It was Winnie, of course, who made this statement after El Alamein: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” A statement that gave notice that the turnaround had begun: that after years of being in a ruinous-looking situation, Britain was back on the front foot. And so it proved.
So, as the Villa’s seasonus horribilis comes to perhaps a welcome end, we seem (with a suspected imminent takeover) to be at a new beginning. But the question is, will this new era be triumphant? Will the new owners learn from what has gone before this last 10 years, and, indeed, the previous 24 years of Doug’s reign?
And outside the realm of Aston Villa there are other indicators that new owners may well note: the success of Leicester City as a supposed small club by comparison, and the observation in the press that moneybags Manchester City has become heartless and soul-less from the top down. Chelsea – a money driven club for a decade now – has also had its problems over the years, and particularly this season. Their supporters still seem to have a soft spot for Ranieri (now of Leicester), so it seems to me that the simple formula of megabucks and ego does not go down well with fans once that combination has been experienced. The thought of lucre to buy success may seem attractive, but it’s strange how banknotes lose their sheen if success does not get constantly repeated, even if the last major trophy win was only two years previous. Everyone loses patience if the dominance does not perpetuate: “We only finished fifth this season” looks like the grumble of Man U fans.
It is a welcome change, though, that it looks as though London will be bereft of any trophy winner this season, barring the possibility that Crystal Palace may yet produce a further fairy-tale story to accompany Leicester’s success.
But Villa? That the club has been relegated has been both unwarranted and unnecessary, but it is a fact and we have just got to go forward and heap our expectations onto new owners – and metaphorically even to offer our paintbrush services as was done back in 1969. And there lies the underlying needs of the club: to restore unity from disunity; to restore pride from shame. It happened in the 1969-82 years: it can happen again. In fact, it’s an overwhelming need for unity and pride to be restored in a football club such as Aston Villa.
Back in 1968 at a supporters’ protest meeting, a former Villa star player of the 1940s said: “The aura of greatness is no longer with us. … Once, the air at Villa Park used to be electric and the whole place was alive.” Well, we can say that now, too, can’t we? We have known some great days up until the end of the 90s, and some reminders in the days of O’Neill, but spirit is now in deep need of restoration. But although spirit can be found in a bottle, supporters need to go home from the match with the memory of something marvellous: something that the likes of Blanchflower, McParland, Hitchens, Rioch, Little, Cowans, Gray, Shaw, Withe, Saunders, Atkinson, Yorke and even Angel could provide in my lifetime following Villa. Even the efforts of defenders like Lynn, Aitken, Gidman, McGrath and Laursen have greatly aided in the creation of past excitement. That list could be extended, but aside from Benteke we’ve seen precious few of their ilk this past 18 years. Their like need to be restored as a priority at Villa Park in my view: players that can excite and warm the blood.
Winning is one thing, but firstly let’s get back to a base where pride and skill are paramount.
A “Bright Future”? Well, hope reigns eternal.
The Author
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 86
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I don’t think many new owners actually know a lot about the game John, its all about being seen. Abramovich didn’t know anything about Chelsea except they were an establishment club with a right wing following that could get him accepted into British society, he had history with CSKA Moscow and apparently threw them a few hundred million. Football is finished, it bears no resemblance to the game of even five years ago, the cheats have won.
Roy Hodgson has named his squad for the Euro’s, this is his list of World class players –
GK –
D –
M –
F –
Steamer,
You’ve given up? Leicester have proved that there’s a way past the cheating method, haven’t they?
That’s really what I was intimating – that perhaps a cycle of moneybags has run its course; perhaps it’s time for a renaissance?
Let’s give it a chance, at least.
Steamer,
In fact, when talking of “owners” I really referred to their (1) general ethos, such as at Leicester, and (2) the quality of their executive staff who run the day-to-day goings on.
I feel that the Leicester owners’ ethos will carry some gravitas now they’ve burst the bubble … and it Villa’s new owners can replicate that, then…?
