That sinking feeling is back, but because we have been so close to the drop for 5 years I suppose it could be said we’re inured to the idea.

But has the Villa Disappointment been just a 5-year affair? No, of course not. Despite the comparatively halcyon years of 1989-2000 and 2007-2010, there has been little to chortle over since the early 1980s, over 30 years ago. And the 1974-1984 time must count as Villa’s greatest success period in over a century.

Thinking about it, I recall that my father was born a few months after the previous championship success (in 1910) and died not that long before the next one (1981), so between us we have witnessed only the one championship success in 106 years. Since 1910, the Villa have been mostly struggling to find themselves, except during that lovely time of 1974-84.

Indeed, my first 23 years of life and as a Villa supporter were mostly spent in depression as relegation always seemed a stone’s throw away during that time. But Dad must have had a premonition of something that was going to happen in the mid-50s as he acquired a TV in 1956, and in 1957 we saw Villa win the Cup on it.

Yes, they played that day in those dark gray and light gray stripes (er, I’m told they were actually claret and blue stripes, but we couldn’t see that on our TV) and though they were not playing anything like Real Madrid, they did give the suggestion that they were out there to give Man U a fight. And they did: Supermac laid out their keeper after 10 minutes and so we won with the advantage of they playing with effectively 10 men before the days of subs. Supermac scored a hat-trick: one knock-out and two goals.

But at least they played with effort. And in Supermac they had a real match-winner. Johnny Dixon was also an inspirational skipper, and Dugdale (the centre-half) and Sims (keeper) were great players. They were a good, well-oiled team: nothing fancy, but full of drive.

What could we do with today, in their current situation? I would suggest a “good, well-oiled team: nothing fancy, but full of drive”.

Well, the Crystal Palace club are next up, and they bring further memories as we won 4 FA Cups at the old Crystal Palace and never lost there. And it was an ex-Villa player who became the Crystal Palace Football Club’s first manager around 1905 time. They also played in claret and blue until a certain manager of theirs (Malcolm Allison) changed their colours in the 1960s to those of Barcelona, stating that times had changed.

Villa had, indeed, gone down in the football world a lot by the 1960s, and were being seen to be something of a has-been as they are today. When I went to Crystal Palace to see Villa play about 1968-time, my shouts of “C’mon the Villa!” were echoed by my nephew shouting “C’mon Vanilla!”. Yes, even Small Heath supporters were calling our club Aston Vanilla – because we could always be licked.

But we did win, that day in 1968. So there was no ice cream that day for our opponents.

This time? Well, I’m just waiting for Villa’s “good, well-oiled team: nothing fancy, but full of drive” to turn up. If it does, I’ll be happy.

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John Lerwill
I'm a Villan of more than 60 years standing and an occasional writer on Villa history. For me there is only one football club worth supporting, but I am now wondering whether I will again see anything like the pageant that was paraded under Ron Saunders or even that by Big Ron and Brian Little. My glass, however, is always half-full! Click here for my Villa website.

Comments 313

  1. Trinity

    John
    Awesome read, liked its originality with a take that only someone with your experience could articulate.
    We better get some oil and get into drive pretty soon, else the likes of Frem will be driving to lots of smaller place they’ve never been to before. Then again that sounds kind of interesting.

  2. steamer

    Hello John,
    Memories are about all we have left, not many Villans will want to remember the Lerner years that’s for sure.
    Although they’ve improved a lot, some of the lower division grounds are awful, when we dropped into div 3 it was a real culture shock like playing the vermin in 21 away games, that’s how bad they were. Rochdale, Halifax and Walsall were probably the three worst, i’m afraid it going to be a culture shock to some of our away days mob.

  3. Mark King

    Thanks JL for a Pleasant Read,

    For me it brings up the thought “should we be surprised we are in this position?” For one of the country’s biggest, most successful teams and Historical giants we have had massive periods of mediocrity. Imagine how the mere mortals of the football world must feel 🙂

  4. steamer

    Nice to have a manager who won’t stand for crepe, there’s more than one bad egg in the club but one of them has been stirring it for years, i think he may have met his match with Remi though.
    Fell sorry for the employees who will lose their jobs through our relegation, wonder if one of the architects of our demise Tom Fox, will be taking a wage cut.

  5. runtings

    superb read JL

    The club is so rich in history

    JL the point you make about being functional with no frills is something we are not but also don’t think we are a million miles away from

    A proper striker would help no end and also an attacking winger to join ayew – also a few defensive additions

  6. John Lerwill

    Mark: “Thanks JL for a Pleasant Read”

    Pleasure, Mark. Though it’s a bit dubious to be called Vanilla I think! But – yes – it tastes “pleasant” enough. 😉

  7. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    Cheers.

    Yes, a couple of players needed, agreed … but it’s all dragging on, isn’t it.

    It looks as though we’ve still to manufacture a win or two before reinforcements arrive.

  12. steamer

    JL,
    It shows the effect that Lerners ownership has had on the reputation of AVFC, at the very least some talented kid rom the lower divisions would want to make a name for himself or even a name who was on the slide, but now we’ll have to pay mega money to entice basically anyone.
    Mind we have signed a centre forward from Biggleswade Town who played for the u21’s on Saturday, never know, he could be another Keith Leonard.
    Don’t think this is what Lerner meant by ‘Bright Future.’

  13. DarrenO

    Great read, love your ability to take us back to 68, even if it’s before my time I can imagine the Aston Vanilla chant. A nice calmness to the story given the turmoil surrounding the club pre and post the Wycombe game.

    Said in the past it was right manager, wrong time, it might become right manager, right time if we get new investment and give Garde a chance to build his team as opposed to sorting out 5 years of destruction. Sure will be doing it from the Championship and I don’t expect an easy ride but we’ve a better chance to build a team, build confidence and build our way back to the prem with Garde in charge in my opinion.

    Rightly or wrongly from Garde’s perspective he took this job on and deserves respect for that alone when like players they could just hold out for a better offer and one that doesn’t involve relegation on the cv.

    I’m placing no pressure on Garde or the team for the remainder of the season, I won’t overly celebrate any win or overly criticise any losses, all I need to see is progression. Still eagerly awaiting the departure of Lerner and the demotion of Fox to commercial director or exit.

    FOLAF

  15. southwestvillan

    Lerners bright future is new strip lighting in the canteen, it is truly shocking to see how our stock has fallen players would walk across broken glass to sign for the mighty Villa but now they see us as a club in freefall and would rather keep their options open and wait for a club with a modicum of ambition.

    Lerner,Fox,Reilly and Almstad have ruined one of the greatest clubs in the land with a sheer lack of knowledge of the game of football, they have taken one of the finest clubs and turned us into a laughing stock, they have signed players who should never have wore our colours and made managerial appointments that have failed royally one after the other and been paid millions to leave the club.

    Mr.Fox you know the one look at the shirt sales blah blah, appointed TS when we were crying out for a manager with experience who could steady the ship, he appointed Garde when again we needed someone with premier experience to try to turn things around, I don”t think Garde is a bad manager but I think this job is too big and too early for him.

    Will we ever be taken seriously again as a football club well not with these clowns in charge.

    GSAVFC

  17. John Lerwill

    South West Villan,

    Doubtless you’ve heard of the legend of Drake’s Drum (being a habituee of that neck of the woods), so do you think we need to spread the idea of a Rinder Revolution?

  18. Mark King

    Theres a split over Garde among fans. Some seem to think hes a hapless victim without any bottle. I think that couldn’t be further from the truth. The way he answers the press like he us talking to naughty children tells of authority. The likes of Gabby have found out he is no pushover either.

    When tim started the season there was at least £30mils worth of gaps in the side that still exists. There is not a manager on gods green earth that could of done better barring the odd bit of luck. We have teetered on the brink of wins all season but been closer with garde hence 4 draws. He wants 3-4 players to push us over that line and like Runtingz I believe it would make a huge difference to this side.

  19. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    But the questions are:

    1. Who (of any real ability) wants to come to VP?
    2. When would they come? – time is rattling on and games remaining are decreasing.
    3. Would they only be loan players? I think they would be and therefore not a lot of point getting them as they sure wouldn’t be as committed in my view.

    If we can get one decent r-b then that would be half the battle.

  21. Mark King

    jl- yes its become a problem but mainly loans and maybe £10m on a keeper. When? as soon as poss I assume that is what the meeting is partially about.

  22. runtings

    whoever is doing this needs a good seeing too

    http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-star-subjected-vile-10719319

    I think we have a much better chance of getting good players on loan and it would be better for the player if they are to good for the championship

    i don’t subscribe to the theory that players would just come in and not try or be bothered – most players for me want to win and want there performances to be deemed as good — if you are not quite good enough for the level you play at , that is a completely different matter

  23. Archie

    I think when RG arrived there was a certain level of expectation but the squad just isn’t good enough and I dont see the likleyhood of the arrival of ….whoever, making much difference at this stage, sadly.
    I do recall the 1967 when we were relegated, we were a mess then, I would say worse than now. Back then we had no training facilities, a crumbling stadium with part of the Holte End fenced off being considered unsafe, which makes me recall the Blues and Baggies crowd singing “Villa Park is falling down”
    I don’t think we’re that bad.
    The fact is RL is going nowhere as I see it, but if we sort out the management structure of the club, place Tom Fox in a role where he’s more suited, Commercial Director as has been suggested, allow RG to bring the talent he wants and finally get rid of the Lescotts and Guzans who display disinterest.
    I think back to when Tommy Docherty was employed by Doug Ellis, 1969, I think. He kept us in Div 2 that season but his downfall was keeping the nucleus of that side the following season resulting in his dismissal and our relegation from Div 2. Tom got a second chance at Man U and although got relegated from Div 1, cleared the lot out built a new side combining young talented players and the better players from Div 2, e.g. Stuart Pearson from Hull City, great striker. Tom managed to mess up that gig by other means, thats another story.
    My point, lets see what RG has got as a manager, let him clear out this load of loser and build a squad. With the support of a more structured top down management team.
    My thoughts anyway

  24. steamers75

    Runtins
    give the player stick but dont get personal and abuse his family , but with all this media bollox now people who use such things leave themselves open to the twats of this world , l have facebook and thats it , it has been a help in finding old friends , but as for twitter, instagram and the like ,l cant be arsed .
    well week 2 of this shitty throat , its off/on but within hours !!! l aint eaten either but it doesnt look like l’ve lost any weight ((
    Quite a few season tickets going round for the game , gate will be interesting ,
    got to go get the wife a birthday present . anyone know where l can get an electric chair from ….

