The performance against Liverpool was good, no one should deny that. However it was ONE good game in a season of dross and mediocrity. It will mean nothing at all if we fail to beat West Brom. One thing it showed from Lambert’s sharp comments afterwards was just how much under pressure he is. One game does not justify the ‘project’ at all unless he backs it up with a body of evidence.
So then we had the James Nursey piece in the Mirror today defending the ‘progress of the project’. However it was these words that I thought said everything about the modern Aston Villa.
My criticism of SOME fans’ unreasonable expectations
These words come from the mouth of Faulkner and Lerner. Their greatest trick was to convince a large number of the Villa world that relegation struggles and comparisons with Norwich are a ‘transitional’ moment.
How can it be unreasonable for a club of our size, history and ground to think that 10th is satisfactory. When Mark Ansell told us that we went rightly so, wild, why is different now with a want/stay away owner ?
How can it be unreasonable to think that we should be competing with Everton who also have large debts and a high wage bill but made the right managerial calls over the years ? I am sure no Villa fan has unreasonable expectations of top 4 or the PL title this season ?
So I wonder what the the club think is unreasonable (all local journo’s have become a mouthpiece of the club or they lose their access), is it unreasonable to expect a few home wins etc ? Is it unreasonable to expect better buys than a 32 year old midfielder who is average at best but cheap.
Or does the odd good result against some of the better teams negate the crap ?
Comments
60 responses to “One game and low ambitions”
It’s simple, Faulkner and Lerner are shapeshifters.
i have been a villa fan since i was born 49 years ago now iv always belive that we were a top 6 side and still do now what bugs me is when all teams got a 60 millon payout from sky
all teams could afford players yet learner did not buy he said that he use the money for donating 5 mill to charity but to me that begins at home so what happen to that money and i still like lambert but the owner either needs to bring in better than holoran and holt but i belive that he is selling the club
As I see it a club like ours I think 5 th in the all time British table we should at least be in Europe but maybe not CL but Europa league or challenging & competing for that spot.The club however is in rebuild but I think could start branching out for better players & a wider berth to the wages paid to players.It is an insult for Lerner to go on the cheap.The players will play poor football because they are mostly from lower league & foreign leagues.To get higher we have to invest in a more quality of player with better ability in certain areas.Lerner has to spend or sell.UTV
Do you think that Lerner is playing the safe way, ie buy cheap stay in the premier league collect the sky money and don’t bother going into competition’s because we would have to spend. To me the fans don’t matter to them,if they did he would have changed direction in the Jan sales, we will only be half table club and nothing more with them in charge.
Income from fans is peanuts compared to sky money which is why Lerner dosnt give a fuck if we go or don’t.
exactly what I think Bill but they speak of the project. As someone tweeted me, win and Lambert takes all the credit and lose and all part of the ‘project’,
Perfect excuse and mugs fall for it. this window’s signings have shown to me further confirmation he would sell. Remeber if I am right, the extra TV money in the summer will wipe out all the remaining debt …
Have others noticed the change in Lambert’s interviews the past few weeks ?
More tetchy, more aggressive and more defensive. Now we have one short term loan signing, cheap and old and I have no doubt Hoolahan will join us – cheap and old …
Massive change of the ‘project’ …
Sir Oohah agree with you but if it were not for the fans we would not have a club that,s why i believe change needs to come from top to bottom if not the club will die.
But we only account for a fraction of sky money. As long as we are getting around 35,000 which we are then Lerner dosnt give a stuff
OK but tell me this then Ohah, if gates drop which they have, corporate boxes are down which they are, crowds go down which they have, do you think he don’t give a fuck, Ohah he has to think hard if things like that have started. I’m one of many that’s not buying till I can see progress, yes their are still die hards and go what ever they do but I’m going to be a armchair supporter if he don’t show he cares. I’ve done 60 odd years of nothing but Villa, flown to see them play, them days have gone now until he shows me he’s Villa.
If you take a 40,000 crowd that pays an averge of £40 per match it’s around £1.6 m per match x 19 circa £30m a season plus merchandise. He is still getting around 36,000 on average so a few million loss when he gets treble that of sky is nothing. I see nursery the mouth piece is coming out in support of lamberk over one decent performance http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-blog-paul-lambert-3054208?#.UuFwMX-QGK0
But as you all say, the income from gate receipts is a smaller proportion of our income, but the only way this will affect a capitalist like Lerner is if Villa Park is if over half empty which will make his ‘project’ look a laughing stock.
