terrytini

When reason fails resort to scare tactics - 'be careful what you wish for' etc. The Club is heading downhill very fast. it is time pressure was put on Randy in the same way as it was with Ellis - tehir differences are now outweighed by more important similarities. Why do people quote Blues or Portsmouth etc when talking about the perils of new owners ? They were small time Clubs who attracted and were attracted by poor quality buyers. What about Spurs, Man City, Chelsea, United, Sunderland, Liverpool, Stoke, even Wolves for starters. All have new or relatively new owners who, whilst in each case having varying degrees of faults, have - so far - progressed their Clubs. I loved Randy but he is now doing no more for the Club than I could, but with less passion.

Good win for us against a slow starting Everton. Mcleish is doing the right thing playing our best 11 in a well drilled system - much as MON did but without the charisma (IMO). Our best 11 are still a top 6 side.

Why on earth would anyone refuse to clap our Manager in the absence of poor results ? :?

After years of being STH and most away games, can't now afford it, not even occasionally. And I never thought I'd say it but really don't think I would want to at present. Whilst I loved MON in charge I accept those times have gone, but the Board now appear naive, inept, duplicitious and patronising. So whilst Mcleish, or Downing, or Ashley, or Milner, or Barry are not individually a reason, the pattern and lack of an ambitious path for the future probably means that if I do recover my income I will spend it elsewhere. That and the fact that I think the Atmosphere, especially at VP has been going downhill a longtime now. If they showed real ambition, and created a cheaper area where like minded fans could stand up and sing for 90 mins, I may go back. But all that money to sit down with people moaning and not singing, and watching a Team getting left behind again ? No thanks.

I don't understand the need for a new wealthy owner. Either Fair Play rules mean Randy is doing all he is allowed, in which case any owner would be hamstrung, the FP rules are crap, and all fans should be shouting them down (or else Man U rule forver) or they are not to blame and he could do more. He certainly isn't short of money, and has said he is a fan. If any of us had nearly a Billion Pounds how much would we spend each year to make Villa compete ? :? A lot more than is currently the case.

Hello General Thank you for outlining the Boards strategy for getting Top 4 as a minimum. You didn't give a timescale but lets say within 3 years ? that would be 8 years from when Randy took over. The biggest issue in my view is the belief that youth players can play a significant role in this - and thereby alleviate the need for big spending. It won't work - and the Board are either naive or negligent in having that as a key plank of the stated goal. Only once in my memory has it worked, with Man Utds 'golden generation'. Take Arsenal as an example. With a terrific Manager, 60,000 sell outs for home games, and a decade or more trying, Wenger has tried to do what you aspire to, without the result you seek. The method you describe could be used by everybody, and certainly is used by many. The Clubs that get top 4 or more spend massively. It is as simple as that. Your goal makes sense, but not with that policy. Or your policy makes sense, but not with that goal. Therein lies all the unrest, in my view. Would you not agree, given the brief examples I've mentioned, that Randy and the Club would be far far better off stating only the policy, with the rider, 'who knows how high it may take us' rather than the claim that we are definitively aiming for Top 4 or above ?

Oh, you mean the Liverpool for who spent 100m I presume. But fail to notice that that sold Torres for 50m , Alonso for 25m , Maschereno for about 20m , Babbel for about 5m (and then many others I cant name) But dont let facts get in the way of media spin shall we Not interested - we are a shambles with no ambition going nowhere, and those who keep finding reasons or suggesting we wait and see will eventually join those of us who have had enough. I don't care whether Lerner invests or not- but don't keep claiming high ambitions while running our Great Club like this.

Totally anti. Breaks my heart, those first few years were fantastic. I was a total Randy lover. Afraid it is time to wake up. The scarves were a small gesture, a long time ago now, in a very different Villa World. Talk of Randys investment ignores that most is through loans and has been recouped by sales. Infrastructure spending is irrelvant as he will get all that back on sale of the Club. The obvious duplicity between the Clubs stated ambition and reality is a scandal, and we are being taken for idiots. Communication, planning, transfers, etc - a shambles. Utter rubbish talked about Man City, squads, etc - see Liverpool for how to match claims to actions. I no longer care who we get in, as long as they are honest about what they will try to acheive.

Is this the level we are at ? Wow. :|

Hi General In my view there is one single dominating factor leading directly and indirectly to most of the dispirited and angry comments of recent times and the last few months. It is clear directly or indirectly from almost all the Posts you are getting, and from 5 minutes in the company of fans. It is this. Most fans of most Clubs dream and pray for success, but deep down know it is no more than a dream most the time. We all then get on and support the Club we love through thick and thin. But us Villa fans are not in a normal position. We are owned by a benevolent, caring, billionaire. Not many Fans have that. And we have had our hopes raised over the last few years by repeated statements, going right back to the 'world class players' comments in the first weeks, that the aim is to bring back the glory years, to get Top 4, to challenge the mightiest. You yourself have been a major contributor to this vision. So we no longer think how we thought for years, how most fans think. We have expectations and hopes which we actuallly have been led to believe are realisitic. BUT - it has gradually become clear, over 18 months or so, and increasingly with every development (stars leaving, money caution, aspirations of Managers set lower, etc etc), that those things are not realisitic, for whatever reason. (Were I a billionaire rather than on the verge of Bankruptcy, I would spend all but my last few Million on the Villa, but thats entirely up to Randy). (and probably explains why I have none !) So there is a mismatch, of widening proportions, between what we are being told are the ambitions and what the realistic situation really is. Hence much friction, cursing, rending of garments amd most importantly for a Football Club, dissillusionment. The only real way to get everything where it meeds to be is for Randy to be very clear - through you if necessary - about the REAL level of ambition, however much less it is. In the end we can take it, far better than unmet promises. Then we go back to treating Glory as a briliant extra, rather than something we are waiting for that keeps getting further away. I think the whole Villa World would settle down to a more harmonious level then. We might all start wanting a richer owner, we might not, but at least the frenetic aspirations would revert to something like normal for most Clubs.