  25. Mark King

    ST75- If its what I had the next phase is a chest infection, I suggest a spittoon or paint your house green. The lack of weight loss is because you are building up reserves of Mucus.

    Archie- some players can prove inspirational and actually knowing where to be, what to do and when to do it would be a start. Its surprising how it can galvanise even the crappest of players and give them confidence. Think Sendeross in his first few games for Lambert, Benteke when he could be arsed. A keeper, a right back, Dm and striker would mean we don’t have to look over are shoulders so much and we might put some chances away. A no10/winger as runtingz mentioned would be the icing on the cake, A good Keeper alone would settle even our f@*kwits.

  26. runtings

    yes ST75 the social media thing is great for cowards and keyboard warriors who want to say things to people that they wouldn’t have the balls to say to there face
    hope you get well soon

    the runtz

  27. Mark King

    Quite sad really that Bacuna is getting dogs for basically saying getting away from the pressure and being grateful for being alive is a good thing. I suppose its a bit airy fairy for the average football fan but apart from the picture being Ill advised there is nothing wrong in what he said. As for threatening his family the fans should deal with the half wit for him.

    “Sometimes when things in life doesn’t go the way you want , close your eyes and look and enjoy of the positive things around you.”

  28. steamer

    JL.
    RB you say ? right, i’ll get my Winit Mercury’s out of the cupboard and go straight to VP.
    MK.
    Its critical that we end the season well just to bring a bit of optimism to the entire club, i we continue as we are it means whoever is manager can’t boot these dregs because no-one will want to come.
    Forcasting a very low crowd around 27000 and a 0-3 defeat, all in all, crepe.

  29. Archie

    Mark, I do agree, a midfield enforcer, playmaker, striker, goalie might turn us into something, but it’s attracting the quality. I feel we might only attract the dysfunctional and the nut jobs, i.e. the Joey Bartons of this world……hmmm…let me see……that may not be so bad…
    sorry ’bout that.
    Seriously, yes, if could bring them in and string a couple of wins together, who knows.
    Its all about the budget, also, how much has RG got to spend??

  30. steamer

    I wouldn’t read much into what the Mail or any other rag says, one peed up bloke gives it a bit o jip at Wycombe and the papers made out it was Stalingrad. Villa have always drawn negativity from the media, brummagem thing.

  31. steamer

    Hello Archie,
    Read your comments about Bristol in 1970? with Big Pat, used to see him at the reserve games a few years ago, he told me his lad was bigger and barmier than he was.
    Crudgington saved a pen and we won 1-0.

  32. Archie

    Hello Steamer,
    Great days out, I think we had the best of times, and a great band of supporters, some great characters. Bootsy, Rosko, Klepto and loads you new just my sight.

  33. James Gill

    McLeish crying wolf all day about his time at villa reducing wage bill and who he tried to sign, good job he wasn’t let sign anymore zog given 2 biggest wage earners at villa ever hutton worst ever player jenas who managed about 20 mins football
    why is no news about meeting in new York ,or normal villa no media allowed
    there doesn t seem to be many going tonight by sites every one seems to have gave up, then again when you see bournmouth spending 30m Newcastle spending 20m us stuck with fox reilly alstad

  34. steamer

    Archie,
    A good few watching from above mate, Bootsy died about six years ago, his two lads go H&A every week. Bumped into Reggae R a month or so ago and saw Goldie at Cokes funeral.

  38. steamer

    James G,
    Everyone made Lerner welcome and then he turned, to appoint McKnob wasn’t just stupid it was insane, that’s when i knew the dream was over. Strange how all these ex Villa managers either can;t find work or have to wait in line for a chance, hopefully Blackburn will soon realise just what a twat they’ve got and boot him.

  40. Archie

    Steamer, Didn’t know Koke had gone, or Muffin. I used to see Muffin in Harborne from time to time, but not for a long time now I come to think about it. Anyway I suppose we’ll all getting there.
    Muffin hired the coach the day everyone got pulled in at Bristol, Goldie was on board too, he didnt get to the game either. That was the first game Muffin missed in years as he was ropped in also, he never came with us lot again, said we were a bad influence. …not so sure

  41. steamer

    Muffins pal said that he came out of the toilet and collapsed on the snooker table.
    Coke had the last rites on three occasions before he went, hundreds there, he had a life and a half though didn’t he ?
    Loz Greaves moved to USA but 3/4 years ago i was outside the Aston Soc and who walked across the car park ? He’d moved to Ireland but worked in UK in the week bought his lad down to the Vermin game 1-0, his 1st game ever, he was in shock for a month after. Think they’ve gone Oz now.

  43. gordonsidney

    Excellent article John. Took me back. First went to the Villa in 1958 with my Grandad and have blamed him ever since!. Will never forget beating Everton in the League Cup Final, Rotterdam in 1982, coming second in Division One under Graham Taylor, top at Xmas under John Gregory and the early O’Neill times……………..but its not a lot for nearly 60 years of support is it?
    I think the only way forward is for Garde to identify who really wants to play for club (admittedly now in the Championship) and build a team around them. I would hope it would include the local lads (Grealish, a fit Gardner, a dare we hope rejuvenated Gabby) the best of the signings (Ayew, Amavi and Veretout), Richards at right back and a fully fit Okore in the middle.
    After recent interactions with fans, the club should get rid of Guzan, Lescott, Richardson and Bacuna as well as N’Zogbia and Senderos. The transfer committee should be disbanded, a CEO who understands football should be appointed and we should use the knowledge of previous managers such as Little, Big Ron and Graham Taylor.
    The last time we went down Ellis had the wit to appoint and back an excellent manager (Graham Taylor). I am not certain Remi is the man to get us back but if we get rid of the deadwood, keep a core of those who want to play for Villa, sign a couple of hard-bitten championship veterans and blood some kids we could return better and stronger. Must stop now, there’s a pig flying past the window………….

  44. John Lerwill

    gordonsidney,

    Many thanks and I totally concur with your comments.

    Garde – for me – looks as though he’s the right type to be in the job but everything else around him seems to be wrong. He’s the only one in step! 😉

  45. Mark King

    One thing I’ve noticed with a lot of fans posts is that they think the championship requires an uglier approach, I’m not so sure as all the teams that came up play decent football and the top 4 at the moment are all good footballing sides some with foreign managers. I don’t think the champs is like it use to be and we have as good a chance with remi as anyone.

  48. James Gill

    Is fox at match anyone know
    Just seen clip from Sunday supplement ,they all seem to think remi good guy wrong time and Lerner business acumen is worst ever

  56. Steve Parkes

    Looks like we got a bit of passion 1st half, some nice passing but nothing up top.

    Kovac has had a very poor half, may need to try Sinclair/Gestede 🙁

    Ayew once again, is the best player on the pitch, the only one that looks to create or cause threat.

  69. Mark King

    About time now lets build on that, 2 derbies to spring boards up, shame newcastle drew

    Kosak lead the line brilliant knew he would he has a brain. vertout is a fabulous player and Ayews effort and skill outstanding. not a bad player on the pitch, they were all on the bench. only one I wanted on was jordan lyden.

    UTV

  71. Jenny Truman

    Lovely article John – really enjoyed the trip down your memory lane .

    Well ….. I must say ” we won’t win a game” more often because bingo we did it ! Well done to Remi and every player on the pitch tonight – fantastic effort. A big well done to the fans too – their support immense tonight , particularly the last ten nerve wracking minutes . Delighted for Remi . Delighted to see everyone at Villa Park, supporters , team , United and happy . A brilliant confidence booster for Saturday – I actually feel we can win that one too !!

  80. Jenny Truman

    We can’t judge Kozak yet given he’s not player first team footie for three seasons . He certainly tried and put the effort in – just lacking in confidence in front of goal – understandably . Has he dime enough to earn a start against Leicester ? Bacuna had a good game – beating his man and some vital interceptions . The last attempt by Ayew, passing two defenders in the box and still managing to get shot away (albeit wide) was Messi esque!!

  81. Jenny Truman

    Remi Guarde looks shell shocked – tons of abuse three days ago and tonight the best support ever . Welcome to the villa circus Remi 🙂

    I’d love them to sing Remi Guardes name too Mark .

  86. Jenny Truman

    It is Trin. The lows make the highs surreal!

    I hope he plays this side on Saturday – they all deserve to keep their place , they will all have the belief from it and it’s the old ” why change a winning team “.

  87. Ian

    I’ve always thought the game against Leicester was a turning point in the new season. Leading by two and losing in the last minutes of the game really did them IMO. Perhaps they can use this upcoming game as the turning point for the second half. Maybe it’s time for leicester to come back to earth. Really who expected them to do this Well?

  88. Heroes-and-Villans

    A bit of home truths from the villa faithfull and next game full of running and a win… That bald bloke should do the team talks 😉

    Serious note…..its never been rocket science has it. Remove guzan and hutton and richrdson and you stand a chance of keeping a clean sheet. Just should of been done ages ago and we might not of been 11 points from safety grrrrrrr

  90. Heroes-and-Villans

    Ian 8, 10 or 18 no bother we are goners.

