Until two games ago, Spurs were looking unbeatable having achieved six successive wins scoring 15 goals in the process: Leicester appeared to be in serious risk of losing their top spot. But suddenly Leicester have again started to look as though they are very difficult to catch.

However, although their run has been interrupted, I would not expect Spurs to take too much time to get back into their groove. After all, they have won nine, drawn two and lost two in their last 13 matches. And in Kane and Alli they have two potentially dangerous players.

Villa, sadly, have to look back to the days of John Gregory for a period of sustained success against Spurs, and although we managed to win at their ground last season, that match interrupted a run of 12 matches since Villa had previously beaten a team that has for many of the years since the War been regarded as Villa’s ‘bogey’ team. I begin to feel quite depressed to think that record is not going to change in our favour this coming week-end.

There have been matches over the years when Villa have surprised our forthcoming opponents. Villa’s 5-5 draw at White Hart Lane in 1966 (when Hateley scored 4 and Villa could have won it at the end), and 3-3 at home the following year were two great Villa performances, and then there were the fine ‘DD’ successes in 1962 (a brace from Derek Dougan) and 1998 (Dion Dublin’s brace on his debut). There have been other Villa successes but for the most part it has been Spurs who have taken the laurels over the last 70 years. There were some brutal defeats inflicted on Villa by Spurs in the 1950s and 1960s, including two 6-2 results and several where they scored four goals, all in the days when they had ex-Villan Danny Blanchflower parading his wonderful skills for them.

So, having conceded 15 goals in their last four league games (including 9 in two home games), just how much chance do Villa have of even getting a point? On the face of it, it looks like a daunting task and – like many – I’m beginning to think that ditching players of the ilk of Hutton and Richards might give Villa half a chance. But just as I remember that full-back Stan Lynn used to liven things up a bit when played as the lead striker, perhaps throwing Richards into the front line might not be a bad desperation tactic!

Oh dear, it would be nice if the season could just end now. Can it get any worse?

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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 188

  1. Heroes-and-Villans

    Its very sad but i want spurs to win. I think they have been superb this season and id like them to win the league. There work rate is amazing. And on the villa front i hate most of our players.

  2. runtings

    I would feel silly saying we will beat spurs – and with the lack of goals in our team — our ever so shaky defending and the fact that spurs are a very good set up with match winner in a few positions i can only see a loss

    just hope it isn’t another embarrassing scoreline

  3. steamer

    Always loathed Spurs, biggest BS club in the country, if you can kick a ball twenty yards you get 60 England caps, even Trippier the RESERVE RB is close to making the squad. It didn’t help when Pocchetino told Mason to get Benteke sent off last year. Love to codge up their title hopes.
    That 2-1 game in 1962 was my second Villa game not that i saw much with nearly 70,000 in VP.
    The cup game in 67/68 sticks in my mind, a virtual home game with over 15,000 Villans at that dump of a ground, outplayed them too Barrie Hole and the great Peter Broadbent scored two superb goals, they got three lucky ones though. Spurs are an example of a crappy but well run club making an effort while we are a great club making an effort to become the next BCFC.

  4. southwestvillan

    John,

    I said ages ago late November in fact that we would not win another game and if it was not for the Palace keeper throwing one in his own net my prediction would have been spot on, if anyone seriously thinks we will beat spuds then a visit to the loony bin is overdue.
    We are the worst team in this division by a country mile we are an embarrassment to the colours, when a team like Bournemouth can be that many points ahead of us on pure effort and guts because lets be fair they are not the most talented bunch but they have the ability to fight for their lives.

    I read all the sound bites from Mervyn King and thought here we go another corporate buffoon giving it the old I have been on a few management courses, why is Fox still being paid when all the signs are he will lose his job, why are we waiting to get rid, why are we waiting for him to do further damage to the club.

    The club is in a vile mess and I have no confidence in anyone at this club to put things right.

    SWV

  5. DarrenO

    As Jenny said a few days ago thanks JL for keeping AVL ticking over, never had a big issue with Spurs down the years, a club who played on the London location to attract players who helped them progress but nothing more than a lifestyle choice and not being good enough to play for Arsenal, not including no history Chelsea, they’ve bought recent success.

    I expect a similar team and set up as Man City and a similar result, the likes of Kane and Alli aren’t potentially dangerous, they are dangerous, Remi seen them at first hand from the stands as Kevin McDonald proved his loyalties lay with Sherwood and not the club but it transpired none of the squad are actually good enough anyway.

    Great to see Outthedooron74 ramping up the communication and almost having a clear agenda in their open letter to Randy, the letter was let down by some lack of clarity but only due to the fact so much needed to be said to cover the last 10 years. I’ll support any form of protest until Lerner and Fox are gone.

    FOLAF

  7. steamer

    The customers seem to be under the impression that next season will be as stroll barring a couple of battles with some of the more physical teams, i’d say the problems we had versus Bradford City, Millwall, Orient, Sheff Utd and others along with Kings statement seem to indicate that a further demotion could be on the cards.
    Lerner has this habit of transforming people’s dreams into nightmares, all he had to do was employ an admin that knew about footy instead of trying to kid the fans that his choices were up to the job, when this policy failed several times he just turned away in denial until the opportunity came along to cosy up to HRH. The bloke is an utter disgrace and his ignorance could well see the end of AVFC.

  8. Mark King

    If we beat spurs this weekend then the whole team should be finger printed to make sure they are our players and not ringers. Maybe just as an experiment Garde should throw caution to the wind see if we can get a goal or two, its clear as day we will get nowhere by trying to defend we simply cannot or will not. the bonus is they might get fitter if they have to run the whole length of the pitch instead of half.

  9. Mark King

    Steamer- even I think we will get top 6 if we keep our players but will we keep them? If all goes well (ha ha ha ha ) then we have quite a tasty front line bubbling away in the stiffs. Another six months will see a lot of them develop physically so I am quite optimistic there plus Robinson will be 102 and will have played for all the lower league clubs by then.

    Midfield we have GG , lyden , calder and green to add to whats left of the midfield.

    At the back we have Baker and clark and whatever’s left of the cull maybe Amavi if we are lucky. New keeper a must with 10 fingers and long arms.

  12. John Lerwill

    Hello Frank,

    Well, I go back nearly as far as you and I wouldn’t disagree with your view.

    I don’t expect Villa to win at all, but I’m just waiting for this lot to at least put in a fair stint. I think they’ve only broken sweat about twice this season!

  13. John Lerwill

    Mark: “New keeper a must with 10 fingers and long arms.

    That’s not asking for much! With stem cell technology surely they can grow bigger hands now? 😉

    Just imagine, ‘keepers built to spec!

  16. Trinity

    Steamer
    “Totally agree, a complete and utter shower of uselessness.” Lol. You don’t mix your words, do you
    JL
    “Just imagine, ‘keepers built to spec!” Have you ever seen a movie called Gattaca? It’s about people being built to spec. I’d also like to echo Darren’s sentiments. Thanks for writing for us.
    Mark
    Villa may as well just go all attack against Spurs-open it up-and go for a result. They’ll probably lose, but at least they’ll have a chance, if only one in ten, of achieving a result.

  17. steamer

    The Aston Villa Protest Group have penned a very good letter to Lerner outlining his total failure as custodian. They’ve achieved far more than the other mob of phonies, what were they called again, Aston Villa Customers Trust ? Tom must be delighted with their inactivity in a time of crisis.

  18. Paul Pears

    Excellent job of keeping this site going JL. Hats of to you, and also Steamer, Mark King and all the other regular contributors.

    Don’t see us even turning up on Sunday, let alone making any attempt to win the game.

    The official is virtually got nothing to say, apart from it was good to see that they actually recognise Danny Blanchflower, but of course nothing about why he was sold to Spurs…….

  19. r0bb0

    I don’t mind Spurs and would be happy to see them as runners up to Leicester this year but what I can’t stand is their singing.
    ‘When the saints’ is a bit of a dirge at the best of times but their ‘special needs’ version sung at half speed so that all their fans can keep up must be the least original and most depressing supporters song out there.