Unfortunately we get the sheep bleating on about needing ‘real fans’ there through the hard times bullshit.. Empty seats equals forced sell.
Well said Dave Lee, that’s how I see it.
I might change my name Bill. Might get confused for Travis instead of Roth!
Tell you what that’s a thought, hate to walk around and people shouting hey DAVE LEE, that would piss me off. How about Ralf Harris oh no he’s next. 🙂
Bill – any chance you can get to away matches? I’m off to see Crystal Palace next (it’s close to my birthday, going out in London in the evening) and will try for probably one or two more away.
Sorry Foxy that would see me off the planet can only do quiet do’s now.
I decent performance???? If we are going to be critical, then at least be honest!…in this mediocre season I have witnessed more that 1 decent performance. If you are going to be critical, fair enough, but at least put up a balanced argument!
Fuck off Lerner, Red Bull, and any other twat that wants to change our name, ground all colours…I repeat fuck off, the Villa is OURS
Ooh ah you say fans account for only a fraction of the money made by the club, while that is true the fraction at the moment is one third of the total money the club makes, that’s a big fraction for any business so its bollox to say they don’t care about it, its a lot more than sponsorship and they care a lot about that, and that’s not takin into account merchandise and subscriptions and a lot of other things fans pay for so im pretty sure they care about it! Granted next year when we get the bumper tv deal the fraction from gates will be less but i still guarantee they will care about the millions fans bring in;)
Fair point kerryvillan the point I was trying to make is fans are no longer as important as they used to be.
James Nurseys article was very prematature i bet his Mrs is very satisfied.
We played very well for 10 minutes against Arsenal and well against Liverpool, it is a step in the right direction but by no means is 6 points away from relegation a success half way through a season. If they play like they did on Saturday every game then i am sure other fans like myself who pay a lot of money to watch shit football will not moan. Even if we had lost on Saturday i would of been ok as i could see effort for the first time this season.
Morgan the other point he conveniently omitted is that we are on target to get exactly the same points as last year. It’s a false argument that we are in tenth it’s not because we are better it’s because teams below us are a lot worse.
indeed but whether you finish 10th or 17th does not matter apart from some prize money .. and is very irrelevant
ahhh i see so league position is irrelevant .. We have only achieved 10th because teams are worse than us.
Should we be better than other teams aim for 20th?
do arsenal know that they are only really 10th not 1st .. because the 10 teams below them are just worse than villa?
honestly .. i am fascinated by that logic! ..
please go on .. flesh it out more, make me understand it!!!
I understand what you are saying but even you have admitted our performances have been awful. Do you think the reaction of Nursey was a little premature and is six points off relegation at this time good?
I also feel Lambert shown inexperience with his reaction in the press, I know it was aimed more at the media than the fans, but is it not better for a manager to let performances and results do the talking?
If we continue to play like we did against Liverpool then we will be more than safe so these comments in my opinion should have been kept to himself until the end of the season
because the bottom 10 are so average and crap finishing 10th only a few points above say 16th really says nothing. It is the position I expected anyway this season. What some forget is just the god damn awfulness of the PL these last few seasons.
absolutely 6 points is not a lot .. but that is the table this year. its a dynamic relative competition ..
the concept of a competition is not set benchmarks!
1st place can be 110 points or it can be 70 points like wise 10th can be 20 points clear of the bottom 2 or it can be 6!!
whats more is there are still another 15 or so games left .. by which point assuming the wheels don’g come off if Villa were to come 10th .. they could be 10 points clear of the bottom 3 ..
So what is the point exactly?
Are we as Villa fans that picky that we will only accept our league position depending on the point spread between us and the lower teams!!
crazy ! we are setting goals that not even the premier league measures!!!
A bit naughty this article – very good performance Saturday and not a word. Leave it a few days for the dust to settle then stick the knife back in, very sneaky indeed.
I am not doing match reports so nothing to report, my posts are about the way the club is being run and targeted mainly at Lerner. Lambert is irrelevant …
My problem is more with this article in the context of your many comments along the lines that football is dead, money has ruined the game, the Premiership is just for the “rich” etc.
If Lerner goes the opposite way why aren’t you applauding him? Would you be happy for Lerner to spend more so we get 6th place and huge losses year after year?
I’m confused. Which is it?