Great article JL
I suggest that the newly money’d clubs have benefitted from their financial strength with regard to player acquisition, competition performance and global awareness.
The detriment is the modern football disease in that the game has moved from being a gathering of like minded people in collective support of a single team to customers looking to be entertained in the same way that they’d go to a concert and these teams have probably lost a greater amount of their traditional fanbase but ably replaced by those with a passing interest in their local team and money to spend.
It’s a fact that the one time attendee will spend more than a season ticket holder on merchandise etc and these are the fans the big clubs target.
You could probably name all clubs outside of the top 5/6 and argue that they’ve retained their traditional support base. In Aston Villa’s case we are global based on past successes or certain players coming from a country, the amount of Irish supporters who are early 30s because the country was doing well and many played for Villa. This is natural progression, however severely under-exploited if that’s the right word when it comes to expanding ‘brand Villa’.
For any new owner (single or consortium) I’d expect them to be independently financially stable, that is interests outside of football that generate their wealth. Lerner was a poor choice on paper as his income was generated on investing the family trust and not the bricks and mortar of product selling. I’d expect them to learn from the mistakes of Lerner in terms of getting the right people to manage the club. I’d expect them to cleverly source new streams of revenue that will reduce the impact of relegation and allow for both the removal of players who caused our relegation and the bringing in of players that will strengthen Villa’s push for promotion.
The big problem is if we just retained the current squad achieving mid-table obscurity will be seen as a success, in the meantime the likes of Sunderland who are forever avoiding relegation now have financial clout to make themselves stronger such that if we got promoted 2017/18 we’d be far behind them and all the other prem teams. Hopefully the new owner will take this longer term view in terms of investment levels required.
However way you look at it, AVFC requires financial investment and that investment will need to make a return at some point but at what cost, lost identity, lost fanbase. Certainly agree that the disconnect between supporter and club is a chasm that will be difficult to resolve with free travel and scarves on every seat, it needs open communication, a published plan and buy in from the fan groups who will act as the mouthpiece to assist in getting the message across.
I suppose the lesson for us fans is don’t take success for granted, most of us were swept along during the MON years with little regard for why we signed certain players on massive wages. I think we need to police this and challenge this through supporter forums so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the last 10 years.
Proud History, New Future
Morning John,Steamer.
I’m looking forward,as I have been for months.I just pray that our future doesn’t include RM who is leaving Everton.A lovely fella it would seem,highly overrated IMo,everyone seems to forget he relegated Wigan.Villa have an awful team and players,Everton have some good players but a bad team.Pearson,it is alleged is keen on Boro,not Villa.
RDM did ok at Albion,but never sticks around too long,walked out on Schalke I think.
We need owners and a manager to reconstruct the club,from it’s foundations,not just focusing on the first team.There is no discipline,proven by a player allowed to strol around overweight for months.The club’s malaise streches far beyond the on field activity.
I share a lot of your despair with football Steamer,I am just focusing on our wonderful club,and hope we can remove the incompetent regime,and replace it with some hope,optimism and some sort of future which doesn’t involve constant failure.COYVB.
I wonder how long until the money in the game settles back down to the old format? yes the average clubs will strip the lower leagues and Europe of players but the top players will just become more expensive and be available to those clubs capable of paying I.E. Chelsea manure city and arsenal. Constraints need to be in place or Leicester will hit a ceiling money-wise and lose there squad and who knows whether it will be repeated by them ever? we certainly didn’t do it in modern times even though we broke the mould just as they have.
next season see’s Liverpool , city, Chelsea and manure with new top managers coming in and changing their squads, Leicester will do well to get top 6 I think
John,
May I take a sip from your cup of optimism if there are any dregs left in the bottom, I hope you are right and that there is still life in the game after all but I feel that Steamer has summed up the mood of us old uns, you can just see those Sky5 clubs looking to break the banks to make sure that what Leicester did will never happen again, if it takes buying all there top players then so be it just make sure it never happens again.
