So if we can’t do the wages, why not just say there’s nothing to talk about?
It strikes me Lambert is trying to hint that he’s working with both arms tied behind his back or he’s being told what to say.
Either way, it’s as shambolic as the shite on the pitch, imo.
OLL, your point is noted.
Hitchens, you need to be asking who would do worse, not better, imo.
And if you employ our current tactics of a supposed 4-4-3, a 3-5-1 or a 4-2-1-3 or whatever crap it looks like on paper; but in reality is more a fluid back 7, trying to keep it because we’re too scared to pass it forward in case we give it away, I’d suggest even I could do a job at the Villa.
Lambert has to go.
And so does Lerner, imo.
I take your point Badger but my question is – who, in their right mind, would take the job? I don’t think it’s a question of better or worse and that is the terribly sad position in which we now find ourselves. Until Lerner goes we are ‘dead in the water’.
I agree that, on the face of it, PL has failed but I feel he is genuinely trying to find the impossible solution whilst (misguidedly) protecting the owner. Most of us, recognising that the problem lies mainly with Lerner, would prefer that he just ‘went for it’ and to hell with the outcome? Maybe the fans should be sending that message.
No one will take the job, imo and I believe that’s why Lambert got the contract renewal, thinking about it.
And this is what makes it so sad; the inertia is totally killing the club and it can only lead to us going one way (hence the “reality kicking in” comment) which is falling support and eventual relegation.
We look like a club in serious decline, it’s as simple as that to me and this is the part I can’t understand.
Why is Lerner allowing this to happen?
He surely can’t be expecting a $billion dollar buyout a la Browns, as our league isn’t a guaranteed money spinner if you get relegated?
With 20-20 hindsight, even the shopkeeper would probably have seen us in a better position than we are now.
Things are that bad.
We need Fox to pull something out of the hat and if he can’t, my money says he’ll be gone soon.
I am always happy to comment on these forums, mainly positive or just hopeful. Telling me that you bet I wont is childish and undeserving. I have been saying for weeks, in a limited amount of posts, that we have players not up to the task. I dont say that they are bad players but that they are playing badly. I feel for a team that has lost its confidence and is desperately trying to get it right. I have said specifically that no manager, working with this squad is going to do much better. I am always happy to goad some of the posters when their forcasts are wrong. I have watched the change in your opinions about this Villa team and you may be right. I will save my contributions for what happens on the pitch and hope that it gets better. I have just contradicted that statement by having a pop at you and although you deserved it I wish I hadn’t gone done to that level. I love Villa and the feeling I get when we do well and I always will. But I am a bread and butter man and believe that the players decide the result, with a little help from the ref. Everything else is just making a simple game complicated. Sleep well friend you certainly have provided some entertainment
Gerry, You misunderstand.
I’m asking you to start your own debate, as an author.
I suspect you have the makings of a very good writer on this blog.
My comment was reactionary, more than childish, but whatever, have a think about becoming an author mate.
You’re Villa and have an opinion. That much is obvious.
And that’s all we’re after, whatever the viewpoint.
Whether I agree with you or not, really doesn’t matter, trust me.
If you fancy it, just ask in the link I gave you.
Apparently we have enquired about Christian Rodriguez on loan.utv
I read about this also. But the reason they want him off their books at Athletico is because he is on high wages, one of their highest earners actually.
How on earth do you think we’ll manage get him in with our current wage/transfer structure?!
Dead before it even begins if you ask me…
Maybe the fact he wants Prem footy could sway him, but it seems Everton and the almight Crystal Palace are interested so we’ll probably lose out anyway…
If there is only a minimum loan fee, it may be that We would be prepared to meet an acceptable % of his wages for six months. Possibly a different business case to purchase plus four year contract?
Like pretty much any other fan I want Lerner to sell up to someone with deep pockets and an interest in funding the club to some success. We are all pretty disenchanted but I want to play devil’s advocate for a moment.
If the club gets relegated, Lerner will lose a lot of money. He clearly will not want to do this, but in his position it isn’t simply a case of spending plenty in order to retain that value.
It seems that nobody is willing to pay the £200M. Lerner would snap the hands off anybody willing to pay that.
I don’t know the full numbers (who does?), but given the increase in Prem money it may be that Villa have stopped making losses, and perhaps even started to be profitable.
Frustrating that the current low spend is, it may put Lerner into a position where he is able to sell at a lower price. If so, maybe the pain will have been worth it.
Just a thought.
didn’t he buy a quality premiership club running debt free. a club with European honors, domestic honors and excellent training grounds and stadium. for 60million or there abouts ???? in his 6 years what changes has he made, apart from lowering the fans expectations. create & increasing a debt. yes hes spent some on facilities but 140 million really…
losses hes incurred is all part of businesses, when you are poorly advised and you make poor decisions this affects the price of any future sell on prices.
that’s my ten bobs worth
any transfer news ???