  20. steamers75

    with an hour to go Chelsea succumbed , half hour Spurs , but right to the last minuet and threatened that she would be named if she didnt comply , Yes that plastic tory slag at west ham tried to block the £30 top payment for away tickets , all the scum cockney shits clubs , and this club have been given a new ground by the hammers tory prime minister , scum doesnt cover it

  23. steamers75

    how weird is this . whilst typing that letter appears , but on pressing “post comment” it disappears !!!!!!!

    Steamer l just turned keyboard upside down and shook , and the stuff that came out of it , i bet Rosco could get two pieces of bread and make a sandwich out of it

  27. John Lerwill

    Trinity: “…Gattaca…”

    Nope … I’m not a SF film follower unfortunately, but I used to read a lot of SF stuff years ago, including Brum’s (well, Dorridge’s) John Wyndham.

    Actually this is not just a SF subject, as you probably know. I saw an early development of a human ‘copy’ on TV the other day and it frankly disturbed me a bit … even though it’s an early attempt it was pretty realistic in behaviour and speech – it was able to respond in a conversation.

  29. B62 Villa

    Spurs are everything we are not, young , organised, exciting, solid at the back, excellent goalkeeper and have a real threat going forwards, there manager is tactically astute and forward thinking, he actually wants to win football matches, if this was a boxing match it wouldn’t go ahead due to the difference in class, I can only see another humiliation at home in front of the TV millions. Yet more damage to our reputation.
    The media are reporting a mass exodus, unsurprising the French lads are all linked with moves back to ligue 1, also saying the likes of Grealish , Richards and lescott. We are going to be left with the likes of Guzan, Wesrwood, Hutton and Gabby, I despair, I’d rather we paid them off.
    It’s a real eye opener at the calibre of players we are looking at , Liverpool youth team and anyone who play for 2 bags of crisps and a free pint every week.

  35. DarrenO

    Net Debt down 30.6m and Overall loss 27.8m take into consideration minimal reductions in tv earnings, merchandising, clearly the debtor that is Randolph Lerner through various companies has taken out around 25m.

    Because of minimal changes plus or minus in revenue wouldn’t account for such a dramatic increases in losses. Expect the same being done for this financial year and the 90m in relegation money will mean Lerner could sell the club for around 100m with the use of the losses against other profitable companies for tax purposes.

    Need as many of the squad who are in the U21s to be playing now as there will be no money to buy players and attempts to keep our current shit on reduced wages

    Still don’t think we’ll be relegated again but don’t expect much from next season and it’s only March

    If the FA had any powers to investigate the running of one of its member clubs then Lerner would be strung by his bollocks

    iiiiiiiiiiiiii

    FOLAF

  38. steamer

    When Fox spoke about a fantastic future i think he meant for himself after copping a 990k pay rise for absolutely making a complete balls up of his job, sack this clown immediately, 1.25m a year for being a knob, unbelievable.

  39. B62 Villa

    The Accounts prove RL and TF etc are robbing AVFC blind, asset stripping across the board. Tag getting £1.25m plus expenses is an insult to every Villa fan out there, it’s a stark reality check and warning of worse times ahead. Make no mistake , next seasons objective for the club will be survival both on and off the pitch. If the administration rumours are correct , we could see us lumbered with s fine and points deduction( usually 10-15pts). Add to this we have no money to spend, anyone of any value being sold off, uncertainty surrounding the manager/board/owner, next season is going to be nothing short of hell.
    However, I don’t think the fans walking away is the answer, the accounts prove he will take his cash no matter what, as will the players. By staying away we aren’t hitting Lerner in the picket, but seriously put our club in danger and putting off ANY prospective buyer.
    We don’t do walking away, that’s for the noses. We need to unite and drive the scum out of Villa park , preferably in pine boxes.

  40. Mark King

    DOR- If Garde has no intention of staying why would he play the youth? there needs to be some announcements made about next season other than its going to be tough.

  41. DarrenO

    Well if not Garde then the next manager has to blood the youths because we need them to get match experience very quickly because there sure isn’t going to be any funds to buy new players.

    Remember this cover the financial year to May 2015, Fox’s salary may be more and even more debt reduced by Lerner taking money out of the club.

    The board is a sham, did our finance director walk away from this shameful lot or was he pushed for asking Fox the right questions.

  42. southwestvillan

    There is definitely something wrong with all the Villa blogs must be a glitch or a cyber attack by Lerner, but I just read that Fox was the sixth highest paid CEO in the premier at £1.25m, this must be a very cruel joke to test out April 1st.

    SWV

  43. John Lerwill

    DO’R: “The board is a sham, did our finance director walk away from this shameful lot or was he pushed for asking Fox the right questions.”

    As I think I’ve mentioned before, Russell is a man of integrity so my view is that he walked on principle. He would have asked a lot of questions in previous years but the time came when it became impossible to stay, I’d say.

  44. steamer

    I really don’t understand the delay in removing Fox, these are disgraceful figures that even the dimmest fan could improve on, even St75. Sorry but every figure is negative except Fox’s wage. This shows what an absolute imbecile Lerner is unless he really is attempting to bankrupt AVFC. Fox was never qualified for a major job in soccerball and only got it because he’s American, i don’t call that business acumen.

  45. steamer

    If the AVST really want to do something useful they should ask for the FA to send in their accountants and investigate the goings on at VP.

  46. DarrenO

    Don’t hold your breath Steamer, the AVST are a waste of space, more likely MOMS or Out the Door will contact the FA to see what under FA rules can be done.

    I’ve read a few of the explanations for the loss and while so much is aimed at the 14m increase in wages based on a large number of first team players who actually hardly played, certainly off-field staff increased but given Villa haven’t signed up for the minimum wage you can be full sure the players are taking the lion share, but this exposes the scouting and contract policy being pathetic.

    No one has yet to explain the net debt drop by 30m because this is the other contributory factor, we may owe less but the reason we owe less is because Randy through his companies has clawed back this money.

    Agree with B62, the club will need us more than ever in the championship so protest now, get rid of the disease and start again.

    Lerner is a disgrace, Fox is a charlatan

    FOLAF

  47. steamer

    Will someone explain moneyball … We sign Veretout for 8m he has a mediocre season then we sell him to AC Milan for 4.5m, surely thats not how it works.

  48. runtings

    🙂 it’s the aston villa version of moneyball —– there isn’t one areaof the football club that hasn’t been done in the wrong way

    thankfully there are many things more important than football , but it’s such a shame on the club

  49. Mark King

    Supposedly you set a figure you’d be happy to receive and stick to it steamer our version is like a charity version of moneyball. Would not surprise me if they struggled to get players in without release clauses last summer. Timbo said some players were 3rd or 4th choice

  50. steamer

    Looks like Fox has an open cheque book using Villa’s money, he’ll destroy this club the smarmy git.
    Even Chubby couldn’t make such a pigs ear of the books. What exactly is his remit ?
    Does anyone employed by AVFC actually give a monkeys ?

  51. steamers75

    Hi All . just got myself a brand new Vax jetwasher £279 for £64 . lm allowed to share this , if interested there are loads of other items , brand new and 2 year guarantee, go to vaxsale.co.uk and type in STAFF-239 for the sale prices , a friend of mine works there and passed it on to me ,

    Chris has just weighed in and made the cut, the fight is tomorrow , will let you know if its on TV anywhere , probably Russian TV ,

    have a great weekend all

    Jenny XXXXXXX

  52. Frem

    27 million loss. No wonder we didn’t spend in Jan. We won’t spend in the summer either

    Garde back to Lyon? Bruce to come in ? 🙁 I’d stop going if he did. McClaren or Pearson the same. I’d rather Garde stay than those 3 be manager

    I’d like Monk. I liked his style at Swansea. Started well then slipped but I think he’d be a good fit. Sean Dyche I’d like as well. Moyes would be a dream probably

  55. southwestvillan

    Aston Villa the gift that just keeps on giving, cost the club £3.3m pound to terminate Lamberts contract, this club is in a bigger mess than any of us first thought and Steamer could be closer to the mark when saying a statement will be made regarding the clubs long term future in June.