Villa have been a spent force for years and this is the culmination of a dark period and a very predictable end, can we rise from the ashes like some demented phoenix god only knows, all the signs do not look good, Ellison would have been a buyer with a degree of credibility whereas these Chinese consortiums fill me with a lot less confidence, is it their way of getting into English football and heightening their profile within the game.
As every day passes any degree of hope ebbs away bit by bit, a new day a new rumour I cannot wait until we are finally sold because then it will be all the transfer rumours kicking about even the site cat Mittens is starting to pack her bags.
Hope springs eternal indeed, and Steamer that chippie owner from Rochdale said you will be hearing from his lawyer.
SWV
good leader
I am more concerned with a deal being done to get randy out at the moment
if it is the Chinese i would be fairly confident that they haven’t come to fail but to conquer and achieve based on what they are doing with every business i know about that they have got involved in
Of course there is an element of the unknown but compared to were we are at the moment , making the club worse would be a challenge in itself
hopefully the many press reports are correct in that the club will change hands this Monday and we can possibly start enjoying being villans again for more than just our amazing fans
DO’R,
Your response is a fine article in its own right! 🙂
Yes, I concur with what you’ve written. Money and business strategy of course have to play a huge part, but the elements related to human beings and their behaviour has been proven (i.m.o.) to be a nearly forgotten issue, and we seem now to be trying to re-find the true balance.
An example is the sweeping removal of terraces as a result of Hillsbrough, but now the call to restore the idea in part. And then (as I’ve said) Leicester’s demonstration that it’s not just money that has brought off their success. Whether they can sustain it is a valid question, but then Man U, Man C and Chelsea haven’t been able to greatly sustain their high ambitions. They will come back, of course, but Leicester (and Spurs) have proven there is an alternative and it would be nice to think that we’ll see more of that from now on.
Martinez gone
De Boer gone from Ajax
Coincidence !!!!!!!!!!!
SWV
Mark: “Leicester will do well to get top 6 I think”
They seem, in fact, to be well prepared for that … indeed I think I read that Ranieri would settle for top-10. But they’ve got a base top work from, and if they don’t get League success but Cup success instead, it will keep the momentum going.
SWV,
Er .. I’m one of the eldest “old uns” don’t forget! 😉
I don’t agree with your train of thought, but then we’re all different and I just feel that the mould of the last (about) 10 years is being broken up … not replaced, but more variability coming in, especially as Leicester has proved that acquiring virtually unknown players that can gel is a winning formula. In fact that’s what Saunders did in the 70s, and it’s been done at various times. We thought those times had gone, but they have a habit of reappearing.
JL- Don’t forget champs league, they will have to have a broader squad or that will cause its own problems, and of course more first team players to keep happy can mean more discontent. Rannieri and other players have already started to plead with their team mates to stay for another year, that does not bode well to me but I wish them luck all the same.
Solid leader, John.
As always, hoping for the best for this club of ours.
JL- it strikes me that some managers like clough can find those Gems and some are good at buying big ego’s and dealing with them. It does seem they are rare as hens teeth though and Pearson may be one
Mark i am going to stick some cash on a top 4 finish for Leicester – i reckon they have something special going on there and Claudio will spend a decent amount of money and improve the first team
Mark,
Yep, they do have the Champs league – I hadn’t of course forgotten that and indeed that’s where Ranieri’s thinking of ‘top-10’ comes from I suspect, that his squad will be stretched. That happened to Villa in 81-82. But because they’re in the Champs League I can’t really see him having difficulty in keeping his players, who must surely be itching for the chance to be in there. It may be more to do with them playing a game to get more pay.