Bws, do you just paper over the cracks in your house too? Wake up dude. U used to have more fight in you.
I have to say I’ve never felt so dis-enfranchised to the club.
Lerner’s total refusal to talk is starting to piss me right off and I quite simply don’t trust a word that comes out of Faulkner’s mouth.
How Lambert can call some fans unreasonable is just beyond me. In the past there’d have been tens of thousands outside VP calling for his head, given some of the records we’ve broken.
As it is, there’s not even many calling for him at the games.
“Cheeky bastard” springs to mind.
Ian’s perfectly correct in saying that we should expect better, because at the moment things just aren’t good enough, imo.
We are not a Wigan type club and should be competing for at least the Europa league as a minimum on a regular basis.
As for the Pool game, no, we shouldn’t be basing much on that, but it’s fair that we hope that we can kick on from it and credit will be given if Lambert gets it right.
Of course, if we revert to type and play the usual same old shit against Albion, it’ll only be fair that Lambert continues to get stick.
How lambert is still in a job is beyond me he should of been sacked a year ago. We are on target to get last seasons points total how’s that progress ffs
Yup. Get the same points as last season by spendind less. That’s Lerners aim.
Unrealistic expectations and instant success
Yes considering our history and our relative size to other clubs I am not happy with Villas achievements over the last 20 years.
I wish we had done better.
The current ownership are definitely not perfect .. and we look to be doing things on the cheap that’s frustrating .. definitely.
But here is something we can measure .. we are 10th .. and even if it was one game.. we still outplayed Liverpool and got a point where only one other team has got points this season. Whoever thinks our season is over now is crazy. But you are only as good as your last game. It just so happens we were quite good in our last game.
I get your frustration Ian .. in terms of 20 years you can be hopping mad! .. in terms of 5/6 years of the current ownership .. you can most definitely be disappointed with the bad appointments poor judgements. At the same time you have to admit you also enjoyed finishing 6th for 3 seasons. it hasn’t been all bad.
but what I don’t get is the Ire with Lambert and the ownership direction for the last 2 seasons.
firstly .. true we are not spending .. but have we not overspent previously? forget Lerner’s alleged fortune on paper .. Are villa not in debt and nowhere near making ends meet?
not one account published has showed Lerner and co making out like bandits so far.
he has pumped in 200m+, plus or minus what we made in revenue back and player sales. He has in no way made any sort of profit yet. and without going down that road again .. anyone who thinks any owner buys a club to make money clearly has no concept on how the world of finance or football clubs finance works ..
the exception to this of course is the leveraged buyout .. which Gillett and hicks and the glazers used. But that’s not what Lerner did.
What I am trying to say .. is its been 18 months or so of Lambert and his approach.
First season, 15th, struggled in almost every way but improved markedly in the 2nd half of it.
This season, slipped back in terms of football but results are improved and defense has improved.
Position wise– 10th at the time of writing.
Signings have been hit and miss.
Just like every other club .. difference for us is we haven’t overspent on any individual failure.(relatively speaking)
Unless you think Fulham Sunderland Norwich, or any other club outside the top 6 have had a clearly better success rate with their signings.
Last year we fought relegation, the year before that we fought relegation, and the year before that we faced relegation until Mr Bent came along for 18m plus add-ons.
Why is it such a shock and insult to compare this seasons performance with the last 3?
Should we compare every season to 1981-82?
Unless you have sheik or oligarch funding you cannot seriously expect a jump from 15th to 5th in one season a year into a new unproven managers regime?
IF you are.. then I believe Mr nursey is right .. Villa fans do suffer from unrealistic expectations.
We cannot change the past. We can only go forward, So absolutely .. criticise the board and ownership for their awful decisions made in the past ie McLeish .. Houllier’s health gamble perhaps the fall out of the Mon era.
But don’t think any other club doesn’t have similar mistakes ..
Arsenal fans wanted a takeover and Wenger fired in august. Spurs fans go ballistic at Levy’s hard bargaining style when they think its preventing a player purchase but too easily forget about what a completely ridiculously deal he got in a 100m euros for a power and pace sensation that has 2 shite hamstrings(I am positive he will be an injury catastrophe if he isn’t already one) Utd want the glazers out. Chelsea and city Fans are in the weird position of not giving two shits about all the mistakes at board level ..but let us not kid ourselves there are plenty believe me.. Avram grant, Mourinhos first firing, Hughes signings Mancinis’ frankly erratic management, Shevchenko, Robinho, etc etc .they can simply just throw another 100m at it to fix it.