    SWV

  56. steamer

    30.06.2016, more confident than ever.
    Will AVFC win another game before we fold ? C’mon you Burgundy & Blues.
    Mark,
    He’ll pay the ransom with all of our 20 pounds.

  57. steamer

    Questions need to be asked like ….
    Who are you supporting next year when we go bump ?
    How did an incompetent weasel like Fox get a 900k pay rise for destroying a football club ?
    Is Agbonlahor’s sweat invisible or is his shirt dry because he actually doesn’t move.

    No-one should vote for the Player of the Year this season because –
    1) We don’t have anyone who fits the job description.
    2) It would show these useless overpaid knobs what we think of them.

  60. B62 Villa

    So we are in debt to the tune of 27m, we are about to lose a further 80-90m in comparison to this season, add to that RL cashes in all his loans 280m in the next 18 months, we are truly fucked.
    Like it or not the Blues are the new top dogs in the City, pushing for a play off this season, they are more stable than us us off the pitch( who would have thought that a couple of years ago), Rowett has shown that if you start to get it right on the pitch the rest takes care of itself to some degree . Heaven forbid they go up, we will never catch them, as for the Albion they are already so far ahead of us it’s unreal , add the massive TV windfall and they may be out of reach for at lead 5-10 years.
    Our books have obviously put off any prospective buyers.
    There is no light at the end of the tunnel, we are following the same route as the likes of Pompey, Leeds, Bolton etc. I was laughed at for suggesting this is how we will end up under Lerner, far too many fans thought he was a nice bloke just none too bright. He is calculated and is ripping the heart out of this club, and will get his money back in one way or another . The finances are a shambles for a club of this size with the earning revenue it could earn. But they don’t understand to get the big money in, you need success on the pitch. We are going to see darker times before it gets better. Unless we are taken over we will never get out of the lower leagues, I can see a time in the very distant future where Cities like ours with two clubs , end up trying for one big club like , places like Brum where we have 2 shit clubs playing in half empty stadia, could maximise there financial potential by joining up, Sheffieldl, Bristol etc . This doomsday could never happen and if it did it’s a radical shift that’s generations away, however it could end up the only way a lot of clubs survive

  61. southwestvillan

    B62,

    Can you imagine us and the noses sitting in the same stand watching Birmingham Villa , the thought makes me shudder.

    I still think we have got a lot to learn about the damage caused by Lerner and his henchmen, this loss is just the tip of the iceberg and as you say very dark days ahead.

    I have given up on football I just cannot stand it anymore, the outlandish money paid to crap players, the money given to the sky 4, I cancelled my skysports ages ago I will not put any more money into their coffers, to be fair I only had it to watch the rugby league.

    SWV

  64. DarrenO

    Good luck to Chris, give us a report back on the fight ST75

    I don’t love football anymore, I wouldn’t cross the street to see other teams playing, it’s only AVFC and Ireland for me, I dread to think what I’d do if AVFC ceased to exist.

    But if you are paid 1.25m and have no fear of being unemployed, you don’t have any dread or fear about your employer ceasing to exist.

    Off to email Stephen Hollis may get a better chance of a reply. Stephen.Hollis@avfc.co.uk I presume. Just want to contribute in some way even for my own peace of mind as I’m not able to protest on the 74th minute.

    FOLAF

  69. Mark King

    Steamer- he lost us a fair few u21 players the twonk Johnson,albrighton,carruthers, forrester its endless

    Jl- looks 2 decent appointments, do they mean business?

  72. B62 Villa

    I see Benitez has joined Newcastle, that’s a very good appointment, I can see him keeping them up tbh, when he does he could really kick on, he’s the best gaffer they have had in a very long time. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the teams he’s managed in his CV are impressive, Valencia, Liverpool, Inter, Chelsea, Real Madrid .
    Surely if all these boardroom appointments are true, and we have to manage the wages , then Fox should be disembowelled any time soon taking his two lap dogs in Almstadt and Reilly with him, otherwise what’s the point? Fox would still be 2 I/c after Lerner.
    Modern football is depressing enough, but being a Villa fan tops the lot, every story or comment brings more shame, doom, anger or despair, the bastards responsible should be appearing in The Hague

  73. steamer

    Sounds to me that Fox will be staying. Bernstein was with City in Div 3, is that a prediction for our future ?
    Would have preferred Gregory to Little. This seems like pacifying the fans again although probably the only half decent appointment that the dimwit cowboy has made.

  75. James Gill

    So we didn’t make a loss of 27 m but a profit of 43 m ,we reduced our debt by 70 m,fox only became official after season started so his wage was for only part of year amazing,we didn’t make signings in January because deals fell through, no money for players yet 2 new members to board plus another 2 in March,we want potato head after farce with McLeish ,even with all remi faults ( playing blobby Hutton and guzan) would like to see remi with new board plus squad
    We are a fucking joke, does nobody in villa s board have an ounce of sense

  76. John Lerwill

    AVFC in announcing the new appointments state quite clearly that Little has been appointed only in an *advisory* capacity.

    In other words …

    “Come in Brian. Please let us have a feel of your thoughts on these points…”

    {Brian responds, and then is asked to leave.]

    “Well, now he’s gone, let’s decide what *we* think of the matter…”

  77. Mark King

    JL- Imagine the first question

    Well Brian you remember when this was a football club what was it like? what kinds of things did you do? we would ask mr Ellis but he stitched us up in the first place, is it true he invented the bicycle or something? 😉

  78. steamer

    Got to chuckle, the new power in Birmingham, that massive club that plays in the super stadium in Small Heath and has won TWO league cups since 1875 and who’s scabby unwashed heathen fans keep telling us how shite we are took a huge 39 fans to Blackburn to support their promotion chasing team, bs club.

  79. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    I couldn’t help but nearly explode the other day when Ellis said that Villa’s position today is because of the players.

    The man is in another galaxy! He does come out with some things, doesn’t he?

  80. steamer

    JL,
    He fooled some people from day one and some of them are still being fooled by him, complete phony. When yo see that some fans actually want him back and think he’s a Villan it brings the word gullible to a new level.

  81. steamer

    So Fox and Almstedt will be missing Sundays game, probably Riley too, changed my mind, i think they’ll be gone.
    Brian Little could be a big asset in organising the academy, he built the outstanding set-up at Middlesborough for Bruce Rioch that produced Pallister and a good few others. Never rated him as a Villa manager though and his record since he left shows why.

  82. John Lerwill

    Steamer,

    It’s true that BL seems to have depended a great deal on John Gregory.

    But that fact is that those two produced VIlla’s best 2 seasons in the PL apart from 92-93.

    You have to say they must have been a good team together. maybe our problems partly stem from the time the two split? Aided by HDE of course.