Thank you and bless you, Kristina. 🙂
JL and Runtingz- I hope they still hunt out those bargains although I suspect being champs will mean the prices will rise drastically. I’d like to know how much ranieri had to do with players coming in last summer as most were signed by Pearson before he was sacked. They are said to be targeting deney and bolasie at the moment
Im with Runtins on this , non of US know what their owner is going to give Ranni to spend in the summer , fuck we dont even know what were going to have to spend , l heard a little quote on the radio months ago , about how the clubs in the premier are getting over a 100mill and if they have a decent owner he’ll give a slice of that to the manager and that the so-called little clubs will be able to offer their players a bit more to stay and as leicester have proved it can be done , so players might look at the likes of Delph , Beneteke ect ect going to big clubs and sitting on their arses on the bench and think fuck it l got as good a chance staying here , l know were going to hear , the top six teams will spend big but lm struggling to think on who these players are as the pool is getting smaller IMO , look at the names we was being linked with to get us out of the shit , bloody nobodies and players who had left us and were no great shakes anyway . lm even reading twats saying we should get , Davis , weiman, bannan ect ect back , FFS,
steamer . im coming round to wring that pigeons neck now as l aint got a dog to kick and the cats wont come near me ,
SWW ” old uns like us !! ” listen your a fucking one off that slipped through somehow .
Runtins
just seen we may have Telford as a friendly , how about coming up for that l will try my hardest for tickets , or we could sit in the pub all day )) ,
John
Thanks for another good leader.
If the club can get back to a base where pride and skill are paramount, the wins will come.
I think Ciaran Clark has pride in the shirt. Marc Albrighton was another. Baker does too when he’s not injured.
ST as soon as i saw that booked the following Monday off work – life sparing i will deffo be there
well it depends on who Ranieri buys doesn’t it? he had little to do with last seasons squad. we spent £50m and we didn’t win the title. If he gets his tinkering head on it could go very pete tong. Talks of wet spam offering vardy £40k more a week so if Leicester have to pay a lot more to keep their players while staying within FFP it will get sticky. they turn over about £104m with wages £56m doesn’t take much to push that over the limit, we did it and came 6th. Lets say they get £30-40 m more then crash and burn next season and finish top 10, they were in trouble very recently with FFP anyhow. its a fine line if you don’t have the £250m plus turnovers of the big clubs
Anyone requiring an adrenalin rush nip over to TBAR Villa Chat Takeover thread
Mr, Sir, Almighty Hollis describes the takeover as “game changing” a journalist suggests that the Chinese government may be the backers, now apart from having a surplus 300 TRILLION to play with, just the fact that the government would back Villa would mean even bigger shirt sales than Tom Fox could hope for, millions. Anyway thats my reading of it, ok, i’m a dummy but i may be correct judging by the reaction.
We could always buy Leicester, the club and the City, we’d probably get relegated with our luck.
Steamer I was just off to our local Chinese I will ask
John,
Have you seen that villans fancy dress for Sat ? rigged up in a 1957 CF strip with legs, similar to Johnny Dixon with the cup.
Birmingham’s just been voted the best place in Europe to invest, better than Paris, Milan London, has a massive Chinese population and is twinned with Guan??????, so why not ?
Just needs that knob to balls it up.
Mark you forgot one tiny bit of info on the buying , old ranni wont have some prick buying the players , do you honestly believe they wont give him a bit of a free roll in buying the players he wants . and would vardy rather play in the non event europes version of the leyland Daf cup or champs league , if it dont work he can fuck off in Jan , i think this season proved , having a team full of so-called class players means fuck all.
Steamer we could do that at Arsenal mate lv got a shirt and with your ears you can be the cup .
Hi Jenny XXXXXXX
ST75
I’m not arguing that mate a team beats individuals every time but only if they stick together, and at Leicester they are now in the spot light. Nothing has changed much from Pearsons time, this summer it just might we will see.
“It is to the manager’s credit that he did not just come in with all his own people and change absolutely everything,” Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel told the BBC this week.
“He saw that he had a team and a style of play that was working quite well, and he also inherited a backroom team that were very good at what they did too and who knew the players already.”
At the turn of the millennium, Walsh worked part-time as a scout with Chelsea; helping them headhunt the likes of Tore André Flo and Gianfranco Zola for Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli and, eventually, Ranieri himself.
