cyrusr

Watched it earlier, cringeworthy was an understatement. Chris Evans trying to be Jeremy Clarkson was not great, Matt LeBlanc trying to be James May was better but they were missing Richard Hammond. The jokes were largely childish and could bother to pay attention to Chris Evans, it felt he was just doing one large shout when talking; exceptionally off-putting. 

The whole thing felt forced and no I don't think I will watch again. 

14 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I still don't see how anyone can sAy we are going to go up or not at this stage, no manager in place, or owner and we have no idea what the squad looks like. I'll wait until august until I make my precidition as I expect massive changes if takeover goes through. 

This. here are a lot of uncertainties still. What does make me more in the "promotion pushing" camp is that Dr Xia is saying he wants to get straight back up, meaning he will likely back the manager. Whether it is pulled off or not is entirely different, but at it is a step in the right direction. 

1 hour ago, hogso said:

Oddly, I got in to them via the 'Against Police Injustice' LP in about 2004, as a crack rock steady fan - the likes of Choking Victim, Morning Glory, and F-Minus were on it too. And Against Me!. Great compilation. 

Really fun live, double drummers make for a great spectacle. Saw them with KEN Mode and Circle Takes The Square a few years back, line up of my dreams! All three delivered in spades. I seem to recall they toured almost every year it seemed. 

Yeah I remember that show, up in the institute wasn't it? That was a cool line up.

I remember the first time I saw them was with Baroness co-headlining the custard factory. 2 drum sets on that stage didn't really fit! 

On 21 May 2016 at 11:59, hogso said:

I fight
I die
Awake

I preferred them when they were that much rawer. I could never figure out though, if this cover was purposely crude in a self aware kind of way, or is just...well, a bit shit really. I assume the latter.

I absolutely loved Kylesa. Really got into them with Time will Fuse it's Worth but thought the next couple of albums plodded a bit. Absolutely loved Ultraviolet and Exhausting Fire though, really enjoyed the direction they were heading. I am gutted they are now on "hiatus", particularly as they never toured exhausting fire over here 

I was blasting this in honour of our new Chinese overlords:

Aren't the bookies just getting paranoid because he has said "need assurances" or whatever? Aren't Hull looking at potential takeover? Seem to remember an offer being accepted a few weeks back. Maybe just wanting to make sure he is first choice and will he given money regardless of what happens? Probably just throwing his toys out of the pram and I wouldn't read too much into this.

On the otherside didn't he "resign" from jobs before only to be rehired elsewhere within very short timeframe...? 

If he turns us down (which I would be very surprised) we move on. Given the issues of ownership I think we weren't not looking at those in a job already and as such having to pay compensation etc. IF RDM did turn us down, then I reckon we will probably open up search range and consider Rowett, McCarthy, Bruce (if Hull don't win today), Martinez (I know he isn't in a job but wasn't available before) plus whoever. There are still plenty of options that can do the first stage which is promotion. It would be better if the manager can stay as long as possible but it's not mandatory. That's why RDM has been chosen, because he has the experience of it all and knows what is expected/needed to be done. 

Besides all discussions of what if RDM turns us down will be pretty academic anyway. It looks a good fit from an "outside the discussions" perspective (like Moyes and Pearson) so probably is only issues about his image rights that are holding things up...

11 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Fine, not my first choice by any means but he's hardly a bad manager, has a pretty good record at everywhere he has been and has experience of getting promoted. 

This. He wouldn't of been my first choice (nor would have Pearson) but both had the potential to do what we want (promotion), they would do it in different ways. 

Ultimately we are a championship club. Given below last club was Shalke and finished 6th he could of argued to get a job in premiership/serie a/la liga etc. Therefore in that respect it would be a coup. Yes you can question his champions league win, but the matter of fact is he still won. He has also done promotion from the league we are in. Only time will tell whether he can do it, but certainly with the right backing he will get us to push for what we want. 

And those saying he won't control the bad eggs, who says they are going to stay around? Dr Xia has made it clear he's unhappy with the players and will be quite happy if RDM says "get rid of them all". Given how it was last season I very much doubt they will want to stay anyway... I would expect the squad to be told "whoever doesn't want to be here **** off", leaving the players that want to play for the shirt.

10 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

We had £50 million last summer and look how that panned out.............