  83. B62 Villa

    Following the accounts being released ( which are extremely Cleverly presented ) and the financial black hole we are apparantly in, a fan has added up the NET spend on transfers the club have spent since 06/07 under RL. It’s come to £115.3m which doesn’t equate to much each season, also RL has paid himself £70m which is £6m more than he paid for club. Where has all the money gone?? Why so much debt?? Wages were high almost 90% of the turnover at their highest, but there nowhere near that now as we haven’t really invested in the team for a while, the main earners are crap that Fox gave out new contracts to. During this period we have had to pay compo to MoN, Houllier, Blues ( to get Mcleish and his staff), Mcleish, Norwich( to get Lambert), Lambert, Sherwood and soon Garde. Add to that the compo to the board members etc paid off the people running this club are beyond clueless and I wouldn’t trust them to run the tea fund in our office. But even taking this into account I still can’t see how we are so in the shit, given the amount of TV/Sponsorship/ST sales/Matchday revenue

  84. steamers75

    Chris fight is 6pm Grozny time which is around 3pm England time .
    you may get a stream looking at either
    Chechnya MMA 125 Grand Prix or
    Akhmat Fight show .

    spent a couple of hours at The Chechnian Presidents palace , dancers ect ect . weird

    about Brian little , good move if they use him , when he was manager he had Alan Evans -defence coach
    JG- midfield coach
    and himself coaching the forwards , and l think it went Tits up when JG went to manage Wycombe ,

    D.O.R / Runtins . thanks both ,

    Steamer will ring you tomorrow mate …
    have a good weekend all
    Jenny xxxxx

  89. B62 Villa

    Steamer
    The club needs to be investigated, RL etc are nothing short of criminals mate.
    Dunno what’s going on at Boro, but Karanka has had a massive fallout and is considering his position, and not taking charge of tomorrow’s. fixture.
    I’d take him for next season

  91. B62 Villa

    Just watching Soccer Saturday and flicking over for the rugby, they are reviewing Bournemouths season, they have done magnificent , play decent football, got on with it despite serious injuries to their best players, they are 11 points clear of the drop with more than double our total. This is a club with the smallest fanbase and ground in the league, the manager and the players attitudes have been exemplary . Again it begs the question WTF is going on at AVFC!!!!!
    Norwich doing a far better job against Man City than we did.

  93. John Lerwill

    B62,

    You talk of ‘compo’, but there’s also the legal fees.

    In my case the lawyers were reputed to be getting £1,000 *per hour*, so even when you take comparatively small fry like me, you are talking of massive outlays. I reckon my case alone would have cost around £80-100k in legal fees. It cost me £9,000 so Villa’s must have been hugely higher.

    I’m not proud of it. The wastefulness of it all sickened me.

  95. Mark King

    There is several things we do not have in common with the rest of the prem. All the teams coming up had a strong core of players used to winning or teams have been building for a couple of seasons. We threw 13 new players at the first team, no core ,no togetherness , big Holes in important positions and no leaders. We saw it happen when lambert joined and it only clicked in the last few months of the season. This season has been much much worse and the opposition better. Tim and the committee are a lot to blame but it just a symptom of an ailing club. The latest board members give us something we haven’t had for 10 years at the top if they are listened to.

  97. B62 Villa

    Great passion and effort shown in the 6 nations, England were extremely dominant until last 15 and nearly threw it away!!! Our players should watch and see what passion, effort , spirit etc really is.
    JL
    I knew someone would post we held them 0-0 at home in the league, and yes we did, diffence is Nowrich stopped them having a shot on target in over 50 mins, whilst still trying tomplaybfootball, even those wearing claret and blue specs saw that City missed a hatful in that match, although they made up for it in the following two meetings 😉
    Mark
    Your right, the teams that come up or bounce straight back from the drop have a togetherness and a decent core of players, we simply don’t . The recrimations are under way, I’d be getting rid of as many of those responsible as we can, t.he dreaded trio, Garde and a fair chunk of the playing squad .
    Managers who I’d like to see take over in no particular order – Moyes, Karanka, Monk, Rodgers

  98. steamer

    see what happens with crepe brit players who won’t put a shift in. mourinho and now karanka out because of player power, could be garde next.

  99. James Gill

    What the fuck is remi smoking defending Mr blobby saying he really is trying ,shearer openly laughed his head at flabby effort last week,in remi first game v spuds Neville,carragher pointed out his 6 SIX touches of ball 2 where kick offs
    The walkout has been paused they fell for little appointment, idiots Lerner’s laughing at them

  101. John Lerwill

    B62: “I knew someone would post we held them 0-0 at home in the league…”

    You need to compare home results, not last week’s fiasco at Man City.

    You’re not wrong about Villa’s home match, but whatever happened at Villa that night at least Villa played as though their lives depended on it on that occasion, Garde’s first match in control. Though Villa were a bit lucky that night there was the effort – we now wonder where that spirit has gone.

    I don’t want this to be a petty argument, but I see that Norwich *also* had a low-ish % share of their match and precious little shooting (zero shots on target).

    Norwich are not that much better than Villa, that’s clear. They’ve had a very poor run this last 3 months or so. We beat them and that gave the team false optimism for the ‘pool match after 2 home wins in 3 (?) matches.

  102. John Lerwill

    Everton v Chelsea

    A great Lukarku first goal, barging and slipping his way past 4 or 5 players before slotting home.

    It looks as though the Toffees have got a great signing there. He scored the second as well.

    More to the point, Everton have half a decent team, not like a certain club in Aston…! 🙁

  103. B62 Villa

    I think another heavy defeat today will pretty much see the end of Remi Garde and hopefully Fox, Reilly and Almstadt . There is a definite changing of the guard at Boardroom level, Randy hasn’t brought these new additions in just to work with Fox, they are coming in as part of the clean sweep that’s required.
    The board will be looking at what’s happening on the pitch, and all they will have witnessed are heavy defeats and capitulations, of which there will be more before the seasons out. The question is do they think Garde is the man to turn this around in the championship, I would say not, despite not having been able to bring in any players during jan, for the following reasons
    1) Garde has found himself out of his depth in the PL and definitely in the situation he has found himself in, despite stating he could keep the club up with the current playing staff and having 28 games to do it, and only being 4 pts off safet with 84 pts available .
    2) Garde has a limited knowledge base where players are concerned, he only really knows the French league, and as shown by Villa and Newcastle, yes you can get the odd gem like Dimitri Payet at WHUFC, but building the entire core around them is foolish as they don’t have what it takes, they lack heart. Would he have the knowledge base to recruit the players for a long arduous battle in the championship, which is a real slog .
    3) Can Garde shake off the heavy defeats( there have been many) under him and the stench of defeat that clings to him after such a disasterous campaign.
    4) Do the fans want him?? He certainly splits opinion as shown on here, I think a lot depends on who his replacement would be.
    5) Now the board has a more Emglish set up, and the expected departure of his ally Fox, will he want to stay.
    The playing staff will see a lot of ins and outs, All the French lads bar Amavi have been linked with exits, as have Grealish, Richards, Lescott, Nzog( out of contract). I’d hope we can cull further and jettison Westwood, Hutton, Cissohko, Bacuna etc Garde has taken us down without trying anything different, NO youth utalisied or tried, the likes of Gardener on loan despite the appalling midfield set up he chooses.
    With the likes of Moyes, Rodgers, Monk, Karanka etc seemingly available and not many PL jobs coming up, I think many fans and the new board members may want to cut ties altogether with this seasons disaster.
    I think it will be 0-4 to Spurs today, a real backlash after the horror show in Dortmund, plus they rested players in order to be fresh for this match( dunno why we won’t offer any resistance). Our expectation levels are that low we expect a 4/5 goal defeat every week, roll on May .

  104. B62 Villa

    Just to add, it’s not an Anglo French thing or anti French , the British players have lacked the ticker also, although Hutton gives his all, he is just talentless.
    I just feel for the championship, we some knowledge of what it takes to get out of the league or win football matches, which is severely lacking in our dressing room.

  105. James Gill

    The sooner this season is put to bed the better,remi gone any manager comes out and defends blobby deserves the sack need to take remi to hospital for check up

  107. steamer

    Strange that both Fox (USA) and Almstedt (Dubai) will be missing today, adios, hope we never see you again. Fox will probably make a minimum 3m from his short spell at VP, i dont see why the club should pay for the imbeciles stupid appointments, what with compo and legal fees etc he must have paid out more than 20m.
    Think it will be another massacre this afternoon 0-5, dunno about the second half.
    Heard that Pearson is nailed on to become our clubs next vict.. sorry, manager.

  108. B62 Villa

    Apparantly Randy will sell for £100m according to reports across the pond in Canada .
    He obviously has recouped sufficient, although £100m for a club in the championship, without TV money that he bought for £64m, is still steep.
    Wolves are up for £50m, what’s the difference, both have decent grounds, training facilities, both are fallen Giants and could be huge if invested in and run properly( even more so Villa), both are in the second tier with crap squads and bang average managers. If you were coming from abroad you could save yourself £50m on the price, let alone the loan money Randy would want paid back.
    If true I doubt we will get any takers anytime soon.

