Thank God That’s Over
Well, hello again, Lifers.
Been far too long since we’ve spoken, and no reflection on the esteem in which I hold you all (or how Villa have done).
The new house is finally moving along rapidly, the job is still rather consuming, and Emily has finished her senior year and decided to attend Boston University in the fall. We visited, lovely city. I should’ve looked up Jason (apologies, Mr. Chalifour), but it was a whirlwind trip focused around the school. Eben just finished up his freshman year at the University of Colorado, and is on a business school trip to Berlin at the moment, getting an inside look at Daimler.
But enough about me. The 2013-14 BPL season mercifully came to an end today, and I thought, as one of the more optimistic sorts, I should stand up and give some sort of an accounting. It says something that with every game on “Championship Sunday” being shown live in the States this morning, I opted to switch between the City and Liverpool matches and record the Villa. Which I probably won’t even bother watching now.
By any measure, the season was a disappointment for Villa. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I did think we’d improve on last season, and we didn’t. I can’t remember exactly what I predicted, but I think I said 10-14th, and comfortably (maybe I said 8-12th, but then I do like my drink).
And to be fair, I think Villa would probably have achieved that with a healthy Benteke.
Which isn’t meant as an excuse. It can be read as indictment as much as anything else. I don’t know that Kozak was ever going to be prolific, but without the services of either, Villa were once again toothless up front. Gabby and Andi just don’t have it in them at this level to carry the scoring burden. And they certainly didn’t have the sort of service to help them prove otherwise. But thank god Andi did show up against Hull.
I will point back to something I said about the 2012-13 season, which is that Benteke made Gabby and Weimann look a lot better than they are. They profited from his presence immensely.
Without him, goals were very hard to come by, and while there were flashes of better football here and there, too often there weren’t. Was it poor coaching? The bargain-basement squad? Too much emphasis on finances? Perhaps all of the above.
When it comes to Lambert and coaching, I’m just not close enough to the team to know what goes on behind the scenes. I’ve not been able to keep up on the Culverhouse-Karsa debacle and what it really meant. The inevitable post-mortems ought to shed more light. Since it seems Culverhouse took most of the training, it’s probably no surprise that a “poisonous” atmosphere and a falling out with the manager would negatively impact the players and their performances.
And, of course, the buck does stop with the manager, though here in the States, we’re much more used to the idea that a head coach often delegates most of the training, especially if he has “general manager” duties (similar to the Director of Football role).
As I maintained with Alex McLeish, sometimes you do have to set up a certain way if that’s all you’ve got to work with. Could Lambert have done better in the market (meaning he would’ve had more to work with)? Could he have done better with what he did bring in? Should he have stepped in sooner to change things behind the scenes? Things we probably won’t ever definitively know.
I always thought the third season would be the watershed for Lambert, and as of this moment, we’ve no idea whether he’ll get that, or whether anyone wants him to besides the man himself. I would’ve expected Villa to consolidate from the previous year. Now, whether or not there’s a floor to build on is a very open question.
On the pitch, though, we could see that no one, apart perhaps from Fabian Delph, could have been said to improve their game over the season. Vlaar was solid, I think Bacuna still has upside. Albrighton made a comeback. Benteke must surely be off. And that’s really about it.
Certainly there remain needs all over the pitch. We need forwards. We need midfielders. We need defenders. At the beginning of this season the idea that inserting three or four real quality players might make Villa a better team seemed reasonable, but when you look at the number of players Villa could do without, one wonders.
Which, of course, brings us to the big question. Does Randy stay or does he go? (We know now he’s going) While I would like to think, with the finances under control, there might be money to spend again if he does stay, I’m just not sure that his heart is in it the way it needs to be. I think he’s a man of good faith, and I think he wanted the best for Villa, but I just don’t know that he has the wherewithal to take Villa forward.
It would be clear to him, or anyone, that there’s much work to be done. And maybe he’s up for that challenge. But as I anticipate his forthcoming announcement, I find myself hoping that someone more energized and involved (never mind wealthier) is waiting in the wings.
When it comes to Lambert, I’m afraid the same sorts of questions present themselves. While it’s apparent that spending was constrained, and while he did just manage to keep Villa up twice during this austerity, it’s an open question whether the new floor I hoped was being laid can indeed be considered such.
And it’s troubling that what seemed a potentially promising young squad plateaued, if not regressed. As many have asked, can he be trusted with more money? Would better lieutenants make the difference?
If this entire starting 11 (minus Benteke) were Villa’s second 11, then maybe Villa do have a new floor. But I just don’t see much of a future for Baker or Clark. We’ll need a left back. Again. We probably could use at least three midfielders with some muscle, hustle and experience, the ability to win the ball and do something useful with it. We need more movement off the ball. We need more confidence. We need better than Gabby and Andi.
It’s a big ask, and there’s going to have be some astute and widespread spending. There’s going to have to be more development and character. There’s going to have to be more threat and level heads.
So, like virtually everyone else on here, I find myself hoping for a change in regime. Even if Anschutz comes in as a partner and Randy does stay, it will help. Anschutz ensured the survival of MLS in the states, owning as many as six teams at one point to lend stability and keep it going. He owns part of the LA Lakers and LA Kings, both of which have been successful organizations.
Anyway, it’s over, we’re still up, and maybe we have something to look forward to. At least the bin-dippers ended up being disappointed, even if it goes to show that money trumps all in the modern game.
But I’m still optimistic Villa can do better, and I’m hoping we see something in the next couple of days to make that a reality. Maybe we’ve already got the news since I’m writing this on Sunday.