Yeah that was gross. Net was only allegedly £10 million and we did require replacing 3 key players as well as everything else. IIRC someone on here said the highest spenders last season in the Championship was £20 million. With us and Newcastle that is liekly to be broken this season, however £50 million would likely buy us a whole new squad if it was needed. The point Tony was making is that the manager will identify what he needs and we will spend accordingly. That is why the new manager is important, however what is more important is that whoever that manager is, that they are backed properly to enable them to do what they need to. 

RDM and Pearson are 2 very different managers but have historically done what we need them to do. If they are backed correctly then they should at the very least be getting us to challenge at the top of the table and get promoted straight away. That is why the backing is so much more important. Those that say along the lines of "never Pearson/Di Matteo as they will get us relegated again" are being naive and short sighted. Of course people can have their preferences, but their respective CVs both show they can achieve what we need; hence why they are so strongly linked/interviewed/mentioned/whatever. 

Whoever it is needs to be appointed ASAP and backed ASAP. 

36 minutes ago, KHV said:

Wyness will be CEO, Samuelson is set to be Exectutive Chairman

I thought Tony was going to Chairman as per the original announcement? Given that photo likely Samuelson and Wyness are involved but CEO for Wyness and Samuelson simply on the board? Recon (with Tony as CEO/Chairman) would be the owner though and make the ultimate decisions. 

Samuelson's financial connections aren't great and a little concerning but if he is just a board member, he won't have significant influence on where the money comes from, that is Tony and Recon. It kind of gives me the impression that Samuelson and Wyness are there more as the Football people like King/Bernstein which Hollis knew we needed badly. If it was in this capacity I could live with it. Besides if he pissed off Tony, he would likely just kick him off the board.

32 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Note to Moyes: 

Taylor at Villa, Mourinho at Chelsea, countless other examples. 

Never go back. 

Didn't Mourinho win the league with Chelsea when he came back? What about Redknapp at Portsmouth, didn't he keep them up and win the FA Cup? 

Not saying it would be a good move for Moyes or Everton, I completely agree with you, but it's not a "one size fits all" situation. 

25 minutes ago, Gary Thomas said:

I can't see Everton fans accepting that but it probably explains why he "didn't want to be rushed". 

Thought exactly the same when saw the article. His first choice now may be Everton but Villa need someone committed and ready to work now. 

So appears to be down to Di Matteo and Pearson. Moyes was definitely first choice for me but if he is going to dither about it no thanks, we need to move quickly. Definitely not keen on Pearson but if he is manager I will get behind him and lets just get on with it. 

Couple of curve-balls though seem to come to mind though: 

Warnock - don't particularly like him BUT has an excellent record in the Championship. Also from what I read the reason he didn't stay at Rotherham is that they need a couple of years before challenging to get Premier League which he couldn't commit to. He is looking to retire next year or 2. Maybe get him in to get us up and then passes the reigns onto someone else to take the next steps? If that was the intention then maybe... 

Giggs - itching for management by the sounds of it. If he does well, Man Utd will always be linked and every time the manager changes he will be linked. If he does good enough he will get that job, it is too strong a pull. Only 4 games in charge at Man Utd (W2 D1 L1) so very inexperienced at managing first team football however seems to want to go that route. Clear that serious questions are being asked whether he is happy to work with Mourinho. Could Villa be the right club to make that step into management? 

I think the press doesn't have a clue. 

When Moyes "expressed" his initial interest Villa were already relegated so the idea that he was not keen on managing in the Championship does not make any sense. If that was always going to be a reason to say no, he would never had "expressed" his interest in the first place. 

And not being keen to make a swift decision, whilst I appreciate Villa fans have an extra close eye on all things happening at AVFC, it doesn't take a genius to work out that the entire club needs gutting from top to bottom and the sooner that happens the better. Moyes has been sitting ready for over a month now, surely he would be raring to go? 

Like with Sky Sports and Di Matteo being appointed "imminently" I think their "source" has had some bad info or not got the right information. Clearly would be better if they just read VT instead, we are far more knowledgeable 

So which newspapers going to pick up the Su Maozhen link then? The Sun has been pretty quiet on us I think or Telegraph to say how bad Dr Xia is? 

2 hours ago, Spoony said:

Lambert's Lifetime Lazy River

Every time you get to the end, you reach a sign that says "we go again", and you go round and round and round and round and round... 

