Papillon

McLeish is and always was a very poor manager. No plan or strategy, just lucky to have actually made money from the game we all love.

Lambert has been a very poor manager up until now, but I won't write him off completely. He seems pretty lost in this job, no doubt about that, but there might be something there in the end. Numerous managers have taken smaller clubs up from League 1 and the Championship, but that it nothing compared to staying in the Premier League for 15-20 years. I highly doubt he will get a job at the top if he is sacked by Villa, so this is make or break.

McLeish got the job at Nottingham Forest and was sacked after two months, and was never hired again. Good luck finding a job in the Premier League, mate.

 

Hmm... Marc Albrighton leaving is a strange one. Sure he was never a great player for us, but he did have that one season where he looked promising. I don't think he demands a lot of cash, so why not keep in on? It's not like we have many players that are better than him. In fact, our midfield is one of the weakest in the league and players like Tonev should have been sent back to the Bulgarian league before sacking Albrighton like that.

 

I am not sure he will turn out to be the next Gary Cahill in terms of ability, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got himself to a new club in the Premier League and did well. English and only 24 years old, it looks like a very stupid decision - but we have come to terms with those the last few years I'm afraid.

 

He's being offered £35k per week. 

 

I like him, but I wouldn't want us offering that to somebody who is essentially a back up player whilst we are where we are, regardless who owns the club. He's not worth that to us IMO.

 

If that is true - then I am all for letting him go. No problem. He is not worth 35k, easy as that.

The only thing I am thinking after watching that video... is that someone actually spent some time making it. Some people just have too much time on their hands and seriously need to get a job.

Hmm... Marc Albrighton leaving is a strange one. Sure he was never a great player for us, but he did have that one season where he looked promising. I don't think he demands a lot of cash, so why not keep in on? It's not like we have many players that are better than him. In fact, our midfield is one of the weakest in the league and players like Tonev should have been sent back to the Bulgarian league before sacking Albrighton like that.

I am not sure he will turn out to be the next Gary Cahill in terms of ability, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got himself to a new club in the Premier League and did well. English and only 24 years old, it looks like a very stupid decision - but we have come to terms with those the last few years I'm afraid.

Pele isn't very interesting and shouldn't be paid attention to. He has been going on about his 1000 goals for years and nobody gives a shit, he played in another era and didn't compete against the best clubs.

As for United, their strength under Ferguson was always having lots of utility players performing when called upon, and they were never disgruntled. Well, some were, but they got canned and new ones came in. The problem last season was maybe that too much pressure was put on not-so-good players to do the job of securing a top 4 finish. I think every United-fan before last season would have taken top 4 in the season after Ferguson retired, but of course they were far away from accomplishing that because Moyes a) didn't sign new players and didn't utilize his squad at all.

The squad needs new players, but it's not like they need 11 new players. Bring in four of the ones they are linked to now and they are immediate threats, given that they don't have to play in the Champions League or the Europa League next season. Liverpool managed to pose a threat this season - compare their squad with United's and see that there isn't much between them (if at all). Add Shaw, Kroos, Hummels and maybe Fabregas to the equation, case solved. Of course, bringing in players of that calibre is harder than winning the election in the US, but it can be done with the right amount of money (which they obviously have now) and of course influence from a character like van Gaal. Moyes didn't have the charisma or authority, van Gaal easily does.

It's weird though - Mourinho was not chosen last season because they believed he was going to upset the traditions of United and bugger off after 1-3 seasons. Then they pick van Gaal, who seldom stays long at a new club. People change of course, and environments counts for a lot. The political hierarchies at Bayern München and Barcelona are probably hard to deal with compared to Man Utd.

Giggs didn't have an end product enough of the time.

 

From age 20-33 he scored on average 6 goals per season.

 

In comparison, Beckham scored on average 8 goals per season.

 

When Ronaldo arrived at Old Trafford he blew Giggs out the water. Bale is much better now than Giggs ever was.

 

If his career ended at 30 - which it didn't partly because he was a great athlete - he would be remembered for a couple of great seasons early in his twenties then lack of end product.

 

As I said before, doesn't mean he's not world class-ish. He adapted his game. He had various other in-demand qualities to make up for his lack of end product.