I’m not arguing with that assessment, other than he put the money up to complete Bodymoor Heath as that project had reached a standstill. Oh and our expectations were raised by him in the first few seasons, which makes the current position harder to bear. It doesn’t matter what you or I think though. I was just trying to figure what is going through Lerner’s mind. He can sell when he wants (assuming a buyer is out there). If he doesn’t like the price offered he can stay put and hope to get to a position where the club owes him less and then sell, or just sell at any price and suck up the losses. I know what I would do if I was him, and the opinion of me, you and any other fan would have no real impact on that.
no i wasn’t having a pop at ur post i was adding to it 🙂 iam not right or wrong it was just my thoughts 2day
Didn’t take it that way Nath. I don’t know either, just thinking out loud really 🙂
no i understand, most views by villa fans are selfish to themselves. but your post is a views which is only seen, by lerner himself.
if your right and villa are running into the black or breaking even in running costs that will help him get a better price. hes responsible to ensure the club stays in premiership. this window is vital.
Starving the club of sufficient funds to make it competitive is a massive gamble, maybe some one needs to tell our glorious leader this isn’t the NFL, we don’t use franchise system and relegation is a real possibility and I know that it’s wrong but a part of me thinks he deserves it.
Totally agree. He has got away with it up to now. I am really worried that this will be the year we drop. It’s a dangerous game he’s playing. The vindictive side of me feels the same btw. He would have nobody to blame but himself if we get relegated. Short of bringing in more quality in this window, the only other tactic he will have between now and the end of the season is to sack Lambert. I don’t see anyone out there who could save us in the last 10 games now Pulis is employed. Still, expecting Lerner to make the right decision after all we have seen would be a mistake.
Problem is if we fluke a win tomor and let’s face it we might do then the pressures of lamberk for another 5 games or so.
Is it though? Lambert doesn’t seem to really have pressure at the top, but the fans aren’t going to change their minds about him after 1 win if we did win. Yes they’ll cheer and probably not call for him to go, but Sunday? They’ll be back to hating him.
I have to state here DS that I do not believe the club has ever been offered for sale to ANY buyer with the money. I think Lerner has hawked it around other members of his faith only, and two that were interested last season only wanted to get the Villa if they were relegated. Obviously for a fraction of the 200M asking price. That deal fell through because we escaped. Most observers thought relegation would scupper the deal, but the reverse is more likely. If the sale were entrusted to an independent Merchant Bank it would sell.
That’s an interesting take OLL although one I find hard to believe. I suspect the real problem is that RL is asking for a price that is more than the club is worth when the value is stress tested against the level of future investment reauired and the likely return on that investment.
Oh and by the way. If Lerner spent £10M on a player, the club would not be worth £10M more than it is now. If he can loan a player, it costs next to nothing up front and the value of the club remans the same. I guess if most of us were Lerner we might do the same.
Jarvis as the next signing ?
The only link I can find to Jarvis is in the Telegraph but if I was in Lambert’s shoes and had to choose between Sinclair or Jarvis – well it’d be Jarvis all day for me.
Another player I’d have taken 5 years ago, but now? I don’t think he’s got it anymore. Not that exciting young winger, at 28. Far, far, far better than Sinclair, but I don’t know if he’s still Premier League material at the moment.
talksport reporting robert huth on loan is going to happen. ffs he has had more injuries this year than joe cole. maybe vlaar is going in this window !
Huth of 3-4 years ago absolutely, but unless we sell a CB I’d be surprised. Then again we can never keep more than 2-3 fit at a time so he might be useful. He’s been injured once, and was benched before that.
Agree Andrew we are 5 years to late for Huth.
Plus our defense wasn’t that good 3-4 years ago (for me at least). However with Baker and especially Clark (who I think has been better than Okore but seem to be a minority in that), Okore, Vlaar (unless he’s sold) and Senderos, If we’re too bring in a center back, I’d prefer someone better than ours, like Britos, unless Vlaar goes and then someone like Huth as 5th choice isn’t bad.
Who going out the back door then, up till now its players in and none out,? Don’t get me wrong its what’s wanted, but money, money be moaning soon wages are to high.
Ginola going for platters job , got my vote.
Mate a monkey would get my vote.
Grealish starting tonight…..guess it’ll be gabby wide left tomo then!! Unless, Lambert fools the world and plays a new formation……. Who am I kidding…..!!!
It’ll be the same starting 11 as usual unless injuries occur. Not sure who’s fit for CB’s, I know Baker is so he’ll start. Seems only Okore is fit as well with Clark suspended and Vlaar and Senderos out.
So…
Guzan
Hutton-Baker-Okore-Cissokho
Cleverley-Delph-Sanchez
Weimann-Benteke-Gabby
Is my guess. Delph being fit he’ll automatically start so would be surprised if Westwood starts.
Andrew agree but I feel weimann dropped for gil.