In the meantime, I’ve missed all of the banter, and I hope I can find my way back to contributing more regularly again, especially if there’s something to be enthusiastic about, if not actually exciting. My best to all.
NOTE – this article was written before the recent announcement regarding the club’s sale.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 120
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Welcome back John.
I’ve just realised having looked at the final table this morning , that had Villa just gone on holidays after the chelsea game , they still would be in the premiership ,there was no need to go through the anxiety of the last 6 matches. Like a surreal game of black-jack , if we had just ‘stuck’ at 34 with 6 remaining we would still have better than 3 other teams . I can see a reduction in the number of teams in the premiership in the not so distant future , in order to facilitate european football for the top teams.
Thank god it’s over indeed.
Don’t really know what to think now. Teams already signing players, par drew getting 60 mill to spend, WBA have many managers to choose from who would improve them
Us, we have no idea what’s going on. Will our chairman who wants out, be out in time for us to appoint a new manager and sign the many players we need ? Or is it going to drag on for months, maybe even nothing will happen until next season or January. God knows
Not looking forward to it though. Nothing runs smoothly for us. Randys wanted out for ages but we still haven’t sold. Maybe the public statement was just a desperation attempt
Hello John. Good to see you back.
You could be right about the Benteke factor and Weimann & Gabby. Was it 8 Premier League goals they managed between them last season and bizarrely Weimann still seems his contribution was good enough? Most half decent centre backs should manage 3 or 4 goals a season.
Frem, time for a deep breath mate. Albion could stumble on a half decent manager or they may appoint another Pepe Mel, and would you trust Pardew with £60 million? As for the sale of Villa, I’m sure that the announcement yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg and there is plenty going on behind the scenes that we’re not party to. Remember, we’ve got it on excellent authority (well, Steamer) that the deal is already done.
Hello John,
You have come back as sweetly as a breath of fresh air.
You got me fogged in talking about the 2013-14 BPL – I was thinking “BP … British Petroleum something?”, but then I ‘twigged’.
But, John, since there’s agitation above the border by the Scots in they (some) claiming independence – and, besides which, they have their own SPL and proud of it – the notion of a BPL seems futuristic! 🙂
The other thing that grabbed my attention was that the absence of Benteke somehow caused our lowly finish. But that (I’m afraid) is demonstrably untrue. His absence came about when Villa were again in the process of switching between their “we’re great” to “we’re dunces” routine. And my dad always told me that one player does not make a team. I ‘ll stick with what my dad said! 😉
However, I am inclined to think that with a fit Okore *and* Benteke available we would have done better – finishing around 10th. But finishing at that level might just have given everyone a false sense of achievement as the question would then have begged – what’s next? Would money have suddenly been made magically available and signings made where needed to restore competition against the likes of Everton and Spurs?
But for me the landmarks of the season were more to do with achieving 10 home defeats and rolling over so easily (twice) to Man U rather than the away performances against Arsenal and Liverpool. And rolling over so easily at home to Stoke as well etc. etc.
Overall – just not anywhere near good enough. And the Culvergate affair just brought things right down to earth.
But in the rest of your very readable post you’ve said whatever else needs to be said, except that with Albrighton we don’t know what’s happening next. Leicester want him, I hear. And he’s out of contract about now I hear.
John – Good to see you back, and like you I think with a fit Benteke and/or Kozak it would have been a bit easier. I also agree it is an indictment when we can’t cope without them, but I guess if any top team lost their 2 recognised strikers, they would also struggle.
I do wonder why there is so much angst over the sale of the club, its what everyone wanted from Lerner. Put up or shut up. He’s made his decision, for once communicated with the fans, we know exactly where we stand, and what it will take to shift the club.
Time to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
John L, one player doesn’t make a team, but a prolific striker can certainly paper over a few cracks, like Benteke did in Lambert’s first season and Bent in Houllier’s only season.
Agree though, that however you dress it up, the abiding memory of last season is the appalling home form and the realisation at the Etihad last week that the club who we all think could or should be massive in reality are just there to make up the numbers.
morning john good to hear from you
I was like you I thought 8-12 was achievable going on our end of season form which saw us win 5 out of ten a 50% win rate would of given us 57 points and eighth but injuries and alarming slumps in form for the massive majority of our players after a bright but difficult start said otherwise. not only did Benteke get injured he looked a shadow of himself getting bullied instead of doing the bullying. what looked a massive bonus in his retention turned sour for me as we focused on him to much to win every game. Kosak while not being spectacular did a job and was unlucky not to see more game time considering bentekes form. gabby had patches of good play weimann was consistently poo. Our strength from last season became our weakness. tekkers needed more time to recover and was rushed back when we were actually looking steady if not spectacular in his absence . barring the Liverpool game he never regained his form lets hope we get Investment and he stays and returns renewed. the fact so many underperformed smacks of poor management/training practises and Guzan was the only player not to get injured. that coupled with the off field wranglings/financial restraints and non starter signings showed in the end and we as good as collapsed. weirdly we managed several games where we didn’t concede and several mid-fielders scored important goals including free kicks!! all things we were calling for . if the forwards had done the business we could have been comfortable. they didn’t so we weren’t.
looking for a clean sweep now as Lambert has lost the faith and belief of the fans also he would have to appoint new staff. looking at the previous crew would you trust him to?
john L
all respect to your dad but if Chelsea had a 20 goal a season striker they would be champs of that I’ve no doubt 🙂 think man utd and VP/rooney, liverpool suarez you get the idea.