  109. James Gill

    Little will not be involved in management side ,his skills are football leaving fox Riley and alstad unacceptable to anyone,should have said accountable to him,according to moxley more moving deckchairs round villa lifeboat

  110. Mark King

    B-62. There is plenty to bash remi with I admit if you take his reign at face value and not in the context of the biggest shambles in the clubs history. He has had the smallest effective squad to pick from in my memory, losing all his frontline when we’re were recovering, his defensive mid Sanchez for countless games. The total lack of backing cannot be dismissed easily as it will of effected moral both of Remi and the players under review from his potential signings, Richards, gabby,lescott,Clark,Hutton,Gil,grealish,bunn and Guzan all under threat from fresh blood.
    Yes he could of tried youth players but so could Sherwood, Lambert etc which suggests as Garde stated they would not make enough difference. As for only knowing French players?he watched prem football constantly as a pundit, the fact we have the most unproffesional bunch at villa has hampered him. Almost he has tried at least 4 formations in his time here 442 433 41212 532 and used every member of his squad. Let’s not also forget losing Amati a massive loss and having no left fullback until Jan hard enough if you have a defence and wingers impossible with out lack of width and the likes of Hutton, Richards etc. Also he is without his preferred No2 part of his success at Lyon.

  111. Mark King

    JG if they had just employed Little then I would of said PR, the fact he has arrived with Davis Bernstein who has been there and done it on club rebuilds says its a genuine appointment for me. Its quite natural for us by now to cry fake before anything has been put in place as we have been let down by the American regime who like a bit of bull.

  113. Frem

    Of to hell in a bit

    5 at the back again from Remi. Two awful backs in Hutton and Sissy as our attacking out lest even though they are the worst full backs I’ve seen around. We will sit back for the 45 mins with no intent on attacking and then as usual concede two in quick succession after HT

  114. steamer

    Frem,
    You mentioned coaching in the USA, nip round to Stratford Town, as i recall their manager coached in America after leaving the vermin.

  117. James Gill

    Sorry mark k
    As much as I like little think his appointment waste of time just Yankee PR ,the out the door 74 fell for it hook line and sinker
    If Hollis wants to do the right thing start with fox and every one he appointed
    Remi might me the new messiah but to me he is tainted with this shameful season,yes he has small squad with injuries but why stand by and let Gardner and other young lads be loaned out,he had 28 games to save us and if you go back to his watching brief v spurs first match
    Guzan beat at near post got worse as season went on
    Hutton AWOL for first goal,same story ever since
    Richardson shocking carried on playing him
    Lescott took easy tion for first goal HID crap since
    Gabby what can you say Neville didn’t still lack of effort as MOTD pointed out
    Yet 5 keep playing ?

  119. steamer

    What i will say is that if Mr Blobby plays then somethings fishy, Brian Little is STILL a better player even at 62 . If you look midway between the penalty box and the centre spot you’ll see an area 1mtr x 1mtr completely worn out, its known as Gabby’s patch. Hopefully he’ll be knackered tying his boot laces up.

  121. Mark King

    Yes steamer looks ok in the circumstance, I think he’s been waiting for Gestede to regain fitness, the only reason you could play gabby . okore back big bonus too

  122. runtings

    I think Garde defiantly deserves a chance next season
    when you think back to the K-Mac team before he took over – the fact sherwood couldn’t wait to leave the mess behind him and on top of that he has not been able to add a single player , its only right he should be allowed to re-haul the squad

  125. John Lerwill

    We have good news!

    Green not looking so green…

    Guzan showing there’s life in goal after all…

    Westwood not bad either.

    All we need now is to have a way of adjusting the goals so that our goals go in! 🙂

    It’s OK, I know it was a dismal showing today, but you do have to keep living…

  127. runtings

    the spurs players are better than the villa ones and also have been put together by the manager with not only ability but also the right attitude which wasn’t the case when poch joined spurs
    we set up ok and played ok but we only have a few players at the club that could fit into a more positive future squad

  128. Trinity

    Seems strange to support a team one expects to lose every next game of the season. We do expect them to try, though, may as well go down fighting.
    I agree that Garde should stay for another term (if he wants to), and he gets what he fairly needs to get Villa into the PL again. I know the word “fairly” is open to interpretation. If Garde doesn’t get what HE wants, then he should just leave because Fox and RL don’t seem to know what they’re doing. They’re about to get Villa relegated. It’ll be hard to get immediate promotion too. Without the nous and the cash, Villa is destined to be in the lower leagues for a long time.
    The first goal should be to get promoted. The following year should be about consolidation. The third year should be about trying to win something. One of the problems at Villa has been a lack of clear goal setting. For too long the club has been meandering, running sideways and backwards. Anyone, who believes this five year plan business, is being mugged by those who don’t necessarily have the success of the club as their main priority. As it stands, Villa fans will be visiting some grounds they’ve never visited before.

  130. Mark King

    I agree trinity, the goal has been do enough and improve on the cheap without the correct knowledge at the top to do so and that does not work.

  131. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    Trinity makes a good statement, but it’s what we’ve been saying for a long time now – even prior to this season we were saying the approach is all wrong, and it’s been said for much of the last 5 years.

    What *is* clear is that we have no control on the matter one little bit and we might as well go into hibernation until at least the early part of next season to see exactly what pans out.

    Unless we go into hibernation we have nothing much to do – in reality – except cheer on the youngsters as they appear on the pitch and given a chance. Perhaps we may see more of that now – Green coming on today was a pivotal statement in my view. Especially as he was put on before Sinclair.

  132. James Gill

    Steamer
    Didn’t watch game or even listen ,but I see you mentioned my favorite ( Hutton) giving a helping hand to opponents, if so how can remi justify playing him a 10 could do better

  135. Mark King

    JL I agree on green coming on before Sinclair, even the commentator said Sinclair will not of liked that. What I saw from him was decent enough but in honesty I also saw the hesitancy from the first teamers to commit themselves in any shape or form. It showed an absolute lack of belief in themselves once they had gone behind. Just shows how poorly the squad was put together, players like Gil have nobody to play off of, Ayew spent all match chasing walker up and down the pitch and Gestede has little worthwhile movement for all the chances he missed. Might as well blood several kids as blood one.

    I suspect Remi has felt backed into a corner because to ditch the first teamers would end in a big mess in the dressing room which is bad enough as it is. In all likelihood they have to be sold to rebuild, tough decision and my feeling is he has been loyal to them without anything in return.

  136. James Gill

    Mark k
    How many of our players are good enough for promotion from championship,5 years of relegation battles shows anyone here before Sherwood has to go,players I would keep
    Keeper. Bunn as number 2
    Defenders cissko amavi( not going to be fit in time so he can be eased in gradually) Clark okore
    Midfielders gana vertout Sanchez
    Attackers grealish traore Sinclair
    Strikers ayew rudi(his level)
    That’s my lot trying to get up with ,following season less than halve to be kept

  137. southwestvillan

    Well I watched the game on a dodgy stream against my better wishes and the only saviour for my laptop were the constant pop ups which hid Hutton constantly running into the spurs half and giving the ball away, as someone said earlier why does Garde persist with him there must be another player who can play right back at VP.

    Onto our two appointments not sure about DB but I am pleased to see Little taken on to advise the board, at least we are looking to appoint people who have some football experience and in BL a in depth knowledge of the club.

    First thing is to clear out those players we do not need for a battle in the championship and to be fair that includes most of the first team squad, the second is to let Garde go, although I do like him I just think he is not the right man to build and bring us back up.

    So here goes, I would push the boat out and put together a package to bring Eddie Howe to VP, he knows the championship he knows how to get a team promoted from there and he also knows how to build a squad on limited finances, he will understand that Villa is still a big club and that the job is massive, he has been at Bournemouth for a good while now and done an amazing job and this could just be the right time for him to move on to another project.