    The thing that gets me tonight is i am sure we are down but did i celebrate the final whistle, hell yeah and has lifted my mood. Thats the thing im not worried about who we beat as long as the villa win that feeling feels the same be it against palace tonight or away to bristol city next season, relegation does not scare me villa are still here and will celebrate wins again.

  91. Heroes-and-Villans

    Why has it taken so long for kozak to come in for gestede 🙁 at least he runs and stuff!!!

    If the villa bosses had any kind of brains they would make damn sure to make a signing or 2 before sat. Its called momentum a very powerfull force in footy. A win and a new face for the lester game would bring a very different feel to the terraces and changing room.

  92. Jenny Truman

    I hear that Heroes was played before the game as a tribute to David Bowie . My favourite Bowie song and fur one day our players can be heroes for stopping that dreadful losing run. As a fellow creator perhaps Lou Reed’s Perfect Day should be played to round off an unexpected and heart warming evening .

    Andrew – mr baldie will be waiting for players autographs by the gate – who said villa fans were fickle 🙂

  95. B62 Villa

    Back from the game, a good win and a decent enough display although palace were very poor for a team so high up the league. The stadium was empty nowhere near the official 28k attendance, which I fear will be the norm especially next season in the championship.
    Credit where credit is due to Garde, I have given him pesters for not changing it up, so I will praise him when he does especially when it yealded a win. Veretout and Ayew were stand out today for us, but there were less mistakes and more organisation across the board, which brings up the question why these changes weren’t tried earlier in the season whilst we still had a hope of survival, and I hope this means the end of Hutton, Guzan etc
    But what a feeling, an actual league win at home!!!

  96. Paul Pears

    A great night at Villa Park tonight…..and the Holte End WERE SINGING REMI GARDE’S CLARET AND BLUE ARMY.

    Tonight was a fantastic response from the fans who were there to support the team. as they sang, cheered and clapped in the Holte and around the ground from the first kick of the game to the last, and the players responded, and most people felt that the whole team deserved man of the match tonight, as they chased everything and never gave up. It was great to see that Remi may now have a group of players willing to take up the fight.

    I know that it was well worth the 180 mile round trip this time, and would not have missed it for the world. It was so great to walk out at the end with all the fans buzzing, and looking forward to the challenge on Saturday.

    It was also great to see that the players felt appreciated at being clapped off at half time and full time, with Ayew giving his shirt to a Holte Ender…..

    Let us hope now that Remi will get some real backing.

    Nice walk back in history again JL.

  97. runtings

    Well done the lads

    And there is the secret to winning games – work hard for each other for 90 mins and you make your own luck

    so happy for Garde the players and all us lot – such a great feeling winning a game – i had forgotten how it feels

    is it too late for a charge for a uafa spot 🙂

    coyvb never say die

  98. John Lerwill

    B62: “palace were very poor for a team so high up the league. “

    There’s that old adage, isn’t there, that says you can play only as well as you’re allowed to.

    They showed their capability in the first minute when that goal attempt went off the post, but after that Villa’s anti-freeze took effect and we rather closed ’em out for most of the rest of the game.

    Apparently CP are without a proper striker, so we had a tad bit of advantage that way, and against Leicester it’s going to be a different story against Vardy and Albri.

    But that win last night will give our boys a tad more confidence. And they’ve proved they *can* win at VP!! So while there’s life there’s hope… A second win within the week will be a tremendous boost, especially with the supporters already in a better frame of mind.

  99. Mark King

    JL- on Bacuna he did well last night but we a have been there before, Its his 1st start at RB under Remi would rather someone came in personally than see mutton back in if Bacuna injured, I think its that important to the integrity of the defence.

    Back to reality, 3 shots on goal and can’t remember a save, Palace are solid at the back though. Thought we still shy away from getting in the box and Kosak showed a lot of heart and intelligence in his link play and running he will defo play Saturday.

    One thought crossed my mind as I watched us come up short when attacking, Jack Grealish! if he could show last seasons form he can find those balls into the box for runners we seemed to lack and he would certainly appreciate Kosaks runs . its just whether he is up to it.

    In reality we got some luck last night and I couldn’t be happier because we are due some, from the keepers error to the shot hitting our post early doors things went our way. Surprised by the amount of physical stuff allowed by the ref but proud our munchkins stood up and were counted, Palace were like giants, an area our stats people seem to have missed.

    Another thing that stood out, everyone played 90 mins and Remi was right to let them it will give them heart but most of all looking at the bench he had little option except Lyden, it was the flattest bench I’ve seen all season no impact players. If that continues I can seen Hepburn -murphy or sellars getting a seat soon. I think gabby will be back on sat for his resurrection, whether he gets on is another thing.

    New blood is now paramount to keep the tripe on the bench away and on there toes, who knows they may well improve or try we are entering Villa fantasy land now and who better to beat than the Houdidini’s of the prem. Were they not also the start of our purple patch under Tim? tall order but well done Remi 🙂

  100. DarrenO

    There’s me saying I won’t go overboard on celebrating wins but feck me that was great to see, a solid performance, reduced Palace to very few opportunities and lady luck shined on Hennessy so much he would have let a bowling ball in.

    Is it bad to re-ignite the hope part of the brain and dream of back to back wins and pulling of the great escape. Regardless of my hope, I wish the players bottle up that feeling of winning and keep it up for their own confidence for the remaining games.

    God it’s some journey being a Villa fan, in the mire one minute and high on getting 3 points the next.

    UTV

  101. James Gill

    Last night showed what a mess as a club we are ,said yesterday I would back remind for rest of season but why o why did he not drop clown guzan sooner even last 4 matches think bunn would have got us few points more
    Kozak was he not allowed to play him,what I saw was a man without pl game in 2 years ,only 10 mins cootie in how long put more effort and skill in last 10 mins than rudi in all season
    Bacuna what a relief to put out team without Hutton, when watching defense 4 players instead of Hutton AWOL,bacuna neat tidy after first min error,attacked sensibly
    Now remind keep up no more guzan Hutton richardson rudi get midfielder and attacker in for sat bench was shocking last night and get winning

  102. B62 Villa

    Morning all, yes it’s great to get that first win at home under our belts, it will give the players confidence going forwards, hopefully we won’t see the old guard of Guzan and Hutton thrown straight back in, upsetting a winning team full of confidence.
    I do think in the cold light of day without the emotion and adrenaline coursing through our veins, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture. We are still certainties for the drop, although with performances like last night we can at least go down showing a bit of form , effort and a bit of pride, going down fighting is far better than curling up and dying.
    Relegation will mean the loss of Ayew and Veretout, who IMO were our best players last night, they won’t hang around in the lower leagues, Ayew has already stated/indicated this .
    We still need a proper RB and GK, Westwood is still wasteful and negative however may do better in the championship , Gana was better last night but for me isn’t good enough as his performances overall have indicated. Garde has found his balls this week and good on him, calling out Lerner, telling him a few home truths, the jury is still out if he is the right man going forward, these next 17 games are his job interview

  103. Frem

    You can just imagine the crisis meeting started just as Lescott scored and Randy standing back up and saying ” well gentlemen, I see things are fine here ” and then walking back through a door where knowone knows what’s behind it.

    We won. We a actually bloody won and we did alright as well. The players ran and actually wanted the ball and played some nice stuff. Good to see Guzan getting boood and Bunn starting. Bacuna at RB is so much better than Hutton. Sissy is awful at Lb. There ability going forwards ( Huttons the other ) is dire. Kozak good movement of the ball. Ayew- best player

    Hopefully now we can sign a few players. We need a GK, RB, LB, CM, St Nd a powerful CAM

  104. B62 Villa

    Frem
    You are correct in your assessment , we are in dire need of at least 6/7 players that walk straight into the starting 11 and improve the quality of the team s ignificantly. However we know this isn’t going to happen, I think the best we can hope for is a couple of loans til may, we are too far behind now( even after a win) and the those around us are picking up wins and draws to ensure the gap remains between us and safety.
    This is why I don’t feel there will be any significant transfer activity, maybe a couple out ie CN, GA, PS etc. last night the official crowd was a little over 28k, but I haven’t seen VP that empty for many years, it was like an early round league cup game without the masses of travelling support, I would estimate the true gate nearer 23-25k. This will be the norm next season bar the big games/derbies. It shows VP is too big for us and if they ever re develop the North stand( which needs doing) I would reduce the capacity to a max of 40k perhaps less say 37/8k with a view to expansion further down the line. We have sold out or filled the ground on a regular basis since MoN walked. I’d rather have a smaller capacity and the ground be full with a vibrant atmosphere, than like it was last night , the trinity upper is a ghost town as is large parts of the Witton lane stand/North stand upper. Yes the fans got behind the team towards the end after we had scored, but the atmosphere is lost in such a vast open stadium

  105. Mark King

    B62/ frem all good comment but surely if the punters see us showing heart they will return? 2 derbies coming up remember. Maybe Villa park can become somewhere to fear again as Remi seems more inclined to attack at home?

    frem thought Sissoko did ok considering its his 2nd game so not match fit, certainly defends better than Bacuna/Richardson there and put some crosses in which we haven’t had in a while and won 3-4 corners, Bacuna hardly put a ball in all night which was strange for him.

  108. steamer

    Valid point about a couple of signings to increase any momentum.
    Someone said that if Palace had won they’d have gone third, what a dire league this is.
    The dog walkers were different people today, everyone in a good mood, i’d forgotten what it was like to win a game, your personality does change.
    I wonder whats going on in NY ? i suppose we’ll get the usual bland statements from Lerner about his confidence in Fox et al. All this transfer budget stuff should have been sorted in December but wasn’t because there is no transfer budget, just loan targets who don’t want to come.