One thing that shaped our season early on was losing Okore, not that he was pulling up trees but he covered Lowton well in the games he had allowing Vlaar to cover for luna. when he got injured Luna (also after injury) went to pot with Baker/Clarke on that side, no coincidence I think.
Andrew: one player doesn’t make a team, but a prolific striker can certainly paper over a few cracks, like Benteke did in Lambert’s first season and Bent in Houllier’s only season.
D’accord! 🙂 But a prolific striker needs chances to be provided to him and in his first season Benteke was a surprise factor. In his second season the opposition generally had a better idea on how to deal with him.
And it’s just as well that Benteke didn’t get e real chance to “cover the cracks” as otherwise we’d be in a world of make believe – particularly if he left.
Mark:
Sorry, but all the teams you refer to had/have some quality in the rest of their team to benefit a fine striker. Villa have what?
I forgot to add that Benteke scored 11 in 28 apps this past season. Not near the rate of the previous year.
john L
VanPersie won a poor man utd the league last season the same team did what this year with him injured/out of form 🙂
Hello John
Yes, the poor performances and inconsistency does “smack” of poor coaching and management. Deadly reckons £100,000,000 needs to be spent on players. He, of all people, might say that, but he has said it.
Injuries at Villa have been appalling over the last 2-3 years. Most of them seem to have happened at training. Training and P.E. are supposed to make people fitter, hone skills and make players less prone to injury. At Villa the opposite seems true.
I suspect Lambert’s lads do have a bit of explaining to do. Apparently, RL has expressed his abhorrence at the regularity and severity of injuries sustained in training. You know the players get paid for getting fit and keeping fit. The trainings should be more about skills and getting the team playing together as a team. They’re not meant to be workouts. The players should keep themselves physically sharp or find another trade.
Nice to have you back John, and a good article to boot.
it appears that Randy’s interest in Villa waned after his big fall-out with MON, and it was not to be same again.
We must keep hoping that the sale is a done deal, and that something will be announced soon.
I suspect players were overworked in trainings for all the wrong reasons-punishment comes to mind.
Mark:
Poor Man U? Poor by THEIR standards, maybe – but they still had a team much better than Villa’s.
I don’t know quite why you lot are going for my throat – I’m simply saying that to build a team being reliant on essentially one player of any great quality is an illusion. Even in 1960 (when Villa were average) they had both Hitchens and McParland who could supply quality, with the great Sims in goal. And a very useful Bobby Thomson and Vic Crowe. I’d prefer that side to what we have now.
I would like to know the truth about the “Bomb Squad” one day, as to whether it was Lambert’s idea and then to bring in the young and hungry, or was it instructions from Lerner, which I doubt.
john L
how did Benteke score so many the previous with the same team because we were equally as bad if not worse? swansea without bony would of sank, conner wickam at Sunderland saved them, puncheon at palace, bent at Fulham erm well there’s always an exception
Matt K saying a deal is well of. Others suggesting The buyers have backed out. Others saying they are trying to get the price down. I don’t want owners who are trying to do that. We are worth 200 mill if Fulham are, and Randy has put a lot of money in
Any way you can just switch of Villa for 6 weeks and then come back and see what’s happened ?
Mark,
The previous season, Benteke was a surprise factor. He was big, mean and hard to mark – remember that match at Liverpool? This season he not at his best and also they had a better idea of how to deal with him.
Also, I’d say that Gabby and Andi were more useful last season – perhaps because of Benteke. This season Gabby appears to have slowed down and lost his appetite (injury?) and Andi’s head seems to have swelled.
John L
I know what you are saying is true but a proper on form striker makes all the difference. as for one player not making a team messi, ronaldo, all make good teams great just as benteke made a poor team average last season. would Argentina have won the world cup or even beaten England without Madonna?
not having a go at you but one player can make all the difference.
I played in a team once were our No9 scored 78 goals in one season he was like grease lightning were the rest of us world beaters? nope
Mark, having a good striker is fine by me!!!
I don’t object to that – I’d be daft to!
What I am saying – simply – is that Villa have little else of much quality and you must not rely on one player to get you out of the mire. That player can get injured – and he did. 🙁
john L
last season Benteke was fit but the refs also gave him free kick after free kick, this year he got knocked over by centre halves and generally got at and the refs gave him nothing. he seemed considerably less mobile or told to play centrally, last year he drifted out left a lot and cut in. injury? or injury + instruction or plane fed up I don’t know. might of had something to do with concussion from all the heading
Yeah … could be, Mark.
But the key issue is that Villa need to improve in standard all over the team if they are to provide much opposition to Everton and Spurs. And to stop being rolled over by Man U when they (allegedly) have a poor team.
John L
lets call it a draw 😉
john L
In an ideal world the only player left would be benteke if fit 🙂 delph is far from world class Vlaar can do a job but if the moneys available we could do with 9 at least 🙂 but saying that players can look better with better players around them. put messi in villas side he would still be world class but you wouldn’t know it 😉
Mark
“would Argentina have won the world cup or even beaten England without Madonna?” Definitely. She’s a fit lass but she’s better suited at kickin Sean Penn’s balls than a football
Should have had a smiley face there, but not working:)
I agree with John L in a sense – look at how useless Bent became sans supply once they sold Downing and Young.
A striker is great if the foundations are there, and a great striker can even pull a club out of trouble in some instances but, as with all teams, it is rarely one person who makes it happen.