    SWV

  138. James Gill

    Southwest villa
    I commented about Hutton,then I get shot down he tries,think that’s over 25 conceded from his position and not one assist, he must be worst footballer ever and he has plenty competition in our squad,only seen sky highlights and as per usual we were been attacked down his side from kick off

  139. Mark King

    SWV- would be fine with Howe but he did go to Burnley only to leave for no apparent reason and I think he is strongly tied to Bournemouth. That said I like his style but still think Garde has a lot more to offer in rebuilding not just the team but the infrastructure too.

    Still makes me laugh when I think about people saying that Debuchy would be a waist of money for half a season, then you watch Hutton or Richards in that position OH lord.

    JG- I agree with most of your choices but what it makes plane id we have not got a spine to the team whatsoever. This has to be addressed ASAP

  140. runtings

    there are so many players that shouldn’t get a game at villa but as most of the squad fall into that category

    Richardson was the same as Hutton on the other side but we managed to bring back cissy – a slight upgrade

    Garde has no choice but to play these guys and hopefully keep a little sell on value on them

    players i would keep providing they wanted to stay
    Amavi – sanchez – gauye -toure okore – and grealish – all apart from our kids can go and of coure any i mentioned if there attitude is not what is required

    hutton – richards .. bacuna have all messed up the right back role

  143. Mark King

    Runtingz- I remember in pre-season that him and Sinclair struck up a good partnership and score a good few goals, they played well with the youngsters from what I remember, sellars in particular and calder and mason. I was amazed once the season started to see none of them involved.

  144. Paul Pears

    Good morning Lifers,

    Well, once more, I was among the 32,000 happy clappers at Villa Park, and they almost survived the first 45 minutes, if the ref had not blown up for the vwastewood injury, and let Gestede continue his run.

    It was our resulting free kick which then ended up in the wrong net!!

    Second half started with the usual gift, but for once they did not capitulate, and then young Green got his baptism, and was in the action straight away and put more effort into his performance than half the players have in a full match.
    For Villa it was a respectable loss….am I really saying this….Guzan had an outstanding game for once. Hutton, Cissokho, Lescott very poor…and Okore slightly better. Gana had a much better game, and was unfortunate losing the ball, resulting in the second goal, but Hutton and Cissokho should have been doing their jobs.

    There is hope, but not much. With a couple more Greens we could be a whole lot better…!!!!

    Never seen so many new faces in the Holte and it was a very quiet crowd, until we started singing Randy Lerner out….!!!!!

  145. steamer

    100m ? Achievable with a bit of luck but i bet the dummy sells us to another American. As someone mentioned Wolves at 50m, Bolton at 7m, even the vermin are valued at 8m . The Chinese horse has bolted so who’s left ?
    JG has pointed out Hutton’s failings for ages and now the opposition are definitely targetting him, time for Mason i think.

  146. Mark King

    Steamer I think Garde may have limited himself to keep in with the so called pros. Had he gone through pre-season as Tim did I’m sure several of the u21s would of featured earlier in the season. I took remi 2 matches to realise our defensive limits and another couple to find we have no attack. If this had been done pre-season as it should have who knows where we would be now. My guess would be less dross to again clear out and better utilisation of the stiffs. Of course that’s if the committee had allowed, I think under remi they would of been less prominent .

  147. Jenny Truman

    Morning all . John thanks as ever for keeping blog going and your great articles : prophetic with the Kane Ali performance of yesterday .
    Not sure what to make of the Brian Little appointment , because he’s “advisory” . Ian Taylor was embassador (is he still) , it’s a good PR move but if they really valued his input he’d have decision making powers and a place on the board. Is he even being paid.

    The game on Saturday was as much as we couid expect from the level of players we have . Remi licks the best of a poor bunch . We don’t have any John Stones in our squad so it’s trite to complain that Hutton and co keep getting picked . He has dropped Richards and Gabby which suggests he’s prepared to “rest” his captains for the good of the team . They all tried on Sunday they just aren’t good enough and none of them believe they can win a game : which has become a self fulfilling prophecy . Good to see Guzan getting back to his former form though and glad it was only two – which I’m sure they were .

    More evidence on how badly the club has been managed and how much RL has lost personally .

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2016/03/13/aston-villa-has-cost-randy-lerner-more-than-100000-a-day-over-the-last-decade/#3d31c0eb27a4

    Who is going to want to buy a business that loses £100,000 a day .

    Hope It went well for Chris St75 and big congrats to Jessie for winning her singing competition ! St75 reckons she takes after him 🙂 xx

  148. Heroes-and-Villans

    I’m more excited about this Bernstein chap appointed, think he actually knows what he is doing.
    Little i love and glad he is involved but unsure of his role and will he be listened too!

    Would love eddie howe but 0 chance of him leaving….especially to us.
    Remi has shown me nothing to say he can do the job. Is he a motivator…no. Master tactician? No. What type of footy does he play, counter, possession? Unclear. Know its hard with this rabble but i expect some impact. He has done nothing.

  149. DarrenO

    There has been meetings with fan reps so the board are under no illusion about the strength of feeling and the problems that have arisen under Lerner’s custodianship.

    I’m disappointed with the Villa board if the timing of the Brian Little announcement is to deflect attention from the published accounts, it either means we have some clever running the ship or they’ve such a poor opinion on the intelligence of Villa fans that we’d be swayed by Little’s arrival, regardless of his capacity, it does mean the balance of the board shifts another step to being football heavy and not business heavy.

    Bernstein is a fantastic appointment and should be spoken about more than Little, here is a man who saw Man City progress under his chairmanship and has held the top job in the FA. He’ll be the one that will explain the business needs to get a football team successful and may bring further relevant contacts to help us progress.

    Still believe that Remi is the right man at the wrong time, for all our complaints including mine that the likes of Hutton isn’t good enough, there isn’t enough strength in depth to have a ready made replacement and that’s the same for most other positions.

    Remi is again in my opinion an honourable man hence he hasn’t walked away from the problem, clearly he isn’t the solution but I blame the players for not looking at the bigger picture in terms of preventing relegation and pride in the club, because if they had any the manager would be irrelevant and they’d be trying 100% to win, I’ve not seen any effort since the beginning of the season.

    For the U21s who make up part of the declared squad, they should all be playing until the end of the season, no point trying to survive, the change in form required is too drastic but lets get these lads ready for the championship, we’ll need them when the rats leave the sinking ship.

    FOLAF

  150. DarrenO

    Read the Forbes article, nice little headline to be able say he’s lost $100k per day but the story behind the snappy headline is that a football club has suffered and not Lerner directly himself.

    The article doesn’t delve deep enough to call out mis-management that has led to those appaling figures at a time when media revenue grows and grows.

    Sure Lerner’s net worth may be down but you have to consider divorce, market valuation of his assets before concluding that the 500m less he is worth is even partly down to Aston Villa.

    The FA should be given the power to run periodic audits without the requirement to go into administration before they sit up and take note one of its members is being badly run.

    FOLAF

  151. Paul Pears

    If you watched the highlights of the Arsenal v Watford, and listened to the pundits afterwards, and their criticism of the way Wenger had them set up, until Wellbeck came on at the end, it is very similar to the way Remi tries to set up Villa, and it certainly does not work for us. Maybe this is all part of why Remi is not succeeding, we need to be playing like Watford and Leicester.

  152. southwestvillan

    Andrew,

    I think Howe would come, managers can only take clubs so far and in Bournemouth I feel he has achieved more than he could have ever dreamed, but here we have a club who barely pull 11k crowds, he has got them to the premier and kept them there but where does he go from here, he can stay and tip toe into retirement or challenge himself with a big club like AVFC, he seems the type up for a fight.

    SWV

  153. John Lerwill

    Paul – your remarks on Remi are on the ball i.m.o. Too much like Wenger, and of course that was Remi’s mentor. I do happen to like and respect Remi though … but not the right guy for the situation we were and are in.

    Jenny – it’s always refreshing to read your comments. On Gabby, Remi said that he was injured (again) so that’s why he wasn’t available for selection. However, I suspect he would have been on the bench if fit.