I’d be shocked if Gil starts straight away. Either way it’ll be the garbage 4-3-3 with Gil out on the right instead of Weimann. Nothing will change bar the personnel which isn’t nearly as bad as made out to be to start with.
Lambert insane ,when asked do you need to employ a striker coach lambert replied I can do that what the hell this guy has lost the plot
Lambert made the front page of The Times today with his plea for fans not to protest tomorrow. At least I think it is The Times, but since the main article says the Pope threatened to punch somebody for insulting Islam, maybe I got a copy of Charlie Hebdo instead.
What Villa never make the front page of a London paper are u sure?
Yep, got it in front of me. But reading the paper makes me wonder. Either the world has gone bonkers or the newsboy delivered a comic by mistake.
Im surprised
If Lambert plays Weimann Benteke and Gabby as a front 3, then the protestors might as well not bother coming in after 8 mins.
On another point, a lot of people keep saying who would want the Villa job? Are you kidding me? One of the oldest teams in Europe with the potential of 40k home crowds, great away support, outstanding home pitch and training facilties…etc, etc. Yes, there is a limited budget and disharmony at the club, but attracting a manager would not be a problem. The problem is not wanting to pay out Lamberks’ ridiculous contract.
Perhaps the “top name” manager who laughed in Lerner’s face when he told him the funds available will change his mind…..ye I doubt it either.
Imo, the best we would get would be a lower league manager….and that’s only a sideways movement. No point in that.
If you have a decent & realistic manager in mind, share it coz I’m baffled.
If it was Benitez like reported he wanted at least 50m… never going to happen at Villa. We would’ve been in the financial shitter again.
Fwiw i think we would be a top 6 posdibly a top 4 team under benitez. He knows how to win games and nick points when not playing well. Plus he can balance defence and attack unlick our resident idiot
So why not sack lamberk and not spend in jan then give new manager money in summer. The squad is good enough to stay up if lamberk can do it anyone can
totally disagree you can’t have it both ways, either this current manager is shit as you said for each day i logged in, look at his signings all shit, NOW you say this squads good enough, stick with one version of the truth.
personally the whole club stinks to high heaven with no ambition. this is down to the owner and has filtered its way down,all the way to the core. the players are poor and aren’t even trying. so if any new manager came in and wasn’t to spend, i think this current squad are still lacking in qualities.
what ever the solution is, i bet it doesn’t involve randy as owner. we are doomed until this guy sells. how far we drop in leagues before he sells is the worry
game previews ??? anybody
My sources have informed me we have tabled an offer to QPR for Shaun Wright Phillips. Although 33 think it would show great ambition compared to the shit we’ve signed recently.
Well passed it; not worth £10
Same as huth, 5 years ago then yeah but to be perfectly honest I thought he was retired!!
The original headless chicken, with the intelligence of his father but not the goal-scoring talent. Face it,if he cannot get into the QPR side this season he must be Div 1 material.
Wright- Phillips? You must be kidding.
Two or three spectacular games in his entire career, otherwise one of the most over-hyped players over the last decade. If he wasn’t his father’s son he’d have disappeared years ago.
Signing him would be an act of utter desperation – I’d rather see them try and bring back Robbie Keene if they really are so short of any ideas.
I’d rather have Leighton Phillips ffs
I’d rather Bradley Wright-Phillips.
Leighton Phillips that’s blast from the past.
Lol those were the days
Andy Gray claims he’s been trying to find a rich oil Sheikh and John Gould claims there’s an interested Azerbaijan group in Villa. Interesting.
I’ve read that story Andrew, its saying two possible people with interest, the other being a yank again. Problem is Christmas gone for us this year this twat with us to line Lerner’s pocket in handouts from Sky, FA. ,then when he’s broke our team sell.
just speculation,but help breathe life into a dying club 🙁 without hope fans and players alike suffocate. we all need to see the light, at the end to this lerner tunnel. hopefully sooner than ltrs
For 16 years the Cleveland Browns endured this. Poor bastards. How long do we have to put up with it???
Only another 8.
Only 8 more years for us to go then ouch
Gilan Holdings a financial empire closely associated with an Azeri oligarch-minister – Kemaladdin Heydarov. Kemalaadin Heydarov, currently the minister for Emergency Situations, has led the customs office of Azerbaijan for a long time and is widely believed to have accumulated billions of dollars of wealth through corrupt schemes.
This lot sound seriously dodgy.
Perfect for us then thats what we need a street wise russian oligarch who has to launder money. Like abramivich aliegedly
that’s all we need LOL
there was sumat in my paper today saying delph may stay and sign a new contract. that would be a shock to me. by the way i will retract any name calling abuse if this happens.
still no match preview 🙂 hint hint today we have 4 centre mids fit and available, so who misses out ??? or is the a diamond formation in the making. recall that worked well, on pool last year. i hope they return to a more countering game, draw pool onto us.
in protest today, i am only gonna drink 1 crate instead of two that’s my sacrifice