Which is why I feel slightly aggrieved when people made out that Bent saved our season single-handedly during the Houllier era. Yes, he scored goals to contribute to survival, but without the team around him to supply him, we would not have benefited at all – he’s hardly an all-action up and down the pitch type, is he?
Mark … Football is essentially a team game … simples. 🙂
John L
Its so simple someone like weimann who after all is a natural goal scorer 🙂 cant hit a cows arse with a banjo. potentially costing us at least 9 points this season.
doesn’t matter if you create 4,000 chances if the man pulling the trigger is shite, conversely a striker who gets no chances won’t score either. but what about a striker that creates for himself and others? and influences massively how a team plays? as benteke did for us, suarez for liverpool, rooney for manure, bony for swansea. some players do have that something extra be it speed, brains or physicality that will win you matches and usually the better a team they play in the better they are. but this doesn’t negate the influence they can have on a poor team as confidence breeds confidence, with every miss you could see it drain out of our team IMO. if you set up to contain and miss all your chances you know your numbers up eventually.
WBA without lukaku nearly went down, last year they were flying at one point with him. Everton missed his goals massively once he got injured, lets see how they do when he goes back to chelsea if they don’t find someone similar 🙂
Trinity,
Just noticed your uptake on the mention of Madonna.
Very good!
Also good remarks about training (earlier post). Spot on. Maybe with Culverhouse out things might improve.
Incidentally, that brings up the question of who are to be the coaches for next season, particularly if PL stays. Would he dare to raid Norwich again?!
Mark:
Without doubt, Benteke became superb for us last season. But Gabby and Andi also were fine providers from time to time – in general the previous season finished off reasonably well because of those factors.
I keep on saying or inferring – I am not knocking Benteke’s worth one bit. But it simply comes back to the fact that when you seem not to have a squad of players of reasonable Prem League ability (they often can’t string 2 passes together) then Benteke’s worth is pretty limited and is (as Andrew said) merely papering over the cracks.
john l
I know john I am merely pointing out our forward line let us down and was a major problem in our season. last year we scored 47 mostly by forwards this year 39 with a lot more from midfield and defence. if the forwards had put in their share our league position would have been different or am I missing something here?
wouldn’t change the fact we played crap football and need major change but missed chances at crucial times in matches especially by tekkers/weimann made a big difference.
would be interesting to look at chances created by man utd last season vs this and conversion rates to see how much difference an in form striker makes.
For us I would say that we created less this year and missed more sitters making it a double problem.
john l
to make my point clearer I don’t think benteke was as clinical as his first season, Its hard to prove but given more opportunities would he have just missed more, he had a 12 game streak at one point I believe without scoring weimann had 35 😉
in short he wasn’t the same influential player we had seen previously. playing the way he did he would of probably missed for barcelona
Stewart Downing had an excellent second half to the 2010-2011 season. Actually, I was quite impressed with some of the football under Houllier, especially towards the end of that tight season. We scrapped it out to a ninth placing. Bent probably did “paper” over the cracks a bit. As Matt says, though, Bent couldn’t have done it without good supply. We all know a few months later the supply was sold off, and the goals dried up. The team has gone backwards ever since, even though, at the time most of us were still optimistic.
trinity
I wasn’t posting then 🙂 houllier was in hospital when we had our upturn and we had 4 managers that season. we picked up 2 unexpected wins against pool and arse otherwise we could/would of been in the high teens (15th)downing had his only good season and a particularly good game against pool who bought him after he pushed for the move. we also had milner and young oh those were the days 🙂
Milner, unfortunately, was gone by the time Houllier arrived, still remember his last goal scored against WHU. I think we won it 3-0. Not many thought then it would turn into a pretty disappointing season.
Yes, Gary McAllister was running the team at the end, but he was Houllier’s appointed lieutenant. He was a lot better than Culverhoof, wasn’t he?
. I think we won it 3-0
Indeed we did Trinity. Downing and Petrov scored also
if memory serves me right I think our midfield that day was
Albri———-Milner——Stan———Downing
————————-Young—————————
Oh how far we have fallen
Milner will be available this summer, and Barry, and Young. If we get our act together we could get them back. Ferdinand even want to keep playing in the prem, get him in
Hurry up new owners and save us before it’s to late
Afternoon, evening, morning, all…
I think the Benteke thing is interesting. His presence, once fully fit and putting himself about more, would’ve “papered over cracks”, yet I’m sure he’d have scored some goals. Fit for the whole season, I just think we’d have picked up a few more points.
I do think teams sussed how to play him better. He’s not as mobile as some, but he is a good finisher, often picking up something out of relatively nothing. He also commanded attention, and gave defenses more to think about. I think he also brought some confidence to the side, the idea that we had someone who could make something happen.
Ideally, he’d be partnered with a smaller, quicker striker who’s good with the ball at this feet.
Okore, too, was a big loss. He didn’t play much, but he was clearly more athletic than either Baker or Clark, and I agree with Mark that it helped Vlaar out, gave him much less to worry about.
John,
Welcome back but first to a dressing down due to your pitiful excuses re: your absence, we all have day jobs, we all have families to look after, houses to build, dogs to walk, shopping to do on a weekly basis, I am afraid your excuses do not cut the mustard surely you can spare 7 or 8 hours a day to keep up with your AVL chums, I hope you feel severely chastised.
Anyway onto more pressing matters of the future of our once great club, yes we were shite last season, and the season before that we were shite and come to think about it the season before that we were probably as shite, so I am not that surprised that there is not a mile long queue to invest the best part of £200m, in fact who in their right mind would actually but a premier football club, Randy will go out making a loss, the Mansours of Citeh will be making a loss, Abramovich will be making a loss, so where is the sense in buying a club like AVFC.