  109. steamer

    Mark,
    Every time i see Remi interviewed he impresses, no BS at all. Someone told me that the cameras closed in on him at the end of the game and he was choked up. I think that given the tools, not necessarily money, he could be special for AVFC.

  110. B62 Villa

    The club are obviously worried about falling home attendances, I’ve just had a text from them reminding me about the Leicester game and how to redeem my ST Seat for the Wycombe replay.
    Mark
    The crowds will return when the product/results change on the pitch, one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but it’s a start

  111. steamer

    Can’t see us hanging on to Vertout when we drop, a quality multi-purpose player there, i read that his best role is number 10, if thats correct he must be some player in that position. Ayew, Vertout and Amavi will be held up as examples of moneyball working and its true that they make Sherwoods targets look pretty poor but what about building a team rather than Lerners bank balance ?

  112. Mark King

    B62- I totally agree but its a start, this win psychologically could be huge, winning one game at the start of the season was nothing, winning this one against a top side for Remis 1st after all the recent
    turmoil? could just snowball.

    Steamer- I’d go as far to say vertoute is the best we have had in midfield since Barry or milner at least. Scored 7 goals and umpteen assists last season, he is waisted as a defensive midfielder and Garde knows it. Before the injuries and suspensions he played at 10 thought he was superb should of had 2-3 goals and layed a beauty on for Ayews scorcher. With Kosak up top he’s got runs to hit, its either grealish or vertout in at 10 and I’d prefer Vertout.

  114. Paul Pears

    Steamer,
    You are spot on with your comment, so let us hope that we start team building, rather than bringing on to cash in, as the French boys really stood out last night, and Lescott really put a shift in.

    As I said earlier, it was great to be there, and the atmosphere on the Holte was terrific throughout the match and obviously increased after the goal, good to hear players like Kozack being able to hear their names being sung…..Libor, Libor, Libor, as well as several renditions of Remi Garde’s Claret and Blue army, which then must give him heart, and positives for him to instil in his squad.

    I am sure that being clapped of at half time for the first time, also gave them extra heart for the second half, which all goes to back up Jen’s comments in earlier posts.

    It may seem like I am getting carried away, but as has already been pointed out Palace were about to move into 3rd place with a win! I am sure it will be just as hard on Saturday, if not harder, but at least Remi is progressing, a step at a time. A win on Saturday, followed by a win on Tuesday could be the boost the team need to put them on track for the rest of the season, with some astute additions to the squad.

    So glad that for Frem and the many that follow Villa home and away that they have something to look forward to now!

  115. Paul Pears

    Spot on MK.

    Veretout is the real business with Ayew, and Kozack up to speed, could make a huge difference.

    Cissokho, is the same, the more he plays and fits with the rest, also Gana last night, played his best game, and can only continue to improve. If this side can stay injury free for four or five games, the difference could be huge.

  116. Paul Pears

    This from Remi says it all

    He said: “I am very pleased – and very pleased for the fans too.

    “Everyone who loves this football club has been suffering a lot.

    “But in the game against Palace they saw a good match.

    “I believe they will have appreciated the fighting attitude of the players.

    “For sure we will have to remember that for the next one against Leicester.

    “The fans had a great feeling – and they had a great attitude too.

    “If we want the supporters to have this attitude then we have to put the intensity of the game against Palace in again.

    “The fans follow the players. We have to be first.

    “We shouldn’t wait for the fans – they are not playing. They are just supporting us.

    “They are behind us of course. I am pleased for them after the win over Palace.”

    This could be the manger we have been craving for for years…..Maybe Fox has got something right.

  119. Mark King

    Yes paul Gana finally at DM by the look of it instead of the early season i want to attack version that tim pandered to, a bit like the richards at cb situation IMO

  122. Paul Pears

    Again some wise words Mark. Remi is really beginning to sort out the men from the boys, and nice to see Kozack respond to him, and earn his place. I am sure he will now continue to make sure he keeps Rudi out, which is all to the good. Now maybe JG will do the same, and increase Remi’s choices. No-one has really mentioned the fact that Remi kept Gil on the pitch for most of the game, and that he managed to stay with the pace. Good to see Clark be involved as his replacement.

  123. runtings

    Ayew is a tremendous player who could actually become a world star – he has shown so much heart during our struggles and you always see the pain on his face as results have not been forthcoming

    I think there will be a very large cue for his services in the summer regardless of what lge we are in

  124. Heroes-and-Villans

    13th of January and no signings. For a club desperate for new players thats a disgrace and sums up the board perfectly and shows how bad we are because it’s clear players dont want to come.

    Im not 100% convinced vertout and ayew will leave us when we go down.

    Its taken 10 games but remi got it spot on last night, if he only he listened to us before! I will be fuming to see hutton, guzan richardson picked again.

    Sounds like Gana played more cdm and done much better, need another midfielder to get westy out!!

  126. Heroes-and-Villans

    apparently there is nothing wrong with gabby or grealish (injury wise)!

    Love ayew and just want the summer to be here and see what the hell kind of team we will put out.

    A team in the championship built around amavi, okore, gana, vertout, gill, ayew will surly do ok?!

    Thats 6 players to get in and i think kozac would plunder goals in the championship

  130. John Lerwill

    Well, here it is folks … John’s predictions for the next 17 matches, assuming that we produce the kind of performance we saw yesterday in each remaining match… and assuming we’re not able to sign a better striker…

    2016-01-16 Leicester C. H… D
    2016-01-23 West Brom A… D
    2016-02-02 West Ham A… D
    2016-02-06 Norwich C H… W
    2016-02-14 Liverpool H… D
    2016-02-27 Stoke C A… D
    2016-03-01 Everton H… D
    2016-03-05 Man. City A… L
    2016-03-12 Tottenham H. H… D
    2016-03-19 Swansea C A… W
    2016-04-02 Chelsea H… D
    2016-04-09 Bournemouth H… W
    2016-04-16 Man. Utd A… D
    2016-04-23 Southampton H… W
    2016-04-30 Watford A… D
    2016-05-07 Newcastle U H… W
    2016-05-15 Arsenal A… L
    10 Draws
    5 Wins
    2 Defeats

    Total: 25+8=33 points. But relegated.

  134. John Lerwill

    Mark: “Other teams have had their surprise wins why not us?”

    For the reasons I gave (preceding the forecasts).

    Unless either Kozak starts scoring (and Ayew getting back on the scoresheet) we won’t get the wins needed.

    But that’s the -ve view … if the strikers do come good then you’d be right.

  135. Mark King

    JL- Yes they have to come good for anything to happen, Can’t rely on goalies cock ups.

    well If Kosak improves over last night and our players become less opposition box phobic with the confidence they gain, we just might have a goal threat. I understand its all ifs and buts at this point but a win on Saturday against a team we should of beat no matter what they have done since would light the touch paper. Lets say I have a little more optimism than before last night that at least we won’t go without a fight.

    It was Kosaks first Game for 2 years in the prem so you’d think he can get better when he knows his team-mates and gets match fit. We definitely need another striker. I see no reason why we cannot repeat the performance almost the same team did exactly that against west ham.

  137. Paul Pears

    Some great links MK, also show that Veretout is considered to be one of top 15 foreign signings in the Premier league.

    Interesting reading Aly Cissokho’s article in last night’s programme about his time at Lyon with Remi Garde. I get the impression that he is going to be fighting tooth and nail for Villa, Remi and a possible place in the French squad, so he is not going to be found lacking, nor will any of the French boys.

    He also describes how Remi is a master tactician, ensuring that EVERY player knows exactly what to do, and what is expected of him, and what the team needs to do. He did this for every game at Lyon, and I am sure he will do the same here!

  138. Paul Pears

    Just read Tayl’s column in the programme, and it is great to see him back fully in the fold at VP, and his column replacing Collymore’s.

    He gave an excellent response to the recent upset with supporters, making it clear that the players have a responsibility, especially with the away games, even when you just want to slink off the pitch and disappear when things have not gone well.

  139. John Lerwill

    The biggest Villa relegation escape I remember was season 1955-56.

    After the matches of January 21, 1956, Villa lay in 21st place (of 22) with 14 matches to go.
    Fixture list then 42 matches for the season and 2 teams relegated.

    Stats: P 28 W 5 D 9 L 14 F 32 A 55 Pts 19 (2 pts per win; 24 pts at 3 pts per win)

    It went to the last match of the season. Villa won by just the right score (3-0) to stay up.

  140. The Droyd

    Good, solid, hard working, professional performance from the team last night. What a refreshing change to see us not gifting goals away and grinding out a 1-0 win. When was the last time that happened? I literally have no idea when.

    Great TEAM effort. Excellent from Ayew – man of the match. What a player we have there. Very good – Cissokho, Lescott, Veretout, Gana and Gil. Everyone else was good. No-one in the average or shite category. Kozak was a big upgrade on Gestede. Worked his arse off AND showed more quality.

    It’s true that Palace should have been more ambitious against a side that was bottom of the table. Defending often with 9 or 10 men behind the ball from the word go, they invited us upon them which gave us confidence to pass the ball about nicely. But with those tactics, it was very difficult to break them down and we had to rely on a goalkeeping calamity for our win.

    Who cares about that though. It’s something to build on and I’m looking forward to the game against Leicester on Saturday for the first time in ages.

    Hopefully we can get the loan deal done for Sane, who can play centre back or defensive midfield. Looks like a strong athlete but I have never seen him play. Debuchy would also be an excellent loan acquisition as would Loic Remy.

    We may as well not bother unless we can inject 2 or 3 quality players. It’s quality not quantity that we need, although getting out of this shit is still unlikely.

  141. Jenny Truman

    Some interesting reading on here today. For all the pundits “well that was a poor palace ” excuse , I’d say they were poor because we made them poor and I think it took them by surprise.

    Remi Guarde’s post match comments puts him head and shoulders above all the other managers in the premier league .