No other club can react the same way.
So when it comes down to it.
Villa board have made mistakes .. they deserve criticism .. Lambert deserves criticism he is learning things as he goes too. But the outrage at targeting 10th this year .. the outrage at our board and their mistakes ..? where should we be right now?
Everton you say…
This is a perfect example of why articles like Nurseys appear.
Everton; a club we should be competing with that doesn’t spend anything?
How, oh how can you argue that the board or management are failing us Villa fans because we seemingly can’t compete with Everton… when you protest when we try to mimic the same route as Everton….!!!!
Everton don’t hire and fire managers after one or two seasons.. they gave a young Scottish manager 10 years even when he nearly got them relegated in his second season!
How can you want a new manager yet again just 18 months into the latest ones regime … the polar opposite approach of Everton….?
Yet all I read is.. Lambert out ..
We are doing things on the cheap .. you say .. we aren’t spending enough you say..?
If Everton is a club we should be learning from what is the problem with our current spending level?
Everton have sold to buy for a decade!!
Our latest approach started 18 months ago .. mistakes have been made. It’s too early to state our latest approach hasn’t corrected them.
Last year 15th, this year 10th so far. Better defensively .. worse offensively .. it’s still incremental progress. And the only type of progress you can measure .. points .. and positions.
No one is stating that we should be happy with 10th for the rest of time. But then no is stating that is what our target is unless you can provide a direct quote to prove otherwise.
So if year on year improvement, if taking a different approach than all the other mid table clubs including ourselves have tried and failed with for the last decade is not enough
Be prepared to be outraged again when more articles like Mr. Nurseys appear
Best comment I have read on here in months. Fair play Colonius81.
Colonius81 take a bow. I think this sums up our position perfectly. Endlessly throwing money at finishing 6th is not the way to go. The current route is hard to swallow with each defeat or poor performance. Lack of direct communication from the owner just adds to the frustration.
Let’s hope we can see real progression come the end of the season. Tearing up and starting again isn’t the right thing to do.
Its a good post, and i agree with a lot of what you say. I agree with stability. This season we have played awful though.
My expectations were mid table 8-12 position. My Ire is not lack of spending because you can in fairness build a half decent team with a mixture of youth and experience at a reasonable price. At the same time you do at some point need to invest and have at least 3-4 experienced decent players in the team or you wont survive in this league. No matter how anyone paints it that is the simple truth of the Premier league
My Ire is the awful football i have seen at Villa Park in every match we have played this season. After the Newcastle game last year we played well, I hope the Liverpool game is the same this year for us.
But like most paying fans of all football teams if the team is not putting in any effort and the tactics are not working I am going to moan, along with a lot of fans, its my right as a paying customer who invests a lot of time and money into Aston Villa FC, like it is my right to say when we have played well.
All clubs have unrealistic fans so Nurseys dig at Villa fans in general was very underhanded and a poor shout from a so called professional, i used to read his articles I think i will not bother any longer as i dont like to be insulted in a generic way by somebody i have never met
Your forgetting the points total is about the same as last year forget being 10th that’s because the teams below us are a lot worse than last season. Being 10th is still no where good enough either. Granted our gd and defence have improved but let’s face it it couldn’t get any worse from last year.
“Last year we fought relegation, the year before that we fought relegation, and the year before that we faced relegation until Mr Bent came along for 18m plus add-ons.
Why is it such a shock and insult to compare this seasons performance with the last 3?
Should we compare every season to 1981-82?”
No, of course we shouldn’t compare to 81-82.
Who has?
But it is fair to compare to our average over many decades.
And the point is more about the fact that we’ve been sold a pup (very apt given the kids we’re playing), wrt the “project” or “plan”, whatever you want to call it, which you can’t get away from is basically “try and do it with no resources whatsoever”.
Where’s the progression?
You might think it’s there, but take out the Pool game and look at the last 6-7 results.
There’s no doubt we were poor results-wise mate, with even worse footy.
I said in my thoughts about the Pool game and I mentioned it again tonight that I expect us to follow up with a similar sort of game against the Albion, if we’re really progressing.
Trouble is, my money says it’ll be back to normal and the Pool game will prove a one-off in recent months.
I truly hope I’m wrong.