Is there a group out there who genuinely feel we are a good investment, other than the infrastructure, VP and BH we do not have a lot to offer, do they really care about our heritage and history because that will not bring in any revenue, the playing staff is very poor with few good enough for this standard of football and you can only add to that a couple of youngsters that might have potential.
So major investment is needed just to get this team away from the drop zone and possibly into mid table, if they feel they would like to make an assault on the top four or six then you can add another few tens of millions to that initial figure.
Now do we really believe there is another nutter like Lerner willing to come in and spend countless millions to put this shambles anywhere near right, the truth of the matter is there is not much chance of getting a return on your money if you plough it into a club like the Villa, so we then ultimately become a rich mans plaything, a toy for him to show off to his pals, is the future bright or are there more dark days ahead.
UTV
The point about training and ‘punishment’…It’s a good one. One thing to make a lazy team work hard, another to demoralize a side, wear them out, get them injured.
Fair points, all Southwest… 😉
I’m not really sure who comes in. Like you say, it’s basically someone with a big ego and tons of money to waste. Maybe a consortium comes together. All the financial talk over the last couple seasons, one of the points was how much RL had sunk in, what he’d want to try and get back while still taking a loss.
Welcome back John,
Interesting to see your viewpoint on the season after the, mostly, repetitive comments.
I was intrigued by Gary Lineker’s view in 2 ‘Tweets’ sent within minutes of each other viz:
@GaryLineker 8m
It’s always those that run the team, never those that run the club that are to blame!
@GaryLineker 46m
Tim Sherwood has been sacked by Spurs. He’s opinionated, bombastic and refreshingly different. Hope to see him in charge of a PL club soon
Of course he didn’t buy the players he inherited and any new manager coming in to VP will be faced with the same challenge until the January sales if the club is not sold within the next few weeks.
I am intrigued by recent Twitter exchange between our Jenny and Matt Kendrick today- to wit
Jenny Truman - possibly parties have entered non disclosure agreement with proviso RL make statement that co is for sale if buyer exists
Mat Kendrick – That’s what I’m led to believe
I guess it’s a case of watch this space and hold on to your season ticket
The fans were amazing at spurs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOVDh75pzbY
So thats WBA and Spurs getting there act together. Plenty of good managers out there. Will be 2 less by the time we stop pissing around
We’ll get Ian Dowie
Intersting write up Mr Clark
Reading your artical i was thinking that villa really have become something of a soap opera and not in a good way with scandal , bullying , falling outs and people in high positions treating there customers as if they are dumb
As Frem say SOS across the atlantic as in world war two we need your assistance
Jenny seems to know some people in the know any news Jen ? — but i will go with what steamer said nearly a month ago when he said the club is pretty close to sold – i am sure Randy would have done a lot of ground work prior his announcement as it would be silly to only start looking for buyers now
A suggestion –
De Boer as manager
Sherwood as technical director/head of football ops
Cowans assistant manager
Kevin Mac reserve manager
Tony Mc youth manager
Houllier head of youth development
If we could get that management team together the squad would basically sort itself out. All top quality in their respective roles.
trinity
I know Milner swapped for the amazing stephen ireland and a few million and a manager 🙂
Runtings,
Steamer gets all his info from a loon who walks a dog that looks a bit like a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Plug from the Bashstreet kids, this bloke tells Steamer he is ITK about all Aston Villa but unfortunately this rich vein of knowledge has been nipped in the bud because he is currently decorating his padded cell.
UTV
Hello John, welcome back, the sites better with you than without.
As ever the voice of realism.
My ST £££ is staying in my pocket until i know for certain these toerags are gone because if they stay we’re 100% certain to depart. Having said that, i do expect them to scoot fairly rapidly, replaced by Saudi’s, Americans or Omani’s and the latest ones are Nigerians !!!
Runtingz,
Did you go to Spuds, and was that you dressed as a traffic cone holding up the bus.
SWV,
O ye of little faith, when have i ever been wrong ?
Steamer after sitting throu that painful palace match i thought better of it but i wish i went now as the villans had a massive party and i have found no end of hilarious clips
i would have proberly gone with my black elvis outfit 🙂
SWV i am not about to argue withn the steamers 🙂 — hope he is right on this one thou — my gutt feeling is we will be sold within a couple of weeks
John
Great read good to see you back , I too hope when I’m settled here down under I can contribute more to the site.
Some great comments but I’m afraid us moaners myself , Frem and Steamer were correct this year when we stated the whole squad and club was littered with imbeciles out of their debt. So I reckon we are owned pints (lots of them 🙂 )
I think when the takeover is completed a foreign manager with international experience is required cause the prem is now full of international players, British and Irish men have failed miserably in the Villa hotseat it’s time for change.
Guzan , Baker , Clarke, Weimann , Bennett, Gabby , Tonev , HelWHO, Steer, Luna, Silly.Need P45s immediately
What’s left can be fridge players Westwood etc and Okore has a lot to prove , Vlaar & Delph are decent and Benteke is the only quality player in the squad plain & simple.
Evening all.
Welcome back John, I really feel that you have been let off the season for good behaviour and you have returned at the best time – you lucky thing 🙂
Splendid article too, which raises loads of interesting points which had some great comments in response from the regulars .