Leicester have a good set up I hope they keep it together
if the Chinese are coming in the form of government ownership the prospects for the club are mind blowing
On Leicester i as many love what they have achieved and they are displaying a lots of good things about the game — togetherness with a decent amount of quality has prevailed
No guarantees it will continue but if they can build on what they have who knows it could be an even more special era for them
st75 look forward to linking up again for the friendly – the old bucks head pub next to the ground is a takeaway now — my bro’s live close to the ground — hopefully ewe can make a day of it
Runtings: “if the Chinese are coming in the form of government ownership the prospects for the club are mind blowing “
Yep … just imagine us all standing there in the same Villa suit clapping hands in absolute unison! 🙂
And each player manufactured from the latest Chinese body shop to Alpha, Beta and Gamma spec, according to whether defender, midfielder or attacker (a la ‘Brave New World’).
Well, not straight away perhaps…
Well a fairly good reporter i follow on twitter says hings look optimistic. There has been 3 bidders who met the value but one has got it. Chinease and he goverment a bankrolling it. Said stand by your beds id it happens
Welcome back Kristina!
As usual John a posting that prompts response.
Mark – re your comment that Leicester will do well to make top 6 – after Villa won the League (all those years ago) the First Division clubs ‘sussed out’ Withe, Shaw and Morley but we managed to mystify the Europeans – then the following season we finished 6th and Barton got the sack – John will tell me if that timeline is incorrect.
I don’t fancy Di Matteo; as already mentioned he didn’t set the world on fire at WBA and walked out on Schalke. As the club is maintaining the appointment of a new manager is concomitant with the sale of the club, so I suppose all of this discussion and the setting of odds is a waste of time, it’s wait and see time.
gone are the Balti pies then , welcome the chow mein and we all know how chinese food works , at the end of the game i’ll be fucking starving again …
my dream is to own the villa and rip that fucking ellis stand sign off and replace with Tony Barton stand , to me Ellis = cunt of the highest order ,
Runtins , look forward to it , maybe get Jenny to drop by as well . so a meet up could be on that day then ,
D.O.R
there’s a little festival going on at Tudor Grange Park and saw the only band worthwhile going to see are The Brothers Strut …
Jeeez fuck , we really do have some twats around , some idiots calling for sherwood to come back !!! even making the excuse “well tom fuchs bought them players not him, if sherwank had a pair he could have said “no way lm walking if them deals go through” its like steamer telling me how to Re-wire a house , l’d give him the tools and say “get on with it ” .
Frem . lm on a job and TC running it for Terry , he sends his best mate and asked how you getting on with the women?? and stay away from the Scutters …lol.
Have a good weekend all
Jenny xxxxx
http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Financials?s=8037:HKG&subview=Overview
Hope its not this lot.
SWV
Anyone fancy having MON back after the Euro’s ?
I always liked MON and to be fair we had some success under his leadership although some of signings were a bit iffy, we need someone in as soon as to start building for next season we need to do our transfer business early so the team have the maximum time together before kick off.
SWV
can’t see past Pearson for a manager at the mo – i would feel fairly confident he would get us up and buy really well
hopefully sale details will be announced by Monday ?
Good God no…he must take some of the blame we are in this mess. Had free reign to waste lots of money. Fat contracts for beye, reo cockcker, knight, davis etc. And the footy was pretty basic. Too much counter attacking for a team thaty had a decent midfield. Barry milner, young etc. Always thought international management best for him, getting the team jeed up for one off games his forte.
defo Pearson for me, gone right off moyes. Like swv says need it sorted asap, new owners and manager in Monday please and give us something to finally support and get behind. Over the last 5 years its been hope getting me through but as we stand im down and out and have nothing to cling onto.
Isnt black a nob head. bigging up jack…..who he does not play.
Bought the Brothers Strut album when it came out a month ago, some great tracks on there, love to see them live.
Need them to get a ferry over to Dublinland
Seems sensible we are waiting for a takeover before manager. If a manager gets appointed before news of takeover then its time to panic!
DOR,
Some good BS stuff on youtube.