I don’t need to speak for Ian, but he’s made the point that it’s nothing to do with Lambert as such, it’s more the way the whole club is operating.
And it just so happens I think he’s right.
And Robo for Prime minister, Pope and to replace Ban Ki-moon at the head of the UN.
Never met anyone involved in local politics that had anything other than self interest as their main motivation, their own agenda at heart or could lie straight in bed.
We’re in a bizarre situation where we’re now almost expected to beat or at least put up a very good show against the teams above us but draw or lose to the ones below. I worry we won’t know whether Lerner is any good for the Villa until he’s gone, he’s getting the benefit of the doubt until we find out facts. We don’t know what he’s doing with the club or where he’s trying to take it. Maybe he has offered Lambert more money, maybe Lambert wants to do it on the cheap and be the hero who changed PL football. Who knows. This isn’t for me the issue.
We’ve had a turgid time these last few months with Benteke and Wiemann off the boil and no one really for Gabby to play with. They might be coming back in form and if they do we could be in for a fun few months. We’re starting to get a defence that is starting to look good (Lowton is still a worry, especially as Bacuna isn’t a RB) but we still only have one way of attack, the long ball hit and hope. Tiny possession figure in every match, home or away. Is it six or seven wins in a year at home. We’ve seen that the players can play well, and as a team, and we’ve seen how they can play nice passing football. Why do we have some games, like Liverpool, where it’s a pleasure to watch Villa play (well, actually, I think that’s the only one this year)? No, on paper the players aren’t as good as Liverpool but with consistency, which is what everyone seems to lack, we could see much better results. The AM position – why don’t we have an attacking midfielder? What is Lambert scared of? Everyone is crying out for one, everyone can see it, is Hoolahan a cheap stop gap to see if it works? A sort of ‘try for 60 days with your money back if you don’t like it’?
So for me it looks like Lambert is gambling on players (buy cheap and hope), match plan (hit long and hope) and general tactics and formation (against Arsenal at home sit back, wait for them to score, then go at them in the second half and show what they should have done all game). On that last point, if you’re defending all match you’re going to be just as knackered as the attacking opposition so it’s not like you’re going to out run them in the second half by going on the attack. Without a good AM we can’t unpick a defence so why let everyone we play have a go at scoring first so we can be the best team in the league at coming back from behind?
What we want to see is that Liverpool first half every week. Hopefully with Bertrand sorting out LB and Okore only weeks away (but Clark playing some decent football now too) we’ll soon have a defence to allow it. And no, I don’t care that Bertrand is on loan, at least not until he shows how good he is and then buggers off. For now he does the job and hopefully in the summer with the central defence sorted and players filling other positions we’ll get in someone decent, or maybe even Luna will have acclimatised and be match fit.
In essence I don’t know what Lambert is playing at. I believe Villa can play good football and put on a show worth paying for, I can’t work out why Lambert is so against doing just that.
Personally, i’m tired of being miserable so I’m not going to care about what Lerners doing or not doing, what Lambert says or doesn’t say in interviews or care about what Nursey writes in his god awful articles just to be able to go corporate. I’m just going to enjoy my days out to watch the footy with the ol’ chap, win lose or draw.
UTV – CLARET BLUE ARMY – VTID
Well good luck Helenius I wouldn’t want to be miserable all that time, 🙂
IANROBO Good articale mate but i think there are one or two things that have been forgotten here.Am i right in saying that when Lerner took over a statement was made by the club on his behalf that because of our great history he as the new owner wanted to put the club back to where it belonged and that was challenging for honours year in year out.At first it looked that way.But then came along the now famous five year plan then came Lambert and the transition period and now we have the prodject that the boot licking journalists are now calling it.So what the hell is going on do we the fans not have the right to know.
Terry your right mate, you and I cannot wait that long can we 🙂 5 year plan? give over I will be 80 fuck that, we want it now. Lerner fuck off the Villa is ours.
No, we don’t have the right to know, we have the right to go or not to go watch games though.
I bought a PS3 game from Argos, it was shit, does that mean I have the right to know why EA made it shit and why they seem to have gone backwards compared to the previous releases? Afterall, I’m a fan of that game and have been for years. No, I just won’t buy it again until it improves.
Cause you have the right, its called freedom of choice , and how did we get that? because people did something about getting that, carry on and have your happiness of being not entertained. I wouldn’t, I have that right.