All I can say about Benteke is that from his first season he had the potential to be another Drogba/Ballotelli rolled into one. He had it all – strength, agility and coolness – but sadly his second season was disappointing. I don’t think for one minute he is a one season wonder but he has clearly suffered from injury, playing when not fully fit, confidence and poor coaching . He looked miserable and as a young player who didn’t speak the language, it must have been hard for him with the IC military style training regime. If the squad stayed the same, he would have been wasted at AV and it would have been kinder to let him go to fulfil his potential. I also firmly believe that he has a terrific presence – he can be fearless (as his battles with the Toure bros showed) and that he lifts our team to the next level psychologically. Even when he came on as sub you could almost sense the relief and the change in body language was incredible. He certainly made the opposition more fearful and edgy which was great to see.
You and Trinity made some very interesting observations about the training and the possibility for training as punishment. I wonder if we will find out once IC and KC have gone what exactly was going on.
Yes it has been a right mess. I would say that only WBA have competed in the scandal and rumours front with odd managerial choices, Enelka (worse buy in history), players punching other players. Life is never boring in the midlands – thank goodness !
liam
the rest of us are pulling the injuries card before you smart alecs get too cocky,
followed by the you wouldn’t hit a man/lady/cross dresser with glasses ploy 😉
Can any of us really put our hand on our hearts and say we foresaw the injuries ?(considering last season was almost injury free) the loss of form, the bullying? I don’t think so matey 🙂
the only thing that was a given was poor quality football and repetitive droning talks by Lambert of and shay given
🙂 Runtingz and Clive. I have absolutely no inside knowledge whatsoever.
ref the tweet with Matt Kendrick. Matt Kendrick’s article in BM stated “no due diligence had been started”. He was implying therefore that no preparatory legal work had been done which suggested that either there was no buyer lined up or that it was very early days.
I therefore asked how did he know that no due diligence had been started and he said “this is what I am led to believe”.
Where you have a company takeover/sale the parties will enter into confidentiality agreements, now known as non disclosure agreements. NDA for short. If there was a buyer then non disclosure agreements would have been entered into which would state that the details of the transaction are to be kept confidential. The due diligence would be covered by this agreement and therefore would not be disclosed to the press or any third parties. Therefore, take the press statements with a pinch of salt as Buyer or Seller would not be at liberty to disclose anything even if they wanted to ( which mostly they wouldn’t)
I then suggested that it would be reasonable for RL to make the statement of sale to the press without giving any further details and enter into a NDA with a buyer.
IT could be that the club has been getting ready for the shop window (ie getting the wages down, liabilities lower and retaining prem status) for at least one season maybe two. The buyer will want to get his own squad of players, staff and probably manager. They will therefore be working to deadlines and my guess is that the opening of the transfer window is the end date deadline they will aim for. I can’t believe that anyone is going to pay £200 mill for a team struggling to stay up with the risk of losing £100 mill in tv money etc in the first season.
So what I am saying in my long winded fashion is that
a. I have no insider info
b. I am just going by the company sale transactions norm – which is it will be shrouded in secrecy until contracts are exchanged and completion takes place which is usually on the same day.
Sorry to go on – why use one word when 20 will do 🙂 🙂
steamer
do you want it down to the minute or will just the months do?
WIth my Inspector Poirot hat on I would also deduce
1. PL knew of the sale , hence the “I respect the decision RL makes” and the remit was to stay up and general RL criticism. (no fury hath a woman scorned :-))
2. Flying out to US – possibly finalising his exit /termination of contract
3. RL flew over in a panic over the Culverhouse affair because if a sale had been agreed subject to prem survival, those two clowns could have blown it out of the water. They had to be suspended due to bullying claims but he couldn’t remove PL at the same time as he could hold the key to us staying up. Hence the bizarre appointment of Shay Given to keep the mutinying players happy.
I could be wrong – but ……… “I have many faults but being wrong isn’t one of them”. Feel free to throw cartons of eggs if by the transfer window opening RL and co are still there . 🙂
jen
20? your as bad as my lady she cant count either 🙂
wouldn’t saying we are up for sale ruffle the feathers of someone who had already signed an NDA especially if they are close to a deal and someone else comes sniffing
As for the squad – I would keep Benteke, Okore, Bacuna, Delph, Albi, Guzan and Helenius as a consolation for his banishment. I am feeling ruthless .
Checking through my previous articles and I feel like a right twat for having written this. http://www.astonvillalife.com/aston-villa-blog/agbonlahor-a-new-rising/
You let me down big time, Gabby. Once this exam is done with and my degree finished on Friday I will be actively writing for the ‘site again so you can look forward to my spiel on whatever is going on. Although at the moment the news largely writes itself. There ain’t none, guv’na.
jen
also I think Lerner was bringing costs down to either possibly sell at this point or go again ie begin buying better players.
he may of had his mind made up for him by the general hassle he has received and thought fug it. the decision only being made once we were safe hence the delay in announcing the sale?
Mark – yes that did occur to me and it wouldn’t be usual but it is not out of the question. Provided the buyer agreed – and it could have been a proviso of the NDA and agreed because of the current fan back lack and media rumours. If he has a buyer then the NDA or any conditional contract agreements would specify he could only deal with one party at a time so it wouldn’t affect the buyer’s exclusivity or create a contract race. This is my understanding – I was a commercial property lawyer but did work on company sales from the property perspective. One thing I don’t know the answer to (one of the many :-)) is that public companies have to make a public statement under stock exchange regs if it is putting the company up for sale. I am not sure how many shares RL owns and if there are any other share holders. Under a certain no then no statement has to be made. I think Ree K will know more. It did cross my mind that the public statement could be to comply with stock exchange – but like I say – not sure on this one.