Andrew,
Wouldn’t like MON either, Pearson seems the perfect fit but its not our vote that counts. Perhaps if the TO happens and we have lots of money then our range will increase.
Think Grealish will rip into next season, he’s got a lot to prove and its not all his fault he didn’t have any impact this season, when you look at some of the mugs played over him its no wonder we were relegated.
Chinese or American? Both economies are close to popping at the moment so I’d go with Ellison as he has enough cash under his bed to keep us going.
I’m warming to Pearson, I think there is more to him than a thug. I didn’t always think that but the lad from Leicesters sports science had nothing bad to say on the subject and the staff all liked him.
I think grealish needs more movement around him or he gets swamped
Luckily Richardson will be fit in 2 days time, just in time to get his plane to the bahamas
Luckily Richardson will be fit in 2 days time, just in time to get his flight to the Bahamas.
Read the other day Kosak had re-injured himself, maybe his best mate the physio was threatened with redundancy
Hope they don’t announce anything today its Friday the 13th.
Grealish and Adama could tear it up. Not sure of Jacks best position…free role i guess? Needs pace either side of him.
4231
the 3 being adama grealish ayew should smash it. Mccormack up top. Gana and vertout as the 2.
Nah, Ibrahimovich up front.
Good moaning all,
Nasty feeling that a hammering is on the cards today, 6-0 (At least).
Glad the season will be over and hopefully the idiot will never darken our doorstep again. Clear out required get that box of P45’s ready because absolutely NO-ONE should remain in their job.
Highlights of the season. ? ……………………
Lowlights ? ………………. August ’til May but could brighten in June.
Steamer
We are safe enough today don’t play to Sunday
Heavy night
cannot disagree with much that Mortimer says here
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/martin-oneill-blame-aston-villa-7966165?
Mark k
Mon won his dismissal case with Lerner
At the time Mon was here all clubs where spending big, big wages
Mon had spend of 20 m a season,then we sold milner,downing young and finally delph and we still had decent squad
Lerner changed rules during Mon last season only money available in winter transfer was one out one in
His players shorey Davies REO coker and sidwell where shocking let downs sidwell was on massive money
We spent more since he walked with only benteke making a profit,none last summer signings will turn a profit
As for duds waste of money bent,makoun given,Ireland zog jenas lescott Hutton and Richards just over 50 m not to mention mad wages none managed 100 appearances
Only one person to blame for our demise daddy’s boy Lerner worst businesses man in western world two massive failure at sports clubs,he’s that bad mammy has cut his allowances,all bought Johnny no mates
STEAMER !!!!!!!!
came over at 10-45 with strimmer and paint brush ………..you forgot didnt you . had a good conversation with Bella through letterbox . did try ringing you on Mobile , but as usual . its switched off , so posted on here as l know you will get round to coming on here , speak later …. got to do own fucking garden now , and its bloody bigger ,(((
Been very busy lately, and only just caught up on here, and am pleased to say that our takeover is almost complete, but not by Mr Wang and the Wanda Corporation, but by the President of China, and the Chinese Government, through their own Commercial company, which was close to buying Villa before.
The President is keen that China is involved in the English Premier league, in order to assist in the development of the Chinese Premier league, and this should mean that Villa will have the opportunity of having the cream of the crop of young Asian and Chinese players to develop and bring on, at the same time developing Villa into a force to be reckoned with in European football. His love of football, and his desire to bring it to every young Chinese person, can only auger well for the future.
The Chinese Government is spending billions in the coming years to build stadiums, teams and make football part of Chinese life.
Loved your opening JL, and would have added a few more names as well, to those like Jimmy Dugdale, Vic Crowe and oh so many more..!!
Great to see you back Monty!!!
Steamer, time to start a business, selling Chinese Villa flags…etc…
Shirt sales etc would be huge….and Asian-Chinese tv rights…!!
My Villa History Site
The main page has had something of a re-vamp, which may be of interest:
http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/astonvilla/a_villan0.htm
Plus there’s a copy of the end-of-1981 Villa programme that can be downloaded from the History & Timeline page (scroll down to find the image).