You also ignore the fact that he was always in the team. Some players don't need to score 30 goals and have 15 assists each season, only a few are capable of that. David Beckham was a very good footballer and (of course) one of my favorite players of all time given that I was a teenager when he was at his best, but Ryan Giggs has always been better, more consistent and important to the team. Beckham had the looks and media frenzy around him all the time which made him visible, unlike Giggs who always stayed in the shadow because it suited him very well. You mention 8 vs. 6 goals like it's a huge difference, of course it isn't. The wide midfielders in the 90's and 00's didn't really contribute that much in terms of goals, something happened when Cristiano Ronaldo broke through and scored 30+ goals in the league for Man Utd when mainly operating outside the box. You had Robert Pires of course, magnificent player in his prime, but he only scored 14 goals as a record - which he did three years in a row. The other years he was down on 9, 7 and 4 for Arsenal. Giggs managed 13 and 11 back in the early 90's.

Like I started this post, he was always in the team. For most of the seasons, the first player on the sheet every single time - you don't get there by being just an average player. Giggs always contributed tactically and because of his smartness, not just goals and assists. He was helping out at the back, he was smart going forward and he created chances for others every single year.

You mention Gareth Bale as well, what's your point? Bale has the natural ability to become one of the absolute best players this game has ever seen, alongside Messi and Ronaldo from this generation. Surely enough, his injuries will probably ruin his prospects in the long run, but comparing him with Giggs is nonsense. Being Welsh is not really a very interesting denominator, if Ronaldo or Zidane were Welsh you would have said the same thing. Bale being great and potentially historically great, has got nothing to do with Giggs being great as well.

If his career ended ten years ago? What? The man played and was one of the best players on the pitch when United lost to Real Madrid last year in the Champions League, at the age of 38 or 39 or whatever it was. You cannot just discard ten years of his career! Even so, if he retired at the age of 30 he would still be remembered as the player that won the Premier League 8 or 9 times as well as the Champions League. A great player in his prime and an absolute professional, compared to all these idiots with abysmal tattoos and flashy Aston Martin's at the age of 21. I will be sad to see him go, and it's a travesty that he didn't curl in that free-kick at Old Trafford when he played his last game two weeks ago. That would have been some finish to the greatest career in football.

 

...Kozak has been average while Okore seems to have been judged as a good player without anyone really seeing him playing enough. Probably by the same posters who give off stink to other posters who in their opinion criticise new players prematurely...

Question - how many times would you need to see (say)  Paul Mcgrath play, before you noticed "actually he's bloody brilliant". I'm not saying Okore is in the same class, very very few were or are, but sometimes you can just tell, surely?

 

it's harder withduff signings, as some come good after a time to settle - Bouma, for example.

 

For me Okore looked classy, Kozak terrible, if I'm honest.

Now I don't ever "give off stink" to people who hold a different view, and most people don't. So what I'm saying is if you take people at face value, and their views the same, there's less need to seemingly put other motives onot people who hold different views.

 

Agree with some of that, as certain players are obviously very easy to brand exceptional talents in 20 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo comes to mind when he debuted against Bolton all those years ago, Eden Hazard after a few games, Wayne Rooney, Ross Barkley at the start of this season when I started paying attention to him and so on. It's also easy to see who is never going to make it, like Brett Holman and his 9th division rapist touch. However, putting Okore in the former category is futile. He has played in the Danish division where he has never been matched with top players, he played for Nordsjælland in the Champions League where they let in 22 goals in six games and he played a few minutes for us before he got injured. He looked ok, it looked like he could manage the level - but it's not like he shut the shop and performed wonderfully in those games. Does he have the ability to become better than Baker and Clark? Certainly. But to mention anything else right now is pointless, nobody here knows how good he is and the most important thing is to get over this injury. MANY players struggle to become half the player they could have been after such an injury, especially when it happens at the stage in your career where you are still developing.

I do have high hopes for him though, I sincerely wish he will rehabilitate and become a solid defender in the Premier League.

Con, he is 18 years old and you are already describing his entire repertoire and future, as you always do with players. From the mere fact that you often say strange things that come back and bite you in the ass, why so bombastic?

Shaw is still a kid, but he has already performed at a high level and he is going to the World Cup - he also got included in the Team of the Season. Even though that can be disputed for many players, it still is an indication that he is going to become something as experience comes along.

Being a defender is about keeping the line together and avoid letting in goals at the back, especially for attacking teams that leave a lot of space for counters. Most faults come from either side in my opinion, the best teams often let in goals because one of the full-backs have left space to exploit. Sure a good central defender is just as important, but they seldom contribute as much in attack as certain full-backs do. I have always been a fan of the approach where the team has one offensive and one defensive full-back, to ensure that some defensive stability is always present. That doesn't mean that the defensive one will never cross the other half, but he wouldn't be as gung-ho as the other - see Seamus Coleman. Assists and goals are important from any player, but just a bonus from the left-back, that shouldn't be a priority. Sure Leighton Baines can convert penalties and free-kicks, but teams can also have other players to do just that. The only priority is of course to have the ability to defend and make smart choices every single game.