RL spent so much money in the MON ira and only achieved sixth . DId he realise that he couldn’t compete financially when the Russians and Arabs came to town. So what do you do. You either spend £100 mill with no guarantee of higher than 8th or spend £30 mill to chug along the bottom but get the tv money and premiership. I think he realised that he could never realise his dream of top four and the enthusiasm ebbed. He hasn’t been at VP for two seasons – where is the joy in owning a club you never go to. I think the divorce, the fact that this money was trust money all contributed to him making the practical decision that it was time to go.
josh
at that time he looked a world beater even Lambert was pushing him for England
🙂
I would keep. tekkers, vlaar, okore if fit, kosak , westwood, albrighton, guzan, delph, gabby if fully fit . I would keep helenius because I liked him preseason and am pissed off he didn’t get more of a chance considering how poor weimann was. he might be poo but I dont care, he looked a very accomplished finisher vs a natural row zedder like andi.
considering the time scale with the sale it would be mad to try and replace to many to soon.
Mark – if he wanted to rebuild squad, why hasn’t he been here. If he rebuilds squad how far can he take us realistically. He has lost 100 million – he would be a fool to try it again as he hasn’t got so much money he can burn another 100 mill . Owning football clubs is a mugs game really.
I don’t mean have a cull immediately Mark – I am not Cruella de Ville 🙂
Josh – there will be loads for you to write in the next few weeks – Juirgen Klinsman being touted for next manager according to bookies.
jen
a two year exit plan is not out of the realms but considering he will lose about £100 mil anyhow why not go last year? as we are only going to make £17m profit this and year he put in £90mil last ?
For the avoidance of doubt Clive – Matt Kendrick didn’t agree with my suggestion there could be a buyer and non disclosure agreements entered into, the “that’s what I am led to believe” was in answer to my “how do you know there is no due diligence being done”. So he is implying there is no buyer – before I start any rumours !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe because the books looked so diabolical with wages 80% of turnover. No buyer in their right mind going to take that on particularly with finishing 15th. He needed to get the figures straight and present a potentially profitable enterprise. THis is my assumption – I could be completely wrong !!
Off to my meditation classes now. I need it 🙂
jen
because it got to hot in the kitchen for him. i’m not suggesting he would bankrole it again but build steady 2-3 good players each window but not world beaters. remember the 5 year plan Lambert was banging on about?
jen
you don’t want to be taking medication, did St75 give it you I’d be careful it might be a mickey finn 😉
Apparently the big announcement is tomorrow, the new owner will be unveiled 9 (Not meaning an Arab ) and McMumble will be booted on Monday.
steamer
are you pulling our chain you little tinker?
Mark – I didn’t believe there was a five year plan as there was nothing at the end of it. When you have a goal you usually state what it is. There never was one and all we heard was “transition”. When was that word removed from the AV PR dictionary .
BLoody hell Steamer – those tea leaves are nearly as good as mine !!
Jenny: RL spent so much money in the MON ira and only achieved sixth . DId he realise that he couldn’t compete financially when the Russians and Arabs came to town. So what do you do. You either spend £100 mill with no guarantee of higher than 8th or spend £30 mill to chug along the bottom but get the tv money and premiership.
In general I agree … but.
In my book it’s not just how much money you spend but also *how* it is spent and managed. I don’t believe the absolute rule that if you only spend £30m then you’re chugging along at the bottom.
The key is to use that £30m very wisely and at the same time bring in youth from outside *and* from the academy.
In short, I think RL and PL broadly had a plan like this in mind but PL instead opted to not use the academy, nor bought enough good/experienced material.
In short, the failure is down to poor football management. RL was the fallguy in this scenario (being a non-football man) – PL the maneater. But RL could have appointed someone with nous onto the board to advise and avoid this can of worms.
St 75t has gone missing Mark – so my meditation will be devoted to him – and who needs stimulants when we have ST75 🙂
will answer when Ive done some chanting John – I am late !!! x
jen
I’ll stick to coffee ta 😉
johnL
could well have been the case
I think Lerner should have put in a further £7-800 million, peanuts,if he lost it tough,calls himself a Villan, and he should leave that tattoo in B6, where’s that axe ? see i’m just a big softie.
Honest, apart from the voices its been posted on TBAR, they’ve said all along that Wednesday could be the day, what do you think my name is ‘effing Paul Revere ?
steamer
wed at 9 am or pm?
steamer
it certainly wont be the british coming we are skint
Steamer
I’m not holding my breath about any takeover announcement , or PF/PL getting the boot.
I can’t see why they would have to fly to New York, just to get the bullet.
I really hope I’m wrong, but I think this is going to drag on for a long time yet. We need massive investment, whoever comes in will need to cough up, £250-£275 straight off the bat, as this team ripping up and starting again, this will need big funding, as to attract anyone decent the wages will have to go up significantly, and I can’t see anyone rushing in willing to throw cash at our ailing club.
I think we will go into next season with a squad devoid of talent, possibly without Delph and co and the mumbling fool still the manager. Without a miracle, I fear a real disaster, relegation could be the start of an even darker period in our history. I read today our summer transfer budget is £7m, enough for two loans!!!!