Paul,
The players I decided to list were the most skilful I could think of (but I forgot Woosnam).
Agreed, Dugdale , Crowe, Slogger, Deakin, Johnny Dixon etc etc were well above average in ability but most of all they played as though the Villa name was meaningful to them.
JG- winning the case doesn’t excuse the huge wage bill unused players and leaving us in the lurch. Don’t forget we lost milner but still had a good enough side which then nearly went down under houllier. Lerner had to buy bent in the jan window so if Mon had stuck around maybe that situation would not of occurred? He was at the time pretty much running the club. Not all his fault but he was certainly a huge part.
History now MK, but MON’s spending was not good in the end Sidwell, Reo-Coker and Harewood, non of whom set the world alight….
at the end of the day it was the failure of MON and Lerner to reach any sort of sensible agreement, and the n Lerner backing out of signing Hughes as manager, after he walked out on Fulham…..Al Fayed being more important than Villa….crap businessman..
John l
Was that the time your problems came up with Lerner,time Mon walked
Pp
That was typical of Lerner turning Hughes down then shitting over us by appointing the knob
Appointing McCleish was a result of the Chubster listening to SAF, and Lerner believing it would be a fantastic scoop….
Looking forward to the Chinese deal being completed next week….Mourinho for manager…..
Could be an interesting appointment…Director of Football is ex Liverpool and Spurs man, and also an Italian….
James,
The situation when I was sacked in January, 2010 was building up after Lerner’s appointment of Faulkner as the Ops Director (2009) and then (summer, 2010) as Chief Exec.
2009 on, there was a sudden U-turn in how things were managed. One moment the North Stand re-build was almost there, and then suddenly (and I mean ‘suddenly’!) it was mothballed. In my view, some kind of thinking change brought that about as well as the confrontation with MON.
Lerner (2010 interview, I think) made a remark that Faulkner’s and his views often matched in an uncanny way, so I think that a lot of what went on from 2009-on was as a result of Faulkner’s increasing influence. If not, then why the *sudden* U-turn on financial expenditures?
JL,
It sounds like Faulkner’s influence was much greater than I thought, and perhaps he was responsible for making Lerner change his way of thinking, especially about making the club a great success.
He may have made Lerner realise that it would take a great deal more investment, and even then he may not succeed….!!
Then bringing about the tightening of the belt until the club became anorexic…
No doubt Faulkner had an effect but he may of pointed out that our wage bill was out of control and FFP was rearing its head and came into effect using the 2011-12 books onwards giving clubs the chance to put the brakes on. It did seem there was no way of carrying on as we had without greater financial input from somewhere. Sadly that money was clearly diverted from your project and the north stand amongst others
PP,
That’s about how I see it.
It may seem trivial but I never did think a lot of Faulkner’s thinking after he refused to have the Honours Board re-instated with records of when Villa were finalists and runners-up included. 😉 I recall that Blews were proud to list all the times they had been promoted from Divisions 2 and 3, and yet here was a guy who would not want to have the 10 times we’ve been runners-up shown on the board! In fact we’ve twice been runners-up since 1981.
Now we’ve been relegated I wonder if he’d see things differently?
Mark: “No doubt Faulkner had an effect but he may of pointed out that our wage bill was out of control and FFP was rearing its head “
Well, yes, there had to be something done to adjust matters, but my assessment was and is that they (F & L) went jumping into O’Neill with two left feet on this matter, they having let the matter get to that pitch – well, Lerner especially.
This is a situation that occurred simply because neither had a real clue, with Faulkner (amiable to all as he was) wanting to be seen to be Lerner’s protige and the hero at VP.
And the change in Lerner’s direction only occurred from 2009 on, after Faulkner had been given a leg-up.
We can see that there was a problem to attend to, but considering that we’d just been at Wembley *twice* (in 2010) it should have been the time for the club to have taken off, not crumble.