    On Howe – Mark stated the very issue that was my first thought. I think he just lives and breathes Bournemouth. Put him somewhere else and it may well be a different story. Perhaps we should have someone as manager who lives and breathes Villa – perhaps Brian Little to get Villa out of the Championship might be a good option. Brian played in the old third and second divisions so can remember what that’s all about.

  154. John Lerwill

    Oh, on the matter of relegation…

    Going back as far as Fred Rinder, he said that Villa in the lower division would make every match a cup final – every team would want to beat Villa. And so it transpired. It also happened after the 1966-67 fiasco, and I think it would be the case now too as a recent PL scalp would go down well with the fans of any team in the Championship.

    In 1959 we were well set up to return straight away, and we got away with it in 1987, but I have plenty of doots about the current lot. It’s more like a 66-67 situation in my view.

  155. Mark King

    I am not convinced Remi is trying to emulate Arsenal with this lot, how could he? we can’t keep the ball, defend or score goals. In fact the tactics employed look an awful lot like what Tim tried 442 with a diamond midfield or 433. For us to play like Leicester etc we need pace in the midfield and up top and we have neither, we are slow to attack something Arsenal are not. We have tried holding out and nicking a goal something Arsenal never do. Garde’s Lyon side were no Arsenal clone either more like spurs in my opinion in there use of full backs and a mixture of possession and counter attack. Garde simply does not have the personnel to make any style work, no pace, no width,little strength and poor work rate. when do arsenal play 532?

  156. steamer

    Hello Jenny, great to hear from you again, hope all is well.
    A couple of years ago i suggested that the blog owners Supporters Clubs and other high profile fans to form an Independent AVFC Supporters Club to air the fans concerns and possibly buy shares if the club ever became a Ltd Co again therefore limiting any dictatorship ruling the club. I know we had this in the 80’s and Herbert manipulated the share issue to give himself total power, but, the fans need a powerful voice which actually echo’s the fans needs.
    The AVST are a bunch of numpty’s cosying up to ‘Tom’ losing all credibility and hopefully won’t last much longer, they haven’t yet realised that ‘Tom’ is the biggest problem apart from his master.

  157. Heroes-and-Villans

    swv

    Would Howe really drop from the prem to the championship. Think he’ll be at Bournmeouth for a few years yet….he’d want to at least work with his injured players first!

    Remis main task was to get the best out of the new guys. Not happened. Vertout and gill have been a waste of space, adama was dropped. ayew had a few good games. Gana average to poor.

  158. steamer

    Would you really employ Steve Bruce the man who –
    1-Refused to play for Norwich because they wouldn’t sell him to Untied for a lower fee than they thought he was worth.
    2-Left Crystal Palace after they took a chance on a faltering manager and gave him a job he didn’t deserve.
    3- Condoned Christophe Dugarry spitting on Joey Gudjohnsson.
    4- Condoned George Boyd spitting in the face of an opponent.
    5- Whats the point of winning promotion of you’re going straight down again with an expensive squad ?
    Basically he’s total crepe.

  162. steamer

    Is their anything Untied can’t get away with ?
    Fans singing gutter songs – let them off.
    Fellaini smashing another player in the face yet again – Let him off.

  163. Jenny Truman

    Hi Steamer – good thanks . I agree about the Supporters trusts, ineffectual and lose their impartiality maybe .

    James – he has lost money – it’s there in black and white – the figures don’t lie . A friend of mine looked at the companies house accounts when we bought Darren Bent – paid for by RL – albeit on a loan basis . Whatever you think about RL , he hasn’t been making money out of the club or pilfering it away . The losses are so huge and without him we wouid have gone bust . He’s propping the club up – yes it’s his responsibility the club is a financial disaster but he’s wasted shed loads of money in the club which he will never get back . The investment in BMH , improvements , won’t be recovered in the club sale . He will make a huge loss. Football clubs rarely make money , are debt funded and financially fragile. It’s a rich fools game .
    . RL has appointed the wrong ppl and they have burned his money fast and with it ravaged Aston Villa. It’s a dreadful situation which can only get worse with relegation looming .

  164. John Lerwill

    Jenny: “… It’s a dreadful situation which can only get worse with relegation looming .”

    Yes, but the fact is I think everyone has realised that relegation is an inevitability for some time – some held hope longer than others.

    But since the club clearly accepted that traumatic reality at least Hollis *appears* to be trying to take corrective action. Who knows – from here on in we could be taking a good corrective route. But don’t quote me that I totally believe that … we’ve been led too many times down the garden path to believe them until we see the fruit of their action. And a quick return to the PL is not on i.m.o. for the reason that the club has to be effectively re-built. You cannot realistically achieve that in one season.

  166. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    I think PP has spotted a couple of things connected with both managers, one being their serious Gallic physiognomy (!) and the other their frequent late choice of an effective sub.

  167. runtings

    i agree that Garde set up this weekend in the same shape as arsenal which seems to be both managers preferred formation

    the subs both made a difference for the gooners but in fairness to Wenger both walcott and welbeck are just coming back from injury and are injury prone so i can see why they don’t stat or fnish games at the minute — they had the likes of sanchex and giroud on the pitch and you would expect them to do the job

    Garde s rushing players and only Ayew as a chance of possibly reaching the arsenal players level

  168. James Gill

    Jenny
    Where has the money gone
    Nett spend 110 m over ten years
    Villa deby dropped by 70 m
    Lerner massive mistake hiring conman fox if things carried on even finishing above relegation debt would been cleared but now disaster relegation lose about 50 m straight away TV money
    As for bents transfer that was trying to show Mon who had sense to walk out on Lerner,so Lerner had to put up the money

  169. Mark King

    All I can say is he used two DM which was a switch from using one and really only another attempt at plugging the leaky dam that is Villa. Westwood has never been able to play in a two that way, Tim tried it with Sanchez so did Lambert, same result Westwood looks like a spare part. Westwood can only play there on his own as he did at the end of last season launching Delph and Cleverly forward quickly. In reality for us it was another attempt to defend better and not to attack with pace as Arsenal do. Also the majority of managers change things at 60 mins don’t know why but it happens a lot.

  170. Jenny Truman

    James the money has been spent – more than income coming in – players wages being a massive problem . Net spend refers to transfer fees it doesn’t take into account the players wages which at one time was a massive 85 percent of turnover which is not sustainable .

    John – I hope there is still chance of taking corrective action. . The loss of tv money and revenue the premier league brings is going to make it so much harder .

    As much as I adore Remi I’m not so sure a parting of the ways wouldn’t benefit him and the club. We are in such a negative spiral it’s going to be difficult to shed the pessimism . A new manager will inject hope – Remi has, through little fault of his own, overseen a team incapable of winning or believing that they can . So many bad memories , can he convince them he’s the right leader ?

    Leicester fans singing “sacked in the morning” to Rafa 🙂

  171. James Gill

    Jenny
    Sorry every club has wages spends on transfers,just Yanks owned clubs figures don’t add up ,they nearly broke pool,put man utd 1/2 billion in debt,Sunderland another joke and arsenal don’t win anything anymore just make money for owners
    Watched sky Sunday supplement don’t know who he was writer tore Wenger a knew one ,Wenger on 8 m a year yet no keeper for years,persists with mertersecker signs injury prone players Walcott Ramsey and ox

  172. steamer

    For all the fans who want an English manager to replace Remi can i ask if English gaffers are so good can they name the last one to win the league ? Clough, Paisley, Nicholson, Herbert Chapman ? i can’t remember that far back. They’re so good all the top foreign teams are employing/chasing them aren’t they ? Underqualified and overrated, even the manager of the likely champions was booted by Greece after losing to the Faro Islands or some other 10th raters.

  173. Jenny Truman

    Steamer – I’d like Remi in different circumstances . I certainly not don’t want a Steve Bruce type manager .

    Unless we ship out everyone connected at VP and bring new ones in I think he’s got an insurmountable task in changing mind set and dressing room / team spirit . Matt T summed it up for me in his piece for E and S – our team look like a rabble rounded up in the car park ten mins before the game who don’t know each other. They seem to play in a vacuum – only for themselves .

