MessiWillSignForVilla

I think trent's stated multiple times that PL tried to get them removed but the board didn't allow it If their was an actual basis to sack them, as we are led to believe, then there is no reason to believe the board would insist on keeping them. And they haven't, they've suspended them. They kept them after the fan incident, and presumably because telling a fan to "**** off" probably wouldn't hold up in court as a just reason to sack the coach. Come on, suspensions are often a prelude to a sacking. I think it is quite clear that Culverhouse's and Karsa's Villa careers are over now. I've not said otherwise? You said the board have insisted on keeping them, which it appears they haven't (at least when they've had just cause) No, I said there is *no* reason to believe the board would've refused Lambert's previous requests to remove them if they had committed a sackable offense. Sorry, I think I've misread what you said. What I was trying to say was; They "insisted" on keeping them after the fan incident, as I don't believe they would have had a good enough case to get away without court. When they've had good enough reason, they've suspended them, and seemingly will boot them out too. The costs of getting rid when PL originally wanted rid were probably too high, whereas now, when they've probably got them more bang to rights, the costs are likely much lower. Hence, a reason to not get rid earlier.

I think trent's stated multiple times that PL tried to get them removed but the board didn't allow it If their was an actual basis to sack them, as we are led to believe, then there is no reason to believe the board would insist on keeping them. And they haven't, they've suspended them. They kept them after the fan incident, and presumably because telling a fan to "**** off" probably wouldn't hold up in court as a just reason to sack the coach. Come on, suspensions are often a prelude to a sacking. I think it is quite clear that Culverhouse's and Karsa's Villa careers are over now. I've not said otherwise? You said the board have insisted on keeping them, which it appears they haven't (at least when they've had just cause)

Edit: Pathetic isn't it? Is it really? Assuming that Phil here isn't just posting this because of VF1970. It's a typical reaction on here over the last few years, if the club say anything, it's dismissed as PR bullshit, if they don't say anything, people complain that the club never communicate with us. Lose-lose situation really. Having said that though, it was an unnecessary thing to say and didn't add much. Personally, I just think that the statement points more to the situation being much bigger than it seems if RL has been forced to come out and say something. And as BJ says, it's not exactly going to alleviate many fans' displeasure is it?

I think trent's stated multiple times that PL tried to get them removed but the board didn't allow it If their was an actual basis to sack them, as we are led to believe, then there is no reason to believe the board would insist on keeping them. And they haven't, they've suspended them. They kept them after the fan incident, and presumably because telling a fan to "**** off" probably wouldn't hold up in court as a just reason to sack the coach.

I think trent's stated multiple times that PL tried to get them removed but the board didn't allow it We're going round in circles. The first question is: since this was his hand-picked coaching team he had worked with for over 8 years, how come he couldn't get them to coach the team in the way he wanted - what does that say about his own effectiveness as a manager? The second one is, once things got to the extreme position of wanting to sack them, why the board were apparently reluctant to do so having had the facts put before them? In my view, nobody is coming out of this shambles with much credit so far, although fair play to Lambert for finally persuading the board if that's what happened. 1) People change. They could have fallen out with Lambert. Maybe they couldn't handle the pressure of working at a club under so much strain currently. Perhaps they were so good at being shit, they managed to hide it quite well from Lambert? There are many reasons why Lambert wouldn't have known, and many reasons why an 8 year relationship could've gone sour. The only "facts" we know are they've been pushed out, seemingly at Lambert's request, which is good if they were causing a negative atmosphere. Without any other details, it's hard to say anything about Lambert's ability as a manager based on this incident. 2) $$$$$. They are currently suspended and under internal investigation. It seems highly likely the investigation will conclude with the decision that they have broken their contract or have severely under-performed, so much so that the club are well within legal rights to terminate their contract with little to no pay off.

Just a very, very rich Bank I think, the richest in Essos (I don't think there are any Banks in Westeros). Taken from the Wiki: When princes or kings default on their debts or are foolish enough not to honor their agreements with the Iron Bank, the Iron Bank supports new princes and kings to appear. These new princes and kings then honor the previous debt along with paying back the money the bank loaned them in claiming their new power, lest they suffer the same fate as their predecessors. AFAIK, mercenaries aren't typically used in Westeros, so they usually just back them financially.