Exactly. Its not your business, its Lerners, so he has the choice to tell you what he wants, as we do have the choice to watch the games.
“Because people did something about getting that” – What are you going to do Bill to get him to speak to the fans, stand outside VP with your pitchfork?? Do me a favour, please do that!!! We all could do with a laugh.
Don’t be an idiot and don’t buy , why should he have the good life, stand outside with a pitch fork? Tell me how often do you play silly games on EA , if I was you get back down to planet earth and get back to the real world. Helenius you sound as if you have a good few years of your life to go, just leave the thinking down to people that are more intune to how life is. Go to Villa I hope you get to see what I and a lot more on this site have seen ie the FA cup and European cup, I have.
Bill mate i would like to know how many five year plans there are going to be remember the old USSR and their five year plans how many did they have before the demise of communisum .So how many of these plans are there going to be at VP before the demise of the Lerner Lambert era.Would like to know from these so-called loyal fans as we all know what happened to the good old USSR don;t we.
Terry I have no idea how some people think, I look back at my time of being a fanatical Villa fan, working there for 20 years and have to read some lost soles idea of Villa today, I have had 4 games of feeling happy with results, 20 games I’ve had my head in my hands, I fear for what’s happened and what’s coming, 2nd city of the country with poor clubs that should not be should it. I despair and thinking people will not see good times for years to come.
BTW as I work on projects and I am sure many of us do they usually have these elements
– a definitive end result
– Cash allocated to it
– Clear targets at each stage
– engaging all the key stakeholders to get to the ends
– All successful projects need good communication
Can someone please explain where Villa have done any of this ?
Again if we work in projects and you see a total switch in some of it then usually it means the project has failed.
Until you cough up the cash to change things, your going to have to learn to deal with it or simply be miserable with what time you have left.
As for talking about “The good times”, although the football we play at VP isn’t so sometimes, the actual day as a whole is. Especially the away games, buzzing atmosphere, but you wouldn’t know because your on here at home whinging about “that misplaced pass” etc.
Are your good times the days when we won the league, the same year Ipswich and WBA came 2nd and 4th respectively?? Similarly the times when your Lutons and Oxfords were in the top tier?? Look where these clubs are now compared to where we still are……
On average we have always been a mid table club and we still are. Nothings changed there so I don’t see your points.
UTV – CLARET BLUE ARMY – VTID
Its plain and simple Helenius you ever will, your in another world, if at any time you would like to come back to earth let me know, I can help you. Vtid. Just take a peep at the picture its called the Villa Tavern you can have a drink with me any time you want.
Used to drink int he Villa Tavern when it was run by the bluenose Gary, had sky sports etc. Then he got chucked out, some toerags took it over and it went downhill quickly, has it recovered now ?
Yes Robo my lad and his accountant took it on, turned it around and doing fine , she runs it but he holds the licence, they have had it now for 4 years. Packed on match days no charge on door.
What and let you depress me in person, I thought you’re meant to enjoy a pint? 😉
You talk like we have always been a top 4 side in the top tier. You’re remembering the good few successful occasions and think every year is how that should be, when the facts are, on average we are and always have been a mid table side……Why cant you accept that??
Of course we all want better, in both players and today’s football but the clubs philosophy has never been to spend tens of millions every season/window, the time Lerner did we were still an average side…..
Angering myself with seeing the likes of Clarke, Westwood, KEA, Weimann, Tonev etc play got me nowhere so I’ve now chilled out and actually realised, looking through history that we are and have always been and average top tier side bar a few successes, therefore we are on track to keep our trend as mid table status and until oil barons take over, we always will be the same brilliant Aston Villa.
UTV – CLARET BLUE ARMY – VTID
Helenius my growing close friend, I was born under the shadows of Villa park 75 years ago, I have been told by my family that have gone to the happy hunting ground don’t let Villa die, and do what ever it takes to improve the club, that’s what I’m doing , its going to the dogs, I have to voice my concerns otherwise I’ll get sent below, we are in trouble at this moment in time, I just want you to see them happy days that I had. 🙂 🙂
Helenius, you speak a lot of sense.
Not many of these have as long as a memory as the bank manager, Lerner’s first ‘project’ to get a CL spot under MON was disastrous financially for the club.
That’s all forgotten now and we should be in fourth or fifth with the clubs spending £40m-£50m on a player, never mind a Summer.
Football has moved on but we haven’t been left all that far behind.