I have to say that I was genuinely surprised to read this. I thought, with one or two obvious exceptions, that everyone had moved on from this 'O'Neill did a good job' thing? Fair play to you for sticking to your guns One thing I will say though is that if you liked O'Neill and disliked Houllier then you'll love McLeish. Right up your street I should think What on earth made you think that ? None of the fans I know personally are glad he's gone. Most of those I know feel, like me, he was let down by a Board who revised their ambitions drastically - without telling the fans - and was our single best hope of getting somwhere special for the rest of our lifetimes. In addition, we enjoyed a lot of games under MON , and had no issues with his style. Some dross, yes, but watch ANY side next year other than Arsenal and see how many times they get you out your seat. As for Randy Lerner, I have had a growing feeling for at least a year that he knows nothing about running a Football Club, and the last 2 months have clinched it for me. What a farce, utter farce. And it will get worse, as investment appears to be about to shrink too. If an owner is NOT going to plough a lot of money in, and seeks only to run Club within means, then any of us could do it, and the sooner the better.

lawl. Typical bollock and spin from a shit paper. Their comments are so full of holes its untrue. Apparently its better to keep players that don't want to stay and run down their contracts. Following that logic we would piss away £50m in fees. The media's biggest problem is they are guessing what Villa are up to and don't like the fact there is not a clear story. i think it sums things up pretty well actually. Unfortunately a good 60-70% of that is fact, and the rest pretty fair and/or likely.

That phrase is becoming increasingly inappropriate. It's becoming very much like the 'shortlist' drawn up by the Romans when they asked for the body of Spartacus.

Hi General Two questions ; Why is it that the only factual statement of our situation in all this time has come from Wigans owner ? The 'statement' put out by the Club was an insult to our intelligence. Of course there are reasons for confidentiality but a simple explanation of the process we were to follow and an expected timetable would be the minimum we should have heard. In addition to being open and 'family like' (a phrase used a lot during the season by the Club) it would maybe have done something to alter the increasingly widely held view that for the 2nd time in a season we are possibly showing signs of a lack of authority and competence over the one truly crucial decision the owner ever has to make. 2; It is 7 weeks since it was apparent GH would not be able to run the Club. Do you understand the agitation felt by fans to whom it appears we were unprepared for this search ?

Ancellotti is Michael Mcintyres dad. :shock:

Ancellotti no brainer If not, Benitez - tho' I hate him almost as much as Redknapp, and hate myself for saying it (he is next the closest thing to a winner that is available) then Jol (got close with Spurs). After that the others are much of a muchness, Hughes, Moyes... If we ofer Ancellotti top whack plus a £100m transfer kitty we will sell 30000 plus season tickets, keep Downing, regain Milner, and finish Top 5 minimum next year - got to be worth it Randy, it's only money !

Hello General A few months back I asked you to get shot of GH before it was too late, as I thought he would get us relegated. Whilst, for various reasons, I (and I gather a fair few other) still want a change, I'd like to say, you were proven right to stick with him for the run in and I - and others - were proven wrong in our fears. So, thanks for getting that right. What a relief. Roll on next season

Good performance great result, well done to all. Nothing wrong with that defence or midfield.... Seems now he has stopped upsetting them all and playing our proper side we are getting somewhere - what a shame he wasted so much of the season. With a good manager next year these players are still top 6 minimum material. Mind you, West Ham were incredibly poor........

It's like, my wife has run off with the milkman singing 'keep right on to the end of the road', killed my dog, ripped off all my money, taken the kids, told the office I've a teeny weeny, washed my Sheffield United 'Bright Future' scarf, thrown me out the House, and flogged my record collection - yet I am going to 'give her the benefit of the doubt', and might even welcome her back next ugust if she is nice to me for a few weeks now.

Not done a single thing right, and got somuch wrong by a lot. Utter disaster, how crap does someone have to be to be sacked ?

Not in my view, GH has already done his damage and is responsible for us being in this mess in the first place. Anything we acheive from here is down to the players, although he can help by picking the right ones and playing them in position.

Well fought point -nothing wrong with the players character, Helps when we have a better team selection and set up. (Luke Young at right back - GH not the first to see this but took long enough) Damage already done though I fear.

You haven't seen who they have missing then ? We had a couple out for a few months and it was apparently a reason we were shite - they hve nearly a whole first team out. Everton reserves.