Is that until you reach Sherwood Waterfall? Initially a rush and then you realise  how far you are plummeting...

20 hours ago, Deisler123 said:

 

 

 

Carson Yeung and Dr. Xia are pretty much similar, although Xia is more wealthier than Yeung is.

However, Xia may be backed up by China, and Yeung does not have that.

Plus, the market in China mainland is 1 billion time larger than HK.

So no conclusion can be drawn from the comparison between CY and Xia.

BTW - Yeung has been long known as a fraud/money laundering businessman. Xia has some negative reputation but not as bad.

Thanks for that, still don't like any similarities but at least he is not as bad!

14 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

He had Alan Irvine as assistant, then Steve Round who we interviewed earlier in the season, then Billy McKinlay at Sociedad and has also had Chris Woods as goalkeeping coach.  I think a mixture of them along with Phil Neville would be his backroom staff if he comes here.

I Just having a quick look where these all are at the moment:

Alan Irvine - according to Wikipedia was assistant to Paul Lambert at Blackburn. Given he has left likely to seek new employment unless Blackburn want him to be manager (I know he has tried to have a stab at it unsuccessfully).

Steve Round - part time coach at Derby since January 2015. Possible involvement.

Bill McKinlay - Manager at Stabaek since November 2015 so unlikely to be involved.

Chris Woods - Currently goalkeeping coach at West Ham. Not sure would want to drop down to Villa.

Phil Neville - Understand still assistant at Valencia but with the upheaval there surely approachable?

So if it's Moyes are we looking at Alan Irvine or Phil Neville as assistant and coaches alongside Steve Round. Would need a goalkeeping coach though. Who's still at Villa coach wise?

2 hours ago, 7392craig said:

Personally I think it'll be Mourinho 

Being reported he is now set for Man Utd. Was thinking would they do something as ridiculous as this?!?

Ah well it's his loss anyway!

Thank you, all the posts have been really interesting particularly the last one!

Going by what Dr Xia has said it would seem as to me he is either type 2 or type 5. Only time will tell and what happens over the summer will be exceptionally telling but if he is one of those 2 types of owners I will be happy! 

if if he is type 5 however... 

What's your views regarding Carson Yeung? Does he fit in the model as well? Obviously doesn't come across a very good owner but do you know anything more about him than we do already? It would be interesting to know the views of him inside China. 

4 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

A handful of people have. This guy isn't going to.

The criteria are here. 

Having an exceptionally quick look at this, it appears to be more about whether they have criminal record, been barred from running a company etc. It has nothing to do with real financial intentions or where the money comes from.

From what seen and heard from the info that has been disclosed I think he is passing this with flying colours so those thinking he isn't fit and proper don't hold your breath.

Why are people getting their damn knickers in a twist!???!? Richard got it spot on earlier (maybe in this thread or one of the other overlapping ones) that it has to be approached with cautious optimism.

The reality is that yes it's right that we know very little. He has given a short interview and that's about it. 

The FT articles (the one when the takeover was announced too) both came across as slapdash and IMO felt like they were trying to dig or find fault in it. Even they had very little information. Speaking to a guy called Jin or whatever is very little to go on. Ok they tweaked the post on the OS site but I think a conversation that "we are going to have major holdings in 5 companies shortly" could be easily be misinterpreted as "have major holdings". It could be as simple as that. The articles come across as an axe to grind about the fact its financial stuff and they know **** all about it! Could be as petty as that! 

And the whole damn professor hing. I haven't seen the original point, but being the son of a professor of he was one he would damn well be going by Professor Xia rather than Dr Xia. So it's pretty **** obvious he is NOT a professor. 

People seriously need to get a grip. We have gone from no future to uncertain future. Yes there are risks along the way and there is a lot to be done but I for one am pleased to get out of the **** malaise that has happened over the last 5 years. Whether it turns out to be smelling of **** roses I don't know but I remain 

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC. 

54 minutes ago, jonny-recession said:

I actually think AVB is a top manager but  never in a million years a candidate for Villa at the moment

And will be available come the end of the Russian Season as he is leaving Zenit St Petersburg...

Not likely to come I know but it's nice to be excited for a change... 

24 minutes ago, Straggler said:

Tony is a Stark change from Lerner and I'm sure he will be an ironclad guarantee of success.  I can't wait to see the team that he assembles.

One that avenges the demise of AVFC perchance?