    It looks like he has found the players who will fight for him and follow his instructions . His desire to pay off the ones that have lingered too long is an astute move. He is assembling a squad of disciplined and committed players who understand their duty to the club and the fans . Younger players like Jack Grealish will have proper role models .
    Let’s hope that he is backed by Lerner now so he can get his team together.

  142. steamer

    Bet Lamine Sane is a brick wall he looks a right tough cookie. I think Remi is a fan of Lescott so possibly Okore may give way unless, as Droyd said stick him in MF.
    The article mentioned contacting our board in Birmingham, are they back yet ?
    Villans love a trier don’t they ? the fact that the entire team gave 100% got them back onside with the crowd, easy innit, you get paid enough, earn it and you won’t get slated however much you slacked off previously.

  143. Archie

    Your right Steamer, ability doesn’t come into it, run through a brick and the Villa fans will love you for it.
    Love to see us back up last night performance with a 2/3-0 on Saturday……OK…. 3-1

  144. Mark King

    To be fair Palace play on the counter anyhow we just stifled their attempts, they beat Southampton 2-1 they got battered on shots, we handled them better. WBA play the same so 3 points please. Leicester should be a very interesting game.

    Lamine Sane sounds a bit Bowie like steamer, perhaps its an omen from Dave himself (straw clutching) I think he will be insurance because Garde knows he can’t afford to play Richards. Garde is finding it hard to get his top targets this may be a no2 or 3.

    Jenny I think you are right he has been picking those that listen and comply not go off on a lone mission like Richards and mutton.

  145. Paul Pears

    Maybe on Saturday we may see more thunderous shots in the box, may have been only a couple last night, but it showed what can happen, as no-one knows where the ball will end up when deflected, and a lot of goals are scored that way, and don’t we know it having been on the receiving end.

    Looking forward to more link up with the front runners, with Kozack, and am sure he will come good with a few goals like he did before Clark broke his leg!

    Loan deals could be looking good now.

  146. Paul Pears

    Will Gabby suddenly decide he wants to play for this man…..now he can see that he is the man for the job. Some may be waking up now over the next couple of weeks, and thinking they may got things wrong, and missed a great opportunity..!!!

    So glad Kozak got it right in time..!!

  148. B62 Villa

    JL
    There are some very optimistic predictions there mate, tbh I can’t see us getting anywhere near 36 points or a miracle of 9 wins from 17 games ( which we will need to survive) I made piece with the fact that we are relegated, we have been for a while , for me we are only playing for pride and places for next seasons promotional push. If we could have stopped the rot a couple of months or 5/6 weeks ago I would have more faith, but until last night we have been pretty dire and I’m not sure we have enough time or quality to pull off any miracles.

  150. John Lerwill

    B62,

    Yep – every reason for doubt that Villa will get the needed amount, but I think so long as the basic effort (as last night) is there they do have a chance. We just need some better instinct at the strikers’ end to make sure we win some.

    And it doesn’t have to be another 9 wins required. we could do it with (say) another 8 wins and 5 draws (4 defeats) + 11 = 40 points. Or another 7 wins and 7 draws + 11 = 39 points.

    While there’s life there’s hope.

  151. Paul Pears

    Good to see lot’s of positivity on most Villa sites now, and everyone saying how much better the atmosphere was last night, and wanting it to be more of the same on Saturday.

    The main feeling for everyone is seeing eleven players giving 100% for 90+ minutes.

  152. runtings

    b62 if it;s true that there will be loan deals only it makes it even harder for Garde
    maybe a few players out could allow for a decent striker unless somehow the likes of Remi from chelski can be persuaded to join

    Clearly randy’s only priority in all this is his bank balance at this stage , if Garde pulls off the unthinkable he will deserve a statue

  154. B62 Villa

    I honestly can’t believe some of of us actually think we will escape relegation, as it stands we are 11 points from safety( due to GD) with 17 to play, with those around bolstering their squads with signings, and picking up points, no matter what happens in these last games, the first half of the season has ensured we are down.

  155. Mark King

    Lets be honest no major signings can be made on our footing, it would be more of the £5m tops variety if we buy like the 10/winger from the french league the rest in loans is fine

  156. Mark King

    B62 Until we can’t its possible, its not a matter of thinking we will definitely survive just another possibility. Cannot see the point of saying we are down until we are

  161. Paul Pears

    Vardy off and failed to score…..Swansea losing….Norwich losing…..maybe the tide is turning..

    Defoe scoring offside goals again….and Chelsea still struggling…

    Defoe hat trick…

    Come home CB…

  162. B62 Villa

    No one knows what the budget is this window, however looking at the previous windows in recent times and how far adrift we are, no one should be surprised we aren’t bringing players in. Who would sign knowing we are effectively a championship side in waiting?? Can you really see Randy forking out, when he is staring down the barrel of financial Armageddon given the losses we are going to make. This team needs 5 or 6 quality players, which would cost £60m+ , it’s not going to happen. A couple of quality loans is all we can hope for. We also need a fire sale to get rid of the dross, it’s getting someone to take the shit like Guzan, Hutton etc

  164. Paul Pears

    The 442 article shows clearly how the changing styles, are more the cause of results, and not the players, and makes very enlightened reading.

    It is one of MK’s earlier posts…

    Robert Huff gets the winner….WBA keep Chelsea in the mix…!!!

  166. Mark King

    I Keep saying it B62 but the injuries and suspensions at xmas stuffed us just when Remi found his team, will probably cost us in the transfer market, 4-6 points extra and we don’t look so useless

  167. proxopera

    B62 Villa ,

    “When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose
    You’re invisible now, you’ve got no secrets to conceal ”

    Villa should be dead & buried but If they were to get 3 points against Leicster and then WBA they would have some momentum and at least they have something to fight for . Teams who were doing well and are now struggling will find it hard to arrest that slump particularly if they have an eye on relegation or are the periphery of a European place .
    Villa have nothing to lose and are overdue some luck . I also would’nt rule out some decent loan signings , overlooked at club level , who want to make an impact before the European championships. It really is balls to the wall now , but I’ve seen stranger things so while we’re still alive I’d like to see us cut into some serious premiership ego’s.

  170. Mark King

    When your in our position its hard to imagine us getting enough wins or points but miraculously it is easy to imagine all the clubs around us easily winning their matches.
    Things are very fluid in football, form, team spirit, injuries,fallouts they all happen and can happen to anyone.
    We are far as I can see have had the lot this season other teams appear to have not. We are now at the sharp end of the season when things really matter and mettle is tested so its all to play for until its not and still then its is.

  173. Paul Pears

    Beat me to it runtings. Seems he is a local to the Birmingham area and runs the Birmingham Met.

    He has been involved in talks since November, but has no background in football. Does this mean we will still recruit a Director of football????

    Sendeross and Sinclair could be off, and seems Remi is set on signing Sane, Debuchy and moses on loan. Sinclair back to Swansea and Sendeross to foreign parts.

  174. DarrenO

    Hi MK

    Told you appointing a chairman was a red herring, no football background, on Randy’s payroll and as per Randy’s statement

    ‘That Aston Villa can and should operate in a far more stable and on a far more successful level, both in terms of football as well as commercially, is plainly clear. It is similarly clear that this great club has not been on stable footing for at least five years.’

    I can only glean one thing from the above, that he’s acknowledged he’s presided over and done nothing while the club was in turmoil.

    Welcome to the nightmare Steven, you won’t be able to do a fucking thing about our situation but just take a massive wage.

  175. steamer

    They never learn with the boardroom appointments do they ? Another puppet with no footy knowledge. Disappointed the three stooges are still here.
    The window has been nearly as exciting as the one where we signed Sylla and Dawkins.

  176. DarrenO

    Hi Steamer

    Not quite right on the football knowledge, despite growing up in Liverpool and having to perfectly acceptable teams to support if you’re a scouser, he chose Man City.

    He’s already praised Randy’s recent investment in the team, yeh all of 7m net when the club needs fresh investment, new money to get players in. this window and this season may be too late but the summer transfer window is exactly where the money is needed and Lerner will be found wanting yet again.

    Of all the times to announce a new massive salary then after a Villa win, piss on my chips why don’t ya

    UTV

  177. runtings

    Can’t say i am surprised that randy has got a non football man in to save one of the most important clubs in the games history

    interesting post re possible player sales — should be an interesting few weeks on the ins and outs front

  178. DarrenO

    changing from FOLAF to FOLAFAH within minutes of his official arrival, not happy over here, there is no silver lining to today’s news, I’m not convinced a bean counter who rose to the top of a region within KPMG will do anything other than count his salary.

    FOLAFAH

  179. Mark King

    Well on the face of it doesn’t look great. However doesn’t mean he won’t do a good job and or hire people that can. Is he a brummie? Maybe We now have someone to talk to that doesn’t ignore the issues. Ellis made his money in holidays didn’t he? Gave up football as a schoolboy. No recommendation I know. More crucially for me is he backs remi as he is the man that will restructure us.

  180. DarrenO

    Backs Remi with what, words?, the club needs investment, he’s no knowledge of football, the only backing he should do is keep his nose out of football and keep an eye on Fox, watch the power struggle in the boardroom unfold now.

    Why pay a salary to someone if you need them to hire people, why not just hire the people without a new chairman. As Randy will never return again, it’s an admission Fox isn’t up to the job of hiring or managing a club and again more proof that Lerner has cocked up.

  181. Mark King

    DOR. Because randy couldn’t run a tap at least this man is self made and has empathy with the Midlands.
    If he’s a hard nose business type that doesn’t put up with bullshitters it’s a start. As far as what will he have money wise? If you were on the titanic would you buy some more passengers or invest in some lifeboats?