Not yet. But it is kind of being built up as one of the future deciders in who gets the Iron Throne. It really helps paint the picture of Cersei being nowhere near as intelligent as she thinks she is and how bad she is at politics. She refuses to pay the Iron Bank - which is a double edged sword as in this instance, a Lannister doesn't pay their debts, despite Cersei's belief that she is making Tywin proud and her general holier than thou attitude toward everyone - and it causes the Iron Bank to call in all loans in Westeros and refuse any new loans, except from Stannis and Jon Snow/Night's Watch. It seems they'll be important as they appear to be bank rolling Stannis' claim (plus providing money so the Night's Watch can buy food), with the main condition of Stannis promising to repay them the Throne's debts when he wins it, plus almost every other house in the country is about to be crippled by the fact they will have to pay off their loans pretty soon. I think Global Freezing is a much more legitimate concern in the books

I was thinking the same thing, surely if your original comment was indeed a spoiler, then the show must have already have been somewhat spoiled for it to have any meaning. Unless donnie is now expecting to watch the latest episode to find out that Joff was actually a good guy all along and everyone loves him...

Just to throw in my two cents on all of this; After the Palace game, my patience with Lambert had begun to wear thin (not the first time, I said as much before the Norwich game too, but the next 2 games gave it back a bit) and to some extent, it still is, but this whole thing is to say the least, intriguing, and I come out of it with maybe a bit more patience for PL. I've not seen much of all this today, I've skimmed through much of the thread, so I could have missed some tidbits here and there. To be honest, my main reading of this situation comes from Trent's post. Obviously it's a bit far fetched to say they are the cause of all our problems, we have many currently, but you only need one (or in this case two) bad apple to spoil the bunch. I think it could go a long way to explaining why players seem to have a general uncaring attitude of late if any of the coaching staff are bad influences or are generally disliked. If Culverhouse's training is as bad as suggested, maybe a reason we've had many injuries of late (going too full tilt) and why we look clueless on a matchday. If the players have been upset recently, with just Culverhouse/Karsa and not PL, and the training has been poor, then I begin to have more sympathy for Lambert, he's dealing with a pretty shit situation to begin with, and any player unrest would just add to that. Why not just have Lambert coach instead? Maybe he isn't a great coach? Managers aren't meant to be, there's a reason why great coaches don't always make good managers, because they have other duties that aren't limited to coaching, and I imagine it works in reverse too. Quite a lot of people saying why not get rid sooner and why keep them for so long if Lambert wanted rid etc., and considering many on this forum are quite vocal in their dislike of Lerner and the way the club's been run the last few years, what to me seems an obvious reason why has been completely ignored: $$$$$ Think about it - Culverhouse mouths of to a fan (and Karsa to Faulkner if Trent is correct) -> relationship with Lambert begins to deteriorate -> Lambert wants rid -> board block departures due to high pay offs of contracts -> tensions get even more strained as results begin to turn bleaker -> culminates in (supposed) rows with players, Cowans and Lambert -> Lambert wants rid again -> board have legitimate reason to get rid, so "suspend" the accused -> have internal investigation which finds that there is a just cause to sack IC/GK -> Sack IC/GK with no to minimal pay off. As for why not remove them like the "bomb squad"? Well, it's easier to replace players. We must have 30-40+ players who at any time could be part of the first team and train with them on a regular basis, enough so that booting a player (i.e. Bent) to the youth squad isn't going to leave you short in the playing department. But with the coaching staff, we must have what 6-7? Double possibly? Consider then that most of them will have other, most likely specialised, duties, it's a bit harder to just pluck someone else from the coaching department to replace them. I mean, even the 2 who have come in, one is a current player for god's sake! I imagine that it came to a point that they did eventually have to be bombed out (remember, they've not been sacked, but suspended *cough*Coaching Bomb Squad*cough*). Bringing in Cowans to the first team fold seems to be a first port of call in emergency for us, it happened when MON left (he was KMac's assistant wasn't he?) and when Houllier was absent (GMac's assistant, correct?), but it would, presumably, be at the detriment to the u18/21s coaching, something which is less than desirable. Some of the more baffling decisions made by the board in recent years have shown they aren't too fussed about how badly we do, but they sure as hell care about how much is spent, and will try to fork out as little as possible (even McLeish's sacking was pretty much forced upon them). I dunno, but for me, if the players are truly 100% behind Lambert still, and if IC/GK were as bad as influences as being suggested, I think I'm more willing to give PL time.

Well then, I don't want him taking over if he can't afford one! What sort of pleb doesn't own a private jet!?

Witnesses have obviously been got to! They got a pacifier through the letter box with a note telling them how much good they could do for their health...

Just got an assist by the sounds of it. Notts County 3-2 up after being 2-0 down too.