    Defence is constantly in disarray and panic and when we do attack – no one in the box wanting to receive the ball . The youngster Andre Green put a ball in late Sunday , no one to attack it as usual.
    This happens so often they stop bothering

    .What the hell is going on at BMH.! The great French experiment didn’t work because the Rileys and Almstadts of this world failed to factor into it the human element (and Tim Sherwood’s petulance ) We started the season with the spine of our team gone – Benteke , Dekph , Vlaar. We only scraped survival with them in the team. Sherwood did little to gel the team together and contributed to the divide . (As did KMac). Tim wanted his Spurs cronies and when he didn’t get them he made it clear he didn’t believe in the players he had. He failed to unite the team and pointedly gave up too early with the French guys . How hard did he try and settle them in ?
    This is why Remi was brought in and his first team and pressers talked about collectivity . This is why Remi banned speaking French in the dressing room . Remi has tried to get team spirit going but lines had been drawn which seemingly couldn’t be undrawn .

    The Christmas video (excluding new players and the big joke with Gabby looking up shit in the French dictionary ) the body language and M Richards’ references
    to “you don’t know what’s going on behind scenes” show why that team cannot win a game . its interesting that Watford have had even more new foreign players than we have but have managed to get a fantastic team spirit going . You would have thought this was impossible , making so many changes to a team but to their credit it had worked amazingly . Is this because the Watford manager wanted the foreign players to work and were his choice or is it down to having better leaders in the core of the team. Or is it simply down to picking the right mix .

  174. Paul Pears

    The interesting thing to me was Payet being interviewed on MOTD 2 on Sunday, needing an interpreter, but obviously not needing one on the pitch, or possibly in the dressing room. If the team and the manager are working together, they overcome the problems.

    I did say earlier , I was very impressed with Green, and his crosses, but no-one there to take advantage. He also played well last night for the under 21’s with assists and almost scoring. It really is time for Remi now to use some of our young players like Green and Davies.

    I am hoping that in the next few games that Remi will have a team which is together and can fight. A win at Swansea is achievable, and could make a huge difference to confidence.

  175. Archie

    JT,
    Your point “Unless we ship out everyone connected at VP and bring new ones in I think he’s got an insurmountable task in changing mind set and dressing room / team spirit”.
    I think there is some talent among the French contingent but I’m not sure they’ll be here next season. Keep them if possible and get rid of the old sweats, Gabby, Lescott, Hutton, Richardson, Richards, reference to your point. They’re loser in this division and they’ll still be losers next season. There lies the problem, you get this lot working against the manager, the only outcome will be continual decline.
    I would like to see RG give it a go with his own team but I doubt he’ll stay.
    The next appointment needs to be a candidate who can not only get out the championship next season but take the club on to being competitive in the Premier league at the first instance.
    I’m not sure Steve Bruce, Nigel Pearson are the ones to do that, get us out the championship,yes. But take us on to the next level….not so sure. Maybe Moyes…..

  176. runtings

    great to have you input back Jen

    I saw Sunday supplement as well and they did raise interesting points
    1.Arsenal fans have gone from fans to customers as they pay more than anyone any where to watch there team
    2.wenger and the board are making a lot of money out of the set up which seems to be the most important thing for them all
    3. they will not get past this as they would rather sell the best players to there rivals then pay up and compete

    I also agree that it is a common theme for american owned or part owned clubs – its all about the money – even thou man u have ambition to go with it

    Should Garde stay or should he go ?
    i don’t know for sure but i fancy him to put a good young side together with thee right attitudes

    i think most senior players will be gone regardless of who the manager is but if Garde stays i dont think the likes of gabby have a cat in hells chance of staying around — but someone new may keep him

    the key thing is how the new people coming in upstairs take shape – we have to get things right at the top before the right things can happen within the club as a whole imo

  177. southwestvillan

    I see Ian Ayre is leaving Liverpool he probably just found out that Tom Fox is on a higher salary than he is, Ayre has played a big part in turning them around from the brink of being bankrupt to a very strong premier club and Fox has got us relegated.

    SWV

  178. steamer

    Two superb posts today.
    The thing with a new appointment is that he would need time to assess the players, now its obvious the majority are tripe but even o a new boss would take a look. Then the expectation of immediate promotion kicks in, the boss needs results and quickly which means he probably won’t blood the promising u21’s and instead buy championship journeymen because according to most, that’s what we need. This results in yet another lost generation similar to Lamebert ignoring the Next Gen and virtually every other manager we’ve had since 1962.
    What we need is, excuse me using the clubs line in BS, is continuity, a manager with a track record of building a club with modest resources, like ……… Remi Garde. Three years with Garde would, imo, stabilize the club allowing essential changes to be made at all levels but with Garde and Little putting into place a workable production line resulting in AVFC having solid foundation for the first time in a generation.

  179. DarrenO

    I suppose the problem is that’s its taken years to become this bad and there is no quick fix.

    I understand the doubts over Remi but I’d love to see what he could do with his own team, maybe rose-tinted because of sympathy I have for him taking on our shower of funts and not being supported in the transfer window.

    But I’d expect that if he had players willing to play for him and decent players in every position, he’d be able to build a winning team playing good football.

    Whoever is manager next season, without some budget then we are doomed to stagnate.

    FOLAF

  181. southwestvillan

    Steamer,

    No they have moved on to bigger and better things due to live football on the telly, they see you running down the wing in a Thursday cup match away to Fenerbache and hey presto your home gets burgled, technology is truly a wonderful thing.

    Any sign of a ransom note yet from Uzbekistan.

    SWV

  183. John Lerwill

    Jenny: “Unless we ship out everyone connected at VP and bring new ones in I think he’s got an insurmountable task in changing mind set and dressing room / team spirit”

    Long, long ago the Villa had a system that worked. It was called “continuity”. It worked because new people coming into the club were trained in “the Villa way” and so it continued.

    Until it didn’t any longer.

    I think there was a semblance of “the Villa Way” right through to 10 years ago in the sense of the traditional spirit that was inherent in the club (though diluted), but what has happened since was firstly one big 4-year push to bring back success (and failing to do that and the owner getting his fingers burnt) and then the 6 year meltdown, which has ended up with every aspect of “the Villa way” being lost.

    That’s not to say that a new “way” can’t be built, but to achieve it means having leadership at the club that is able to set that objective and having a *firm* strategy to achieve it. *That* is the test of the review taking place. Will it produce a vision and strategy that makes sense and is achievable?

  185. southwestvillan

    John,

    Is that the word of the day continuity, agree with what you say we need to put some pride back into the club, we need players who understand what it means to play for a club like Aston Villa, the likes of McGrath, Mellberg, Laursen etc all realised how important it was to represent this great institution, most of this lot have not got a clue and see it as a means to earn money they couldn’t spell pride if their lives depended on it.

    It may take a while but that Lion will roar once more, we may have to take a lot of pain in between times but we will again take our place where we belong.

    SWV

  186. Archie

    John, I think its started, particularly with Brian Little joining the board, although I’m not sure what his role is or likely to be, any ideas?
    Whether Remi Garde will remain at the helm is questionable. I don’t buy into the “He doesn’t know the rough and tumble championship, so will not succeed” theory. Its a game of football, If you plan prepare, get people working with and for each other….you win games.
    So Remi stays…Remi goes,….maybe its sorted already. This club of ours has a reputation which I think only us old sweats recognise, and thats to pull the occasional rabbit out of the hat, like Graham Taylor or Martin O’Niel, who saw those two coming?
    Lets see what the summer brings.

  188. southwestvillan

    Arch,

    How do you old sweat, you might be right about Garde in the championship and if I am honest I hope you are because there is a lot to like about RG.

    I hope the Little appointment has got some credence and is not just there to appease the fans, having said that I think Brian has enough integrity to know if he is being taken for granted and will walk if that is the case.

    As for the summer I think it will bring lots and lots of rain.

    SWV

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