  182. Mark King

    All the talk is restructure and I may be wrong but the likes of levy and sugar all come from investment backgrounds. Oh well we shall see won’t we at least we know where the castle is

  183. Mark King

    On a lighter note I was talking to a chap I know in a local coffee shop in Banbury, he’s a New Yorker and has been here for years. He’s an interesting bloke and is ex-CIA on the intelligence gathering side. today he took one look at my Villa beanie I was wearing and preceded to tell me he’s supported Leicester city since 1969! I’ve put a word in for a win he said he’ll see what he can do.

    I was in there yesterday same beanie onand asked 2 blokes with there mrs to mind my stuff while I go the loo, I got back in a brummie accent “so you’d trust 2 Birmingham city supporters would you”
    I said no but I’m confident I’ll catch you up 😉

  184. steamer

    Another barrier between Lerner and the club, when it gets tough he’ll appoint a deputy Chairman and then a Deputy CEO. As his former employee said ‘The most insignificant billionaire in the world.’
    Hollis is another bland lackey, can you imagine the conversations they had in the USA ? Analyse what Fox says and its actually f-all.
    No change next season just different grounds to visit.

  185. steamer

    It is similarly clear that this great club has not been on stable footing for at least five years.’

    If thats the case –
    1) Why didn’t you act instead of hiding away ?
    2) Why didn’t you sack Fox who’s been at the club for two years and been a total disaster?

  186. runtings

    the only thing that seems to be nailed on is that randy will not make good decisions for the club – apart from Garde i can’t think of another positive

  187. steamer

    And who’s the new director ?
    And are we still for sale or are waiting for VP to become a vacant lot?
    Apparently Sane is staying at Bordeaux, not Lamine Insane then.

  188. southwestvillan

    Hollis equals why, we now have a complete board who know nothing about the game and running a major football club, in any other industry if you have people in charge who know nothing about the product it will inevitably end in disaster, I pity Garde he must have been hoping for someone to bounce his ideas off instead Hollis will lecture Remi on quasi-government organisations, we are truly fooked nice one Randy another great appointment to save our club.

  189. B62 Villa

    Aston Villa, the gift that keeps on giving. I honestly believe we couldn’t have done any worse, if we had gone down the job centre and hand picked the board from there. These clowns have run the club into the ground, relegation is a certainty, the only question is will it be the last one, I fear we could drop next season aswell. This non football bloke( yet another!!!), is only here to wring the last penny out of the club before RL walks away, possibly leaving us in the bottom tier of football just like Pompey.
    They have zero interest what happens on the pitch only the balance sheet.
    When you see Newcastle buying players they need to survive, Sunderland buying players and winning games it brings it all home just how much of a shambles AVFC are, the table shows how far behind we are to the rest, off the pitch we are even further behind, and of next season and beyond we will be light years behind and unable to compete with ANY premier league football club, due to the TV money. No matter what RL did with MoN in the early years, ultimately he has taken an ever present premier league club, with huge potential and no debt, and turned them into a debt ridden championship club, with an awful product on the pitch. He has removed anyone with any footballing nouse from the board and replaced them with unqualified, yes men and friends, all of which are only here to tto milk any and all cash from the club, Randy Lerner is pissing in our faces and we say thank you, he doesn’t want to sell us, he is milking us, only now he has fucked himself over by losing out on the biggest TV money deal in the games history, one that changes the landscape of the game in this country. The sooner Lerner is gone the better, preferably in a pine box

  190. steamer

    That comment about Lerners financial input last season tells you everything you need to know about Hollis, Lerner only ever employs yes men.
    LERNER OUT, HOLLIS OUT, FOX OUT, ALMSTEDT OUT, REILLY OUT.
    The only way this will happen is to boycott the club, you’ll have to eventually because it aint gonna be here much longer.

  191. steamer

    “He understands that significant progress has been made at the Club over the past year, both at Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath, but also recognises that there is still much to do to address the underlying issues across the Club and to build an organisation that can deliver consistent success”

    Significant progress!!!!! relegation and losing 100m.
    You and your master are the underlying issues that need to be sorted.
    Fox mentions the past year, is he being ironic in as much as he’s talking about his time at the club being a success ?
    Surely no-one believes this crepe, will the AVST get into him at the AGM, if he turns up, not a cat in hell’s chance.

  192. Mark King

    I wish someone would actually come out and say what the “underlying” issues are? is there something they are not telling us? or is the underlying issue an owner that has lost interest and the will to carry us forward?

    Boycott is all that’s left, a miracle might happen and Hollis is football genius but its about as likely as staying up.

  193. John Lerwill

    Steamer: “… and to build an organisation that can deliver consistent success”

    Believe it or not, I hate to be cynical, but that statement sounds a bit too much like the promise of a “Bright Future”.

  194. John Lerwill

    SWV: “if you have people in charge who know nothing about the product it will inevitably end in disaster”

    Precisely. How true.

    But, we have the slender hope that he does know enough. But that hope hangs by a thread.

  197. steamer

    who are we taking over ?
    This nightmare will continue for years, the idiot wants his money back but now he’s invisible to any potential buyers, He’s trying to forget about Villa like a naughty child who’s broken Mummies best vase. NO-ONE will pay what he wants and i doubt if anyone will go over 50m now.

  199. John Lerwill

    Mark/Runtings,

    Well, to be frank, I didn’t get too much enthused by that “take”.

    It just gives his background doesn’t it? What he might do/achieve is an unknown quantity and it sounds to me that he’s very much within the Lerner working boundary.

    He’s not going to ruffle too many feathers. I’ve known a few Peak Marwick and KPMG people and they tend to be of a standard spec in my experience.

  202. OldVilla

    Evening all, my take on the appointment is that he has been brought in more as a troubleshooter with a brief to look at the workings of the ‘business’ from top to bottom. That is more his role from what I know of the workings of KPMG and the senior partners that I have known, including those in brum. He certainly won’t be a fool and I would be surprised if he is a yes man. He will be saying all the correct things at the moment until he starts taking a look at all that is wrong with our club.
    But this is really just a side show when compared to each and every game we play from now until the end of the season. I just hope that we can carry on from the palace game and get something from Leicester on Saturday and follow that up with smashing the baggies………
    And by the time we play the baggies, maybe we will have 2 or 3 new faces in the team to freshen things up a bit.

  203. John Lerwill

    OldVilla/Mark,

    I agree – KPMG people are not fools and I also have intimately known a few of them.

    I think the point we are concerned about is that is he sufficiently a footie man to really understand what is required here? He talks of underlying problems, but I’m sure he’s not going to ruffle feathers by dismantling the structure (Fox down) that’s already been built and on which he otherwise has to rely.

    Leastways, if he does achieve that I’ll take my hat off to him. But I doot it.

  205. Mark King

    JL- I think if randy truly doesn’t want the hassle why employ a yes man? all that means is he has to ask Randy at every decision can’t see lerner wanting that. As you say its how he puts the business and football world together that will define him, if he’s smart he will get that experience in.

  207. James Gill

    What is it about Lerner and appointing wrong people at wrong time over and over again
    We are halfway through transfer window not one player signed we only need keeper strong midfielder winger and goalscorer
    We lost matches over Xmas due to remin stubbornly not dropping guzan Hutton Richardson rudi when he did we got lucky break and won ,a couple players in for Leicester another result on a roll Wycombe then and footballs funny game all of sudden things look good,pal Watford got thirty points first half season no world beaters, big meeting USA what comes out some fucking accountant becomes chairman and there is all hope gone Lerner kicked us in the goulies again a bean counter along with the 3 unwise men along with Faulkner the general McLeish and Lambert all money sucking leeches that know nought about football apart from wiping Lerner arse

  208. James Gill

    New chairman coming saying villa excessive spending has to stop
    C pal have spent 50 m under pardew
    Newcastle have spent 60 m under mc Karen
    Bournemouth’s have spent 30 m in January
    Wba have spent 15 m one a player in last two years
    Villa spent 8/10 m on crap squad that had just avoided relegation 4 years running when brains where handed out Lerner was AWOL as usual

  209. B62 Villa

    The more I read about the new chairman, the more I think we are fucked and will end up like Pompey/leeds/blues etc. These bastards are just asset stripping, there is no affinity or understanding of the sport, they see AVFC as any non description business , using jargon and trying to bullshit the customer or in this case the fans, without improving the product. We will end up floundering in the lower echelons of the football league, boring fans of tales about being a fallen giant and our European cup success, whilst playing in an empty stadium. The footballing side of things has gone to pot under these wankers, and now we get another chinless wonder, nothing good will come of this, these cretins are going to destroy this club then walk away. RIP Aston Villa FC

  210. Mark King

    on five live apparently could be guff

    Mervyn King former Governor of the Bank of England may become one of the board of directors at Aston Villa including Brian Little According to BBC Five Live.

  212. B62 Villa

    MK
    Exactly, the only things left are the ground/BMH and for Lerner to pocket the parachute payments, recouping what he can before offloading the club for £50m

  215. John Lerwill

    Mark: ” I think if randy truly doesn’t want the hassle why employ a yes man? all that means is he has to ask Randy at every decision can’t see lerner wanting that. As you say its how he puts the business and football world together that will define him, if he’s smart he will get that experience in.”

    I wasn’t really suggesting he is a “yes man” but more alluding to the culture that he represents, which is conservative. Will he have the insight to see what is really needed in a football club?

    That’s what SWV alluded to – if you don’t know the product properly then you’re not likely to make a success out of it. The presence of Brian Little or someone of that ilk on the board should help, of course.

    As before, we just have to wait and see.