It’s all gone extremely quiet on all takeover matters.
b62
if your going to jump make sure its good and high or you’ll just break your legs mate 😉
our wages can’t get much lower or we will be giving them smarties, I can’t believe this is all happening without a plan? oh hang on forgot its us sorry
to be honest when city got bought by Arabs in the same city as the mighty manure did anyone think that was a good idea? why wouldn’t someone invest in villa? with kind of money he’s asking for they will be rich by default or insane
Mark
I’m not jumping mate, but I need certifying, iv already signed up for next seasons ST in the Holte!!
b62
holy mother of god, drink a bottle of voddy lie down and don’t touch anything they’ll be round to get you soon
b62
no wonder your panicking 🙂
Mark
Fair point!
It’s not panic it’s realism mate, as the fans were singing at WHL “We need a miracle” and ” Jesus Jesus sort it out!”
Mark;
Yes 9am or 9pm.
B62,
Lerners only allowed out of his cupboard once a month thats why Chubs and Mumble have gone over. Wish i was going, i’d love to hand them their p45’s.
Some geezer reckons its a Saudi concertina and will be completed after the WC, wish it was after England were back, we wouldn’t have to wait so long.
hey people think its gonna be sunny tomorrow what are we going to do then? 😉
b62
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough cares of its own
its that or jump mate
Fuck knows what’s going on
Apparently all staff have been asked to reapply for there jobs. Apparently New owner to be announced. Lambert to resign etc
Mire worried why would Lambert resign? Only if be knows Randy ain’t going anywhere fast?
John – I agree entirely . I’ve said all along that RL’s staff let him down – but then ultimately the buck stops with him as he hired them and continued with them , From what I’ve read MON’s constructive dismissal claims did it for him and disillusionment set in from then. I do have sympathy with RL as he set out with good intentions and his community projects and Acorns partnership are testament to his honourable intent. It could have all been so different . His absence for two seasons suggests the club became a tiresome incumbrance particularly with the losses it was making . All this could have been better managed and RL and the supporters have paid the price and it is a great shame .
Frem – that’s very interesting about the staff / where did you hear that ? How long has that been going on ?
this has got more twist than a chubby checker record 🙂
Jenny- Twitter and TBAR blog
Apparently Herd is going to quit football
Telegraph saying Randy will give Lambert funds whilst he try’s to sell and there are no interested buyers. Minimum 6 to 8 weeks
Robinson is also a free agent
Things can’t get worse for this club now. Utter cock up
Now this drives a coach and horses through my theory if it is correct –
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfers/10828608/Paul-Lambert-to-get-funds-at-Aston-Villa-despite-chairmans-plans-for-200m-sale.html
This comes with government health warning Frem
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-paul-lambert-not-3536846
I saw twitter that Herd is retiring – personal reasons , I thought he showed great potential about three seasons ago . Another great shame
Thanks for the Warning Jenny, but still need a new computer screen now
I hope the media are just guessing. They have all at some point covered every different angle
How the fuck is Lambert still in a job? I’m not sure Randy has really thought this through has he. We will get sold on deadline day at 11:59 and have no hope of doing anything
Lambert would have Holt on loan though
Albri GG and Robbinson all leaving as free agents. Never hated this club so much
Damn right Mark . It’s even more exciting than the sightings of every premier league footballer at BMH each transfer season 🙂
I still don’t think RL would start looking for buyer at end of season . The new owner will want to buy in players – get mgr sorted and settle his staff in before new season . Nursery said yesterday that transfer funds not available now he’s saying opposite . Doug Ellis stated yesterday on R5L “it is a done deal ” then contradicted himself 5 mins later by saying he didn’t know. He then contradicted that by saying “he understood it was an American “. Comedy gold again 🙂 He’s obviously in his element loving all the media attention 🙂
They all contradict each other Frem . Telegraph say transfer funds and mirror says It “leaves Lambert and his plans adrift, with little cash to boost his squad.
But MirrorSport believes the Scot hopes to form a plan with Lerner for the club’s short-term first-team future, with loans the likely option.”
Basically – they know nothing . “Believes means guesses”
Jenny is right, as the Press have no information at the moment, and it may not be an American, although this did seem the most likely, but the Arabs have taken interest from feeders put out by David Cameron, but it is purely guesswork as to who is about sign what will be a major deal, along the lines of the Man City one.
this really is not a drag on situation starting from Lerner’s statement. All this came about following the MON walk out after he and Randy fell out when he failed to bring Champion’s league football to Villa, following the signing of Heskey, when he had the chance, and Randy’s backing, to sign Falcoand probably achieve at least 3rd in the table.
The final straw for Randy was the problems with Houllier, and then the crass recommendation of Fergie to sign Macleish as manager.
Randy then decided to start sorting the club out to be a saleable asset, but in ordrer to do that he had to bring finances back into line.
I agree Paul – that’s how I would interpret Randy Lerner’s actions and absences . It may be that a buy was lined up and was nearly at the point of completing purchase but they pulled out . This would explain the public statement as an extra push to get it sold .
Mark,
Steamers been walking the growler again.
UTV
rumour has it, that mansours brother is buying us as a feeder club for man city and some where to launder some funds as the middle east is about to go nuclear.
just as plausible
swv
he needs to check the bottoms of his shoes he may be carrying something extra 😉
another rumour is lambert has actually flown to Hollywood to discuss starring in ground hog day 2-3-4-5………
surprisingly accurate?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2044554-ranking-the-performances-of-aston-villas-players-for-the-2013-14-season?
Chubs and Mumble going to USA is a similar scenario to when Loser invited McKnob to the Browns training camp just weeks before he booted him.
Mark,
That must be the version with subtitles.
I read that we have already missed out on a fine young player due to a transfer embargo –i think if the club wasnt going to be sold in the very near future we may well have made a bid ot two