Shaw has a good level already, he can play for 15 more years and not least; develop alongside the right players. You don't just buy a player for now, you buy their potential ability and grind out the rest over the coming years. That's why the price is at 27-30M and it's totally fair in my opinion. Someone could use that argument towards Lambert's approach in the market, but the big, big difference is that you have to at least see the potential or raw ability. Few or none of the players we have gotten on the cheap possess a single gram of ability or unreleased asset, that's just buying someone and hoping a miracle happens. It usually never does. With Shaw they know that there is a huge chance he will become an excellent left-back in a few years, and they take that shot.

 

Add me to the 'very good prospect but no way worth 27m group'.

Not sure what Man Utd are doing spending that much on him.

 

Desperate to be seen to be doing something ?

 

He is 18 years old and just pushed out Ashley Cole to go to the World Cup. They potentially have a left-back for the next 15 years and he is already good enough to push Patrice Evra out of the position he has held for 8 years or so. Of course there is risk involved with those figures, but in terms of current ability, potential upside and age - it is a very fair price in today's market. I am pretty sure many said Ramsey, Bale, Ferdinand, Ronaldo et al have come and gone for high fees, but in retrospect they are worth every penny and double. Some said Ronaldo was expensive at 12M, then they said 80M was too high when he left for Real Madrid - even though in my opinion, what he has done there is worth almost the double.

Some players turn out to be duds, but if you don't risk anything you never achieve anything and they can afford it easily. Desperation? Not the slightest. Keep buying Luna's and Bennett's and see how far we come and how much we spend to finally get a decent left-back.

The kits looks very nice!

And that comes from a guy who hates Macron and would never buy a single item from their stock, so let's wait and see how good they look in action.

The fabric and fit is of course just as important, the ones we have now are atrocious in that aspect.

However, way to go Macron. I hope we don't continue to work with them of course, but in the meantime this was a nice surprise.

I think it's weird that John Terry has retired from International football and that no-one has persuaded him to return for the World Cup. Him and Cahill are already playing together for Chelsea and Terry has been on good form this season, added with bags of experience and the fact that he is a better player than the alternatives. Jagielka has been injured, Jones hasn't been playing as a central defender for most of the season and so on - Terry should have traveled to Brazil. That's the problem with Roy Hodgson though, he has never been a good manager and he is probably afraid of doing strange choices that can be slated in the media.

I am always looking for England to do well in the WC since my country never participates, but there is no chance in hell England will go far in this tournament I wouldn't even bet on them going through the first phase... unfortunately.

When we get new owners I am pretty sure Lambert will be sacked pretty fast. Not because he is so terrible, but they will want to hire someone with a proven capacity at a higher level.

Who they will hire I'll never be able to predict, but I just hope we don't get someone uninspiring.

Bertrand hasn't been exceptional, but obviously better than what we have. Luna/Bennett is the crappiest left-back duo in the league, so LB needs a fix for sure. It's hard to determine how bad Bertrand has been, given he has to play with a pretty bad defensive unit.

El Ahmadi is decent sometime and crap most of the times. The difference between him and players like Westwood is that KEA is 29 years old - he is at his peak, and it isn't very encouraging. Westwood is a decent player and he is 24, still a few years to reach a decent level in the Premier League. He isn't anywhere near where I want our midfielders to be, but he can reach it. Same with Lowton, 24 years old and turning 25 in a months' time. Still has time to get to that level where he should be to play for Villa, but KEA is 29 and finished. Get rid

 

Who'd of thought.... Bowery gets subbed off and we fall to pieces!! Was 0-0 until he went off!

The one thing I noticed was when Bowery went off, City's centerbacks pushed up a lot higher. Bowery was keeping them on their heels because they likely knew they would be outpaced by Bowery if they pushed up. I genuinely believe Bowery's presence was keeping City's back four in check. 

 

I think this is a pretty strange view on things. I am 99.99% certain the City-defenders didn't even knew what his name was after the game, let alone that they were "afraid" of him. I mean, he has never, ever in his career made a defensive unit shake in the Premier League - so why would suddenly the best team in the league do it? Makes no sense.