  216. B62 Villa

    Mark
    Randy and business sense don’t belong in the same sentence, unless you add the words, “has absolutely no”. These mongrels do not care about the football side of the business, they are so arrogant and stupid they can’t see the way to make real money is to get it right on the pitch, success brings revenue. But no they want to Bob along on a minimum spend whilst receiving the massive TV Money, this lack of ambition and business plan is flawed, it relies on other teams also lacking ambition or investing in their futures, as is being shown this year to stand still is to go backwards, and we have gone backwards rapidly since MoN walked.
    By pocketing the parachute payments £13m per season and then offloading the club for £50m ish maybe more, plus the TV money he blatantly hasn’t spent, he will prob break even or better on his initial investment, after all he only paid £62m for the club. Yes he invested heavily in the early years, but we also sold a lot of players for a decent profit, and have hardly spent a penny these last 5 years, the wages we are told are well under control and now we are told the money men do not fear relegation.

  217. Mark King

    JL- I was just thinking out loud mate I know where your coming from 😉

    There has been talk about the clubs structure being flawed, I’d say its been that way for ever, we have never made the best of Aston Villa and the second city. In fox we have a bloke who knows marketing but doesn’t understand the fans or Football, he’s selling to America in his head. Hollis as we all know needs to create a link between board level and the team, Otherwise Fox will go on selling the AVFC name and history while producing faulty goods, a bit like buying Apple and moving the production to a side street.

    The problems that we see clearly see as fans, No football man at board level, nobody who embodies Aston Villa at board level, a scouting structure and youth training that has an end product in mind, Disregard for the people that are the club” US” and most of all a vision of Villa’s place in the scheme of things not as flotsum on the sea.

    If you read the link I posted about Jordan Graham its clear you can’t develop players by bringing them into a relegation situation at a young age. When Villas squad is of a poor standard it give them little chance or opportunity as the mood is one of fear, they go elsewhere with a better structure and voila a player is born, its galling. They are simply deemed too risky.

  218. Jenny Truman

    Morning .
    Ref the new chairman. It is his role to ensure that good footballing brains are in the right places at board level. From RL’s statement I would glean that he’s come to the conclusion they are not . Maybe Steve Hollis’s first tast is to get the footballing brains in and get rid of those not fit to make footballing decisions , which has been where the club has been going wrong . I’d expect to see the likes of Brian Little coming in . If this doesn’t happen then I can’t see the point of Steve Hollis’s coming in .

  219. Jenny Truman

    I agree Mark – what Jordan Graham is saying is you can’t throw the kids in the deep end and that’s all weve been in for the last five years . You can’t blame the youngsters for wanting to get away and develop elsewhere .

  220. Mark King

    B62- If randy was making as much as you assume he would of invested more to keep it rolling, seems clear to me that they wanted to employ moneyball with the wrong manager. what should of been a mid table season turned into a horror show.

    totally agree on randy hence why he has given Hollis the job, at least he is English and lives in brum.
    We are used to being let down so I understand the mistrust. Randy might be useless at this but he doesn’t want it to fail I’m sure. Proof of the pudding and all that.

  221. James Gill

    Mark k
    Lerner has made money out of villa,he paid 64 m for club spent a bit under Mon but to be fair to Mon downing young milner delph his signings plus Barry took in fair sack of money ,we had 3 top 6 Finish cup final we where top 6 on sky all money coming in
    Lerner went mad when Mon walked,Mon won unfair dismissal case, appointed hoiller spent mad money for a year and then all stopped
    McLeish was appointed Lerner basically shit on us and since that has only spent 35 m under McLeish Lambert Sherwood 5 years pittance every January when we in the brown stuff
    We have been lucky every year since and luck has run out,instead of new chairman Lerner should have been active in getting 4/5 players in
    Just watched remi on sky sports think he must got brown envelope from USA keep mouth shut we will reward you don’t worry about relegation we Lerner have got our money out all local staff will get pay cuts or sack

  222. Jenny Truman

    JamssG – Randy Lerner has not made money out of AV – he has spent 2-300 million – some ill advisedly and that’s a conservative figure . He will not recover his losses when he sells for sure . Loans made , investment in BMH etc , he won’t recover his outlay which will be hundreds of millions .

  223. Jenny Truman

    “Spent a bit under Mon”! £200 million – at the time we were the fifth highest spenders , not in this country in Europe. Look at the figures . He will make a colossal loss .

  224. Jenny Truman

    From the daily telegraph – usually a reliable source

    “Given that Lerner paid £62.7 million to acquire Villa eight years ago and it was estimated that by 2010 he had pumped £206 million into the club – by now the figure is believed to be around £250 million – he will be losing a lot of money on the deal.”

  225. James Gill

    Jenny t
    Mon had a spend of minus 80 m when he walked and take
    Milner 25 m,young 15 m ,downing 20 m ,delph 8 m and still a better squad than when he started with plus insurance payouts on Delaney bouma laursen all retired under Mon
    As for trading grounds have every team not got them
    Villa park got a wash for rugby world cup
    Any accountant can get figures to look no way has Lerner spent anything like 2 hundred million
    Look at transfer spend of c pal 50 m under pardew,Bournemouth’s over 50 m since sep,Newcastle 60 m under McLaren including sending one player out on loan again a 12 m player,every club have paid big wages Lambert said some his players on 10 k a week you pay peanuts you get monkeys Lerner’s good at that

  226. James Gill

    Jenny t
    The year after Mon walked done more harm than all put together Ireland makoun zog given massive wages fees hardly 100 pl matches between them,add in bent who had a decent first year but that was hit,Hutton who fox gave new contract after playing more games out on loan than for villa,
    Paid for hoiller paid off holler ,paid for McLeish paid off McLeish
    All adds up to state Lerner biggest arsehole to run a club and for that year plus what come after would love to see him broke
    And wasn’t that the year he was caught with his pa

  228. B62 Villa

    I’m not saying RL has made money out of Villa, he hasn’t, I just don’t believe is is the financial hole he wants us to believe he is/was . He hasn’t spent fuck all in 5 years, yet the Sky money has gone up and up as has the premier league prize money, sponsorship etc etc under MoN we were averaging 40k or thereabouts every week. Lerner has killed this club by asset stripping anything he can, I’m waiting until we announce the re naming of VP next season to help ease the financial losses, we won’t see the parachute money that’s going straight to Randy. He will sell off BMH next, anything that has any £££ will go, then he will offload the club on the cheap. Randy Lerner has done irrepriable damage to this club, he has effectively killed us off, I hope he ends up penniless sucking off tramps for food, I hate the man and all his cronies, they are arrogant in the extreme and have no affinity with the club or even the sport. They are nothing more than white collar robbers, carpet bagging scum.

  229. Mark King

    B-62 Haven’t seen this years accounts yet mate but last years we were in debt but only just so this tax return?? money doesn’t go up until next season so we were still in debt with whatever sky money there was.

  231. DarrenO

    You can bring in a whole new board and half of them ex-players but the problem is a real lack of investment in the level of quality needed even to maintain mid-table obscurity.

    This new chairman for any trouble shooting he may carry out is not the solution, the solution is fresh investment in the playing staff and because that isn’t coming from Lerner, until he is gone and takes his lackeys with him, Villa will continue the downward spiral, if we retain any of the quality players into the championship then we might find our level but if they go we could find ourselves in very serious predicament in a very tough league.

    Sorry but there is no positive spin on Hollis’ arrival. Just evidence Fox couldn’t do the job on his own with the absent landlord swanning around America. For all the likes of King or Little might placate fans because they have Villa at heart, it does’t change the existing playing staff or the lack of money to get new players in.

    FOLAFAH

  233. James Gill

    Mark k
    Cannot lay blame at Mon
    The year Lerner fell out with Mon ,then lost the plot signing 50 m worth of players to get back 2/3 m on makoun Ireland
    Look at wages
    Ireland 3 m per year
    Bent 3 m per year
    Makoun 2 m per year
    Zog 3 m per year
    Given 3 m per year
    Hutton 2 m per year
    Jenas 1 m wages 1 m loan fee for 30 mins football
    Hoiller coming going
    McLeish coming going
    Now to Lambert’s time over 25 players signed most have to be paid to leave Joe Cole Luna helnius
    1 player benteke made profit don’t see profit in rest bar bacuna Westwood
    Even crespo is getting paid to go back to Spain

  234. Mark King

    Whatever randy does now is almost immaterial. He obviosly see’s himself as a problem so has pissed off. The constant swapping of managers and players are the result of poor decisions that will continue if we dont change something. Doing nothing would be 10 x worse we either withdraw support or see what happens im doing both.

  235. Heroes-and-Villans

    Well when i saw the headline not worried about relegation and dont need investment i couldnt be bothered to read any more. What stupid statements and more amo for work mates to rib me with.

    Someone tell him the reason we are going down is becuase of no investment. Randy aint going to go anywhere, there is no light at the end of the tunnell. Relegation and randy in the championship. *bright future*

  237. Mark King

    The jist I got andrew is money alone wont fix us and thats been true unless we spend money that we dont have. A better statement is money spent by idiots wont save us. Whatever happens now I’m backing remi if he goes ill review the situation but I wont give lerner money.

  238. runtings

    to be fair MON clearly didn’t always get it right But

    if Randy would have kept his word and back mon the season he decided to withdraw investment we would have had a good enough side to be pretty much nailed on top 6 , which in turn would allow the club to become more profitable as time went on

    even if he let mon go and got a good manager in rather than the brum manager who had been relegated twice in the previous 3 years and supported that manager – we would have excelled as a club

    Randy and randy alone has destroyed this club with decisions that shocked the nutual’s never mind villans l

  239. James Gill

    Randy is most stupid business man ever spending daddy’s money surrounding himself with yes men lining their pockets,fox would have been ideal when Mon was here we where successful on field disaster off it
    Remi on TV this morning didn’t seem as chirpy ,where are the new signings ,if new chairman has been working behind the scenes,more PR by Lerner

  240. Mark King

    why is it PR James? what point would it make at the end of Jan? that we can’t attract players? that we are going Down? that is not PR. Garde has said he has told the board what he wants and they are working at it with 2 weeks to go. If they are trying to placate the fans what’s the point for 2 more weeks? might as well say we go with what we have. Players will come in and others will being holding on until they get their targets

  241. James Gill

    Mark k
    Lerner PR so he cares seen to be doing something even if only moving deckchairs around deck on titanic,could appointed chairman before Xmas not couple days after biggest media shit storm of how useless an owner he really is,

  243. Heroes-and-Villans

    Is this the randy statement remi called him out to speak to the fans, cause if it is its shit and im none the wiser.