Mark,
And the wage bill and FFP doesn’t explain how the North Stand development suddenly got mothballed.
It was a badly needed requirement – and still is.
JL I bow to your judgement mate, Incompetence of the highest order but I still think Mon should of stuck it out. He’s fiery chap though and it does not surprise me he left although his wifes illness must of gone hard on him.
heres a villa fans view of the season from the Independent
ASTON VILLA Chris Nee
Player of the year
It seems silly that we’d even have a player of the year, and we don’t. There’s a case to be made for Jordan Ayew, a player who’s scored some fantastic goals and put in more effort than almost all the players around him in a woeful side.
Biggest let-down
Micah Richards has been an appalling acquisition. Having been brought in as captain, Richards has been part of the homogenous mass of incompetence and, from the outside at least, offered nothing in the way of the leadership Villa so sorely lacked.
Team performance of the season
It seems a long time ago but there were one or two performances worthy of praise under Remi Garde. They didn’t end with three points, though, so they’re barely worth a mention. I thought we were okay in the home draw against West Ham United.
Newcomer of the season
Ayew fits the bill here too. Jordan Amavi looked promising before his injury and Jordan Veretout showed flashes, but Richards and Joleon Lescott should be looking at Ayew and feeling ashamed of themselves. Rudy Gestede has fallen short but the lack of goals has been endemic.
What we need for next season
A revolution. A new owner remains the top priority because our club is rotten to the core. A good managerial appointment is a must, too, and on the field the most important find among a much needed rebuild is a striker who can score 25 goals in the Championship.
worth reading the other fans views for contrast 🙂
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fans-eye-view-we-ask-the-people-that-matter-for-their-take-on-201516-a7029576.html
not much hope on the youth front by the looks either, hate to see players go when they have not been given at least a match or two.
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/05/14/report-benjamin-siegrist-janoi-donacien-and-joshua-webb-set-for/?
a Sunderland view of their january recruits 2 of which Garde wanted and was denied.
The January additions of Wahbi Khazri, Jan Kirchhoff and Lamine Kone were truly great buys and have dramatically changed our fortunes.
Moaning all.
Surprised about Siegrist, played well for Solihull Moors and then Wycombe, i thought he was better than Steer. Some of these decisions, i would imagine, will be overturned by the new owners such as closing the stands, if we start off well they’re hardly going to turn customers away, or fans.
Just think, a VP without Lerner, can’t wait. When you think off the folk who RL employed its difficult to find one that wasn’t a knob yet they were paid a fortune, what a plank.
At least 6-0 today.
what a pathetic team, no experience at the back, this will be a massacre.
Looks like we could be relegated.
Just like buses for Giroud, blank for months then Villa come along and bang,bang,bang.
Just goes to show that Richards isn’t a league quality CD.
Stroll on, Arteta scores once every six seasons.
I bet the mugs are already at Heathrow for their hols.
Another record broken by villa
First pl team that giroud scores a hattrick against
Thank God it’s over now root and branch clean out
Guzan Hutton Richardson Richards lescott okore wastewood bacuna Gabby zog kozak Sanchez for starters
And for black for what he has done in last 6 games hope he never works in football again playing the same crap every match once a clown always a clown
James,
Come on, we at least held Newcastle (who beat Spurs 5-1 today) and for 60 minutes today (at 0-1) Villa looked almost decent. A bit more edge and Villa may have made the Gunners blush.
The damage has not been done by Black. He has merely tried to fill the space and in the last 3 games has induced some improvement, despite no wins. Tomorrow we may find we’re at the start of a new beginning.
John l
No john he black has picked the same crap when fit Hutton bacuna Richardson lescott guzan with same results,against Newcastle at home not one shot on target ,against Watford listening to commentary first 30 mins pathetic, today listening to commentary similar
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/15/aston-villa-season-review-2015-16-what-went-so-badly-wrong/
I’d say that was accurate.
*** New Post ***
Steamer, I’ll put that link of yours onto Matt’s new post … it ties up.