I don't think it's so much that he got it horribly wrong in the summer, but more I think he was naive about how good our squad was/is, and I think every fan would be in the same boat. Some of the signings do, now, seem baffling, but when you consider that everybody, including Lambert, was probably thinking that the likes of Lowton, Westwood, Sylla, Weimann and Gabby (and Vlaar, Delph and Benteke to some degree) were going to continue the form from last season, all we had to do was fill in the gaps (LB and CB, Luna and Okore) and then start to flesh out the squad. The problem then lies in that those who were good last season have mostly failed to replicate their form, and the squad players were then relied on to immediately make an impact in the first team. Then your main (starting) signing gets injured for the season and the whole window gets unraveled. To say he got it horribly wrong is harsh imo. Saying he was overly naive and too confident in our then-current squad, I think is more fair.

Probably because they don't like our current "horrible" badge (I like it personally, each to their own I suppose). Also, it kind of symbolises Lerner's reign here, something I assume those fans want to get rid of.

Having not watched the game, I didn't realise they equalised so quickly Brilliant how it just goes absolutely silent, then you here the Munich fans Having said that though, it's like the life of a Villa fan condensed into 2 minutes

That one is quite clearly for last month

I'll bite; Nothing to do with the fact that they were two of the best players of their generation then?

Started up an Unemployment challenge a few weeks ago as I always like the challenge of building myself up from the bottom and I've done quite well do far, my career currently looks like this (Only in 4th season): Welling United - 2013-2014 Took over Early September Skrill Premier Winners - 2014 Resigned after 3 games into 2014/15 season due to inevitable relegation, aka Jumped ship. Rotherham United - 2014-2016 Took over late December League 1 Runner's Up - 2016 Johnstone's Paint Trophy - 2016 Newcastle United - 2016-Present Joined from Rotherham in October Currently sitting 5th in the Championship with 15 games to go and have only lost 3 times in my 21 games in charge Not quite a glittering career so far, but I'm really enjoying this league now, and I think I can go up with Newcastle to hopefully grace the Premier League with my presence. Hopefully I can get my first major trophy in the next few years, and then onto that #1 spot in the Hall of Fame! My greatest achievement so far has been signing a 16 year old off of Torquay for £1.5m at Rotherham who became the best player in my promotion season ripping the league to shreds and was sold to Man Utd for £5.5m (with Loan Back and clauses) the following summer, that was until he opened the scoring against me when I played Rotherham away with Newcastle

Pretty sure he has, which is why I worry the TV show will overtake the books, as he's already told David Benioff and Dan Weiss (the Creators) how it ends so that they are able to finish it even if a Dream of Spring isn't released. Would love to see a mini series about the Rebellion though if they needed a way to delay the final few series for the book, would also be a great way to drop some of the hints from the books that aren't exactly clear in the show or are only really present in the flashbacks from the books. Plus, there's a lot of side stories which are never really explored in the books which could be used to fill out the show: It will be interesting to see how they handle the inevitable catching up to the books, but I have to say I'd be hugely disappointed if they finished it off before aDoS came out.

Isn't Kraft the guy who brought out cadbury? No, that was Kraft, the food company. Robert Kraft is the head of the Kraft Group which has nothing to do with Kraft as far as I'm aware, and is essentially his Reform Acquisitions.

What about the preview videos? Are they fair game? I'll put it in spoilers anyway (Will also contain mild book spoilers but not anything that I think is too huge and shouldn't ruin anything)

Just came in here to ask if anyone had come across the April Fools Easter Egg, and here it is Never got it myself thankfully, I never seem to be around that point in the season at this time of year. Never got the birthday one either

He won't get punished for it, there wasn't any evidence of it on the replays, it's just pretty much Hartley's word against Youngs'. Having said that, when watching I did suspect he was guilty due to the fact he got immediately defensive as soon as Barnes said there's been an allegation of a bite, despite not saying who made the allegation.

Over the last two nights I finished some Uni coursework which I've been struggling to do over the last two weeks and is due in next Thursday It took me ages as I had to design 26 individual parts from scratch, assemble them all together and try make it look somewhat bicycle-ish, and then finally create an annotated drawing of both my most complex part and the final assembly, all in 3D modelling software. Doesn't sound much but it took me bloody hours. It's only cheered me up for tonight though, as I have a test on Tuesday I need to revise for and then 4 weeks to prepare for my finals

French rugby fans, **** off with yer booing when someone's taking a kick you cocks!