    Alot of talk but no one actualy saying anything.

    Would be a good thing to have little and the other fella on the board though. Hope its true.

  244. steamer

    Can’t see Brian Little working with these parasites, he always had principles like when he stood up to Saunders bullying players, wrapped him up nicely.
    Wonder if that old bastard Herbert still thinks Randy was ‘the right man.’
    Lerner is your typical rich boy who no-one contradicts even when its obvious he a knob and has bollox for brains, that’s why he appointed the pile of shite known as Villa managers.
    Imperative that we keep hold of Remi IMO, problem being that even players who wouldn’t have got in our reserves 8 years ago don’t wan;t to sign, our reputation has been destroyed, not only in the UK but on the continent too, that’s Lerner’s legacy.

  247. steamers75

    Oh Yessssss
    villa after Obefami Martins , l really hope we waste a few grand on him ,
    am l going to love walking into the green man and look for that little snot bluenose who named his son Henry Obefami Martins after he got the winner in the cup . Learner do something good in your life and get him ,
    fucking fucking fucking Hellllll , l feel quite good banged up in bed now ,
    Steamer remember Topo , he named his son Francis then the week after they flogged him to Forest !!! never let up on that every sunday at football ,
    have a good weekend all . wish l was in Runtins suitcase at this moment now ,….
    Jenny need some vicks rubbing on mmy chest darling dear xxxxxxxxxxxxx

  249. steamer

    Considering all the admin we have its amazing how little leadership there is at AVFC, you certainly wouldn’t want to go into action with any of these gutless wonders and as for Lerner, he needs psychiatric treatment badly, totally dysfunctional and an utter wimp.

  252. steamer

    Aston Villa CEO Tom Fox admits that the club is ‘fundamentally broken’ which is why new chairman Steve Hollis has been recruited to help solve the mess.

    The claret and blue chief, who is in his second season at the club, has tried to remain positive despite Villa’s decline but results on the pitch have slowly started to quash his optimism.

    Fox insists Villa will come back stronger if they are relegated from the Premier League this season and made it clear that the drop will not be as serious as some may imagine.

    He told the BBC:

    “There is something not right with our football set-up at Bodymoor Heath.

    “When we talk about it, we say that it is fundamentally broken and has been for a while.

    “The results speak for themselves. When a great club like this, with its history and heritage and success it has had in the past, finds itself in a relegation battle for five seasons in a row, despite spending money to bring players in and changing managers, you have to ask yourself ‘what is fundamentally wrong?’

    Tell you what, we’re lucky to have such an astute bloke at VP, wonder wonder when he’ll twig who the problem are.

  255. steamer

    “The principles Steve talks about are the ones we need to bring to our football set-up so that when we go to our board and ask them to spend money on acquiring players or coaches, we have a good sense for how that investment is going to pay off for the owner and how it is ultimately going to deliver results on the pitch.”
    – Tom Fox, showing exactly where his loyalties lie, and it ‘aint Aston Villa.

    Another one by the increasingly prolific Lerner was –
    “We don’t need a football man as Chairman,”
    We don’t need idiots either so piss off.

  256. Jenny Truman

    I did have a LOL moment when I saw that we were chasing Obefami Martins – only wish I was in the Cafe Columbia with the steamers when that fantastic news came in my Twitter feed 🙂 and I thought shirt sales were up .

    Sorry to hear your still lurgified St75 , and don’t be so cheeky ! 🙂 x

  259. steamer

    So basically AVFC are paying Fox and Hollis’ wages to get money back for the idiot. I know he owns 100% of Villa but it would be nice if he specified exactly what his financial aims were and who benefits by what %.

  260. steamer

    Possibly the announcement of the new chairman will have the same negative affect on the players as it has on the supporters so i think 0-3. Villa deserve everything they get.

  261. steamer

    The improvement was neatly summarised by chief financial officer, Robin Russell: “By controlling costs we have been able to take advantage of the new Premier League broadcasting deal to bring the club closer to self-sufficiency.”

  262. steamer

    On the other side of the coin, Villa also booked £26 million of exceptional costs between 2011 and 2013, including £12 million in 2012 alone. These could justifiably be described as the costs of mis-management, as these include termination payments made to sacked coaching staff and the accounting cost of reducing the value of poor player purchases. There’s a price to pay for constantly bringing in new managers, who will want to recruit their own players, while getting rid of the deadwood accumulated by the previous regime.

  263. runtings

    lovely comments from Mark Albrighton expressing how much he wants villa to stay up just before he has to come up against us

    the last villa game i went to was palace away last season when albri was easy man of the match all that from getting the last 15mins on the pitch as a late sub

    he’ll always be a villan

  264. Mark King

    Steamer- yep all because of poor decision making by Randy and co. I think Fox asked Wenger there is no way he came up with Remi on his own. He employed a bigger buller than himself in tim

  265. steamer

    Runtingz,
    For all Lameberts faults, crepe judgement of players was his worst, not only did he sign tripe he gave away potentially top players, Johnson, Gardner, Albri and Graham apart from others who possibly may have made the grade. How this parasite is still taking a wage from football is unbelievable.

  266. steamer

    Yes Mark, got to move away from this Arsenal obsession and build our own identity, Fox just uses them conveniently because he’s clueless about football. Arsenal are a well run club but how many European Cups have they won ? they’re certainly not perfect and in fact relied on dubious acts and personnel in their history to gain their current position.

  268. steamer

    Mark,
    While your on the subject of offside hatricks look at the three Van Persie scored to win Untied the league a couple of years ago, all three were blatant, bet that linesman has been promoted, we have the worst officials in Europe and they get away with murder, look at the missed pen by Leicester vs Bournemouth the other day, gave a pen, sent Francis off, showed in the replay he took the ball and STILL suspended him, crooks.

  272. Mark King

    personally I’d give them life bans for blatant cheating and a reversal of the result if found cheating. offsides can be contentious but Henri’s was stone cold Cheating

  279. runtings

    🙂 yes mark

    so frustrating watching villa – we are playing ok but in the final third we are devoid of ideas

    desperately need a striker and someone better than gil in the attacking 3

  282. Mark King

    yep the ball doesn’t stick or we are not quick enough to support so they stop trying instead. Wish Grealish wasn’t such a light weight could do with him now

  283. James Gill

    We are as toothless, our midfield have nothing going forward their goal came from half decent chance for Westwood 3 now in last few matches chances none on target,nice lay off from kozak Westwood was in reverse as usual
    Huth that’s red card plus penalty
    Fuck off ref

  287. steamer

    Ever since he moved to this country Huth has got away with murder, mauling at corners etc, to be honest he’s one of the worst pro footballers iv’e ever seen and slow, ye gods. Got away with it at Stoke and doing the same with this shower, top team my arse.

  294. steamer

    Will the FA look at the Huth incidents ? bet they don’t just like the SECOND Swanseee tunnel incident and the Blackpool abandoned game where they were fined less than Villa were for a minor pitch invasion. One rule for some and another for others.

  295. steamer

    Ranieri’s an idiot, he gets away with murder because of his affable demeanor but he’s a nothing at top level, he was crepe in Italy and now he’s living on Pearson’s work, Leicester will be championship again within five years.

  296. steamer

    Looking at the table and survival isn’t impossible but then you look at the other strugglers INVESTING in new players while we don’t back our manager. Results have shown that clubs at the bottom can beat the top ones so its imperative that Remi is offered a decent few bob to improve the team, a striker, anchor and wide player would do wonders for this team … but its AVFC we’re talking about.

  297. Paul Pears

    Maybe after Saturday’s result Randy may feel it is worth chucking a few bob Remi’s way, and maybe a few more players may consider that Villa could still come good for them..

    WE can all hope Steamer…..disgusted with Lineker and MOTD trying to gloss over Huth…..If that had been Richards or Clark….they would have been booked and had a PENALTY AWARDED AGAINST them…!!

  299. steamer

    Listening to Joey Barton,i reckon he holds AVFC in high regard, possibly be a good signing for next season if we’re relegated, aggressive, useful passer and ….speaks French.

  300. runtings

    steamer 🙂

    agree about backing the manager — we don;t have much chance to so up but to do so we need additions
    of to Jamaica in the morning so hope i can keep track of events utv

  301. Heroes-and-Villans

    Our midfield certainly needs sorting. Somethings just not right with it. We seem slow and light weight and still no one contributes goals.

    I would love this gk in. You have no idea how happy i was seeing villa play without guzan in goal. How has he kept bunn our his long ill never know.

    If we dont make at least 4 ne signings i would nor blame remi for walking.

  303. Mark King

    Runtingz you beat me to it, what is it with Villa that they don’t just give players a chance? Kosak has been Ignored by 3 managers this season yet his effort on the pitch is there to see, GG I think is one of those, get him out there when it matters he does the business and he cares, shocking really when you see how lightweight we are. I hope we have a recall on him and Remi takes note.

  313. steamer

    So the Manc rat, Englands great coaching hope has gone 6 games with a top Spanish team without producing a win. The EPL is a crepe league with crepe managers, crepe coaches, crepe players, very crepe officials and admin, but according to Greg Dyke England will win the WC, jokers.

    Can’t understand Remi letting GG go to Florist, look at his stats for Sat. Meanwhile we have Wastewood.

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