People must have seen another game than I did, since there are so much positives in these last few pages. He was chasing the ball and leading the line, the easiest job in football because you don't actually have to play football. You could have put Usain Bolt on the pitch and he would have done as good as Bowery. When it mattered the most he missed a (albeit difficult) chance and didn't exactly look like Robin van Persie when he did so. Strikers are on the pitch to score goals and create chances, even against the best teams in the division. Just running around and chasing the ball hardly deserves any credit, it's not like the City-defenders felt he was even there.

A player we need to send down to the divisions and never take back, there is no room for sentiment in football.

Glad they are winning the title - and they thoroughly deserve it. Sure Liverpool have taken a lot of credit the last few months, but they came from nowhere, weren't taken seriously and haven't played in Europe at all. Add 16 games of Europa League and a good cup run to their fixtures, and they wouldn't have been anywhere near the top. Man City have played beautifully from day 1 and they have had their best player out injured for quite some time. Yaya Touré is my player of the year, he has been phenomenal all year and has got 20 goals to his name without being an attacking midfielder. His assist yesterday and not least the goal, shows just how good this player is. On top of that he does so much important work at the back, he is truly a complete player.

They've scored 100 goals (and still have an opportunity to add a few more against West Ham) and they have only let in 37 goals - with Kompany missing 1/3 of the season, Silva roughly the same and Agüero has been in and out of the team all year.

Grealish stats

5 touches

100% passing accuracy.

1 key pass

Was not dispossessed and did not turn over the ball

Didn't do enough for me though as he went missing for long periods (approx 85 minutes).

Callum Robinson did okay too -

11 touches

1 key pass

Won 2 fouls

I'd start them both against Spurs or bring them on 60'. Give them some proper time. Who cares about the score.

Jesus christ, it's difficult to understand if you're serious, authistic or just winding up people. Are you seriously mentioning key passes for players that played 5 minutes as a gesture from Lambert - in a space of time where we let in two goals? Even I could have played ten easy passes to a team-mate and call it a 100% success. Key passes my ass...

what a shit response from the manager after going 1nil down. taking off Bowery pur only outlet for bacuna was also a mistake.

Bowery wouldn't get into the Norwegian Tippeliga, so taking him off is never a mistake!

Edin Dzeko is a very good player, should revive his career someplace else where he could be a star. At City he is always going to be the one that sits on the bench when Agüero is back. 15 goals and 6 assists in 1900 minutes this season. A much better player than let's say Giroud..

Lambert has obviously seen Chelsea play on the telly and tried to steal their tactic today. The only viable option away to Man City of course.

The Crystal Palace promotion looks like a gay interracial support poster. Crummy kits as well, oh wait, now I saw the manufacturer in charge so it explains things.

Why did the reporter feel necessary to bring up the similar nose Bruce has with Vidic in the interview after the match. **** word removed. Every question was related to Manchester United. I don`t get it.

Kidding me?

Biggest club in England, Bruce played there for 10 years and the game was basically a testimonial for Vidic and Giggs - since the season is already over for these two teams.

Man Utd seriously don't want to qualify for the Europa League; who the hell is Lawrence and Wilson?

Damn you Giggs, for spoiling my Fantasy-team this week. Currently on 2258 points and have Rooney © and Mata (v). Crap!

Needed to catch up on the leader in my league and he didn't have Rooney before the double GW37.

Larry Ellison would be cool, but he is turning 70 and why would he spend his last operational decade following a football club in England? Sure, he doesn't have to be at Villa Park every week but it's not like this is going to be an investment for him like Man Utd is for the Glazer-family. They could sell up tomorrow and make money, Ellison would have to invest hundreds of millions in Villa and he wouldn't return a dime before he's six feet under.

Rumors in the US says he is desperately trying to get his hands on a NBA team, which makes sense since he's a basketball fan. Him taking over Villa? No chance (IMO).

Top 10?

Not much to be quite honest.

What we should be striving for, with or without a takeover, is to reach 8th in the table. Southampton have had a very good season, but they are only 8th with 55 points which is a bit strange. Looking at their squad and first XI it's pretty obvious that they are there because of a few certain individuals and that's what it takes to get to that point. They have Lallana, Shaw, Schneiderlin and a few others - but the rest is pretty dull and their squad is nothing to brag about. Players like Fonte and Lovren are quite good, but these are also players we can easily acquire in the market if the right manager gets to pick the targets.

Top 10 right now is Stoke and they are 9 points ahead of us. We could have been there with a fully fit Okore and Benteke playing lots more games, added with some good fortune. Not least, two good players going right into our starting team every week.

20-30M and some good players gives us the option to challenge Newcastle, Southampton and those teams next season, but if Lambert is the one buying players we might as well put it in the bank.